A good travel pillow can make a world of difference on long trips. Ideally, the pillow will provide support for your neck or body so that you can sleep in a relaxed position, even on cramped, uncomfortable plane rides. Choose a pillow that suits your sleeping style and try different positions to find where you are most comfortable.
Try your neck pillow before buying it. Neck pillows don't typically come in different sizes, so the only way to know if it will fit comfortably is to try it on. If possible, put your neck pillow on before you buy it, or keep the receipt and try it on before your trip. You should be able to rest your head on it without bending your neck uncomfortably, and the material shouldn't pinch or chafe on your neck.
Inflate your pillow if necessary. Inflatable travel pillows can be a convenient way to save space when traveling. If yours is inflatable, blow into the air tube until the pillow is round and firm. Seal the air tube once you're done by replacing the cap.
Some inflatable pillows self-inflate. Typically, this involves turning a valve which will then cause the pillow to slowly inflate, but check your pillow's instructions to see how yours inflates.
Non-inflatable travel pillows are typically filled with foam or microbeads. While they are less convenient for packing, you may find that they are more comfortable.
Cover your pillow in a T-shirt or scarf to make it softer. Some neck pillows, particularly the less expensive inflatable ones, are made of plastic and may not have a very comfortable surface. Use a thin, soft piece of clothing like a T-shirt or light scarf to cover your pillow and make it more comfortable.
You can also buy a removable cover for your pillow. Just make sure it fits your pillow before buying it.
Place the pillow around your neck. Most neck pillows are U-shaped and will fit around the back of your neck with the opening over your throat. Some have straps that cross the opening to keep it in place.
If your pillow is not U-shaped, it may be designed to fit between your shoulder and head. This type limits which direction you can rest your head in, so it's best for sleepers who don't change position much.
Recline your seat. Most neck pillows are designed to support your head as it falls back or to the side. This position can be more comfortable if your back is slightly reclined. Gently recline your seat, being careful not to move the seat too quickly or too far towards the passengers behind you, until you can lean back comfortably.
Cover your eyes. Even on nighttime flights, the plane is likely to be full of small electronic lights that can make it difficult to sleep. Eye masks are relatively inexpensive and often sold at drugstores and beauty shops. Some travel pillows, such as the GoSleep, come with an eye-mask. You can also improvise one by putting a T-shirt or hoodie over your head for more comfortable sleeping.
Rotate the pillow for different sleeping positions. If you have a U-shaped pillow, try turning it around so that it supports your chin as your head falls forward. If you have a pillow that fits on your shoulder, try switching shoulders to find the most comfortable position.
Place the pillow on the tray table if you want to lean forward to sleep. If you tend to sleep on your stomach, you may find it more natural to lean forward instead of reclining. Try putting your travel pillow on your tray table and resting your head on top of it.
U-shaped pillows are ideal for this, since they provide a space to put your face while resting your forehead directly on the pillow. Otherwise, you will have to turn your face to the side, which may become uncomfortable after long periods.
Travel light to save more space for your pillow. Body pillows tend to take up more space than neck pillows, even when they deflate. The more room you have in your suitcase and your seat, the more comfortable you will be with a body pillow.
Body pillows range in size, but some may be as long and wide as your torso.
Wear loose clothing for comfort. Body pillows often work best when they are propped against your legs or shoulders. Wear loose, comfortable clothing to avoid too much pressure or compression on your body when using the pillow. If you tend to run hot, dress light so the body pillow won't cause you to overheat.
Inflate your pillow if necessary. Some body pillows inflate and deflate for easy storage. You may have to inflate the pillow by blowing into it, or it may self-inflate with the push of a button. Look on your pillow's packaging or label for instructions on inflating it.
If you find that the pillow is too firm for comfort once inflated, you can deflate it slightly to create a softer surface.
If you are not worried about space, you may prefer a body pillow that is not inflatable, such as one filled with foam or microbeads.
Attach the pillow to your seat or seatbelt if possible. Some body pillows, like the Travelrest, attach to your seatbelt, while others, like the FaceCradle, may connect to the seat behind or in front of you. Keep your most comfortable sleeping position in mind when you choose a style.
If your pillow attaches to the seatbelt, move it up to where you can comfortably lean your head against it.
If the pillow attaches to the back of your seat, position it so that you can lead forward at a comfortable angle and rest your head against the pillow.
Lean forward or sideways onto your pillow. Most body pillows are designed for leaning forward or to the side to let the pillow support your weight. Find a position that is comfortable for you and leaves your neck as straight as possible.
Your body pillow may have a J-shaped curve on each end. The larger curve will fit over your shoulder, and the smaller curve can be tucked under your opposite arm to help keep it in place.
Some body pillows are designed to rest on your lap or tray table and support your upper body while you lean forward.
Neck pillows are smaller and more convenient than body pillows. However, body pillows are typically more comfortable and cater more specifically to certain sleep needs, such as needing to sleep leaning forward.
If you are traveling with children, consider buying a fun, animal-shaped pillow designed for young passengers, like Trunki Yunki or Critter Piller.
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text:
Angelo Italia (* 1628 in Licata; † 1700 in Palermo) war ein italienischer Architekt des Barock auf Sizilien.

Die handwerkliche Ausbildung erhielt Italia von seinem Vater, einem Maurermeister in Licata. Seine erste Arbeit als Architekt war der Bau der Chiesa di Sant'Angelo Carmelitano in Licata von 1653, der noch nicht an die Qualität seiner späteren Bauten heranreicht. 1671, im Alter von 43 Jahren trat er dem Orden der Jesuiten bei und ging an das Jesuitenkolleg in Palermo. In dieser Zeit dürfte er Reisen nach Neapel, Rom und andere Städte Italiens unternommen haben, um dort Architekturen zu studieren, denn bei den Bauprojekten dieser Zeit, wie der Santissimo von Palermo, bei der er mitarbeitete, zeigen seine Entwürfe eine große Originalität. Insbesondere die Jesuitenkirche San Francesco da Saverio zeichnet sich durch eine ungewöhnliche Raumauffassung aus, die auf Kenntnis der Bauten von Francesco Borromini, Girolamo und Carlo Rainaldi sowie Pietro da Cortona verweisen, denn einige seiner Architekturentwürfe zitieren Elemente ihrer Bauten, die er in seine eigenen komplexen, oft sechseckigen Entwürfe einbezieht. Möglicherweise hat er auch den Architekten und leidenschaftliche Borromini-Anhänger Guarino Guarini kennengelernt, der in der zweiten Hälfte des 17. Jahrhunderts in Messina eine rege Bautätigkeit entfaltete. Borrominis Formensprache findet sich unter anderem in seinem elliptisch angelegten Entwurf für die Kirche des Jesuitenkollegs von Mazara del Vallo wieder. Neben Kirchenbauten legte er nach der Zerstörung durch das schwere Erdbeben von 1693 im gleichen Jahr Entwürfe für den Wiederaufbau von Avola, Noto und Lentini vor.

Bauwerke
 Chiesa di Sant'Angelo Carmelitano  Licata (ab 1653)
 Chiesa Madre in  Palma di Montechiaro (1666)
 Chiesa di S. Girolamo in Polizzi Generosa (1681)
 Chiesa di San Francesco Saverio in Palermo (1685)
 Chiesa di Santa Maria della Neve in Mazzarino im Auftrag von Carlo Carafa Branciforte principe di Bufera Angelo
 Basilica di Santa Maria Assunta in Alcamo (1699)
 Chiesa del Carmine Maggiore in Palermo: Neubau der Kuppel
 Kathedrale von Monreale,  Cappella del Crocifisso: Entwurf der Kapelle (mit  Paolo Amato)
 Entwurf  für den Bau der Collegiata (Catania)

Literatur
 Maria Giuffrè: Barockes Sizilien. Michael Imhof, Petersberg 2007, ISBN 978-3-86568-264-2.

Architekt (Italien)
Architekt des Barock
Baumeister
Bildender Künstler (Sizilien)
Historische Person (Italien)
Geboren 1628
Gestorben 1700
Mann

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


I am Thijs Verhulst, Channel & Playlist Manager at Warner Music Benelux.
Why did you start experimenting with Messenger marketing?
We have seen that with Facebook cutting down the organic reach of posts, it has become harder to reach fans. At the moment, you are lucky if you reach 10% of your total followers on Facebook. For example, if you have a page with 30.000 likes, you will most probably only reach 3000 of your fans organically.
Feed marketing will thereby become less important in the future. So how are you able to reach all or at least most of the 30.000 fans who are interested in you? (since they have shown at least a little bit of interest in your content by liking your page). That is the question we have been asking ourselves.
Which role does Messenger marketing play in this?
When we look around, one of the bigger trends we see within the marketing field is personalization. Marketers should find a way to communicate with fans on a more personal level to keep them fully engaged. Direct messaging, through messaging channels, might be a good way to reach this level of fan engagement.
Not only is this way of communication interesting from a marketing point of view, it is also the only way of communication the youngest generation, generation Z, has grown up with. They expect companies to be reachable 24/7 through for instance Facebook Messenger and Whatsapp. So why shouldn't their big idols like Dua Lipa and Ed Sheeran be reachable in the same way?
Who is likely to join an artist on Messenger?
According to the 90–9–1 rule of thumb, only 10% of the fans within an internet community tend to interact with your content. This rule states that normally only 1% of this community are very engaged fans. These fans are interested in literally every piece of content you share. So if we would be able to convert at least 1% of our followers to a Messenger channel, we would be able to reach the core fans on a very personal level. And that would be good.
What is your experience with I AM POP's tool in this?
With I AM POP, we have seen that it's already possible to convert more than that 1% of an artist page followers to the Messenger channel the first time we promoted it among them. So we were able to communicate with core fans straight away. Stuff that works really well to onboard fans is an incentive like a ticket giveaway. But it didn't stop there. With a new action we converted another 1%. So these figures show that there is a big interest among fans to interact with artists on a personal level.
In the end we managed to convert around 3% of the artist's 35.000 Facebook followers towards the Messenger channel, which means we had a fanbase of approximately 1000 fans within the Messenger channel. In the figure below, you can see what happened when we sent out an exclusive pre-order link for an album. Immediately after the link was sent, 200 of the 1000 followers clicked on the pre-order link. This is a Click-Through Rate of 20% within minutes after sharing a link through Facebook Messenger. A CTR of 20% is a percentage which is rarely seen among newsletters. And over time we reached a CTR of 50%.
What are the most important lessons you learned?
Of course the first lesson is the potential Messenger marketing has to offer in direct-to-fan contact. It's immensely valuable. But another thing is that it remains important to see every medium in its own right. Use chat in a conversational way and don't share the exact same content on your Facebook page as on Messenger.
The core fans require a little bit of extra attention, so make sure you are able to share some artist exclusives with them through Messenger. Only that way will you be able to create a valuable and long-term artist-to-fan relationship.


PRP, TSA, PRX2, NKEFB, PRXII, TDPX1, MGC4104, PRDX2, Peroxiredoxin-2, Thioredoxin peroxidase 1, Thioredoxin-dependent peroxide reductase 1, Thiol-specific antioxidant protein, Natural killer cell-enhancing factor B, NKEF-B.
General Description of Recombinant Human PRDX2.
Human PRDX2 produced in E. Coli is a single, non-glycosylated, polypeptide chain containing 198 amino acids and having a molecular mass of 21.8 kDa. The PRDX2 is purified by using an optimized multi-step FPLC method for maximum separation from contaminants.
Host: QP10838 protein expressed in E. Coli.
Protein Construction: A cDNA sequence encoding the sequence of PRDX2 was constructred and used to recombinantly synthesize the protein.
Application Notes: Please contact us for application specific information for QP10838.
Bioactivity Data: The specific activity was found to be approximately 200-230 pmole/min/µg. The enzymatic activity was confirmed by measuring the remaining peroxide after incubation of PRDX2 and peroxide for 20 min at room temperature. Specific activity is defined as the amount of hydroperoxide that 1ug of enzyme can reduce at 25°C for 1 minute.
Buffer: The Peroxiredoxin solution contains 20mM Tris-HCl pH 8.0, & 10% glycerol.


text:
The man who bought chess
Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, President of the remote Russian republic of Kalmykia, and friend of the Kremlin, last month achieved what no one had been able to do for more than a decade: he reunified world chess when he hosted the most thrilling match since the days of Fischer and Spassky. A devout Buddhist and mystic, he claims to have been abducted by aliens, rules with an iron fist and wants to turn his homeland into the world's chess capital. Interview and report by Ed Vulliamy
Ed Vulliamy
Sat 28 Oct 2006 21.05 EDT First published on Sat 28 Oct 2006 21.05 EDT
A breeze, rare in this land of gales, rustles a canopy under which a Buddha sits. A woman puts down her shopping bag to place a flower and speak her devotions. Across the main square there is a statue of Lenin. And between the Buddha and Lenin, in the centre of the square, is a huge chess board with outsized pieces, around which a crowd watches a game between two rugged men.
This is Elista, capital of the faraway Russian republic of Kalmykia, one of the federation's poorest and most remote. Beyond the dilapidated, low-rise blocks that encircle the city centre are nothing but windswept steppe and boundless distance, where flat earth meets the sky. The nearest functioning airport is several hours' drive away, in Volgograd - formerly Stalingrad - in Russia proper, past nothing but a few sheep, the odd lonely shepherd or bareback rider and thick and swooping murders of crows.
Very few people had heard of this southern republic before the world chess championship was held here in October. It was won by Russia's Vladimir Kramnik, who beat Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria. Staged here by the world chess federation, the Federation Internationale des Echecs (FIDE), the match made Elista the undisputed world capital of the ancient game, and it became so because FIDE's president - the man who was driven from the championship venue to a dancing display and then to a banquet in a white Rolls-Royce - also happens to be the President of Kalmykia: the multi-millionaire chess fanatic Kirsan Nikolayevich Ilyumzhinov.
Ilyumzhinov is eccentric to say the least. For a start, he believes in - and, indeed, claims to have travelled with - space aliens. He combines a political ruthlessness that tolerates little opposition with a deep spiritual devotion and a belief that bringing chess to his country is divinely ordained. He can be charming, yet his narcissism and ambition are shameless. He has had discourses with Pope John Paul II, the Dalai Lama, Henry Kissinger and Vladimir Putin, while fighting his own election campaigns on promises of a free mobile phone for every shepherd and that Diego Maradona will play for the local football team.
And now he has crowned himself the king of world chess through hosting the reunification into a single championship of a game played by millions but riven by 13 years of acrimony and intrigue. With Kramnik's victory, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov completes his purchase of the world's most venerable and esoteric game. Writing in the Wall Street Journal during the championship, Garry Kasparov described Ilyumzhinov as having established 'a vertical column of power that would be familiar to any observer of Russia today. He runs the chess world in the same authoritarian way he runs his republic.'
The final enthralling match of the championship took place on 13 October. After the match finished level at 6-6, the championship was decided on a tense afternoon of tie-breaks - equivalent to a penalty shoot-out in football - to give chess its first undisputed world champion since Kasparov split from FIDE in 1993 to found the Professional Chess Association (PCA), a title he once defended against Britain's Nigel Short in London. Since then, the PCA and FIDE have held separate championships, so that chess has been like the two American baseball leagues, but without an equivalent to the World Series. Attempts to organise a merging 'final' between the two parallel columns had proved unsuccessful ... until now, when Kramnik, the PCA champion, agreed to take on Topalov, FIDE champion, after Ilyumzhinov put up $1m prize money, to be shared between the two players.
This is how world chess established itself in the back of beyond: in 1995, FIDE - the second-largest sports organisation in the world after Fifa, with 154 national members - was in crisis, its president Florencio Campomanes besieged by allegations of financial irregularity. At the FIDE conference in Paris that year, Campomanes stood down, on condition that his successor would be Ilyumzhinov. Two years previously, Ilyumzhinov had been elected as President of Kalmykia after campaigning across the steppe in a Lincoln stretch limousine, promising to transform the wretchedly poor republic into the 'Kalmykia Corporation', a 'new Kuwait'. He was re-elected, unopposed, in 1995, and celebrated by staging a Boney M concert in Elista's Lenin Square. In 2002, he was reappointed by Vladimir Putin after elections for heads of republics were abolished by Moscow.
By taking over FIDE as well as Kalmykia, Ilyumzhinov cast himself and his country into a leading role on the world stage that would combine fantasy and reality, delusion and realpolitik, chess and money. Ilyumzhinov has funded prizes all over the world; he has spent $100m on a complex called City Chess on the edge of his capital - including a hotel and chess museum - with an even more extravagant development to come. For the present championship, Kalmykia's parliament building - the only suitable arena - had to be completely refurbished at huge cost. Once, Ilyumzhinov approached Kasparov in Budapest and gave him $100,000 in cash, to compensate for the loss of Soviet royalties on a book he had written. Quite where Ilyumzhinov's spending ends and where Kalmykia's begins is a matter of bitter debate.
Ilyumzhinov belongs to a people descended from Genghis Khan's Mongol hordes, who wandered west to the Caspian to establish the only Buddhist nation in Europe. The word 'Kalmyk' is Turkish for 'remnant'. A people of nomads and shepherds, their religion and ways were generally tolerated by Imperial Moscow and St Petersburg, so long as their warriors protected Russia's southern edges. But Stalin was convinced the Kalmyks were sympathetic to the Nazi invasion of 1941 and, from 28 December 1943, ordered the deportation of the entire people to Siberia, a third of whom died in cattle trucks en route. When they were allowed to return in 1957, during Nikita Krushchev's 'thaw', there were 70,000 Kalymks left. Now, there are 320,000, and their national sport is their President's obsession, the game he made compulsory in school soon after taking office: chess.
No match since the days of Spassky and Fischer, or Kasparov and Karpov, attracted such wide attention among the non-initiated as that between Kramnik and Topalov, thanks to what became known as 'the great toilet scandal'. After four games, with Kramnik winning 3-1, Topalov's team complained that Kramnik was visiting the toilet on average 50 times a game - with each game lasting between three-and-a-half and seven hours. The implication was that he was cheating with a computer. An appeals committee ruled out 'external help' and said that Kramnik was visiting the toilet only 18 times a game. But the committee partially upheld the complaint, having been advised by Ilyumzhinov that Kramnik's toilet should be sealed and a common lavatory used, with videotapes of Kramnik's rest breaks (though not in the toilet itself, which is not surveyed) passed on to Topalov's team for analysis. Incensed, Kramnik refused to play game five, which he forfeited to Topalov. The chess world rallied behind Kramnik and, after a direct intervention by Ilyumzhinov, the rest of the match was played under the shadow of a threat that Kramnik would not recognise - indeed, would legally contest - a Topalov victory.
The audience for the final tie-breaks was divided into two: those watching live, in the hush of the arena, and those following on a screen in the lobby, under a sign reading: 'Keep Silence'. Fat chance. Leather-skinned old men wearing Soviet military medals debated each move, while various hypotheses were played out on a second screen by the commentator from Moscow, Grandmaster Vladimir Belov. 'It'd be crazy for black to go g4!' someone shouted. 'No! He has to open the queen!' 'It's great having the match here,' says Belov. 'In Moscow, chess gets lost in everything else. Here, it is everything else.'
Tambayev Samdjevich, who is 83, was wounded at Stalingrad and was then 'retired to Siberia because of my nationality'. After working as an accountant, he returned to Kalmykia to become a full-time Communist Party official. He is a Topalov fan, 'because of his offensive game. Maybe I learned to respect that approach in the Red Army.' Dmitri Akuma and Stanislav Nastashouk, both 14, have attended every game and love chess, because, Dmitri says, 'it helps us develop ourselves and our minds, to keep us away from alcohol and drugs'. Another enthusiastic onlooker is Oksana Sitnik, with her blond tresses, micro-skirt, sheer stockings and sharp-heeled boots. 'Staging the championship here is the achievement of our President,' she says. 'Kalmykia is a chess nation, and the President reflects that.'
With the championship won by Kramnik, it is Ilyumzhinov - rather than the dazed champion - who once more takes centre stage: first at a performance of traditional Kalmyk dancing, during which Kramnik is crowned with a huge wreath and presented with a gold cup. Ilyumzhinov gives the champion a further prize - a thoroughbred horse. 'I know you will both be back in Kalmykia,' he tells the two chess champions. 'In fact, Mr Kramnik was saying just now how beautiful our Kalmyk women are, and I would point out that both these players are bachelors.'
The banquet that follows features rounds of 'Hello Dolly' and 'Strangers in the Night' on full orchestra. 'Millions and millions of lovers of chess all over the world have looked to this moment to unite the game in Kalmykia,' Ilyumzhinov says. 'Both outstanding players came here with much to lose, but did so in the name of chess, to create a single champion, and to do so here in Kalmykia.' Oddly, and unlike Western politicians who flaunt their happy family lives at every opportunity, Ilyumzhinov airbrushes his wife and children from the scene and his life story - there is no visible First Lady of Kalmykia.
Ilyumzhinov's reputation goes before him. It does so in ubiquitous billboards and photographs of him with the Dalai Lama, who came to Elista in 2004 to consecrate land for the $50 million Buddhist temple. Or with Pope John Paul II, whom Ilyumzhinov met in 1994, after which he built a church for Elista's reputed sole Catholic. Or with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who came in 2002, for whom he also built a church.
The City Chess complex was built for $100m for the 1998 Chess Olympiad. It comprises a hotel with huge chess boards in the lobby, a chess museum of trophies and memorabilia, chess tables, a swimming pool and luxury flats for Elista's nomenklatura. In the event, the championship could not be held there because there was no public arena large enough.
On arriving in Elista, the visitor receives a copy of Ilyumzhinov's autobiography, translated into English. It is called The President's Crown of Thorns, and can be read as a text book on the cult of personality, locating Ilyumzhinov and Kalmykia at the centre of Russian, global and, indeed, cosmic events.
The narrative recounts how Ilyumzhinov was born in 1962, the grandson of a Russian Civil War hero. Growing up under the influence of his grandfather, who played chess, the young Ilyumzhinov reflected on how 'the 32 white and 32 black checks on the board seemed to me to encompass the duality of the whole world'. At night, he played chess with a 'black-masked ghost', and learned the art of leadership through captaining a youth chess team. He experienced spiritual enlightenment while sleeping out on the steppe - 'I am the merest speck of dust in the boundless, living world'. Ilyumzhinov drew inspiration from Buddha's promise that one of those born in the Year of the Tiger (which he was) will be 'summoned to govern' the people in their hour of need 'and bring nobility'. And so it goes on until Ilyumzhinov is admitted to the Foreign Relations Institute in Moscow, to study Japanese, where he encounters Western reports on UFO sightings, 'clairvoyance, bio-energy and enigmatic phenomena'. During the period of Glasnost, Ilyumzhinov was appointed Russian director of a Soviet-Japanese firm, Liko-Raduga, importing Audi and Volkswagen cars. As the USSR collapsed and was looted, Ilyumzhinov took 'bigger risks' and founded his own Sun Corporation, now with 50 subsidiaries and an annual turnover of $500m, as we arrive at Chapter 7: 'Without Me The People Are Incomplete'.
So begins Ilyumzhinov's political career, at the urging of others, craving deliverance, and a sense of duty towards the poor. First, he becomes Kalmyk deputy to Moscow, then President of the republic, as predicted by Vanga, the Bulgarian clairvoyant he consults. The Sun Corporation, meanwhile, is 'earning huge profits', so great that 'we could no longer keep track of the money' - but always 'honest', 'no shady dealing'. 'When I left the world of business, many cried,' Ilyumzhinov writes, his 'Kalmykia Corporation' having now 'entered the international economic arena as an equal partner'. Then he moved into politics, becoming President of Kalmykia.
On the final afternoon of the championship Ilyumzhinov was in an excited mood. 'Consider,' he said, 'the championship will be decided on Friday 13th, 13 years after the 13th champion, Kasparov, left FIDE. This is more than just numbers - this is a sign. I believe that chess comes either from God or from beings flying a UFO. I should know! They took me aboard their airship while I was on a business trip to Moscow, in 1997, to a distant star. It's perfectly normal - last year, I visited America and learned from official statistics that there are 4,000 annual reports of contact.'
We continue for some time discussing the divinity of chess. 'Each year, archaeologists find evidence of chess in America, India, Japan or China, played under the same rules, from a time without planes or the internet. Look, the chessboard has 64 squares, and our cells are made of 64 pieces. All this shows that chess comes either from God or from UFOs.'
There is divinity, too, in Kalmykia's anointment as capital of chess: 'God intended Kalmykia to be known for chess. Through chess, I have opened the world to Kalmykia and Kalmykia to the world. Every year, I visit 50 or 60 countries, meeting heads of state.' Chess, he says, is also 'a sign of law', a way of governing 'to achieve order and peace' and the key to his success in business. 'As in chess, I have to think, in politics and in business, not only about the next move, but to be 10 moves ahead. A ruler and a businessman must be 10 moves ahead of his people or competitors. And as in chess, there are no compromises.'
The people he most admires for combining order, morality and wisdom are the Dalai Lama, Genghis Khan, Lenin and Jesus Christ.
He enthuses about foreign investment pouring into Kalmykia, for which last year, he says, the republic came sixth out of the 89 republics in the Russian Federation. There will be a joint venture with a German company to process wool and with an Italian firm to manufacture plastic windows. A deal was agreed in Amsterdam to develop wind power and another for a port on the Caspian and oil extraction. 'I also made an offer of $10m to bring Lenin's body from its mausoleum in Moscow. I thought: if the Russians don't want him, we do. His grandmother was Kalmyk, and it would be good for tourism.'
The most revolutionary forthcoming venture, he says, results from 'investment I made into research in Kalmykia and Moscow for a new automobile gear system that will make cars cheaper and safer. I invested this money 10 years ago and people said, "You're crazy - why haven't Ford thought of this?" But they hadn't, and we spotted the people who had. In that way, I am crazy, and my friends are crazy - but wait and see.'
Ilyumzhinov planned to stage the 1996 FIDE championships, between Anatoly Karpov and Gata Kamsky, in Baghdad, after a meeting with Saddam Hussein (it was eventually played in Elista, after widespread protests). 'I wanted to organise a big tournament in Iraq because Saddam Hussein is an intelligent and cultured man,' he assures me, 'and he supports chess, he understands its value.' Ilyumzhinov discusses his vision for the next stage. 'I want to establish a global chess corporation, based in Amsterdam, to concern itself with securing major sponsorship from companies like Microsoft, Intel and Google. And, of course, Coca-Cola - in fact, as I sit here talking, I've come up with the slogan: "First think, then drink!" How about that? Why don't you come with me to Atlanta and we'll propose it?' Ilyumzhinov returns to it again and again: 'Have you got that? - "First think, then drink!"'
The tie-breaks are about to begin. We conclude, and during a quick debriefing session, the keeper to Ilyumzhinov's gateway, Buichna Galzamov, advises: 'Call it quantum psychology.'
'How can the law-abiding nature of social development co-exist with the cult of personality?' Ilyumzhinov asks in his book - an observation worth heeding as one prepares to explore his fiefdom.
Yashkul, Kalmykia's so-called second city, has grass growing between the flagstones of its main square, and another statue of Lenin waving from one end at a mural commemorating the Red Army on a crumbling wall opposite. Devastated by the agricultural crisis that followed the closure and looting of state farms during the Nineties, the town is a sprawl of buildings at various stages of completion or abandonment. But in the First Gymnasium School, there is a little miracle at work, fruit of Ilyumzhinov's Directive 129: 'On government support for the development of a chess movement'. Tseren Bukhayev is taking a chess class for 10- and 11-year-olds whose confidence is as disarming as it is enchanting. 'I like chess because it is an intelligent game and helps me to speculate,' says Aysa Valentova, who is 10. 'It's a kind of entertainment,' says 11-year-old Kema Tsandikova - in English - 'but it helps me to concentrate and helps me in other subjects, of which my favourite is biology.'
After school, some of these children walk across a scrappy yard to the comfortless Palace of Culture, where the chess club opens at four in the afternoon. There, they play one another, or against old men and women, among volumes on chess history and beneath a hall of fame, featuring portraits of champions back to Wilhelm Steinitz, Jose Raul Capablanca and Alexander Alekhine and giving equal prominence to Nona Gaprindashvili and the famous Georgian Empresses of the women's game. 'More and more people are coming to play,' says Oleg Murgayev, preparing for the evening's competition. 'Sometimes they will stay all night.' It all seems to bear out what Ilyumzhinov's assistant Berik Balbagayev says when he talks about chess as 'the young generation's best protection against drugs', and 'a way to consider and take responsibility for one's moves, to learn defeat wisely so that next time you won't make the same mistake'. Or the Elista chess school teacher Mikhail Golosya's dictum: 'Chess helps to create a rational, conscious sense of citizenship and self.' But unfortunately Kalmykia cannot live on chess alone.
Soon after being elected President in 1993, Ilyumzhinov effectively abolished parliament, re-appointing his own, smaller version and packing ministries with his inner circle. There's even a joke in his own cartoon book: 'If you want to succeed, ask a wizard to make you one of Ilyumzhinov's classmates!' Any cogent opposition was effectively driven underground, and that is where its leaders remain, cowering like hunted foxes in a shabby office at the Hotel Elista.
There, a former construction engineer, Valery Baldaev, and a lawyer, Boris Andzhayev, label Ilyumzhinov 'a master of illusion'. Baldaev posits that: 'The economy has stagnated, there is no development or investment.' Unemployment runs at 43 per cent. 'If all this investment exists, where is it? Where are the factories? Where are the companies that went bankrupt and the farms that closed? Where are the 40 planes that flew from the airport, now closed, in Soviet times?'
Ilyumzhinov's insistence that Kalmykia ranks sixth in foreign investment raises a hollow laugh - 'That's his fantasy' - and Baldaev produces a report from the auditing committee for the Southern Russian Republics that, he says, places Kalmykia in 81st place in the federation. Another report shows Kalmykia as having well below average income, at 1,978 roubles (£39) per month (the federal average is 2,376).
Meanwhile, says Andzhayev, City Chess was built in part from the public budget, as was the towering Buddhist temple. It was the same with the refurbishment of parliament for the present championships. 'He is lying if he says that all his own money was used,' says Baldaev. 'It is, in effect, almost a kind of personality tax,' says Valery Ulyadurov, editor of the opposition paper, Sovietskaya Kalmykia. 'The chess championships are all surface and when they're over they do nothing for the people of Kalmykia, except for the bill we have to pay.'
In 1994, Sovietskaya Kalmykia's offices were raided by police and equipment was confiscated. The paper instead printed in Volgograd and was distributed from the back of a car. And, in 1998, it began investigating one of Ilyumzhinov's schemes: the creation of an 'offshore' haven for Russian companies, which, by paying a registration fee to an agency alleged by opposition groups to be connected to Ilyumzhinov, could avoid paying republic taxes, though they were still liable for federal tax - making Kalmykia in effect a Cayman Island on the steppe.
The journalist Larisa Yudina was about to publish her findings on the eve of the 1998 Chess Olympiad, an event that the Glasnost Defence Foundation, a human-rights group based in Moscow, had pleaded players to boycott because, 'you will eat and drink on money received by a racket - President Ilyumzhinov's private fund, which is financed by an unlawful tribute by all the companies registered in Kalmykia's offshore zone'.
In 1996, Yudina had described Ilyumzhinov to a Western newspaper as 'a Khan, charming abroad but vengeful at home. If you are against him, that's it.' On the eve of the Chess Olympiad, her investigation into the tax haven still in progress, Yudina was stabbed to death, her body dumped near a pond.
Federal authorities took over the murder investigation and, in autumn 1999, convicted two men, on the basis of their own confessions. They were sentenced to 21 years. One, Sergei Vaskin, was an adviser to Ilyumzhinov; the second, Shanukov, is described by Ulyadurov, as 'a criminal gangster'. A third man, an accomplice, turned state's evidence against his companions in return for acquittal on a conspiracy charge.
Kalmykia's offshore system was closed by federal authorities after a prosecutor's report of 29 August 2002 concluded that few taxes had arrived in federal coffers from the Kalmyk-registered companies, and that: 'As a result, 4.238bn roubles have not been received by the federal bank during the year 2000 ... and 6.295bn in 2001.' Moreover, 'Criminals are using this system to commit their illegalities of a regional, inter-regional and international character, doing grave harm to Russian state interests.' Kalmykia is now liable to Moscow for the missing taxes, which the opposition estimates at some 20bn roubles.
A portrait of the murdered Yudina is the only decoration on the dank wall of the opposition office, where Baldaev says: 'We still can't distribute the paper in the shops or post it, and any advertiser would have to be sanctioned by Ilyumzhinov.'
The paper's aim, he says, is simply 'to present an alternative point of view to that of the Ilyumzhinov government - socially, economically and politically'. For instance, says Andzhayev, a fraction of the amount spent on the chess championships could have gone to refurbish and provide hygienic equipment for a hospital treating victims of tuberculosis - rife, he says, in Kalmykia - which is instead due for closure.
'What I say to these critics,' says Ilyumzhinov during our interview, 'is this: "Come to Kalmykia! Come to Elista and see! You will find simple people here, living in order and in peace while all around there is war and terrorism, explosions in every republic." In Moscow, I am afraid, I am told: "You're not a Russian, go back to the Caucasus!" - while here, everyone can play, everyone is safe, everyone is welcome. That is democracy.'
On the death of Larisa Yudina, Ilyumzhinov says: 'That newspaper wrote something, but I have nothing to do with this. In a country of 300,000 people, we have 50 or 60 newspapers, more than any other republic in the federation - that is a free press.' On the funding of City Chess, the temple and the present championship, Ilyumzhinov is adamant that 'not a rouble came from the people. It was all paid for by the sponsors, me and my friends.' On the offshore tax scam: 'Anything wrong had nothing to do with me whatsoever. What I want here is an offshore zone for all the religions of the world, in the interests of peace. And this we will have.'
In a place of whispers, echoes and caution, it is hard to gauge Ilyumzhinov's esteem. He seems popular among the young: on Saturday night at the Overdrive Club, girls dance with each other on Russia's regulation stiletto boots, while their boyfriends drink. Brig, drummer in the band playing, called Noizz, says: 'Ilyumzhinov's my neighbour, one of us, a regular type.' Konstantin, from behind sunglasses, calls Ilyumzhinov, in English: 'A cool guy - hey, he got rich.' Sasha, a thoughtful language student, considers Ilyumzhinov 'a very good model for our nation'.
But not everybody agrees. 'He's a very young leader,' says Stalingrad veteran Samdjevich, when we meet again after the championship, 'always promising things he can't deliver. Like that port on the Caspian, like this airport that never opens. Things are so much worse now - people can't get jobs, and the pension value goes down and down.'
Vladimir Kusko, a PE tutor thinks: 'It seems wrong to spend all this money on chess while poor people are short of food and housing is bad. But then, ask yourself: is Tony Blair paying for your Olympics, or will you?'
The low-rise flats in Ulan-Egre have been demolished and where the social club stood there is now a football pitch. On an outlying road, what was once the collectivised farm is practically lifeless. Beside it, old Nina Mikhailovna tends her three goats on a patch of scrub. 'It's all gone downhill over the last eight to 10 years. It was lovely here when we had water,' she recalls. 'There were strawberries and trees. But the pipes broke, and no one came to mend them. The farm had tractors and a truck, but they all disappeared. My pension is worth less and less since the Brezhnev times, but I can live off the goats: these two to eat, and this one for milk. Ilyumzhinov? Well, it's a bit like Putin, isn't it? I'll make up my mind when I see what they do. Yes, Ilyumzhinov has made Elista bloom, all those flowers and the chess. But what about the rest? Will he re-open the farm? Let's make that the judgement, shall we, now that the chess is over.'
· Ed Vulliamy is an Observer journalist and was named Foreign Reporter of the Year in 1993 and 1997 at the British Press Awards

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The Garden Librarian of this site has been writing garden articles and blogging for a number of years, but long before that, reading libraries full of garden books. And buying garden books after foraging through bookstores! Not just that, but practically eating up every garden magazine and article she could find! Hoping to share good books on gardening with you, and a few opinions on why a book is worth your time and space on the bookshelf…. or not.
While I am not an actual librarian in real life, I am one for this site and my own home bookshelf… and it is in the spirit of building the discerning garden library that this site is written. Most are books I have purchased or borrowed from the Public Library (many of them over the years).
I reserve the right to be completely honest in my review of any books sent to me, which is the service rendered to the readers of this site.
The books I most highly recommend may not be the newest or flashiest garden books, but they will be reviewed for genuine usefulness or inspiration. Those are the type of books I like in my garden library!
There is a real "Ilona", and I have a real garden. Welcome to my site, and welcome to this new part of it, I hope you enjoy the reviews and book information. If you decide to buy one through my links, it will support my efforts, or you might want to donate through the 'coffee' link. Thank you!
If you need specific information on gardening or plants, be sure to go to Ilona's Garden, the gardening website.


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Will Tax Reform's Elimination of Advance Refundings Usher in a New Era of Municipal Derivatives?
Lisa A. Chiesa , John R. Axe , Jeanne M. Stiefel
With the termination of tax-exempt advance refunding bonds squarely in the crosshairs of the tax reform measures making their way through both houses of Congress,1 the municipal market needs to consider the impact of the loss of this refinancing tool on the ability of state and local governments to manage their capital costs for infrastructure and other public projects.2 Issuers would be faced with two sets of considerations:
for their existing outstanding bonds, what options will they have if they seek to refinance prior to the bonds' first call date?
for their new issues in the future, what structural changes should they consider to address the inability to advance refund such issues on a tax-exempt basis?
In both cases, municipal derivatives – which have faded to the deep background in the years since the financial crisis but left some issuers to contend with their aftermath even today – are likely to figure prominently among the potential solutions.
Refinancing Alternatives for Outstanding Bonds
If outstanding bonds can no longer be refinanced on a tax-exempt basis with advance refunding bonds on or after January 1, 2018, issuers could instead issue taxable refunding debt, assuming that sufficient savings exist in spite of the higher taxable rates on the refunding debt. Alternatively, issuers could wait until 90 days prior to the first redemption date of the outstanding bonds to issue tax-exempt current refunding bonds, which would still be permitted under the tax reform changes and could provide savings from the point of such current refunding; however, the issuer would not realize the potential savings that could have otherwise accrued before the current refunding date. Issuers also could consider executing a forward refunding, where the issuer contracts with the underwriter in advance to issue current refunding bonds at pre-determined tax-exempt rates within the 90 days prior to the outstanding bonds' first call date, assuming the risk premium (e.g. higher interest rate) on such locked-in rates would allow sufficient savings to the issuer.
Synthetic Advance Refundings and Municipal Derivatives
Issuers should expect to see the reemergence in the municipal market of synthetic refundings as a potential replacement for advance refundings, particularly for bonds issued prior January 1, 2018. While structures can vary, in a synthetic refunding, an issuer might enter into an interest rate swap (such as a floating-to-fixed rate swap) that would become effective at a future date (coinciding with when the issuer would be able to undertake a current refunding of the bonds) at a locked-in fixed rate, or might enter into a so-called swaption, that would provide the counterparty with the option to execute an interest rate swap in the future.3 Typically, the synthetic advance refunding would be completed with the issuance in the future of variable rate current refunding bonds, which together with the swap would create for the issuer a synthetic fixed rate. These and other similar structures can allow the issuer to achieve some of the refinancing value normally available through an advance refunding, although entailing increased complexity and risks as well as reintroducing the need for liquidity facilities that have become scarce in the current market.
The federal financial regulators expressed considerable concerns regarding the use of derivatives in the municipal securities market prior to and during the financial crisis. As a result, in 2010 the Dodd-Frank Act established a comprehensive structure for regulation of derivatives activities by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), creating a significantly different regulatory environment today as compared to before the financial crisis, including new business conduct rules that swap counterparties must comply with when engaging in swaps with public entities. In addition, these concerns regarding municipal derivatives in part drove the creation of the municipal advisor regulatory regime to address questions regarding the quality and impartiality of advice issuers had received on their new issue and derivatives activities. The derivatives regulatory structure under the CFTC and the municipal advisor regulatory structure under the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) overlap in some respects and engender uncertainties as to how the two regulatory regimes will interact with each other and impact transaction participants in the municipal securities market. The reemergence of municipal derivatives will test the effectiveness of the safeguards that Congress intended to create in the Dodd-Frank Act.
Structural Alternatives for Future Bonds
As state and local governments begin to prepare for the issuance of new bond offerings in 2018, they will need to consider whether and how to preserve the ability to achieve the types of interest cost savings previously made available by advance refundings. For example, the traditional 10-year no-call period used by much of the non-bank qualified municipal securities market – which effectively drives the current use of advance refundings – could be significantly shortened or dispensed with altogether to allow an earlier current refunding, although this may result in higher interest costs. Other issuers may opt to use variable rate debt that, under most structures, allow the issuer to borrow at short-term rates and provides the issuer with an opportunity to redeem the debt much more easily, but also normally provides bondholders with the option to require the issuer to repurchase bonds put back to the issuer. Issuers seeking to lock-in a fixed rate while achieving the flexibility provided by variable rate debt, or otherwise looking to hedge their interest rate exposure, might consider returning to the practice of entering into interest rate swaps in connection with their variable rate debt issuances. As with synthetic refundings, the reemergence of swaps in this context would reintroduce increased complexity and risk and would occur in a dramatically changed regulatory environment.
Broader Implications of Tax Reform on the Municipal Bond Market
While advance refundings face the darkest prospects under the Congressional tax reform bills because they are targeted by both chambers, the House bill also would terminate the issuance of private activity bonds, tax credit bonds, and bonds for professional stadiums.4 Twenty-one Republican members of the Congressional Municipal Finance Caucus have mounted a last-ditch effort to convince their colleagues to remove the elimination of advance refundings and private activity bonds from the final tax reform legislation, with the effectiveness of this effort to be played out in the coming hours.5 Because the Senate and House bills differ on the three additional categories of bonds, these categories have a greater potential for surviving tax reform since differences between the two versions would need to be negotiated in conference between the House and Senate conferees. Further, given the narrow Republican margin in the Senate and the difficulty that the Majority Leader has had in marshalling 50 votes on major initiatives, it is conceivable that the House would simply pass the Senate version to avoid the necessity of a second vote in the Senate on a conference bill, resulting in the preservation of these three additional categories of bonds while eliminating advance refundings.
State and local governmental issuers and other obligors should be ready to incorporate into their capital and budget planning the impact of the significant changes that tax reform may be on the verge of introducing into government debt management programs.
If you have any questions regarding this Alert, please contact Ernesto A. Lanza, John R. Axe, Lisa A. Chiesa, Jeanne M. Stiefel, or another member of Clark Hill's Public Finance Team.
1 As of the date of this alert, the House has passed its version of tax reform while Senate approval of its version remains pending. See Clark Hill PLC Client Alert, "House and Senate Tax Reform Bills Agree on Ending Municipal Bond Advance Refundings," November 10, 2017.
2 Advance refunding bonds consist of new bonds issued by an issuer more than 90 days before its existing bonds may be redeemed or mature, with the new bond proceeds held in escrow to repay the existing bonds. While refinancing higher interest outstanding debt with lower interest new debt to achieve savings is the primary driver of most advance refundings, advance refundings also are sometimes undertaken to facilitate contractual changes in the underlying bond documents or in connection with mergers or reorganization of the issuer or other obligor.
3 In the past, some issuers used up-front payments in these structures as a means of dealing with short-term budgetary shortfalls but found themselves facing potentially large termination payments or retaining unhedged exposures many years later.
4 See Clark Hill PLC Client Alert, "Tax Reform Takes Aim at the Municipal Securities Market," November 6, 2017.
5 See the November 28, 2017 Letter.
New Jersey Cannabis: Finance, Real Estate, IP and Legal
On December 29, 2022, President Biden signed the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022.
Join us as we discuss these changes and what they may mean for employers.


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Home » Beauty » J.Lo's Longtime Beauty Secret Is Probably in Your Kitchen
J.Lo's Longtime Beauty Secret Is Probably in Your Kitchen
For over two decades, Jennifer Lopez has been a mainstay in pop culture.
Making her debut in 1991 as a Fly Girl on In Living Color, the star has taken on numerous diverse roles. From acting in blockbuster movies to working behind the scenes as a fashion designer to creating timeless hit records ("Love Don't Cost a Thing" just turned 20!), she's basically done it all … well, almost.
As we've witnessed Lopez's professional transformation over time, there's one thing about the star that's yet to change: her effortless, youthful glow.
For years, the world has been watching her in awe, wondering what Lopez's beauty secrets are and how we can keep the radiance of our 20s as we get older. But while Lopez has certainly achieved just that at 51, please, for the love of God, don't tell her that she looks good for her age. She just wants to look good — period.
Lucky for us, she wants the same for all women, too. That's why she's finally ready to let us in on everything we've been dying to know with the launch of JLo Beauty. And she recently gave a group of beauty editors the inside scoop over Zoom – which now, I'm going to share with you.
Before we get into it, however, don't get things twisted: just because Lopez likes to drink from a crystal cup and enjoys a life of luxury (which she has damn well earned!) that doesn't mean her beauty line consists of ingredients like diamond powder and 24K gold. Instead, the star opted to stick to her roots, using olive oil as the hero ingredient throughout the collection.
"My mom used to say that olive oil was the cure-all for everything," she says. "And it's a secret I've used over the years because it really does work. So, when we went to do this, that was the first thing I said: it has to have olive oil extract as a basis."
The olive complex found in JLo Beauty is a four-part blend of squalane, fermented oil, and extra virgin oil and leaf extract that help deliver antioxidants to the skin. In clinical trials, it has proven to help give all-day moisture, leading to an overall dewy, glowy complexion.
So, you ready to get into the full collection now?
JLo Beauty is launching with eight signature products: That Hit Single Gel Cream Cleanser, That JLo Glow Serum, That Limitless Glow Sheet Mask, That Blockbuster Wonder Cream, That Big Screen Broad Spectrum SPF 30 Moisturizer, That Fresh Take Eye Cream, That Star Filter Complexion Booster, and That Inner Love Dietary Supplement.
Now let's get into the nitty gritty.
That Hit Single Gel Cream Cleanser
This cream cleanser gently removes excess oil and makeup with glycolipids, while rice bran, coconut, and Japanese knotweed root soothe irritation. The signature JLo Beauty Olive Complex adds moisture back into the skin, leaving you with a clear, radiant complexion.
Retails for $38.
That JLo Glow Serum
According to Lopez herself, "you get an instant glow and tightening right away" after using the serum. The magic is the formula, which includes a sugar-derived matrix, helps to "bring lifting you can feel immediately." It also includes Japanese rice sake ferment for brightening.
That Limitless Glow Sheet Mask
This sheet mask is soaked in one ounce of the Glow Serum. It includes ear loops to keep it secure, so your skin can soak in all of the benefits.
Retails $18 for one/$48 for three.
That Blockbuster Wonder Cream
This cream helps to plump and nourish the skin with tried-and-true ingredients like hyaluronic acid, peptides, and yeast-derived ferment.
That Big Screen Broad Spectrum SPF 30 Moisturizer
Aside from swearing by olive oil, SPF has also played a major role in J.Lo's beauty regimen for about as long as she can remember. "I used it as my moisturizer every single day," she says, recalling growing up in the Bronx. "So it helped me protect myself from the elements. I don't think people understand it's such a big part of staying youthful. Girls should start using it from when they start skincare — 12, 13, 14, 15 years old."
Aside from sun protection, this product also features marine bamboo to prevent skin damage from blue light, as well as licorice root to help with brightening.
That Fresh Take Eye Cream
Peptides, the sugar-derived matrix, as well as the formula's blurring complex work together to minimize the appearance of fine lines and boost radiance and luminosity over time.
That Star Filter Complexion Booster
Wear this product alone or under makeup for an instant illuminating glow. The mineral pigments found in the formula help to diffuse light and blur imperfections, while vitamin E nourishes skin and banishes free radicals.
That Inner Love Dietary Supplement
Last, but certainly not least, are the supplements, which include olive extract, vitamin E, plus manganese and copper — all of which J.Lo says are key for achieving a youthful glow. And you'll only need to take one a day.
"The supplements were a big part of the story," she shares. "I think not enough people concentrate on [these] when thinking about skincare. When I started learning about the science of it, it's inflammation and [lack of] hydration that makes us age, that gives us the older look where we look dry and get wrinkles and all of that. So it's like, how do we attack it from the inside out? The supplements are meant to help with that."
VIDEO: JLo Beauty Is Here — And She Gave Us All the Details
While it's hard to play favorites with her latest babies, the star admits that the serum and capsules are among the key products in the line.
"For me, it's a pump and a pill," Lopez says. "If you do a pump of the serum, and a pill every single day, you're gonna see a real, real improvement in your skin over time. Beauty from the inside out was always my philosophy."
Overall, after using her own line every day for quite some time now, when she looks in the mirror, the first thing she thinks is, "Wow." And I think we can all agree.
"My skin is really beautiful without the makeup all the time, which is nice," she admits. "And it feels bouncy, hydrated, looks luminous — like glowy — and that's what I wanted to deliver."
As for the future of J.Lo Beauty? Expect to see the collection grow into the haircare sector in the near future. "It's not just my face that takes a beating all the time with work," she tells InStyle. "My hair takes an extra beating with all the heat and tools and stuff."
But until her next line drops, the star says the Inner Love Dietary Supplements will do wonders for both your skin, and strands.
JLo Beauty will be available Jan. 1, 2021, exclusively on jlobeauty.com. The line will make its way to Sephora, sephora.com, and Amazon starting Jan. 14, 2021.
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ANC WCape must stop lying about school closures – Theuns Botha
October 4, 2012 southcapenetGarden Route News
DA provincial leader says opposition guilty of false claims and hypocrisy.
School Closures: The lies have to stop.
The ANC persists in spreading lies and disinformation about the proposed closure of 27 schools in theWestern Cape. It is insufferable and has to stop.
The ANC's crude and dishonest politicking was once again displayed in a memorandum riddled with false statements that was directed at theWestern Capegovernment during a protest march in Knysna yesterday.
The DA-led Western Cape Government is committed to improving opportunities for all learners in the province, particularly those living in the province's poorer communities. As the Minister of Education in this province, Donald Grant, has explained time and time again, the aim of the proposed school closures is to improve opportunities for learners by placing them in schools that are better equipped to provide a quality education.
In their desperate attempt to discredit the Western Cape Education Department, the ANC continues to link the tragic Rheenendal bus accident to the possible school closures. By no stretch of the imagination can this be done with any foundation in fact at all. The fact that the only schools closed in the Rheenendal area were closed by other governments of the Western Cape and not by the present government makes the ANC's comments both malicious and mischievous.
None of the issues highlighted by the ANC in yesterday's memorandum stands up to even the most superficial interrogation.
For instance, the claim that the DA-led Western Cape Government has closed more schools than it has built.
The fact is that the DA-led Western Cape Government has built more schools than it has closed. In fact, the Western Cape Government is building more schools with greater capacity and better facilities for more learners than the schools that have been closed by this administration to date.
The ANC are not only guilty of false claims, but are also hypocritical, given that they closed 47 schools between 2002 and 2007, building only 42 during the same period.
Since 2009, the DA-led Western Cape Government has been making every effort to meaningfully address the infrastructure backlogs that were left by previous administrations to ensure that more learners in theWestern Capehave greater access to a quality education closer to where they live, particularly those learners that live in the province's poorer communities.
Despite the ANC's spurious allegations, the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) expects to complete the building of 16 additional new schools and replacement schools in the 2012/2013 financial year. Once these schools have been completed, the WCED will have built 47 new and replacement schools (accommodating approximately 57 000 learners). These new schools will quite rightly benefit learners from the Western Cape's poorer communities.
The rest of the ANC statement is even more inaccurate than that.
School closures are not unique to theWestern Capeand occur all over the country. In the light of this, the ANC's opposition to this is mindless, hypocritical and riddled with false statements.
Why does the ANC oppose something that is intended to improve opportunities for learners?
It is becoming increasingly difficult to believe that the opposition in theWestern Capeis at all concerned about the children of this province. Their mindless and disingenuous opposition to the proposed school closures as well as their failure to provide thousands of learners across the country with the support and resources they so desperately need only proves that their opposition to these proposed closures has absolutely nothing to do with their concern for learners and their needs.
Statement issued by Theuns Botha, DA Western Cape provincial leader,September 27 2012
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Farmers Feat Manitoba
Introduction for major, well-known soda and beer
By admin July 8, 2019 May 29, 2019
husband previously worked for a company called Graphic Packaging International,
Inc. (GPI) for many years running a printing press. The carton material printed
on was made by GPI at its Macon, Georgia paper mill. It was then loaded on a
truck, sent a short distance down I-75 to GPI's Perry location, where it was
used to print drink cartons for major, well-known soda and beer companies.
admired this business strategy for two reasons. First, this process worked like
a well-oiled machine. It was able to keep the Perry location's paperboard
inventory lower. The few times there were ever a shortage of paperboard, the
Macon plant could send out a truck and be there within the hour, so production
could resume. Secondly, it provided middle Georgia with many jobs with good pay
and benefits. Globalization is important, but so is having jobs nearby that pay
and provide to support a family. That is why I chose to do a company based out
of my home state of Georgia.
Packaging International, Inc. is actually a subsidiary of Graphic Packaging
Holding Company. Its headquarters is located in Atlanta, Georgia. Between the
plants and its headquarters based in Atlanta, the company employs over 1,300
residents. However, this is just a small glimpse into a much larger company.
Packaging Holding Company employs over 13,000 people in, not only 46 of 50 states
in the USA, but worldwide, as far away as New Zealand.
What is Graphic Packaging Holding Company?
Most people have probably never heard of Graphic
Packaging. However, there is a large chance that they have come in contact,
albeit unknowingly, with the company's products. "The company is a leading
provider of paper-based packaging solutions for a wide variety of products to
food, beverage and other consumer product companies." Meaning, they provide
packaging to products of world famous brands. Soda boxes, beer boxes, cereal
boxes, frozen dinner containers, are just some items that you may see in a
super market that were produced by Graphic Packaging for the companies. They
have even been known to print and assemble the fry containers from fast food
Creating an International Powerhouse
Package International may be a global leader today, but it actually started out
as two separate companies that weren't even involved in paperboard packaging. Each
company evolved before, ultimately, merging.
While, the other, the "Graphic Packaging" portion
only came into fruition in the seventies, and was not even a paperboard company
at its creation.
was until 2003, when the company merged with
another packaging company leader, Rosewood. At the time Rosewood was private
and getting ready to introduce its IPO, but chose to buy out the already public
company, Graphic Packaging and retain the Graphic Packaging name. The merger opened
a larger portfolio and bank account, as it turned into a multibillion dollar
mother company in the merger was known as Riverwood. Riverwood, is as about as old
as the packing industry itself. The company started out as Brown Paper, changing
names numerous times until becoming Riverwood International.
It started the move into the international market
by buying timberland and a plant in Brazil and eventually buying out a
packaging company there to acquire a mill and plant. The move into Europe came
in 1990, when the company bought one of the largest folding carton providers in
Britain. It also bought its way into the Australia market around the same time.
In 1991, Riverwood International, "controlled 25 percent of the overseas packaging
market and 45 percent of the American market." The company continued its trend of
buying out foreign companies and created a presence in North America, Latin America,
Europe, and Asia, and Australia. It's holding company was forced to sale Riverwood
in hopes to cover its settlement from lawsuits that were not connected to its packaging
subsidiary. Rather than selling to a competitor, it was sold to a private investment
group. To continue to fund its growth, the company had planned to go public. However,
the option to buy Graphic Packaging came up, and Riverwood would choose this path
has plants in 12 countries, operating in the Americas, Europe, and the Asia
Pacific region.
are factors that can have negative impacts on international businesses. Tariffs
or exchange rates can be examples. However, one thing that negatively impacts
this company across all of its locations, is something that may come as a
surprise—healthy eating. When consumers decide to eat healthy, they begin by
drinking less soda and beer and eating less packaged foods. When consumers stop
purchasing these products, the food and beverage companies stop needing more
packaging printed up, thus hurting the bottom line of Graphic Packaging Holding
Packaging Operations
Packaging Holding Company has over forty subsidiaries among its three business segments.
The first segment is paperboard mills. The company makes paper to use for
printing packaging, an example being the Macon, Georgia plant previously
mentioned. While they make paperboard, it is mostly for internal uses in its
other two segments of its business rather than sale. Graphic Package uses
around 85% of the paperboard it produces and sells the remainder to other
packing companies.
popular business practice of Graphic Packaging is to buy other companies out.
Sometimes, it may be that they buy the majority of a company rather than the
entire business. For instance, Graphic Packaging just bought most of
International Paper.
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Nichelle is currently scheduled to be on the show for 2 days, starting on September 1st, 2016, so be on the lookout for her if you care. Nichelle's acting resume includes the famous role of Lieutenant Uhura in the old 1960s Star Trek show. Stay tuned.


text:
Supreme Italia (fake)
PUMA and Chinatown Market launch their first collection
A tribute to the DIY aesthetic
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Henry Davies, the biggest vintage Vans collector in the world
We met the founder of The Other Side of the Pillow during the Vans 'Meet The Waffleheads' event in Paris
Vans unveils the Harry Potter collection
Available from June 7th
nss shopping guide: 10 sneakers for summer
The best time of the year to show off your sneakers
Supreme x Vans unveil their latest collaboration
Featuring the Ski-H8 Pro and the Slip-On Pro
Velcro Sneakers: the past and future of ugly sneakers
Are you ready for a big comeback?
Vans launches the Blur Check Pack
3 sneakers characterized by a psychedelic version of the iconic checkered pattern
In Fashion 2 years ago
Supreme Italia – Story of a 'legal fake'
4 store managers tell us how it all happened and who is to blame
Author Francesca Milano
It's 1994, we are in a New York that's already a perfect glittering back drop to the American dream but still holds that 'wild side' charm, a city too wide for gentrification and capitalism to have reached every and each area and therefore still authentic, raw besides the glossy skyline still topped by the Twin Towers. Brooklyn and Williamsburg (now hipsters' heaven par excellence) are still dominated by subcultures, spilling young blood, populated by creative, disrupted and turbulent teenagers.
It's the same New York portrayed by Kids, Larry Clark's celebrated and disturbing movie that has shaped a whole generation and launched Chloe Sevigny's acting career, along with that of a bunch of young skaters destined to become the face for some of the most popular streetwear brands' first campaigns.
It's the same New York overcome by the skateboarding fever, crossed far and wide by boys in oversized sweatshirts and jeans whizzing on their longboards on the wide, still semi-viable streets.
It's the same New York in which Supreme it's rooted. Today the most hyped brand ever, back in '94 just a small store downtown Manhattan, in Lafayette Street, that founder James Jebbia opened at a cost of $ 12,000 and soon became a true mecca for the metropolis' skaters.
From there, Supreme has come a long way, attracting skaters, artists, musicians and photographers – Ari Marcopoulos, Terry Richardson, Harmony Korine, Kenneth Cappello, Gio Estevez, Peter Bici and Kids' Justin Pierce – who played a key role in defining the brands' imagery up to raising it to the cult label that is today. Supreme's story, however, remains shrouded in mystery, and many are the legends revolving around the brand that probably contribute to its charm.
Let's take the ubiquitous red box logo, for example. Is it James Jebbia's invention? Well, not exactly. It is a tribute, a quote, an imitation – call it as you like – of artist Barbara Kruger's propaganda posters (and she didn't exactly take it very well). For many issues, allegedly also linked to this reason, it seems that Jebbia still doesn't own the brand's name cause he can't trademark it.
And here we are with today's consequences. We need to move our focus to Italy, more precisely to the town of Barletta, where a company – already known for creating Pyrex Original, an Italian version (read: copy) of the brand Pyrex Vision – has brilliantly thought they could make some easy money out of the lack of legal terms around Supreme's trademark and has, therefore, launched the so-called "Supreme Italia".
Red box logo (but much larger than the real one), white lettering, Futura Heavy Oblique as a font. The prerequisites are (almost) the same, but don't let yourself be fooled: Supreme Italia has nothing to share with Supreme, the real New-York-born one. "It all started when, during last year's Pitti [Pitti 89], we received several reports on our Facebook group (Supreme Italia) of people going around wearing these, obviously fake, huge box logos on sweatshirts and hats, handing catalogues to retailers. From then on the number of stores that sell Supreme Barletta (because Supreme Italia it's our group, I will never call it like that) has increased dramatically", explains Alberto Campo, manager of Blackwater Store and admin of the Facebook group "Supreme Italia", a reference point for Italians fans Supreme (NY).
A fraud that's as manifest as (unfortunately) apparently legal. We decided to delve into the scandal of Supreme Italia once and for all, and we asked four managers of stores that care for the originality of the product, the brands' creativity and their customers' style, their point of view on the case.
#1 How do you think it's even possible a scandal like this happened in the first place? Do you think it's to blame? Is it right to call it a fake, a fraud?
VALERIO GHISI (Stone Soup): Supreme Italia phenomenon is rooted within an increasingly large portion of ignorant and passive consumers. I'm talking about those who are influenced by any proposal without estimating its potential range, who are aware of a particular brand just because of its exposure, without digging deeper. There are too many guys who aren't curious nor interested enough in understanding what makes Supreme NYC and Supreme Italia different. In their mind, there's only the logo, and that's it. It could be NYC, Barletta or Singapore and it wouldn't make any difference, what's important is to wear it. In order to talk about fake or fraud, I think we should get into the legal quibbles that regulate the intellectual property of a brand. We are certainly talking about followers who have nothing to do with creativity. Making as much money as possible playing on misinformation and using another's creativity is the only goal.
ALESSANDRO ALTOMARE (Maison Group): The first step to understanding such a phenomenon is to acknowledge Supreme's position in Italy. Most likely, the "superbrand" didn't really care that much for the Italian market, and, in legal terms, this has left some gaps that allowed a group of simple manufacturers to register their activity under the name Supreme. It's a boomerang effect the web created. The data are too accessible to all. On this millennium's early days, it would have been impossible for a simple manufacturer to understand the subcultures' business. The phenomenon, according to those who still have a work ethic, must be condemned at all costs, both from retailers and consumers, or Supreme will just be the first in a long series of brands that will be plagiarised in Italy. Those living in the area where Supreme Italia is made have nicknamed this phenomenon "legal fake".
ALBERTO CAMPO (Blackwater Store): Obviously, the reason behind the spread of Supreme Barletta is the general ignorance that in Italy surrounds the streetwear world, and Supreme in particular. Supreme, the real one, was born in 1994, but it is only since 2010/2011 that it's in mainstream limelight. Thus, if we consider that in Italy "trends" usually arrive with a couple of years delay (except for Milan, Rome and the brand's aficionados) it is easy to understand why now even the customer who yesterday was wearing Pull & Bear and Hollister is now interested in Supreme. This interest obviously creates demand. A demand that Supreme has no intention of satiating, sticking to its strict policy on pieces and where its collections are available. Here comes Supreme Barletta, whose founders are experts in seeking popular brands that aren't registered in Italy. It's definitely a ripoff, with no original ideas, so it is to blame for plagiarism.
DAVIDE MARRE (INNER Milano): It must be condemned. The reason why this has happened in Italy is mainly due to misinformation, the kids know the brands' names, but not their story, not where they were born and why they got where they are.
#2 Why do you think some stores continue to buy fake Supreme products?
VALERIO: Our times are a jungle in which creativity is destined to die. There are no controls over distributions, anyone can have anything, and if the trick fails then you pass on to the copy of the copy. Social networks can be a weapon in favour of this bad system. The constant bombardment of images can be confusing, everything looks the same and no one is interested in reading between the lines.
ALESSANDRO: Now that's a hard one. I just can't understand it. Funny thing is that the list includes some of the most famous shops! Easy money appears appealing to many, at a time of general confusion within Italian luxury and streetwear markets.
ALBERTO: The reason is very simple: the money you can make. The focus on Supreme Italia is exploding and often many stores, aware of the fact that what they're selling has nothing to do with the original (and knowing Supreme Italia is 'legal') keep on selling it. If that product sells, unfortunately, they will keep making it available in their stores.
DAVIDE: They buy because they hope in a profit, but do not realise that in the long run is a counter-productive investment. Once you've ruined your image and your name becomes difficult to go back.
#3 Do you think the fact that here in Italy Supreme has its own 'official fake' (known and at the same time free from legal implications) is in some way fueling the American brand's aura of mystery and its allure? In other words, could this be another piece to its perfect strategy?
VALERIO: I have great respect for the "Supreme culture" and for the work done by James Jebbia and his crew. Personally, I would be horrified by having an 'official fake'. All this can not increase the appeal of a brand. Paradoxically, it increases the number of zeros on the company's bank account, but I think brand equity still makes sense and it should be defended. Thus, we understand the philosophy behind brands as VLONE and others who just want to sell exclusively through their pop-up stores, to remain faithful to their image with no compromises.
ALESSANDRO: I think the perfect strategy does not exist. There are conditions that can be exploited for the benefit (or for the disadvantage) of the brand, and Supreme surely in this is a veteran on this field.
ALBERTO: This fake has brought Supreme even to the average Italian people, those dreaming of the throne of "Uomini e Donne" (popular Italian tv show) who, in the night, 'go to command' (quoting an Italian hit of the moment). We must give it credit for this. But no, it can't be any good. It does nothing but creates confusion. On our Facebook group, we get dozens of posts/messages every week, where people ask us a legit check of logo branded Supreme items found at some store. And these are just a few of all the consumers, so I dare not imagine what's going on out there. The cause is the previously mentioned ignorance. At the beginning, Supreme Italia was even advertised as a brand apart with the Supreme New York's permission to use the design.
DAVIDE: I think Supreme doesn't have any income in marketing nor in its image to bind to such a project. We just have to hope it's gonna be a flash in the pan and it's gonna be over in a few seasons.
#4 When a few years ago the brand Married to the Mob started to use the box-logo branded slogan 'Supreme Bitch', Supreme didn't let it get away with it and dragged Married to the Mob into court. Do you think it was somehow a contradiction by a brand that made of referencing other brand's logos its trademark, especially in the early days of its history? How do you think this story differs from what's going on with Supreme Italia and why you think Supreme still hasn't pursued the fake made-in-Barletta?
VALERIO: MOB's Leah McSweeney is a hurricane, she's a creative, one of the most influential women within American streetwear community. I supported and brought her brand in Italy, it has nothing to do with the fraud made-in-Barletta. I personally know her former partner Rob, founder of Anderson. We're talking about people with a relevant creative background. The slogan "Supreme Bitch" was nothing more but a mockery, a successful slogan on a series of sweatshirts and t-shirts that were part of a much larger collection which over the time has seen collaborations with artists such as KAWS. I think the famous conflict with Supreme was nothing more than a clever advertising move. I believe that Supreme went for legal action exclusively because of the enemy's relevance. I think not worrying about Supreme Italia is just a strategy to let the case evaporate, without making it even more famous.
ALESSANDRO: As I said, having underestimated the Italian market, the brand won't act until the legal fake will spread outside Italy, or until, in order to sell more, it will higher its standards in terms of fonts, logo, releases, etc.
ALBERTO: When Supreme Barletta was just spreading, we had the chance to get in touch with Mr Jagger (store manager of the Supreme store in London) who assured us they are keeping an eye on the case and that sooner or later they will make their move. Unlike Married To The Mob, where it was just a t-shirt's graphic to be copied, here the entire brand is a shameless imitation. But I think at the moment Supreme isn't that worried about a phenomenon that's limited to Italy only, while MTTM was an established brand in the US. We have reported this fraud over and over, we just have to get the popcorns and wait for the fireworks.
DAVIDE: The main difference is that Supreme Italia is just a local phenomenon, and Italy isn't that relevant within the global streetwear scene. I appreciate Supreme's total disregard towards the case. We, too, as consumers, should ignore it and explain to those who buy it the mistake they're making.
#5 In cases like these, how should you act if you're a store that cares to showcase innovative brands and designers? Is there a way to educate the customer towards a more conscious shopping, oriented on uniqueness and research? Should you fight a scandal like that of Supreme Italian or embrace it, in view of easy money?
VALERIO: What I care the most is my clients' look. I like to wear pieces that tell a story and that's why my partner Alessandro and me are always doing research. We travel, we invest time and money to differentiate our store's offer and to always be one step ahead. We do not care to get hold of a brand when the others do, we want to get there before anyone else. Sometimes we discard what is too commercial and could bring easy money because our purpose is to be different. The consumer should start going to physical stores more and surf the internet less, even just to spend a few hours chatting, to understand what hides behind a passionate work.
ALESSANDRO: As a retail company, we are extremely careful and in the South of Italy we have become a landmark for research, limited editions and for educating our customers to purchase, but the "right" path is very hard to follow. It takes a lot of resources, organisation, teamwork, 15 hours of daily work and the right attitude towards an ever-changing market. I cannot condemn those companies aiming to make easy money, it's an individual choice, but I do condemn the Italian fashion system for being very distracted and for not being able to "penalise the crooks and reward the professionals". If, for their decision to sell a 'legal fake', these shops would lose other important brands, this phenomenon wouldn't even exist.
ALBERTO: As a store owner, I can say a fake like that would never enter my shop. Unfortunately, who needs a proper 'purchase education' aren't just the customers, but also the retailers, who aren't often aware of the brands they bring in their store. The only way to counter this fraud would be to stop buying fake products, but as long as people are not informed or Supreme doesn't decide to shut them down, the situation won't change. Our community Supreme Italy is doing it, hoping to bring good results. So the only advice I can give is: research, research, research.
DAVIDE: The stores are the ones guilty for this. The retailer should be able to educate the client and direct him towards quality products with a history. Giving visibility to this kind of products is only ruining the market and giving rise to others in proposing some sad projects like this.
Artwork by Alessandro Bigi
supreme italia supreme barletta supreme streetwear Larry Clark kids justin pierce james jebbia
In Fashion 3 hours ago
For a super cool nail art
Available exclusively at 10 Corso Como
Following Lagerfeld's passing, the house has been making a few changes to its dynamic
Shot by Glen Luchford
The iconic Baguette seen on the FW19 runways earlier this year is now interpreted by Gully Leo and others
In Fashion 3 days ago
From Gucci to Off-White, the island is a shopping paradise
From the Nike Mag worn by Marty McFly to the Travis Scott x Air Jordan 4 "Friends & Family"
Apparel and sneakers with 80s and 90s vibes


Over 2 weekends this summer Carshalton Artists are once again opening their studios to the public…….and mine is one of them!
11am – 5pm on 23/24 June & 30 June/1 July.
There is an easy to follow map, trail, free workshops and creative activities for children on route.
I do hope you can join me and all the other artists for CAOS 2018!
For the first time next weekend Carshalton artists are opening their studios to the public and mine will be one of them.
I do hope you can join me and all the other artists on the trail for what is set to be a wonderful event and one not to missed!
I will have four of my paintings on show at 'The Royal Society of Marine Artists' at The Mall Galleries, London from 28th September to 8th October 2016.
To celebrate the Society's 50th anniversary of gaining their Royal Charter, this will be their largest-ever Annual Exhibition with some 400 works by many of the most celebrated marine artists at work today. In a wide range of styles, sizes and media, these works will depict the sea and coast, along with the ships, yachts and dinghies that sail the seas, and the people who work or take their leisure on or by it. In short, something to appeal to everyone.
2017 Calendar is now available!
The 2017 calendar will be available to buy from my online shop from the 1st July. Limited stock available!
For the first time four of my most popular local paintings have been reproduced as limited edition giclee prints. The prints will be limited to an edition of just 25 signed and numbered copies of each painting.


text:
Borowski v Canada (AG), [1989] 1 S.C.R. 342 is the leading Supreme Court of Canada decision on mootness of an appealed legal issue.  The Court declined to decide whether the fetus had a right to life under sections 7 and 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.  Had they found in favour of Borowski, laws against abortion in Canada would have to have been again enacted.  Thus, along with the later Supreme Court case Tremblay v Daigle (1989), Borowski "closed off litigation opportunities" by anti-abortion activists.

Background
Joseph Borowski was an anti-abortion activist in Saskatchewan who wanted to challenge the abortion provisions under section 251 of the Criminal Code as violations of the Charter rights to life, security of person and equality of the foetus (because he felt the types of abortions permitted by the Therapeutic Abortion Committees were too liberal). He had previously been successful in gaining public interest standing to challenge the abortion law in the decision of Minister of Justice of Canada v. Borowski, [1981] 2 S.C.R. 575.

At trial the Court of Queen's Bench found that there was no violation as the foetus was not protected by the Charter rights that were argued. The Court of Appeal agreed that sections 7 and 15 did not apply.

The issues of appeal to the Supreme Court were concerning the constitutionality of section 251, given Borowski's arguments that it was too permissive in allowing for abortions.  However, the earlier decision of R. v. Morgentaler had already struck down the provision (as being too restrictive on abortion, and therefore breaching the mother's rights under section 7) and so it could not be at issue. As the section had been struck down, the primary issue instead concerned whether Borowski had lost his standing.

Opinion of the Court
Justice Sopinka wrote the decision for a unanimous Court. He held that the appeal was moot and that Borowski had lost his standing.

Sopinka characterized the doctrine of mootness as part of a general policy of the court to decline to hear hypothetical and abstract questions. He described a two step test for determining whether the issue is justiciable. First, the Court must determine "whether the requisite tangible and concrete dispute has disappeared rendering the issues academic," and if so, the court must decide whether it should exercise its discretion to hear the case anyway.

Sopinka found that the "live controversy" had disappeared with the striking down of section 251 of the Criminal Code, and that the Court should not exercise its discretion in these circumstances.

See also
 List of Supreme Court of Canada cases (Dickson Court)
 Fetal Rights

References

External links

Supreme Court of Canada cases
Canadian abortion case law
1989 in Canadian case law