Every now and then someone commits a crime that is so barbaric and shocking it defies explanation. No crime is acceptable, of course, but most can be explained with some kind of rationale, albeit twisted and faulty. Others leave us so-called civilized types scratching our heads and wondering whether Cesare Lombroso was right when he posited in the late 19th century that criminals were some sort of atavistic throwback to an earlier stage of evolution.
When confronted with the crimes of the murderous father and son team of Clyde and Nathan Rutherford, and their accomplice Steven Stahler, there doesn't seem to be any other theory that fits except that these three men, who beat a 19-year-old family friend and buried him alive are simply inhuman.
In 1991, Stanley Brown, 19, was living at the Rutherford home on the north side of Chicago. It wasn't unusual for Nathan Rutherford to invite troubled friends to stay with him and his family.
It was March when Stan showed up to live at the house in the 4500 block of Christiana. He was the second waif taken in by Nathan; 16-year-old Steven Stahler was already living with the Rutherfords, but Stan's presence created no apparent problems.
In April, Stan went missing. In June 1991, police officers, aided by construction workers with a backhoe and shovels, found Stan's body, lying beneath the dirt in Schiller Woods. His hands were tied in front of him and he clearly had been beaten to death.
The first indication that something was wrong occurred early April 1991 when Stan failed to show up at a regular Alateen meeting that he attended.
On April 18, Clyde drove Nathan to visit the teen's former girlfriend in Wisconsin. When she greeted Clyde, Nathan and Stahler, she asked where Stan was. Nathan showed the girl a stained baseball bat and indicated, "Stan's there." Nathan claimed the brownish splotches on the bat were made by Stan's blood.
The next week, Clyde picked up the girl and brought her back to Chicago. While she was in the Rutherford home, Nathan showed her a cognac bottle that contained a substantial amount of "brownish" liquid. Nathan again said the liquid was Stan's blood.
In reality, Stan wasn't really there. At least not all of him. His corpse was buried in a shallow grave at Hidden Hill in the Schiller Woods Forest Preserve.
In the middle of May, Stan's mother filed a missing persons report. Nathan's girlfriend was also troubled by his strange comments and the odd way that Stan had simply dropped out of sight. She talked things over with a friend who convinced her to go to the sheriff.
The Kenosha County Sheriff took the baseball bat the girl had been given as a gift and analyzed the brown stains. The tests showed that the bat was stained with human blood.
Armed with that evidence, the authorities got a warrant and started looking around the marsh near the grandmother's home. They found the bottle with about 3 ounces of human blood in it.
Chicago Police and the Kenosha County sheriff's department were already talking about Stan's disappearance. The Chicago authorities brought the three men in for questioning. Clyde was the first to break. On June 1, after about 2 hours of questioning, he told detectives his version of how Stan died and where he was buried. On June 2, 1991, the Chicago Police contacted the sheriff to let them know that Stan's body had been discovered.
The autopsy the next day revealed, although there was evidence of lacerations on both sides of Stan's badly decomposed head, he died of asphyxiation. There was dirt and gravel in his mouth, esophagus, trachea, and lungs. He had been buried alive.
That same day, police executed a search warrant on Clyde's residence and truck. Clyde had voluntarily consented to the search and accompanied Sanders to the residence for the search.
Police recovered a piece of plywood and a piece of particle board, both containing brownish stains, a guitar, on which the markings "S.D. 4-2-91? were written in a brownish substance, a metal baseball bat, a wooden bat with nails driven into it, a pair of blue jeans, and a Metallica T-shirt.
Later, a criminalist for the Chicago police department testified that her tests revealed that human blood was present on the plywood board, the baseball bat, and in the brown glass bottle. Also, the phrase "S.D. 4-2-91? was written on the guitar in blood.
Clyde refused to provide police with a written or recorded confession, but in his interrogation he blamed Stahler for the killing and said he and Nathan had dropped Stahler and a badly beaten Stan off at the woods (Stahler had a shovel and Stan was carrying a car battery) and later Stahler joined the two Rutherfords in delivering newspapers for the Sun-Times.
According to Clyde, when Stahler joined up with the father and son brain-trust, he was alone and without the shovel. Where's Stan, Clyde reportedly asked.
"He got scared and ran off," was what Stahler allegedly told him.
Stahler and Nathan told a different, more gruesome tale.
According to Nathan's confession, late in March 1991, Nathan discovered that a misprinted $5 bill he owned, valued at $600, was missing. After Nathan kicked Stan in the face and broke his nose, Stan admitted taking the bill and agreed to return it. Unfortunately for Stan, he had damaged the bill and ruined its value, sending Nathan into a violent frenzy.
A day or two later, Stan threw a beer bottle at Nathan as he was entering his graffiti-filled bedroom. Nathan took the beer bottle and hit Stan on the side of the head with it, causing a deep cut that bled profusely. Nathan continued to beat Stan with his fists, kick him, and throw objects at him. Stahler joined in pummeling the victim and later started beating Stan with a wooden handle from a toilet plunger.
According to Nathan, after a 10-minute assault Stan was "very out of it." As Stan sat leaning against a wall of Nathan's room, Stahler collected blood from the cut on Stan's head into a bottle. Nathan admitted that he took a baseball bat and rolled it in Stan's blood as a souvenir of the incident.
They threw the nearly unconscious victim into a shower and then discussed "how to get rid of Stan" when they realized he was probably going to die without medical help. The teens knew that taking Stan to the doctor would result in their arrest, so they quickly discarded that option.
It was approximately 11 p.m. and time to begin Clyde's paper route, so the boys decided to take Stan with them and bury him in the woods.
They helped him downstairs and with Clyde's approval, loaded the dying teenager into the bed of Clyde's truck. Clyde drove them to the woods where Stahler took Stan into the woods and buried him. All three of the conspirators confirmed that Stan was forced to carry a car battery which Stahler had intended to use to help destroy his body.
Clyde's first trial resulted in a hung jury, but he was subsequently convicted on retrial. He received a 27-year term, while Nathan received a 42-year term.
Let's think about time for a moment. The exercise is worth it because in 1968 a man's freedom depended on just how accurately we tell time.
As I write this there are four clocks in my immediate vicinity. The analog clock on the wall says it is about 2:14 p.m. My computer clock says it's 2:16. Both my cell phone clock and the digital clock on the cable box say it's 2:13 p.m.
When you ask someone the time and they say "2:15″ or "a quarter after," do you wonder if their watch precisely indicates 2:15 or is it showing somewhere between 2:13 and 2:17? Does anybody really know what time it is?
For Dr. John M. Branion, Jr., convicted murderer, the answers to those questions made all the difference in the world.
Dr. Branion was not the kind of man anyone would expect to kill his wife. Educated at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland, he was a successful and respected African-American physician at time when discrimination against blacks was legally practiced and accepted in America.
His father was one of the most prominent criminal defense attorneys in Chicago, serving as the deputy public defender for Cook County — the first black man to do so, and Branion's brother-in-law was an equally successful attorney.
Branion's wife, Donna, came from one of the wealthiest black families in Chicago. Dr. Branion was active in the civil rights movement and had walked beside Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during his visits to Chicago.
According to his defense attorney Branion once shielded King from a thrown brick with his own body.
Although Branion had an on-going affair with a woman who shared his passion for civil rights activism, by all accounts the 30-year Branion marriage was otherwise happy. The Branions had two children, a daughter and a son who was 4 years old in 1967.
The crime that put Dr. Branion in prison occurred in the morning of December 22, 1967 when Donna Branion was shot to death in her home. The evidence that pointed to Dr. Branion as the murderer was all circumstantial and at his trial Dr. Branion unsuccessfully used an affirmative defense of impossibility — it was impossible for him to have killed his wife because at the time she died he was someplace else.
That's why time was so important in the Branion murder case.
Donna Branion was known to have been alive at about 10:15 a.m. when she spoke with her sister about some mundane topics. Donna's sister, Joyce Tyler, testified that her sister did not sound agitated or upset about anything.
The first event occurred at 11:05 a.m. when a neighbor of the Branions returned home from shopping. Theresa Kentra later told police that about 20 minutes later she heard a "loud sound followed by two or three similar sounds" and then a commotion of some sort.
The court opinions in this case refer to them as "sounds" or a "commotion" while Mrs. Kentra, on the stand, used the word "shots" — quite a difference in connotation. The reason for the change in wording is because in a criminal appeal the law requires courts to view the case with an implicit favorability for the prosecution.
In Brannon's case, the prosecution claimed the noises were "sounds," so the courts reviewing the case assumed the jury believed the state's theory was correct. However, even if a jury as the arbiter of truth finds the defendant guilty, that does not mean it agreed with the prosecution on every detail — but appellate courts do not like to second-guess juries on facts, and so apply the precedent across the board regardless.
Let's agree that what Mrs. Kentra heard happened at 11:25 a.m because Dr. Branion's defense and appellate counsel asserted it was so and the prosecution did not object.
Some 15 or 20 minutes after she heard those noises, Mrs. Kentra saw Dr. Branion come out of his apartment and call for "Helen," another doctor who lived nearby. For what it's worth (and it might be worth a lot) Mrs. Kentra said Dr. Branion did not appear to be agitated.
Chicago police logged a call reporting Donna Branion's death at 11:57 a.m. One minute later, the first patrol car was at the scene. Officer William Catizone testified at Dr. Branion's trial that he found Donna's body lying in the utility room of the Branion home.
Donna had been shot in the head, neck, and shoulder. Three bullets passed through her body and were found at the scene beneath her body while a fourth was found in her body during the autopsy.
There was no sign of forced entry and Donna had not been sexually assaulted. Robbery also did not appear to be the motive.
Almost immediately suspicion fell on Dr. Branion, despite the fact that he had no motive for killing his wife. They were a loving couple despite his unusually close relationship with Shirley Hudson, who he met in the civil rights movement and later married.
Money wasn't an issue. Certainly Donna Branion came from a wealthy family, but Dr. Branion would not inherit anything as a widower; in fact, if all he cared about was his wife's money, he had a strong motivation to keep her alive.
Police centered their attention on Dr. Branion because of the way he acted after discovering his wife's body.
Entering the home, he turned on the light in the utility room, saw his wife lying in a pool of blood and simply turned off the light, left the room and called for help. He told police that he did not approach her because he could tell by her appearance that she was dead. Even for a physician, this is odd. Few would assume a patient — particularly a family member — would be dead without closer examination.
As the investigation into Donna Branion's murder went on, other circumstantial evidence emerged. Ballistics experts determined that Donna was shot by a Walther PPK, a type of gun owned by Dr. Branion. However, when police asked him whether he had any guns capable of firing the .380 slug of the type that killed his wife, Dr. Branion did not tell them that he owned a PPK — which can fire .380 cartridges despite being a 9mm weapon.
Later, armed with a search warrant, police recovered two boxes of ammunition in the Branion home. One box was full, containing 25 cartridges. The other box was missing four shells.
That was good enough for the police. Dr. Branion was arrested and charged with the murder of his wife.
At trial the medical examiner testified that Donna had been shot four times, while the defense strongly disputed that assertion.
D'Amato was one of Dr. Branion's appellate counsel who wrote an excoriating critique in a Cardozo Law Review article about the judicial review the doctor's case received.
The number of bullet wounds, like the timeline, is essential to understanding the Branion case. The state recovered four slugs that were later identified as having the class characteristics of bullets fired from a Walther PPK (six lands and grooves with a right-hand twist and marks on the cartridge from a pin that indicates the weapon is loaded).
The Chicago police firearms expert who testified about the murder weapon (which was never found) stated that the slugs had the class characteristics of .380 caliber automatic ammunition.
Because we're dealing with circumstantial evidence, appearances are important. Dr. Branion owned a Walther PPK — a 9mm Walther, not a .380. A 9mm can fire .380 rounds, but it's not designed to do so. At the time Walther made both 9mm and .380 PPKs.
Dr. Branion was questioned at the crime scene.
Branion told investigators that after leaving the club he stopped again to pick up Maxine Brown with whom he and his wife had a lunch date. The state estimated that the drive to Maxine's and conversation with her (during which she cancelled the lunch) took 4 minutes.
It took another minute or two to drive home and discover Donna's body.
Assuming that the murder occurred when the shots were fired at 11:25 a.m., by his account — and that of a nurse/witness — Dr. Branion was at least a mile away from the scene of the crime.
However, putting aside the fact that Dr. Branion was very likely not at the scene of the crime, let's explore the state's theory of the crime that Dr. Branion was the killer because the crime was not committed when the neighbor heard the shots, but was actually committed sometime between the time he left the hospital and the call to the police was made.
The police estimated that the drive from the hospital to the club to pick up the Branion child would take between 4 and 51/2 minutes. Therefore the earliest he could arrive would be 11:34 a.m. The teacher testified that Dr. Branion took off his own coat, dressed his young son, and put on his own coat, taking 5 minutes to complete the ritual. It was then 11:39 a.m.
The police estimated that it took Branion somewhere between 1 and 2 minutes to drive to Maxine Brown's office. He arrived there at 11:40 a.m. The conversation with Maxine took a maximum of 2 minutes, making the earliest he left there 11:42 a.m. The minimum drive time home was 1 minute, according to the state. Thus, according to the minimum time required to traverse the route Branion took, he could have arrived home at 11:43 a.m. — a full 14 minutes before the call was made to police.
The defense, however, could argue that every one of the 27 minutes between the time Branion left the hospital and the police were alerted could be accounted for by taking the nurse's statement that he left at 11:34 as fact, and using the maximum times for each stop. The defense's argument isn't that far-fetched once one learns that the police timed the drive from checkpoint to checkpoint but never included the time it would take to enter and exit a car and walk to the building.
No one ever seems to have suggested that any one of the theories could be blown out of the water if a clock here or there was inaccurate or if the streets were more or less crowded on the day of the murder or if the initial assumption that murder occurred exactly at 11:25 a.m. was just plain wrong.
There was a bit more circumstantial evidence that did in Dr. Branion. After he became the chief suspect, police executed a search warrant and found a box of shells with exactly four missing (curiously, the court opinions state that the bullets were .380 caliber while D'Amato writes that they were 9mm).
He was having an affair with Shirley Hudson that police used as the motivating factor for Donna's murder. Nothing else made sense. Donna's family was wealthier than Branion's — his best hope for wealth lay in keeping her alive (although he would have done OK by managing what their son inherited).
Ballistics experts determined that Donna was shot by a Walther PPK, a type of gun owned by Dr. Branion. However, when police asked him whether he had any guns capable of firing the .380 slug of the type that killed his wife, Dr. Branion did not tell them that he owned a PPK — which can fire .380 cartridges despite being a 9mm weapon. Although conclusively established as the owner of a Walther, Dr. Branion claimed it had been stolen and could not produce it. That gun, like the murder weapon, was never found.
On May 28, 1968, Dr. John Marshall Branion was convicted of murdering his wife.
Even if the evidence had been more straightforward, the scales of justice were tipped against Dr. Branion for the judge overseeing his case was crooked.
Judge Reginald Holzer, who presided over Branion's trial, was eventually convicted of corruption charges as a result of the infamous Chicago Greylord investigation.
After the doctor's conviction his defense counsel moved for judgment notwithstanding the verdict — essentially asking the judge to nullify the jury's decision. Judge Holzer announced that he would take the motion under advisement.
At this point the rules went out the window and a free-for-all began. Justice was for sale to the highest bidder.
The prosecutor in the case, Patrick Tuite, apparently heard a rumor that Holzer was going to grant Branion's motion to set aside the verdict. Violating the prohibition against ex parte communication, Tuite asked Holzer not to grant the motion but instead to allow the appellate court to decide the case.
Holzer called Tuite and "suggested" that he seek a continuance to answer Branion's motion despite Tuite's assertion than no continuance was needed. This was Holzer's way of putting more pressure on Branion's side to come up with money to tilt the scales of justice their way.
Nelson Brown (Donna's brother) came to me and said that Judge Holzer was looking for a bribe. ..A couple of days later Nelson Brown told me that he was able to get $20,000 from other friends of John Branion's, but they had imposed the condition that $10,000 be paid to Judge Holzer in advance and the remaining $10,000 would be paid to him as soon as John Branion was freed.
Several days later, the affidavit continues, "$10,000 cash was passed to Judge Holzer" at a Holiday Inn on Lake Shore Drive. Shortly after the bribe, John Branion, a convicted murderer facing life in prison, was released on $5,000 bail.
It turns out that Judge Holzer accepted the $10k but told Nelson Brown that he could not overturn the verdict because Tuite had gotten wind of the bribe and threatened to expose the whole setup. Instead, he would keep the ten grand and give Dr. Branion a chance to flee the country — which he did.
Dr. Branion fled to Uganda where he was either the personal physician to Idi Amin or a humanitarian doctor providing services to the poor. When the Idi Amin regime fell in the 1980s, Dr. Branion was put on a plane and sent back to the United States to begin a 20-to-30-year sentence.
His appeals failed and Dr. Branion served 7 years in prison. As Dr. Branion's health failed, his sentence was commuted for mercy reasons and he died in September 1990 at the age 64, closing one of the most bizarre and pathetic chapters of American criminal investigation and justice ever.


text:
Official Website Unveiled!
Of Publishings and Editings
Guest blogger: SF novelist Susan Jane Bigelow
Revision Vision
Please welcome today's guest! Susan Jane Bigelow is the author of Broken, a dystopian sci fi superhero novel from Candlemark & Gleam. Its sequel, Fly Into Fire, is due out in January. I asked Susan to talk about writing superhero characters.
Hi. I'm Susan, and I write about superheroes. Sort of.
Superheroes, or any kind of super-powered character, can be a great vehicle for incredible storytelling. The problem, unfortunately, is that we tend to think of superheroes in terms of heroic archetypes in tight costumes Doing Good Things, because that's the image we usually have of them from comic books, cartoons and movies. If you don't read a lot of superhero stories, or even if you do, this is likely where your sense of them begins and ends. The challenge, then, is to turn a type of character that most people expect to be cardboard and cartoonish into someone they can relate to and understand.
Lots of writers and directors have done this well. Peter David's run with Supergirl was one of my favorites for just this reason, even though a lot of other fans don't like it. Supergirl is this impossible character to write, but David's reboot of her allows her to become more human (how, you ask? Well, it involves a pile of pink goo and... um, maybe it's better not to know), and he lets us see her ambivalence alongside her pride in who she is, and her desperate need to belong and fit in. The final arc of his run, with its mix of the human and the heroic, is one of the better superhero stories I've read.
That's the kind of thing I strive for when I'm writing these kinds of characters. I like to make lists, so here is a list of questions I start off with when creating super-powered people in my stories:
1. Powers – what are they? What exactly can this character do/not do? It's good to know about limits. Can they leap a tall building in a single bound? Two or three? And how tall is "tall," anyway?
2. Powers – what's it like having them? How does the character feel about different aspects of their power? As in, if they can light fires, is that comfortable to do emotionally? What about physically? How does it feel to shoot fire from their fingertips? Is it hot? Do they mind if it is? Are they kind of a pyromaniac, or do they want to hide under the bed when someone lights a cigarette?
3. Super-visibility or super-stealth? Is being a superhero or a differently-powered person visible? Do other people around the person know? Is there a lot of hiding going on? What's that like? Bruce Wayne seems to get a kick out of hiding his "true" bat-self from board meetings at the Wayne Foundation, but not everyone might react in the same way. If there is a secret identity, which one is the mask and which is the real person? Is it some mix of the two? Is it more difficult to hide, or more difficult to be seen?
4. What's it like being different? And that's another important thing: super-powered people are going to be markedly different, sometimes in extremely visible ways, from everyone around them. How does this character react to that? How does anybody react to being different from the "norm" in some fundamental way? I think this is one of the questions that matters the most, at least in the stories I write.
5. Are you a hero, a villain, or something else? Is this character heroic? Evil? Avoids the subject altogether? Never uses their powers except to get that can of applesauce open? Can a healer walk past a hospital and not help? Can a firestarter walk by a camp full of shivering people and not make them warm? What do we do in moments where we're tested? This is such a key question, and it's often central to the best stories. When the moment comes, whatever that moment may be, what do you do? Do you run away? Stand your ground? Set a city block on fire with your mind? The answer may surprise you.
There are other questions, of course, but it's the intersection of humanity and super-humanity that I think makes for the most compelling and interesting stories. After all, it's not the alien birth of Superman that interests us, but the human he's become.
You can visit Susan Jane Bigelow on her website.
You can purchase Broken on Amazon.
You can find the pre-order Kickstarter campaign for Fly Into Fire here.
Labels: Guest blogger Susan Jane Bigelow, science fiction, superheroes
Miranda Paul December 8, 2011 at 11:00 AM
Great questions and ideas to consider, Susan. I enjoyed reading this guest blog article! Thanks for posting it.
Allyn Stotz December 8, 2011 at 11:08 AM
Great information, Susan. I haven't written a story about a super-hero yet but your outline of questions could also help in writing other characters. Thanks for you input!
Ruth Schiffmann December 8, 2011 at 1:33 PM
I've never thought about writing about super heroes, but this was a very interesting post. I love, love, love the covers of Susan's books!!
Kate December 8, 2011 at 2:41 PM
"After all, it's not the alien birth of Superman that interests us, but the human he's become."
Wow. Right on the nose.
Mirka Breen December 8, 2011 at 3:38 PM
Evocative.
Kelly Hashway December 8, 2011 at 4:07 PM
"After all, it's not the alien birth of Superman that interests us, but the human he's become."--Love this! So true!
Claudine December 9, 2011 at 5:02 AM
This is such a fresh interview topic, because I've never thought of writing about superheroes. I like the idea of the intersection between humanity and super-humanity.
By the way, I like the cover of BROKEN. She looked like she was floating to the sky instead of falling (to me), so against the title of destruction, that was a rather interesting contrast.
Katrina December 9, 2011 at 10:16 AM
What a great interview! This makes me really want to read these books. Thanks so much for coming over, Susan. Good luck with your future publications.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: How do I create a large 2D vector in C++? The following statements run perfectly on my local Windows machine, but when I submit it online, (on some online coding competition judges, not all) it gives me a bad allocation error.
#define MAXV 100001
vector<vector<bool>> Mat(MAXV, vector<bool>(MAXV,false));

When I run my code online, it gives me the following error message:
terminate called after throwing an instance of 'std::bad_alloc'
  what():  std::bad_alloc

Is it the proper way to define a large 2D vecotr?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


ProMovie Recorder – Video camera app with manual control for iOS devices.
Video camera app for iOS devices.
iPad Air 2 / Mini 4.
For exposure compensation, shutter speed, ISO, white balance and focus.
Stereo recording with supported microphones.
Share with friends or copy to computer.
• Separate Exposure Point and Focus Point.
• Exposure offset indicator when using manual exposure.
• White balance calibration with gray cards.
• Supports external microphones (lightning / headphone jack).
• Stereo recording with supported microphones.
• Audio monitoring through headphones.
• On-screen audio level indicator.
• Supported audio formats: 256 Kbps AAC, 16-bit PCM.
• Supported sample rates: 44.1 kHz, 48 kHz.
• Copy videos to a computer with iTunes file sharing.
• Sports exporting videos to camera roll.
• Share videos through Facebook, Vimeo or other supported apps.
• Grids and cropping guides for easier composition.
• Full screen modes that provide cleaner views.
• Level that indicates whether the device is tilted.
• Supports 2.4:1 anamorphic adaptors.
• Supports video rotation / flip for lens accessories.
An in-app purchase is required to record videos without the 'ProMovie Recorder' watermark.


Sonky dowurde Turkmenistanda Rapcylar kopeldi. Rap we Hip-hop stili Tmhitste hem kopeldi.
Saytymyza gosulan taze aydymcylaryn kopisi bu iki janryn icinden gelyan aydymcylar. ZumerChas, Syke, Rude, ST, MkM bulardan kabirleri. Bularyn yanynda 2 sany gyz repci hem gosuldy - Jeyka we Marseyk.
You can feel a wind of change in Turkmenistan Rap and Hip-Hop Music.
Most of the new artists that we've added to the site are coming from these 2 music genres. ZumerChas, Syke, Rude, ST, MkM are just a few of them. Besides all these male artists, we saw 2 female artists from Turkmenistan, quite an interesting fact - Jeyka and Marseyk.
Although these new singers, don't have a lot of tracks like other popular artists, they managed to take their place among mainstream artists. On the right side of the website we've seen ZumerChas, Syke and S.T. to hold their positions under "Popular Artists of the Week" (Hepdäniň Aýdymçylary), for a few weeks now. This fact alone clearly shows their popularity among Tmhits listeners, who are mainly teenagers and young adults.


How does Isaiah describe God (1)?
What were the seraphim doing (3)?
What happened when God spoke (4)?
What was Isaiah's response to seeing God in His greatness, holiness and power (5)?
When we pray, we need to see God for who He is and come to Him in humility and repentance, seeing our own unworthiness.
· Offer your prayers today from a humble, repentant heart.
Father, I confess that my view and understanding of You is much too small. Help me come to see Your greatness and Your holiness. Help me to remember my need for a Savior every day so that I can pray from a humble, repentant heart. Amen.


KWTX reported that an 8-year-old girl was critically injured in a car crash in the Central Texas area Friday afternoon.
The girl and four other people were injured in a collision at the intersection of State Highway 31 and FM 939 just northeast of Axtell around 2 PM.
The injured were transported too Baylor Scott & White Hillcrest Medical Center in Waco. The little girl had to be airlifted.
Department of Public Safety Sargent Ryan Howard said, "Investigators determined that the driver of a Chevrolet SUV that was southbound on FM 939 ran a stop sign." Howard also said, "An eastbound Ford passenger car struck the SUV in the intersection."


NOTE: The podcast is now available on Google Play! Click the grey button below to listen through Play.
Old friends. A tease. Canon and cocktail discovery in the early days. We taste Ransom Old Tom Gin. "You better appreciate this, Eric." We (finally) make a Whiskey Sour. Milkshakes in Home Ec. Refrigerating eggs.
This entry was posted in podcast and tagged cocktail, cocktail podcast, cocktails, cocktails podcast, liquor, liquor podcast, simple cocktails podcast on April 20, 2016 by Greg.


text:
Q: How to make git work with vimdiff and trustExitCode I have configured vimdiff as mergetool for git. Whenever i do a merge, git never asks wether the merge was successful. I also tried:
git config --global mergetool.vimdiff.trustExitCode false
with no difference. Still no question after i leave vimdiff with :wqa and i have to manually remove stale *.orig files.
Maybe related: When i display config settings trustExitCode is not displayed with camelcase anymore:
git config --global -l
core.editor=vim
core.autocrlf=input
merge.tool=vimdiff
alias.co=checkout
alias.st=status
color.diff=auto
color.status=auto
color.branch=auto
mergetool.vimdiff.trustexitcode=false

How can this be fixed?

A: I know this is an old question, but I just ran into the same issue.
The part about manually removing stale backup files can be fixed with:
git config --global mergetool.vimdiff.keepBackup false

I think other problem is that trustExitCode doesn't do what you think it does:

mergetool.<tool>.trustExitCode
For a custom merge command, specify whether the exit code of the merge command can be used to determine whether the merge was successful. If this is not set to true then the merge target file timestamp is checked and the merge assumed to have been successful if the file has been updated, otherwise the user is prompted to indicate the success of the merge.

So, even with this option set to false, it will only prompt you if the file hasn't been changed.

A: I know this isn't really an answer to your question, but I think you should checkout a vim plugin called Fugitive.
There's even a screencast on resolving merge conflicts with vimdiff
It basically offers all (or most of) the git functionality you find in the terminal, but within vim in a way that really makes sense. Hope that helps and good luck :D.

A: With trustExitCode set (which seems to be the default for vimdiff) you will need to exit vim with a non-zero exit code for git to recognize the files as not merged.
In vim this means using :cq[uit] to exit. Take note that :cq behaves like :qall!, meaning it silently discards all unsaved changes and quits vim (with a non-zero exit code).
When doing this (git v2.14.2.windows.1; git bash; vim 8.0.606) git writes
merge of exampleFile.cpp failed
Continue merging other unresolved paths [y/n]?

And it leaves the file in a conflicting state. If I would have exited with :qall! the conflict might still be in the file, but git would have marked it as resolved.
As to why git still accepts it as resolved when using trustExitCode = false, I am a bit unsure. When opening a file with git mergetool the timestamp is updated to the current time, which seems to indicate that vimdiff (or git) is touching the file. This might be the reason git won't ask for confirmation ofd the conflict resolution as it sees the updated time stamp and assumes the file was resolved.


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Leicestershire Communities
Information for Communities
Transport to appointments during the pandemic
Funding - Covid 19
Mental Health & Wellbeing during Covid19
Leicestershire Communities Fund 2020
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Think Funding - Annual Fundraising Survey
Posted: Tue, 19 Jan 2021 10:37
NHS Charities Together Funding for LLR
Posted: Wed, 13 Jan 2021 13:46
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Posted: Wed, 02 Dec 2020 08:10
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Home » Coronavirus Information » Funding - Covid 19
Below is a list of grants and funding opportunities currently available to help address and respond to the Coronavirus pandemic in communities:
Allchurches Trust - Hope Beyond Programme
Grants of up to £50,000 are available for churches and Christian charities to adapt to the challenges and opportunities presented by the coronavirus/COVID-19 crisis.
Alpkit Foundation
Grants of up to £500 available to support projects that demonstrate an immediate impact on those affected by the Covid-19 crisis.
Arts Council - Covid19 Support
The Arts Council is making £160 million of emergency funding available to artists and organisations working in the arts and cultural sector during the pandemic.
Arts Council - Culture Recovery Fund
To support cultural organisations as they transition back to a viable and sustainable operating model during April-June 2021. Grants range from £25,000 to £3 million.
Deadline for applications is 26th January 2021
Barclays Covid19 Community Aid Package
Barclays has launched a COVID-19 Community Aid Package of £100 million to charities working to support vulnerable people impacted by COVID-19, and to alleviate the associated social and economic hardship caused by the crisis.
Big Society Capital - Coronavirus Response Fund
£100 million programme of loans and investment to help get much-needed emergency funding to social enterprises, charities and small businesses in disadvantaged areas affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
Blaby District Council - Coronavirus Recovery - Special Grant Round
Grants of up to £1,000 available to community organisations in Blaby to manage the impacts of the Coronavirus pandemic.
Charity Excellence - Covid19 Funding Information
A comprehensive list of grants, funding and associated information for the VCSE sector, related to the Covid19 crisis.
Community Radio Fund
Grants of up to £7,500 are available for Ofcom-licensed community radio stations which are taking steps to tackle loneliness and isolation within their communities.
Applications close on 14th Jan 2021.
CoOp Community Dividend Fund
The Fund has been adapted to provide immediate financial support for local good causes, community groups and charities who are responding to some of the most worrying impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. Grants from between £100 and £5,000 are available.
Crisis - 'In This Together' Grants Programme - Small Grants
Crisis wants to support charitable organisations who are financially affected by additional demands on their resources as a result of Covid-19 and have established an emergency grant fund for organisations supporting people who are experiencing rough sleeping and homelessness.
Crisis - 'In This Together' Grants Programme - Large Grants
Crisis are making grants of up to £50,000 for more structural and long term needs, including potential expansion or change in service delivery, for organisations supporting people who are experiencing rough sleeping and homelessness.
Culture Recovery Fund For Heritage
The fund is to assist cultural and heritage attractions in the transition from lockdown to re-opening.Grants of between £10,000 and £3 million are available to cover any costs associated with re-opening.
The fund opens on the 7th Jan 2021 and closes on 21st Jan 2021.
Hastings Direct - Covid 19 Community Grant Scheme
The grant is for local charities within a 20 mile radius of Conquest House (Hastings' head office) or St George's Way (Leicester office).
Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council - Community Volunteers Fund Covid-19 Recovery 2020
Volunteers are invited to put forward applications which develop and sustain community activities centred on Covid-19 recovery, with outcomes such as health and well-being/positive mental health along with having a positive impact to our locality. Grants of £250 are available.
John Lewis - Community Support Fund
A £1m Community Support Fund will be available to communities across the UK to help those in need in their local communities.
Leicester Leicestershire & Rutland Community Foundation - The Coronavirus Support Fund
Grants between £500 and £5,000 are available to support constituted charitable and community organisations who are providing direct services for vulnerable groups during the pandemic.
Leicestershire County Council - Communities Fund Round 3
Leicestershire County Council has re-opened the grant fund to support the local voluntary and community sector, during the current Coronavirus pandemic. Grants of up to £15,000 are available. Closing date is 22nd Jan 2021
Leicestershire Live - 'There With You' Fund
Leicestershire Live have established the 'There With You' Fund which issues emergency grants of up to £300 in goods to Leicestershire residents in a position of exceptional hardship caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The fund will be administered by Charity Link. (Please note the online application form is branded Northamptonshire County Council).
Lloyds Bank Foundation - COVID Recovery Fund
£7.4 million COVID funding aimed at supporting charities to recover beyond the immediate crisis. Charities can apply for a two-year unrestricted grant of £50,000 from Monday 3 August at 10am.
Mind - Coronavirus Mental Health Response Fund - Temporarily Paused
Grants of £20,000 or £50,000 are available for projects lasting up to 12 months, for VCS organisations based in England to continue to provide mental health services, or to provide additional support during the pandemic.
Morrisons Foundation - COVID-19 Homeless Support Fund
Grants of up to £10,000 are available for charities caring for the homeless during the coronavirus outbreak.
National Emergencies Trust - Coronavirus Appeal
The National Emergencies Trust (NET), has launched an appeal to raise funds for local charities and grassroots organisations, that can provide vital support to people in the quickest way possible. Please only contact NET to donate.
National Lottery - Awards for All
A quick way to apply to the Lottery for smaller amounts of funding between £300 and £10,000. Although it is now open to all applications that meet its criteria it will continue to support people and communities most adversely impacted by COVID-19.
National Lottery Community Fund
The National Lottery have re-opened all of its current regular grant schemes. It is open to all applications that meet its criteria and will continue to support people and communities most adversely impacted by COVID-19.
National Lottery - Reaching Communities
The programme will award funding of over £10,000 for up to 5 years of expenditure. Although it is now open to all applications that meet its criteria it will continue to support people and communities most adversely impacted by COVID-19.
Neighbourly Community Fund (currently closed)
Neighbourly launched a series of micro-grants of up to £400, to support good causes that are helping communities affected by the new Coronavirus outbreak. Applications are currently only accepted from existing Neighbourly charities and community groups.
Five grants of £73,000 each are being made available to local community groups/charities, operating in Leicester, Leicestershire or Rutland, for projects which improve health outcomes for vulnerable groups. Deadline is Friday 29th January 2021.
Power To Change- Emergency Support Fund
Power to Change, the independent trust that supports community businesses in England, is launching up to £12 million of emergency support to provide both immediate and medium-term help for community businesses facing a loss of trading income during the coronavirus crisis.
£7 million in rescue funding for community businesses.
£5 million in recovery funding, to be made available later this year.
Resilience and Recovery Loan Fund
The fund offers emergency loans of between £100,000 and £1.5 million that can be used as working capital until an organisation's normal business can commence again. The loans will have no fees or interest for the first 12 months and can be available for up to 5 years.
Deadline for applications is 31st January 2021.
Rosa's Covid - 19 Response Fund (small grants) - currently closed
The fund will provide grants of between £1,000 and £10,000 for specialist women's organisations across the UK. It is particularly interested in organisations which support; marginalised populations, BME women, LGBTQ+ women and girls, women and girls with disabilities, older women, homeless women, survivors of gender violence, women in prison and ex-offenders.
Sport England Return to Play - Community Asset Fund
Capital grants to help local sports clubs and community groups adapt and open important places and spaces so that sport and physical activity can happen during the coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic. Grants of between £10,001 and £50,000 are available.
Sport England Return to Play - Small Grants
This fund will make awards of between £300 and £10,000,to help sport and activity groups, clubs and organisations respond to the immediate challenges of returning to play in a coronavirus-safe way.
The Police and Crime Commissioner's Prevention Fund
An extra £100,000 will now be available through the PCC Prevention Fund during 2020-21. This scheme has been extended to include applications which can support communities to cope with the impact of Covid-19 and channel emergency help to where it is needed most.
© 2021 Leicestershire Communities. All rights reserved.
Website designed and developed by Cuttlefish


Come see us at Gifts that Make a Difference! December 8th 12-4pm at the McTavish Room of the Liberty Theater. We'll be selling these adorable hand-painted candles for a suggested donation of $5 each. They have a lovely Fir Needle scent making them the perfect holiday candle for your home or a stocking stuffer for your friends and family. All proceeds and other donations received at the event go directly to The Harbor to support survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking. This is truly a gift that makes a difference. Hope to see you there!


This is one song that is sung at my church during praise and worship on a regular rotation. Today's service was all about having faith and succeeding beyond circumstances. It was not one of those prosperity doctrines either. A young lady gave her testimony on achieving 2:1 degree after 4 years to become Neuro science doctor. She achieved this without a student loan and always kept God first. It was very inspiring listening to her.


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Deonna Purrazzo Believes IMPACT Bound For Glory 2021 Was Steve Maclin's Breakout Moment
Gisberto Guzzo &	Sean Ross Sapp &	Jeremy Lambert Dec 12, 2021 5:00PM
Deonna Purrazzo is incredibly proud of Steve Maclin and everything he's done since his WWE release.
After seven years with WWE, Steve Maclin (Cutler) was released by WWE in February 2021. He had been teaming with Wesley Blake, both of whom, along with Jaxson Ryker, made up the Forgotten Sons. In June, Maclin made his debut in IMPACT Wrestling and has since been a staple of the X Division.
During a recent interview with Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp, Purrazzo, who is in a relationship with Maclin, commented on how they didn't know each other prior to WWE and how she had never really seen him as a singles competitor. Now, both in IMPACT, Deonna sees Maclin as a Samoa Joe-esque throwback for the X Division.
"Yeah. I would even go as far as to say I wasn't well aware of that because when I had met him because he was in a tag team with Weston Blake—Corey—his best friend. I had never seen what he could do as a singles competitor. Because, although we grew up an hour from each other, we know all the same people from Jersey, we had never met. We had never been around each other before WWE or until I came to NXT. So to see him break out, and I said to him Bound for Glory was his breakout moment. Everyone saw,'Oh shit, this is different from flipping and what the X-Division was known for.' Like a throwback to Samoa Joe in the X-Division a little bit. I couldn't even tell you how proud of him I am. He's taken this with stride. He went out there with a purpose to say, 'I'm gonna prove you wrong and I'm going to show everyone what I can do on my own,' because he never got the chance to do it," Purrazzo said.
Maclin has been aiming to capture the X Division Title but has yet to receive a one-on-one opportunity. Trey Miguel pinned El Phantasmo at Bound For Glory to win the belt while Maclin was laid out on the outside of the ring.
Fightful provides live coverage of IMPACT Wrestling every Thursday night beginning at 8 p.m. ET.


Evans has headed the DeKalb NAACP for more than 12 years. He also serves as president of his own civil rights organization, Operation Lead. Evans is a former member of the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners and former member of the Marta Board of Directors.
John Evans, President of the NAACP DeKalb County Branch, plead before the school board this week to look past qualifications and a "straight forward bid process" and hire a "black firm".
WSB-TV24's Richard Belcher interviews John Evans regarding his comments at the 07/07/2014 DeKalb Schools board meeting.


CHARACTERISTICS: DEEP RED IN COLOUR, ITS BOUQUET IS ELEGANT AND COMPLEX, WITH NOTABLE TRACES OF BLACKBERRY, STRAWBERRY, SPICES, AND BALSAMIC NOTES. MOUTH FILLING AND RICH, THE LABEL'S WELL-BRED TANNINS LEAD TO A NOTABLE PERSISTENCE. THIS WINE POSSESSES AN EXCELLENT AGEING CAPACITY.
IT IS A REMARKABLE WINE, FOR WHICH CAREFUL TASTING RENDERS IT AN UNFORGETTABLE EXPERIENCE.
CHARACTERISTICS: SOLUS IS A WINE WE ARE PROUD OF: INTENSE, PURPLE RED COLOUR, WITH AN OPEN BOUQUET THAT HINTS OF WILD BERRIES, PREDOMINANTLY BLACKBERRIES, AND SPICY TONES. THE WINE IS FULL AND ROUND, SHOWING A QUALITY STRUCTURE THAT ENHANCES ITS FRUITY TONES AND PERSISTENCE. THIS WINE POSSESSES AN OPTIMAL AGEING CAPACITY.
CHARACTERISTICS: OUR DOC MONTECUCCO IS A BLEND OF SANGIOVESE AND MONTEPULCIANO, IT HAS A BRIGHT RED COLOUR WITH VIOLET NUANCES. THE BOUQUET IS INTENSE AND FRUITY, WITH HINTS OF CHERRY AND WILD BERRY. ITS SOFT TANNINS ENHANCE ITS DELICACY AND PERSISTENCE. A WELL-BALANCED WINE, IT RENDERS ITSELF HARMONIOUSLY ACIDIC AND LARGELY ENJOYABLE.
CHARACTERISTICS: THE COLOUR IS PALE PINK DUE TO THE RAPID MACERATION OF THE SKINS. THE PERFUME IS INTENSE BUT DELICATE, WITH NOTES OF CITRUS, GRAPEFRUIT AND POMEGRANATE COMBINED WITH ROSE AND HAWTHORN. IN THE MOUTH, ITS FRESHNESS AND ACIDITY FURTHER EXPLODES, SOFTENED BY RED BERRIES AND MINERAL NOTES.
CHARACTERISTICS: OUR VERMENTINO HAS A STRAW-YELLOW COLOUR AND REVEALS PERFUMES OF YELLOW FLOWERS, PEACH AND FRUITY NOTES. IN THE MOUTH, IT PRESENTS A GOOD BALANCE OF MINERAL AND ACIDITY, WHICH MAKES IT A REFRESHING AND ELEGANT WINE. WE RECOMMEND ENJOYING IT FOR APERITIF OR COMBINED WITH FISH, WHITE MEAT OR FRESH CHEESE.
ITS RUBY RED COLOUR IS NOT REALLY INTENSE AND TENDS TO TURN WITH AGE INTO A BRICK RED. THE SANGIOVESE IS INITIALLY A SHARP VINE BUT, IF PROPERLY CURATED AND WITH AGEING, IT REACHES A PERFECT BALANCE. THE NOSE REVEALS NOTES OF RED FRUITS, IN PARTICULAR CHERRY; IN THE MOUTH, TANNINS ARE DISCRETE, FULL-BODIED AND HARMONIOUS.
THE MONTEPULCIANO HAS AN INTENSE RUBY RED COLOUR WITH SHADES OF PURPLE AND A SOPHISTICATED PERFUME RECALLING WILD BERRIES AND PLEASANT SPICES. THE WINE IS FULL-BODIED WITH GOOD TANNINS: FAIRLY ALCOHOLIC, IT ACQUIRES, WITH AN APPROPRIATE AGEING, A REMARKABLE ELEGANCE AND IS PERFECT TO BE MIXED WITH OTHER BLENDS OF THE WINERY TO EXALT THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FINAL WINE.
WITH ITS DEEP COLORATION AND CHARACTERIZED BY INTENSE FRUITY NOTES AND SPICES, INTENSIFIED WITH AGEING, THE PETIT VERDOT PRESENTS A FAIR ACIDITY AND A GOOD STRUCTURE THAT MAKE IT FRESH AND ELEGANT.
ITS INTENSE RUBY RED COLOUR GOES WITH A STRONG BODY AND A GOOD ACIDITY. THE NOSE REVEALS HERBACEOUS PERFUMES OF GREEN PEPPERS WITH NOTES OF VIOLET AFTER SOME AGEING.
THE ALICANTE IS CHARACTERIZED BY NEITHER HIGH ALCOHOL LEVELS NOR PARTICULAR PERFUMES BUT BY A VERY INTENSE DARK RED COLOUR. THEREFORE, IT IS OFTEN USED TO INCREASE THE INTENSITY OF COLOUR OF THE BLEND. IT HAS A GOOD STRUCTURE AND IS LONG IN THE MOUTH.
THE MONTECUCCO DOC, LOCATED ON THE NORTH-EAST LIMITS OF GROSSETO PROVINCE, EMBRACES THE TERRITORY OF ARCIDOSSO, CAMPAGNATICO, CASTEL DEL PIANO, CINIGIANO, CIVITELLA, PAGANICO, ROCCALBEGNA AND SEGGIANO TOWNS. EASILY REACHABLE BY THE TUSCAN ROADS, IT COMES ALIVE WHERE THE SOFT SHAPES OF MAREMMA RAPIDLY GIVE WAY TO THE SLOPES OF THE AMIATA MOUNT, NESTLING BETWEEN THE BRUNELLO DI MONTALCINO DOCG AND THE MORELLINO DI SCANSANO.
THE TERRITORY, HIGHLY ADAPTED TO THE PRODUCTION OF SAN GIOVESE, BENEFITS OF EXTREMELY FAVOURABLE CLIMATIC CONDITIONS. COMPOSED OF FRAGMENTED SANDSTONE IN THE LOWER AREA, THE TERRITORY MUTES ITS COMPOSITION ALONG THE SLOPES OF THE AMIATA WHERE THE PRESENCE OF LAVA COMPOUND IS ASSERTED BRINGING TO THE VINE MINERALITY AND RICHNESS, THE DISTINCTIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF OUR WINES. IT IS THE UNION OF THIS TERRITORY AND THE EXPERT HANDS OF OUR GROWERS THAT GIVES BIRTH TO HIGHLY RATED RED WINE WITH THE DOC MONTECUCCO DENOMINATION.


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Ed Schrader's Music Beat shares new track 'Seagull'
Brandon Weigel
Image via Carpark Records
Local duo Ed Schrader's Music Beat has been keeping very busy since announcing a new album, "Riddles," due out March 2 on Carpark Records, and releasing a video for the new single "Dunce."
They put out a second single, the album's title track, roasted limited-edition coffee at Thread (available for sale at the label's site) and unboxed their own record on Valentine's Day for all of Twitter to see.
Today, they released a slow-burning third single, 'Seagull,' over at Consequence of Sound. It kicks off with finger snaps, a springy bass line from Devlin Rice and Schrader crooning in a way that Consequence of Sound rightly likens to "a musical street gang." The song spirals into a buzzing wall of sound.
As part of the site's Origins series, Schrader explained the meaning of 'Seagulls' this way: "'Seagull' is about a person who fears all the trappings of complacency, and to whom the term 'settling down' is like kryptonite. It is about that irrepressible road warrior in all of us that needs to feel the flame and skinned knees of adventure! The young, idealistic artist who prizes content over currency! Within the song though we see the cost of that freedom: 'Leaving is such a mess/ But I'm tired of just hanging round.'"
Listen below.
Reminder that the release show for "Dunce" is March 1 at Metro Gallery. Wume and Smoke Bellow are also on the bill.
Brandon Weigel is the managing editor of Baltimore Fishbowl. A graduate of the University of Maryland, he has been published in The Washington Post, The Sun, Baltimore Magazine, Urbanite, The Baltimore Business Journal, b and others. Prior to joining Baltimore Fishbowl, he was an editor at City Paper from 2012 to 2017. He can be reached at [email protected]
Latest posts by Brandon Weigel (see all)
NBC video of Trump, Epstein at party has brief appearance by former congressman, UMD great Tom McMillen - July 17, 2019
Security tightened at city buildings after fired employee gained access to sensitive areas - July 16, 2019
BSO management says audit results show 'substantial uncertainty,' but doesn't release report - July 15, 2019
ed schrader's music beat


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À propos de l'UNFPA
Notre présence
Haute direction
Ressources et financement
Achats et chaîne d'approvisionnement
Audit et Investigation
Ambassadeurs de bonne volonté et mécènes
Prix des Nations Unies en matière de population
Santé sexuelle et reproductive
Santé maternelle
Fistule obstétricale
Grossesses adolescentes
Mariage d'enfants
Éducation complète à la sexualité
Participation et leadership des jeunes
Droits de l'homme et égalité des sexes
Impliquer les hommes et les garçons
Mutilations génitales féminines
Violence sexiste
Sélection prénatale du sexe
Questions relatives à la population
Dividende démographique
Tendances démographiques
Campagnes et rapports interactifs
Décennie d'action
Accueil Actualités Maternal deaths continue to fall, new data show
Maternal deaths continue to fall, new data show

Anik, 16, with her newborn at the General Government Hospital in Tulear, Madagascar. UNFPA provides essential materials to new mothers at the hospital. Photo credit: Magnum Photos/Dominic Nahr

UNITED NATIONS, New York – New data from the United Nations reveal that maternal deaths have declined by 45 per cent since 1990. Some 523,000 deaths occurred from complications in pregnancy or childbirth in 1990; in 2013, that number was 289,000.
Despite this progress, most countries are not on track to meet the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target on maternal mortality, which calls for cutting the maternal mortality ratio by 75 per cent by 2015.
Nearly 800 women continue to die every day from pregnancy and childbirth. Not enough is being done to prevent adolescent pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections, HIV and gender-based violence, all of which endanger the lives of women and girls.
"Relatively simple and well-known interventions, like midwifery services and gender-based violence prevention and response, can make a huge difference if scaled up and coupled with investments in innovations, especially in the area of contraceptives," said Kate Gilmore, Deputy Executive Director of UNFPA, the UN Population Fund.
Revealing figures
The new data, published in Trends in maternal mortality estimates 1990 to 2013 , comes from an inter-agency group that includes UNFPA, the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Population Division (UNPD) and the World Bank Group. The figures were produced through an academic collaboration with the National University of Singapore and the University of California, Berkeley.
New data show that 289,000 women die annually from causes related to pregnancy and childbirth.
The data, which come from dozens of studies and improved methods of estimating births and deaths, are considered more reliable than previous assessments.
The report reveals that just 10 countries account for around 60 per cent of all maternal deaths: India (50,000), Nigeria (40,000), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (21,000), Ethiopia (13,000), Indonesia (8,800), Pakistan (7,900), the United Republic of Tanzania (7,900), Kenya (6,300), China (5,900) and Uganda (5,900).
It also shows that sub-Saharan Africa is still the riskiest region in the world to give birth. Chad and Somalia have the highest lifetime risk of maternal death – 1 in 15 and 1 in 18, respectively.
Still, there are bright spots in the report.
Eleven countries that had high levels of maternal mortality in 1990 have already reached the MDG target on reducing maternal mortality. These are: Bhutan, Cambodia, Cabo Verde, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Maldives, Nepal, Romania, Rwanda and Timor-Leste.
What more can be done?
Health systems must be strengthened, with quality facilities, personnel, equipment and medicine made accessible to all women. Comprehensive sexuality education and services for young people must also be made available.
Many efforts to improve health care are currently underway. UNFPA and its partners are working on the ground to train health workers – particularly midwives – and to distribute life-saving supplies such as clean delivery kits. UNFPA also supports voluntary family planning services, comprehensive sexuality education and emergency obstetric care.
But healthcare solutions are not enough. The human rights of women and girls must also be prioritized.
"More than 15 million girls aged 15 to 19 years give birth every year – one in five girls before they turn 18 – and many of these pregnancies result from non-consensual sex," Ms. Gilmore stressed. Adolescent pregnancy carries a heightened risk of injury and death.
More accurate data are also needed; it is believed that only one third of all deaths around the world are recorded.
Still, with the release of this new data, more is known about how many women are dying, and more is also known about the reasons behind their deaths. This will help policymakers and public health officials design better interventions.
"Thirty-three maternal deaths per hour is 33 too many," said Tim Evans, a health director at the World Bank Group. "We need to document every one of these tragic events, determine their cause and initiate corrective actions urgently."
– Rebecca Zerzan
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This is the easiest batch cooking day you'll ever have!
Nothing is simpler than this easy chicken plan (unless you count my effortless ground beef plan) for filling your freezer with precooked chicken, portioned and ready to make some quick meals.
Lots of recipes using precooked chicken!
Remove the chicken from the slow cooker with tongs or a slotted spoon, placing each piece in the bowl of a stand mixer. Once it's full, you're ready to shred. You want to be really careful with this step or you'll end up with very finely shredded pieces (which is okay if that's what you're going for!).
Using the flat beater paddle, set the stand mixer at speed 2 and use the pulse button to get it to the consistency you want. Or, just turn it on and watch it carefully - it shouldn't take more than 30 seconds to shred. The clean-up time takes longer than the shredding!
Package the chicken in 1-2 cup portions in freezer bags & label. Be sure to set some aside and use that yummy broth in the slow cooker to make a pot of soup.
Need some ideas to use up that freezer full of precooked chicken? Keep reading for a list of 24 easy meal ideas to get you started!
Easy BBQ Chicken Pizza from Crystal & Co.
Nothing could be easier than making a big batch of pre-cooked chicken for the freezer.


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IU Fort Wayne hosts official opening with ribbon-cutting ceremony Nov. 15
FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- Indiana University Fort Wayne will celebrate the completion of the school's renovations and its renewed dedication to health sciences education with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and reception Thursday, Nov. 15.
In July, IU officially transitioned its Fort Wayne programs from the university formerly known as IPFW. IU Fort Wayne continues the traditions of educating the best and brightest in northeast Indiana and is now dedicated to the fields of dentistry, medical imaging, medicine, nursing and social work. IU Fort Wayne will continue to provide well-educated and highly skilled health care professionals to the region's workforce.
IU Fort Wayne is celebrating its renewed dedication to health sciences education.
To celebrate the new IU Fort Wayne, campus leadership will share IU Fort Wayne's vision of service and continued commitment to the region with government leaders, community partners and invited guests. The mayor's office will present a proclamation, and Allen County Health Commissioner Deborah McMahan will discuss how the dedicated health science programs of IU Fort Wayne will impact the local community.
IU Fort Wayne staff and faculty will offer guided tours of facilities, including newly renovated spaces, immediately following the official ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The identified speakers will be available to the press for comments and interviews prior to the ceremony.
WHAT: IU Fort Wayne ribbon-cutting ceremony and reception
WHEN: Thursday, Nov. 15
5 p.m. Media availability includes: Fen-Lei Chang, director of the IU School of Medicine - Fort Wayne and chair of the IU Fort Wayne executive committee; Ann Obergfell, IU Fort Wayne associate vice chancellor of academic affairs and operations; Deborah McMahan, Allen County health commissioner.
5:30 p.m. Ceremony remarks and ribbon-cutting.
6 p.m. Guided tours, reception.
WHERE: 2101 E. Coliseum Blvd., Neff Hall 146
Bicentennial Priority: Building a Prosperous and Innovative Indiana
IU Fort Wayne
IUPUI Strategic Plan
Amber Denney
IU Communications
Email: ambdenne@iu.edu
More media resources


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Evidence that animals can think about thinking
There is growing evidence that animals may share humans' ability to reflect upon, monitor and regulate their states of mind, according to a study published in Trends in Cognitive Sciences this month. It was supported by the European Science Foundation EUROCORES programme 'Consciousness in a natural and cultural context' (CNCC).
There is growing evidence that animals may share humans' ability to reflect upon, monitor and regulate their states of mind, according to a study published in Trends in Cognitive Sciences this month. Dr David Smith, comparative psychologist at the University of Buffalo, makes this conclusion in a review of the new and rapidly developing area of studying animal metacognition. He was supported by the European Science Foundation EUROCORES programme 'Consciousness in a natural and cultural context' (CNCC). Humans can feel uncertainty. You know if you do not know or remember – a perfect example of this is the feeling of something being on the tip of your tongue. This capacity to be aware of our own thinking is known as metacognition. Establishing whether non-human animals also share this sophisticated human capacity is important for understanding their consciousness and self-awareness. The study of metacognition is based on the idea that human minds in particular have a function that monitors or controls perception and memory. "It is a crucial goal of comparative psychology to establish firmly whether animals share humans' capacity to think about thinking," says Dr David Smith. "Metacognition rivals language and tool use in its potential to establish important similarities or differences between human and animal minds." To find out whether non-human animals do have knowledge of their own cognitive states researchers have studied a dolphin, pigeons, rats, monkeys and apes using tests involving perception, memory and food-concealment. The results offer growing evidence that some animals do indeed have functional equivalents to humans' consciousness and to humans' cognitive self-awareness. Among these species are dolphins and macaque monkeys (an Old World monkey species). Smith recounts the original animal-metacognition experiment with Natua the dolphin: "When uncertain, the dolphin clearly hesitated and wavered between his two possible responses. But when certain, he swam toward his chosen response so fast that his bow wave would soak the researchers' electronic switches. Practicing safe science, the researchers were reduced to buying condoms to protect the apparatus from the exuberantly confident dolphin." In sharp contrast, other animals do not have the same capacity. Pigeons in several studies have so far not expressed any capacity for metacognition and several converging studies now show that capuchin monkeys (a New World monkey species) only express a limited capacity for metacognition. This raises important questions about the evolution of the reflective mind in primates and opens a new window on reflective mind in animals overall, illuminating its evolutionary emergence and allowing researchers to trace the precursors to human consciousness. Comparative psychologists are cautious about labeling animals' functional parallels with humans as a definite indicator of consciousness. Yet the fact that some animals' flexibly use metacognition without training means it is likely to reflect their conscious awareness. Smith is recognized for his research in the field of animal cognition. He and his colleagues pioneered the study of metacognition in nonhuman animals, and they have contributed some of the principal results in this area, including many results that involve the participation of Old World and New World monkeys who have been trained to use joysticks to participate in computer tasks. Smith is one of a growing number of American participants in EUROCORES, through support from the USA's National Science Foundation. The metacognition project is led by professor Joëlle Proust from the Institut Jean-Nicod in Paris, France. Dr Smith collaborates with partners from Austria, France, Germany and the UK to develop comparative knowledge of metacognitive processes, by exploring how similar these capacities are in non-human animals, human children and human adults. Dr Eva Hoogland, EUROCORES coordinator for the cognitive sciences at the European Science Foundation, comments: "The metacognition project is an exciting example of an international, interdisciplinary environment that is carefully prepared and managed, where partners from disciplines as diverse as developmental psychology, comparative biology and philosophy respect each other's work. This study shows how this has resulted in opening up promising research avenues to answer some of the most important research questions that currently face us."
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Alexey Osipov, EVP & Managing Director, MEA at Compass Plus, discusses the challenges FIs face in the evolving MEA payments market.
Rafael Marinho, AVP and Sales Director, Brazil, Compass Plus, speaks about the challenges FIs face in the evolving Brazilian payments market.
Despite the growth in the number of non-cash transactions in recent years, cash remains the most frequently used payment method in the US. Boris Demin, Vice President & Managing Director, Americas at Compass Plus, discusses how FIs can utilise the ATM to enhance customer experience.
Can prepaid cards drive financial inclusion?
Loyalty and banks: a marriage of convenience?
The results of a survey released by Valassis this week revealed that almost a third of US consumers don't feel any loyalty to their bank, with 10% of respondents planning to switch their bank within a year. Kirsty Berry, Head of Marketing & PR at Compass Plus, compares bank customer loyalty in the US and UK.
With 69% of its population with no access to financial services, and 96% of transactions still conducted in cash in the country, the Philippines is one of the lesser developed nations in terms of digital payments in Asia Pacific. Sergey Putenikhin, VP & Managing Director, Asia Pacific at Compass Plus, explores how FIs, banks and microfinance organisations can leverage digital banking platforms to provide access to financial services for untapped audiences.
Prepaid cards have the ability to revolutionise the remittance market and have begun to make significant inroads. Carlos Seer, Associate VP and Business Development Director, LAC at Compass Plus, explores how prepaid not only offers financial access to the unbanked and encourage the adoption of banking behaviours, but this card type offers FIs the opportunity to enter the remittance market without significant risk or costs, as there is no need for investment into establishing physical infrastructure.
Today, financial service access in Kenya is very high in comparison to its neighbours, which has been largely attributed to the adoption of mobile payments in the country. Kirsty Berry, Head of PR & Communications at Compass Plus, examines how traditional banks have really had to up their electronic payments game to compete with mobile payment providers.
For established FIs, making changes to ageing legacy systems to embrace new technologies and offer differentiated services can be challenging. Darren Busby, AVP & Business Development Director, Europe at Compass Plus, explores how they can change to remain competitive in today's payment landscape.
The move to digital payments is accelerating across Asia, and although there is a tendency to put this down to the 'China effect' in that the influence of China has skewed the results, it is important to see beyond this and investigate payments innovations in the region, Kelvin Yong, Regional Pre-Sales Consultant at Compass Plus, looks at how the region as a whole is turning to non-cash transactions.
It's an exciting time for payments in the Middle East and Africa. Often considered one of the world's smaller banking and payments markets in terms of available services, the growth in this region in recent years has really exceeded expectations, and this is not set to stop any time soon. Alexey Osipov, EVP, MEA and CRD Managing Director at Compass Plus, discusses what is behind this unprecedented growth.
Most Islamic financial institutions are less than 40 years old, and in that time, they have benefited from a large portion of their user base choosing Sharia-compliant products regardless of the price and benefits. However, younger consumers are demanding more convenient, digital products that are more closely associated with conventional banking. Mohamed Hijazi, Regional Sales Manager MEA at Compass Plus, takes a look at how millennials are driving Islamic banking's shift to digital.
The ATM is dead ... long live the ATM!
It has been well documented that this year is the 50th anniversary of the first ATM installation in London. Bethan Cowper, AVP Global Marketing at Compass Plus, looks at the future of this self-service device, from integration with AI and robotics down to whether there really is a long-term future for these machines in our allegedly imminent cashless society.
Africa's underbanked population remains high with approximately 330 million adult Africans, nearly 80% of the continent's population, lacking access to formal financial services according to LTP. While card use and mobile payments are generally growing, cash still makes up a huge proportion of transactions. Louis Peake, Press Officer at Compass Plus, discusses how prepaid cards can be used as a more valid means of payment in a difficult climate.
When we talk about payments technology in Kenya, we usually start with the mobile device. Louis Peake, Press Officer at Compass Plus, argues that while there is no doubt mobile is a successful tool for offering access to financial services and a viable alternative to making payments with cash, it isn't a silver bullet.
It is undeniable that the financial technology space struggles defining innovation. Innovation has become synonymous with words like new, exciting, disruptive, modern, mutative, novel – to name a few. Carlos Seer, Acting AVP and Business Development Director LAC at Compass Plus, examines how innovation doesn't have to be confined to the futuristic and exciting, but can instead be the improvement of existing technology – such as the humble ATM.
Each year, Americans load billions of dollars onto prepaid cards for a wide variety of purposes, from bill payments, buying groceries and filling their cars with gas to remittances or as salary cards. Anthony Genovese, VP Consulting Services at Compass Plus, explains how a variety of factors make prepaid cards appealing to fraudsters in North America.
Africa is an incredibly diverse continent in terms of economies, religions, politics, infrastructure, demographics and geographies. In this article, Adil Ahmed, VP and Business Development Director, MEA at Compass Plus, examines how prepaid cards address a variety of needs across the region.
Historically there have been three main approaches to modernising the technology on which to build a successful electronic banking strategy: build it yourself, buy it off the shelf or outsource it to a third party. In this article, Darren Busby, AVP and Business Development Director, Europe at Compass Plus, discusses how to build a better payments platform to ensure long term commercial success and to best meet the needs of an evolving customer base.
With tech companies across the globe continuing to spend millions on getting the public to ditch cash in favour of cards and mobile devices, it is easy to suggest that the future of payments lies well away from physical money. In this article, Darren Busby, AVP and Business Development Director, Europe at Compass Plus, argues that while 'cashless' is on the uptick, we must not neglect physical money altogether but instead modernise alongside it.
According to the World Bank, an estimated two billion working age adults worldwide – equating to just under 40 per cent of all adults – do not have access to formal, regulated banking facilities. In this article, Bethan Cowper, AVP Global Marketing at Compass Plus, discusses how technology is helping FIs access the unbanked and underbanked across the globe.
Vietnam has long been regarded as one of the poster-children of rapid financial growth since its shift from a centrally planned economy to a market-based one 30 years ago. In this article, Louis Peake, Press Officer at Compass Plus, looks at how a young, ultra-connected population is continuing Vietnam's financial revolution, and how they are the key to future developments in the country.
Until recently, retailers have generally been relaxed in their efforts to launch e-commerce in the Middle East in proportion to their efforts across the rest of the globe. In this article, Bethan Cowper, AVP Global Marketing at Compass Plus, looks at how a young population in the region will help it to embrace electronic payment methods over cash on delivery, which has been heavily relied upon until now.
According to the European Central Bank, over the course of 2015, there were 53 billion card payments across EU countries, an increase of 11.5% from the previous year. Thanks to their ongoing success, card based payment methods are a significant area in which banks can prove their worth in comparison to their competitors. In this article Sergey Putenikhin, Associate VP, Business Development Director and Sales Manager at Compass Plus, discusses instant issuance as the next differentiator for financial institutions in Europe.
The fast-paced payments industry of today makes it hard for financial institutions to keep up with changing requirements. To help acquiring banks adapt and prosper in this multi-channel world, merchant management solutions are a great option. In his most recent article, Sergey Putenikhin, Associate VP, Business Development Director and Sales Manager at Compass Plus, discusses the five key benefits of an effective merchant management system for acquirers.
Russia is recognised across the globe as one of the countries to watch in terms of advancing economic development. Whilst Russia has maintained a more modern payments structure than other global giants, the market has been held back by the preference the population has towards traditional payment technologies. However, with an increasing young and tech savvy population alongside government initiatives to encourage consumers towards electronic payments, Alexey Parshin, VP and Chief Payments Technology Officer at Compass Plus, discusses why Russia is the place to watch in the payments landscape.
Build, buy or outsource: What is the future of payment systems?
In an industry that is continuously evolving, Darren Busby, AVP and Business Development Director at Compass Plus, discusses the importance of standing out in a market place where everyone looks the same, focusing on the key things to consider when deciding to build, buy or outsource a new payment system.
In this article, Alexey Osipov, EVP and MEA Managing Director at Compass Plus, explains the benefits of offering instant card issuance and how it could help FIs overcome the challenges associated with moving to a card-based society.
The creation of a national payment system has been a hot topic of discussion across Russia since the 1990s. However, when Visa and Mastercard stopped services to a number of Russian financial institutions in 2014 the creation of it became a necessity. Since then, the National System of Payment Cards has been piloted by multiple FIs and has officially launched. In this article, Alexey Parshin, Chief Payments Technology Officer at Compass Plus, discusses the creation of the NSPC, the current state of card issuance and acceptance in Russia and the future of its domestic card product 'Mir'.
Chip and PIN in the US – why all the confusion?
EMV has been well established in Europe for over a decade, with the significant decrease in card present fraud and benefits of faster contactless payments gladly received by European consumers. The same can't be said for the US where a survey by The Strawhecker Group found that only 27 per cent of US merchants were EMV-ready ahead of the October 2015 deadline. In this article, Bethan Cowper, Head of Global Marketing at Compass Plus, discusses the current state of EMV in the US and the confusion surrounding the new technology.
When it comes to evaluating system performance, things aren't clear cut. Financial institutions looking to modernise or replace their systems need to ensure they get a view of the bigger picture. In this article, Bethan Cowper, Head of Global Marketing at Compass Plus, discusses the discrepancies in advertised TPS scores and gives her guide to effectively measuring system performance.
Contactless technology has been successfully established in Europe for nearly a decade. The UK has become a 'cash-second' society, partly attributed to the 250% year on year increase in contactless card usage, but where does this leave the rest of the world? In this article, Kirsty Berry, Head of PR and Communications at Compass Plus, taps into contactless payments around the globe.
Tipping the balance – is there a future for legacy platforms in payments?
Tried and tested legacy systems have served financial institutions successfully for many years, but are they now reaching the end of their shelf life? The antiquated systems are starting to buckle under the pressure of the ever changing and highly unpredictable payments landscape. In this article, Bethan Cowper, Head of Global Marketing at Compass Plus, discusses the future for legacy systems.
2015 was the year that digital eclipsed cash payments and 2016 is set to be the year that digital will take the payments crown. However despite seeing an increase in the number of countries moving towards a cashless future, cash is still rife in most regions. Bethan Cowper, Head of Marketing and PR at Compass Plus, shares her insight in to the year ahead.
In the chaotic payments environment, everybody from financial institutions, retailers and consortiums is reaching out for a stake in mobile payment technology. In this article, Financial Journalist Tina Orem, discusses four ways to win in mobile payments, utilising recent research from Compass Plus to demonstrate the need for consumer education in the mobile payments landscape.


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IDEAS THAT SHAPED OUR MODERN WORLD: Connecting With the Gods
Aegean Neolithic and Bronze Age Civilizations: Minoa – Europe's First Civilization ca 2000–1400 BCE
By Sally Mallam
Crete is one of the largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, situated in its eastern center at the crossroads of Africa, Asia, and Europe. It was the hub of a cosmopolitan world that included Egypt, the Levant, Anatolia, and the Greek mainland – all sharing ideas, the evidence of which can be seen in their architecture, art and symbols.
The earliest evidence of human habitation on the island of Crete dates from around the 7th millennium BCE, most likely when Neolithic populations migrated to Europe from the Middle East, Turkey, and the Greek mainland.
The lower levels of the Knossos palace complex provided some of the earliest evidence to date of human activity on the island from around 6100-5700 BCE. The skeletons of seven children were found buried in shallow tombs dug under the dwelling floors. Three of the children were newborns while the others were all under 7 years old, all lying in fetal position in tombs empty of offerings or other objects.
Communities of several families are thought to have lived in close quarters with each other with their animals and crops, and appear to have spent most of their time outside. Excavations found one or two-room clay houses, with flat roofs made of branches and clay.
Goddess of Myrtos, ca 2000 BCE.
Around 4000–3000 BCE, the island's population increased dramatically, suggesting an immigration to the island. As time went on dwellings grew more substantial with one particularly large one, indicating perhaps some sort of community center, which may also have been the home of the chief or priest. By the end of the Neolithic (ca 2800 BCE), the Knossos settlement is thought to have reached 2,000 inhabitants, and human activity had spread throughout the island.
Single cave burials of a number of people have been found in the north and the east of the island. Neolithic settlements such as at Myrtos and Mochlos have been found dated from about 2600 BCE, with architectural remains consisting mostly of circular domed tombs, which were used by entire families or clans.
A Bronze Age Success Story
The Minoans were the first Europeans to construct paved cobblestone roads. Their society included highly-skilled artisans and engineers and they were excellent ship builders and sailors. Their maritime empire included Spain and parts of modern day Turkey, the Middle East, and Egypt.
As far as we know they were the first Europeans to use a written language. They wrote in a hieroglyphic script known as Linear A, which has as yet to be deciphered, so like the Indus Valley civilization, we can only deduce what their lives were like from the architecture, art and objects they left behind.
But they left a wealth of evidence: uniquely creative palaces, frescoes, pottery and seals which indicates a prosperous, peaceful society, whose people lived in intimate harmony with nature. But, as Dr. Nanno Marinatos says, "At the same time, there is no shrinking from realism and violence. You have the ideal and the reality of life juxtaposed, and it is just a beautiful way of looking at life." It appears to be one where women enjoyed equal status with men, if not higher.
Trade and Influence
Connection and trade with the outside world was imperative to the Minoans' ability to initiate and sustain their successful Bronze Age civilization, which emerged around 2000 BCE and lasted for about six centuries.
5,000 years ago, Minoan oarsmen rowed boats of cypress wood wrapped in animal skin from ports such as Mochlos on the east coast to Egypt, the Middle East, Cyprus, and the Greek mainland. They were the first sea power in the Aegean and had uncontested maritime control from about 2100–1600 BCE. Trade winds worked to the advantage of their large fleet, which was useful for both trade and defense. It is likely that they used their naval power as defense, strategically placing vessels among the islands nearby to protect their isolated position. Their palace citadels had no fortified walls: the walls that have been excavated appear not to go completely around the palace site, for example, at Knossos. However, the labyrinthine layout of the palaces and even of smaller villas found of the same period, may well have provided the protection they needed. When a single door might close off an entire wing or seven or more doorways open up from a single corridor, the outsider would definitely be confused and wonder if, once in, would he find his way out?
(Left) Kamares ware jug 2300–2000 BCE. (Center) spouted Jar, Kamares ware 2000–1700 BCE. (Right) Kamares banquet vessel with decorative lilies, Phaistos from 1800–1700 BCE.
Minoan amphora – used to hold water, wine, olive oil or grains.
Raw materials were imported, especially metals like gold and silver; or copper and tin – for bronze – the making of which they most likely learned from the Middle East. Exports were of wood and luxury items: delicate pottery and ceramics such as the eggshell-thin Kamares ware, perfumed oils, wine, textiles, jewelry, fine crafts and the purple dye Minoans acquired from farming murex mollusks. Known as "royal purple," this was the most valued dye of the ancient world, used internationally for the garments of high society. The Minoans are said to have been first to develop the purple dye industry, some time before 1750 BCE.
Trade obviously enabled the cross-pollination of ideas, but additionally, as civilizations developed, artists and craftsmen were lent out to other cities and states by rulers as a mark of generosity and a display of their own prestige. Minoan metal workers were renowned and many artisans worked abroad in mainland Greece, the Aegean islands and elsewhere. The Mycenaeans learned the art of inlaying bronze with gold from the Minoans.
Amarna letter
The Egyptian Amarna (Echnaton) letters are the earliest written evidence of a network of diplomatic and trade relations between the major powers around this period. Written on clay tablets in cuneiform script in what seems to have been an international language – a kind of Akkadian – the correspondents include the leaders of Egypt, Babylon, Syria, Mitanni, the Hittites, Canaan Alaschia (Cyprus), Mycenae and Crete.
Avaris, capital of Egypt under the Hykos, (Tell el-Dab'a) Egypt fresco palace of Thutmose III (ca 1479–1425 BCE).
We know that Minoans travelled up the river Nile to the Valley of the Kings. Frescoes, undoubtedly Minoan, have been found, for example, in the tomb of Thutmose III (1479–1425 BCE). As Dr. Alicia Meza says in Research in Anthropological Topics, "There is plenty of evidence for the ancient Egyptian-Minoan interaction dating as far back as prehistory times." She goes on to say that in later times "Knossos sent delegations with rich goods to present to the Egyptian king in 1300 BCE. … Representations on the walls of the tombs of high officials show the Keftiu bringing their presents during the Durbas of the Egyptian kings." The now famous fresco paintings in the tombs of Rekhmire, who served Thutmose II and Amenhotep II as vizer, are what we recognize as Minoan, as are those in the palace of Thutmose III reproduced here. Minoans are described as "the Keftiu," which must have been their real name. They are also referred to in the Old Testament as "the Caphtor."
The Minoans revised, redesigned and embellished artifacts wherever they could. Their frescoes depict people whose faces are always in profile reminiscent of Egyptian art, but each one is imbued with a natural grace and fluidity, often interacting with the natural world, or depicting elements of that world in a way that is so elegantly stylized, so joyous, it can take your breath away.
The Cycladic Civilization Circa 3300 to 1100 BCE
Minoan "Palaces" and Religious Beliefs
The Noble Ones
Indus-Sarasvati Civilization
The Bronze Age Collapse
Archaic Greece


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Cybersecurity Digital Policy Europe & Eurasia European Union International Markets Internet Internet of Things Technology & Innovation Trade
Europe's new commission: The outlook for digital policy
By Frances Burwell
On September 10, European Commission President-elect Ursula von der Leyen outlined the structure of the new European Commission and announced the assignment of commissioners-elect to their specific portfolios. The main actors working on digital policy will be:
President-elect Ursula von der Leyen, who has made clear that digital policy will be a top priority of her administration (see below);
Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager, responsible for "A Europe Fit for a Digital Age," and with oversight of Directorate General for Competition (DG COMP);
Commissioner Sylvie Goulard, responsible for the "Internal Market," and with oversight over the DG for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship, and Small and Medium Enterprises (DG GROW); DG Communications Networks, Content, and Technology (DG CONNECT); and the new DG Defense Industry and Space.
Commissioner Mariya Gabriel, responsible for "Innovation and Youth," and with oversight of Directorate General for Research and Innovation (DG RTD).
It is also possible that Valdis Dombrovskis, the executive vice president-designate, responsible for "An Economy that Works for People" will have a role in digital policy, but the extent of his involvement is unclear. Didier Reynders, responsible for "Justice" will also have input on law enforcement and consumer issues.
The commissioners-elect must now appear before the relevant committees of the European Parliament to answer questions in a process similar to US cabinet-level confirmations. Gabriel had her hearing on Monday, September 30, before the Industry (ITRE) and Culture committees, and Goulard appeared on Wednesday, October 2, before the ITRE and Internal Market (IMCO) committees. The three executive vice presidents will follow, with Vestager's hearing on October 8, before the ITRE, IMCO, and the Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) committees. The Parliament will vote its approval (or disapproval) of the entire Commission en bloc, rather than individual commissioners. That vote is scheduled for October 23.
In the past, one or two commissioners-elect have encountered serious opposition in the Parliament, and some have been forced to withdraw; in fact, the Hungarian and Romanian commissioners-designate have already withdrawn and been replaced. Whether this will affect the commissioners working on digital policy is not clear; Goulard faced close scrutiny in her hearing due to on-going investigations into her use of parliamentary funds, and will probably have to answer additional questions. Her future is far from clear. If approved, the new commission is expected to take office on November 1, and they will guide European policy until October 31, 2024. In her Political Guidelines for the Next European Commission, von der Leyen identifies "A Europe fit for the digital age," as the third of six major priorities to guide the Commission's work. She called for Europe to "lead the transition to… a new digital world," and in particular for:
The EU to coordinate a joint approach on the "human and ethical implications of artificial intelligence;"
A new Digital Services Act that will update the 2000 E-Commerce Directive by providing "liability and safety rules for digital platforms, services, and products, and complete our digital single market;"
The EU to define standards for new technologies that will become the global norm;
And for the creation of a European Union (EU) joint Cyber Unit that will "speed up information sharing and better protect ourselves;"
In addition, the mission letters that von der Leyen provided to Vestager, Goulard, and Gabriel call for:
Finding an international consensus on digital taxation;
Strengthening competition enforcement and possibly launching a review of competition in the digital arena;
fostering digital research and education;
and building a single market for cybersecurity.
Read more from the Transatlantic Digital Marketplace Initiative
The Atlantic Council's Transatlantic Digital Marketplace Initiative seeks to foster greater US-EU understanding and collaboration on digital policy matters and makes recommendations for building cooperation and ameliorating differences in this fast-growing area of the transatlantic economy.
Von der Leyen specifically prioritized taxation of the big tech companies, and she made it clear that the EU will act alone at the end of 2020 if there is no multilateral solution by then. Von der Leyen's Political Guidelines and mission letters also provide a broader context in which digital policy is a key element through which the EU will seek to develop greater economic and technological sovereignty. In outlining Vestager's responsibilities, von der Leyen writes that while "striving for digital leadership," the EU must support industry and "…need[s] companies that compete on equal terms." She has charged Goulard with "enhancing Europe's technological sovereignty," linking this to Europe being a leader in the next frontier of technologies.
Vestager will clearly lead the way on competition policy and any digital services tax, but she will coordinate the Commission's work on AI and the Digital Services Act, while Goulard has been charged with taking the "lead." While the headlines have focused on Vestager, Goulard is likely to be the most important player on digital regulation, apart from the specific areas of tax and competition. Gabriel, with oversight of the research DG, will be an important player for industry and academia, but will be less involved in digital policy, except when discussing the need for greater innovation in Europe. As with the last Commission, specific issues might well bring other commissioners and DGs into the digital policy space. Working out who the major players are on key issues, and how overlapping portfolios will be managed, will take time. Given the pace of technological and market change, we should not forget that the digital agenda of this Commission could well look very different even a year or two into its five-year term.
Frances G. Burwell is a distinguished fellow at the Atlantic Council and a senior adviser at McLarty Associates.
Issue Brief Sep 18, 2019
A transatlantic agenda for the new European Commission
By Benjamin Haddad and Jörn Fleck (Eds)
The new European Commission will take office on November 1, 2019, at a time of intensifying great power competition and new strain for transatlantic relations. This memo gathers the contributions of several Atlantic Council experts on a variety of issues such as defense, foreign policy, trade, and energy policy
Cybersecurity Economy & Business
New Atlanticist Jul 23, 2019
France's digital tax: all about leverage?
By Jörn Fleck and Alex Baker
The new measure should be a warning that European states will adopt unilateral solutions to update tax rules
Digital Policy Economy & Business
US surveillance on trial in Europe: Will transatlantic digital commerce be collateral damage?
By Kenneth Propp
In this issue brief, Kenneth Propp, non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Future Europe Initiative, examines the existing transatlantic data-transfer mechanisms, the landmark court case that could invalidate them, and the divergent US and EU approaches to data transfers across borders and privacy standards.
Digital Policy Europe & Eurasia
Related Experts: Frances Burwell