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Universal Music Group Updates staff on status of investigation into damages from 2008 fire, motions for dismissal of lawsuit
Posted by Elise Yablon on July 22, 2019
Universal Music Group has been meticulously combing their archives recently, attempting to investigate what may have been lost in the 2008 fire that destroyed a storage facility on the backlot of NBCUniversal's Hollywood studio. On Wednesday (17th), chief archivist Pat Kraus shared an internal memo to the company's staff updating them on the status of said investigation, giving them what seems to be good news on their part.
According to the memo, which was obtained and published in full by Variety, Kraus and his team have:
"Been working around the clock, fielding requests from approximately 275 artists and representatives. To date we've reviewed 26,663 individual assets covering 30 artists."
The memo claims of that number, the amount of loss was relatively low:
"We believe we've identified 424 that could be missing or lost due to the fire, with audio assets accounting for 349 of them. Our data suggests that 22 of those could be 'original masters' which are associated with 5 artists. For each of those lost masters, we have located high-quality alternate sources in the form of safety copies or duplicate masters."
Kraus says that the investigation is still ongoing and that:
"We complete new work and we fill in gaps of work we've already done, these tallies will continue to evolve by the hour."
Krauss also answers a number of frequently asked questions in the memo. This includes why Universal Music Group doesn't just publish a complete list of items lost in the fire (claiming that "it affected both inventoried assets and those that were not inventoried," as well as some of the "older inventoried assets [not having] easy-to-identify complete and accurate metadata associated with them.") and why it takes so long to figure out what might be lost (saying that it can take days or weeks to comb through one artist's assets because there is more than just audio, their work might be scattered in multiple archives both UMG's and elsewhere). The memo also answers whether all the artists mentioned in the New York Times Magazine article lost their recordings, whether they will be making the status of each artist's personal findings public, if it is still possible to reissue an album without the master tapes and where masters are currently being stored.
Universal Music Group has been denying the severity of the damage done in the fire since it happened in 2008. Initially, the company claimed that only assets from the 1940s and 50s were destroyed. The company still refutes many of the claims made in the New York Times Magazine article, calling the 500,000 recordings estimate "greatly exaggerated." However, in a previous memo to the company's employees, CEO Lucian Grainge made it a point to be more transparent with artists, saying:
"Even though that event happened more than a decade ago, and while I've been somewhat relieved by early reports from our team that many of the assertions and subsequent speculation are not accurate, one thing is clear: the loss of even a single piece of archived material is heartbreaking."
The new memo comes just as reports surface that Universal Music Group is seeking to get the class action lawsuit filed against them in late June dismissed. That suit, filed by Hole, Soundgarden, Steve Earle, Tom Petty's ex-wife and the estate of Tupac Shakur, claims that Universal Music Group did not do enough to prevent the fire and protect the recordings, as well as neglected to tell the artists how bad the damage was, asking for half of the $150 million settlement the company received for the damages in 2013 and half of any additional losses not documented. On Wednesday the company filed a motion to dismiss the case on the grounds that the master tapes were their property and that the artists suing did not have the right to the any of the insurance or settlement proceeds from 2013. They also claim that the statute of limitations on filing such a lawsuit has passed.
In a statement to Rolling Stone, Howard King, one of the lawyers representing the artists in the class action suit, compared Universal Music Group's motion to something Donald Trump said during his presidential campaign, namely that:
"He could shoot someone on 5th Avenue with impunity. And they think they can set fire to those master recordings on 5th Avenue with impunity."
Of King's clients, only Hole has been contacted by Universal Music Group about the status of their masters, which the company said were unharmed. However, when asked to provide proof of that claim, the label declined to do so.
With approximately only 11% of the artists who's recordings may have been lost accounted for, it could be a while before we know the true extent of what was lost in the 2008 fire.
Tags: Universal
More artists thought to have masters lost in Universal Music Group fire
Universal Music Group confirms list of artist masters destroyed in 2008 Fire
← High On Fire announce North American Fall Tour w/ Power Trip, etc.
Lacuna Coil and All That Remains announce co-headlining North American Tour →


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The source file line number.
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Displays the contents of this syntax tree node (to stdout). This method is intended for debugging _only_, and should be overridden by all syntax tree node implementations.
indent - Indentation level for syntax tree levels.


I'm going to start collecting tips and sharing them…Two on Tuesday, ok? Cool. Make sure you get the two tips next Tuesday by subscribing via email!
Basically, I packing tape one hole, with a little bit of paper so it's non stick on the inside of the well… I have, in the past, used double stick tape to tape this to my tray table/lap desk/workbench, but in each location I wound up getting too cocky, started talking with my hands (I'm a passionate hand talker…), and kablammmm! small bits (headpins, ear wires, you name it) everywhere….
Thanks for the tips. I especially like the idea of winding that pesky tape measure onto something handy! I sew and if I topped it with a little stuffed ball I'd have a place for my pins. No more hanging it around my neck, which can get a little twisty. I could also staple one end so it doesn't come off, hmmmmmmm. Now to locate one of those spool dealies!


Telinks' product line supports the build out, modernization, and support of base transceiver stations. We carry the fiber optic and copper components and assemblies used for connectivity and power distribution; a variety of structural steel, rack, and cabinet products. In addition to infrastructure products for use in existing shelters, we offer a line of environmentally sealed and / or air conditioned enclosures to be used as a mini-head end, optical transition node, repeater, hub site, telephony, point of presence, or a cellular micro cell site.
We carry SFP's, DS3 over fiber extenders, and other network electronics frequently used by our customers to complete their work.


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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Gatsby is great. This old sport is one of the most affectionate cats you'll ever see. He's there to comfort you when you need him and out of your way when you don't. This is truly a great cat all around. Just don't expect him to throw any parties.


New York – The roar of a passing commuter train on the nearby elevated tracks dwarfs Annika Sorenstam's soft voice, which carries the lilting vestiges of her native Swedish. Her audience, 54 children ranging from kindergarteners to second graders who are sitting on the asphalt, doesn't seem to notice the interruption, inured to the aural disturbances that take place every few minutes at this busy intersection.
Prior to this cool autumn day, these students of The Children's Storefront, an independent tuition-free school in East Harlem for low-income families, had little exposure to golf and had never heard of Sorenstam. Yet her quiet confidence has won them over, and the students listen intently to the three-time U.S. Women's Open champion and USGA ambassador as she explains the joys and benefits of physical activity, even as another train clatters past.
Wethered was considered the best female golfer of her time, and decades later, Sorenstam dominated women's golf with a mix of talent, consistency and mental toughness that produced 72 wins on the LPGA Tour.
Sorenstam also embraced fitness in a way few golfers previously had, and physical health remains an important aspect of her life, even in retirement. For two years, her ANNIKA Foundation has partnered with SPARK (Sports, Play, and Active Recreation for Kids) to promote physical education, health and wellness in schools.
It was this commitment that brought her to Harlem on Oct. 3, and efforts like this outreach program are part of the reason Sorenstam received the 2012 Bob Jones Award, the USGA's highest honor.
This school year, the ANNIKA Foundation, SPARK and The First Tee are sponsoring the physical education program at The Children's Storefront, which is located on a classic Manhattan residential street, lined with brownstone stoops and fire escapes that hang from apartment buildings like elaborate jungle gyms. Lacking a gymnasium and open spaces, the school uses the street itself as a playground, blocking traffic from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Although hardly ideal, this makeshift arrangement fits the neighborhood. Harlem, after all, is the epicenter for street and asphalt games in the United States. Just blocks away sits Rucker Park, where past and present NBA stars ranging from Wilt Chamberlain to Kobe Bryant have competed in intense games of playground basketball. Baseball legend Willie Mays is said to have learned to hit curveballs by playing stickball on the streets of Harlem, just across the East River from the Polo Grounds, the former home of the New York Giants. And the nearby Apollo Theater hosts an annual worldwide Double Dutch jump-roping competition, which grew on sidewalks just like the one fronting The Children's Storefront.
Sorenstam is adding golf to this roster of games, showing the basics of putting and chipping to students who have never touched a golf club. Although they may neither realize nor appreciate it, the experience these kids are having is the equivalent of receiving a voice lesson from Luciano Pavarotti.
While several of the students take tentative strokes, the others sit on the sidewalk and cheer whenever one of their classmates hits the target with the oversize ball. Their enthusiasm for the game, Sorenstam and physical activity is clear from the way they strain forward, itching for a chance to take some swings.
After the ad hoc clinic, an informal recess breaks out on the street, and Sorenstam joins several students in Double Dutch. After turning the ropes for a while, it is Sorenstam's turn to jump. A paragon of rhythm and timing with a golf club in her hands, the winner of the career Grand Slam struggles to time her jumps properly, tripping over the ropes after a couple of hops.
She gives up after several attempts and returns to holding the ropes. Then again, the day isn't really about her, but rather the kids who need help overcoming the epidemic of childhood obesity, which has tripled during the past 30 years and has affected minority children in disproportionate numbers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"A lot of these kids come from tough neighborhoods and tough families," said Sorenstam. "To inspire them and introduce them to golf, this is what they need. They need the attention, motivation and inspiration.
Strengthening this foundation at the school are several educators, including Helen Primrose, the physical-education teacher at The Children's Storefront, and Dr. Cathrine Himberg, professor of kinesiology at California State University, Chico. Himberg, who has worked with SPARK and is the founder of the Center for Advancement of Standards-based Physical Education Reform (CASPER), developed the physical-education curriculum at The Children's Storefront, which previously had lacked a comprehensive fitness program.
Golf is one of many new activities introduced to the school by Himberg. Even if there is no future member of the PGA or LPGA tour among the student body, Sorenstam will consider her visit a success if it inspires the children to embrace a healthy lifestyle.


text:
Polar Bear Stories
How would offshore oil and gas drilling in the Arctic impact wildlife?
How a handful of the Arctic's abundant wildlife would be impacted by offshore drilling and a potential oil spill in the Arctic.
Why the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge needs more permanent protection
Climate change is rapidly changing the Arctic, and its implications are global. More oil to burn would only fuel the climate crisis and put the Refuge and everything living within it at risk from toxic spills and mishaps. Now is the time for bold action that permanently protects the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Tatyana Minenko, polar bear patrol team leader
Every fall, the Ryrkaipiy polar bear patrol, with the support of WWF Russia, works to protect the community and prevent human-wildlife conflict. Tatyana Minenko has been leading the patrol team since 2006. That's when the climate crisis increased conflict in her village.
5 species that stand to lose the most if the US allows drilling in the Arctic Refuge
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is located in one of the largest remaining natural areas on the planet: Alaska. The species that call the refuge home have been protected from the risks of unsustainable development for decades, but now the US government is moving forward with plans to open the coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge to allow for oil and gas drilling.
Polar bears, climate crisis, and oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
The Arctic Refuge has been a place undisturbed by development. But in 2017 Congress approved opening the Coastal Plain of the Refuge to allow for oil and gas drilling. WWF has been vocal in its opposition for a host of reasons, and there is one significant bit of logic even Fish and Wildlife agrees with—the climate crisis makes the future of the region uncertain. Oil and gas development only compounds the problem.
Imperiled polar bears face new threat in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
In some areas of the Arctic, female polar bears are more frequently choosing to build their maternity dens on land, rather than sea ice. The land provides the stability and security that sea ice no longer can—at least until human activity comes into the picture.
WWF's Elisabeth Kruger on polar bears, climate change, and indigenous communities
WWF Magazine: Winter 2018
Kruger leads WWF's efforts to help polar bears and other Arctic marine mammals coexist alongside people in an increasingly warmer and ice-free Arctic.
Lack of winter sea ice disrupts life in the Arctic
It's the second-worst winter for sea ice in the Arctic. As this rapid warming trend continues, entire ecosystems are unraveling and the consequences are impacting daily life in the Arctic as well as life in coastal communities thousands of miles away.
One Arctic town's very busy polar bear patrol
In 2007, nine polar bear conflicts were registered in all of Greenland. By 2017, there were 21 conflicts between August and December in the village of Ittoqqortoormiit alone. In almost all of the 21 cases, the local polar bear patrol was called to ensure that the bears were scared away from the community and kept under observation.
3 things you should know about January's record-low Arctic sea ice
January 2018 brought record-low sea ice cover to the Arctic, according to new data released by the US government. That's bad news for the ocean, wildlife, and local communities that rely on both for survival.
Trump Administration to roll back crucial Arctic protections
The Arctic Ocean—the pristine home to bowhead whales, gray whales, polar bears, walruses, and other magnificent wildlife, along with many indigenous communities—could potentially lose crucial protections from risky offshore oil and gas drilling.
America's Arctic could soon open up to a new wave of risky offshore oil and gas drilling
Every five years, the US determines where oil and gas companies can purchase leases for offshore drilling. The most recent plan excluded the Arctic, but the Trump administration wants to change that.
US government releases a new plan to protect polar bears
The Polar Bear Conservation Management Plan, which focuses on actions for the two U.S. subpopulations in Alaska, stresses the importance of climate change mitigation in curbing the loss of the polar bear's sea ice habitat.
US permanently protects some of the Arctic's most important marine areas
Just one week after scientists warned of unprecedented change brought on by warming in the Arctic, President Obama announced permanent protection for 115 million acres of federal waters in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas. Including previous presidential withdrawals, today's action protects nearly 125 million acres in the offshore Arctic from future oil and gas activity.
Report warns of unprecedented struggles in a warming Arctic
The Arctic is seeing unprecedented declines in sea ice and snow cover triggered by abnormally warm temperatures, according to a new report, the Arctic Report Card, released by the US government.
Why do polar bears have white fur? And nine other polar bear facts
Who doesn't love the big, burly white bears of the north? Polar bears—at the top of the food chain and vital to the health of the Arctic marine environment—are important to the cultures and economies of Arctic peoples.
A design firm helps polar bear experts get creative with tracking technology
When WWF polar bear expert Elisabeth Kruger was organizing a workshop to brainstorm new designs for polar bear tracking devices, she wanted to make sure the event generated the most interesting, unexpected, and—hopefully—groundbreaking designs possible.
An Arctic village prepares for a furry impact
WWF Magazine: Fall 2016
5 remarkable animal moms
The animal kingdom is flush with moms that take the time to teach their babies how to find food and protect themselves against the elements.
How big is the Arctic Ocean? And eight other Arctic facts
The Arctic Ocean is about 5.4 million square miles—about 1.5 times as big as the US—but it is the world's smallest ocean. Learn more about the Arctic and what WWF is doing to help protect it.
Let's keep offshore oil and gas drilling out of the Arctic's most pristine spots
We now have the opportunity to keep offshore drilling out of the Arctic Ocean. Every five years, the US government draws up a five-year planning outlining where oil companies can drill. The Arctic's Beaufort and Chukchi seas are on the line. We have a chance to persuade our government to remove these pristine places from their list.
Polar Bear Habitat Loss is Pushing Them over the Edge
A new plan for resilience in a warming Arctic
Baby Animals and Their Moms
We all know how great moms can be. The same is true in parts of the wild. Take a look at a few images of animals with their parents.
DNA Extraction Turns a Soggy Polar Bear Footprint into an Exciting Ecological Discovery
WWF Magazine: Spring 2015
A partnership between researchers, scientists and WWF looks at biodiversity by the spoonful
Polar Bear Research between Two Countries
US and Russian biologists team up on polar bear research

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Kenner, Roy and His Associates - Without My Sweet Baby b/w Baby You're What I Need
Label: Trend T-1000
Origin: Toronto, Ontario
Genre: funk, soul, garage, rock
Value of Original Title: $1,000.00
Release Type: Singles
Playlist: Ontario, Trend Records, $1000 Record Club, Toronto Sound , 1960's
1 Without My Sweet Baby 03:08
1 Baby You're What I Need 03:52
Roy Kenner and His Associates - Without My Sweet Baby b/w Baby You're What I Need
Without My Sweet Baby b/w Baby You're What I Need
The Story Of The Associates
The Associates were an R&B group from Toronto, Ontario, active during the mid-1960's. Though not popular in the traditional commercial sense, the group was an influential, popular, live draw throughout Ontario. Singer Roy Kenner's voice is one unmistakably linked with the Toronto Sound; built on the raspy wail that characterizes so many of Toronto's elder statesmen of R&B/Soul. Some members of The Associates had success in their futures but others would allow disillusionment to draw them away from the music business altogether. Below is the story of one of Toronto's greatest R&B groups; Roy Kenner & The Associates.
The Associates were founded in early 1964 by singer and guitarist Tom Beavis. His first job was to find a rhythm section. Greg Scott [Carducci] was asked to play bass guitar, though he never had before; only playing standard guitar. The pair went to school together at Holy Cross Catholic School (Donlands Ave.), though Tom was a year older.
Greg took classes with Tom's younger brother Michael, who he was briefly in a band with before the Associates; known as Jill & The Jacks. Greg and Michael played guitar, they were joined by Michael Sanella (drums) and Peter Sanella (bass), as well as Greg's cousin Susan who sang. They dropped Susan shortly after and changed their name to The Chevelles. The band performed roughly a dozen smaller gigs around the GTA. Tom Beavis saw talent in Greg and asked him if he would join his new band; Greg accepted. Next was to find a drummer. The original choice was between D'arcy Wickham and Roy Kenner.
D'Arcy Wickham was a young multi-instrumentalist and budding songwriter at this time. Many will recognize D'Arcy for his guitar work in the 1970's with Christopher Kearney, Ian Thomas, Raffi, Wickham & Crawford and finally, the short-lived trio he started with Tom Dunn and Ron Baumber. Though a great drummer, D'Arcy was instantly dwarfed when Roy said he could sing. This intrigued Tom and after a few songs, culminating in a raging version of Lucille, Tom and Greg looked at each other and knew they had their singer. Tom happily stepped back from the lead vocal position to accommodate the newly acquired and fiercely talented Kenner.
Roy Kenner was born in in Toronto, Canada on January 14th, 1948. His interest in music started when he began singing with St. Paul's Choir at an early age. He spent his youth entranced by the gospel and R&B music coming out of America; imitating as best he could while also learning as much as possible. His interest in music deepened after spending two years at Port Hope Summer Singing College in his early teens. This institution was not for the faint of heart, with vocal training sometimes going for upwards of ten hours a day; Roy excelled. He'd form/join a few short-lived rock groups while in his freshman and sophomore years of high school.
To get the ideal small-combo sound they were after, they still needed a drummer and a keyboardist. D'Arcy Wickham was hired as the drummer temporarily but this line-up never got out of the "rehearsal" setting.
Around this time, Tom and Greg (as well as Tom's younger brother Michael and the previously mentioned Fenella brothers) were attending De La Salle College "Oaklands." A boys only (at the time) high school at 131 Farnham Avenue in Toronto. Word began to get around that the guys had started a band. Two of their fellow school mates, who themselves had been playing in a band, were intrigued and sought them out.
Henry Black [Babraj] was a keyboardist/accordion player with a few years of experience; he had taken lessons and knew how to read music well. Ray Richards [Rychlewski] was a self-taught accordionist turned drummer. The pair were currently making money performing with a local Polka band [NAME UNKNOWN] (hence Henry's distinction as an Accordion player). Henry had done various Polka gigs around this time and Ray would play with him occasionally. Ray was not very good at the accordion so he took some drum lessons. Ray wanted Henry to buy a Cordovox (Accordion that was an organ/accordion hybrid) as a way to get away from Polka, which Ray wasn't really a fan of. Henry asked his parents and though the price disgusted them, they relented as they saw talent and passion in him.
They began playing early rock standards like "Louie Louie" in an attempt to move away from Polka and more towards the rock and pop that many other young bands around Toronto were playing.
After getting the sound just right, Ray introduced Henry to who would eventually become The Associates; Tom Beavis, Greg Carducci and Roy Kenner.
Tom and Greg (the defacto leaders at the time) felt the pair would be a great fit for the group; versatile, age-appropriate, part of the same small community, it was only a matter of asking. After a brief discussion, they were in. With the band together, the next step was to decide on a name. Roy being the ever-present, charismatic front-man, it was decided the group would be called R.K. & The Associates; soon to be expanded to Roy Kenner & The Associates.
Rehearsals began almost immediately. It was quickly decided that they needed an Organ. The group purchased a Lowrey Console Organ/electric Keyboard. This organ would soon be switched out for a used Hammond console organ, but not before playing a few church gigs in Toronto at Holy Name Perish (71 Gough Avenue). Interestingly, early on, Henry was only able to play the organ/keyboard with his right hand; a result of playing Accordion for the better part of two years. This created quite the humorous situation where his other hand essentially acted as dead weight, resting in his lap. This was remedied by Henry's zealous ambition to master the piano with both hands, spending hours upon hours reading the Dave Brubeck transcriptions. It wasn't long before he excelled having feverishly dedicated himself to this endeavour.
The band became musicians' union members shortly thereafter, which helped them get more frequent, more established gigs. Henry and Greg were both too young to sign up on their own so they had to get parental permission. The first union gig they played was at the Purple Onion club in Yorkville on June 25th and 26th, 1965. This was right at the beginning of Luke & The Apostles' first run as house band at the Purple Onion.
Their love of the R&B repertoire had produced a growing dismay with Henry's organ sound. The Lowrey was weak for what they wanted, the Hammond console was just not enough; it was clear that the only option was a B3. This time, Greg's mother co-signed for the organ, which they bought new, directly from the Hammond showroom ($5000 back in 1965).
As their live performances increased in frequency, the band quickly built their chops, becoming one of the best young R&B groups around; cutting their teeth on the local high school dance and afterhours club circuit. Their raw, intimate, stage show consistently won them fans, especially of the female variety. Kenner's good looks, boundless energy and James Brown style stage antics were too much to resist. They caught the attention of Toronto based booking agent Ron Scribner early on. and with his brand of booking magic, soon expanded from Toronto/Scarborough area shows to play shows across most of southern Ontario.
Ron Scribner was a Canadian music manager, booking agent, club owner (part owner of Ronnie Hawkins' Hawk's Nest Club), and photographer from Willowdale, Ontario; he was born in 1942. In 1962 he established the Scribner Booking Agency which later merged with Roger Frazer's Quality Artists agency to form Ron Scribner Agency. Scribner joined with Tom Wilson (bassist of Little Caesar & The Consuls) and Fred White to establish The Bigland Agency on June 1, 1965. This was named in co-operation with Stan Klees who previously founded Bigland Records in 1964. Klees convinced the trio to use the name "Bigland" for their new agency.
Ron acted as an advisor/father figure to the group in those early days; guiding them on how they should behave on stage and in public, what to say, what to wear, etc. With Ron's brand of marketing magic, the band soon expanded from Toronto/Scarborough area shows to play shows across most of southern Ontario. Their roots and core fan-base had them tethered to Toronto, more often than not however, which wasn't a bad thing; with Ron backing them, they managed to get gigs at big Toronto R&B clubs such as The Gogue Inn, Hawk's Nest, Club 888, The Broom & Stone, and the Brant Inn, among others. A selection of these gigs are particularly noteworthy; Opening for Wilson Pickett at Club 888 (alongside The Rogues [Mandala]) and Club Kingsway (October 2nd, 1966; opening with Dee & Lee and the Roulettes); opening for Ike & Tina Turner at The Hawk's Nest (November 23rd, 1966), and opening for James Brown at Club Mimico, on the nights of his first Toronto appearance (Monday November 8th & Tuesday November 9th 1965).
Arguably the most important club in the career of The Associates was the Modern Age Lounge. The M.A.L. was a banquet hall, located at Danforth Avenue and Victoria Park owned and operated by Mike Diasio. Thanks to a mutual relative (Mike's sister was married to Greg's mother's brother) Greg found out about the club and informed the group.
The M.A.L. was notable for hosting R&B and dance oriented bands, but also for the record hops of Merv Buchanan; a.k.a. Tommy Trend, who packed the floor of teenage dances with his special brand of obscure R&B and Soul 45's cultivated from abroad. Merv, funnily enough, later helped the Associates build their record collections locally whereas before hand, they had to travel to Buffalo to get the good R&B singles they were after.
The band approached Mike Diasio and asked if they could rehearse at the club during off hours. He agreed under the condition that they help him promote the new club by performing there and telling everyone they know about it. The band was more than happy to oblige under the condition that as soon as they start drawing more than 300 patrons a night, he has to pay them. It didn't take long for them to become a hot draw at the club, essentially the house band.
They consistently packed the Sunday afternoon dances at The Modern Age Lounge and they gradually became friendlier with Mike as time went on. Indeed as time went on, Mike became more and more of a "father away from home" so to speak; he fed them when they were hungry, he lent them money when they were broke and let them crash at the club when they needed a place to stay. Merv was another constant who fit the F.A.F.H. mold in their lives. He helped them grow their repertoire, their music collections, encouraged their growth and helped them record their lone single.
Merv had been toying with the idea of putting his own record label together for a few months. He dreamed of an operation that would mimic the template pioneered by Motown Records' Berry Gordy; acting as label, recording studio, music publisher, pressing plant and record distributor, all under one roof.
In 1965, he formed TREND Records, with the sole purpose of making the recording business accessible to emerging Canadian talent, traditionally hampered by lack of resources and connections. At the time, only a few major international labels, like Capitol and RCA were active in Canada and their main activity was the pressing and distribution of records for foreign artists signed by their American or overseas offices. Very few Canadian artists were being signed and those that were seemed to wither, due to lack of attention; Merv sought to rectify this situation.
Working together at the Modern Age Lounge gave Merv a front row seat to the raw power and stage presence of the Associates. From the opening moments where the energy is dictated by the group's emcee Terry Walker (who a few years later would helm his own nine-piece soul revue Terry & The Pyrates; a fellow TREND recording artist, that featured Triumph's Mike Levine on bass), to the climactic closing of their set, The Associates proved exactly why they were so popular; they lived their music. Merv knew he had to record them.
After one particular gig at the The Modern Age Lounge in the autumn of 1965, the group recorded "Without My Sweet Baby/Baby You're What I Need" live, off the floor at the M.A.L. with Merv "behind the board" so to speak. The band and to that end Merv, had a great relationship with the club owner Mike Diasio, so he simply left them the keys and went home. Merv prepared the set-up before the band arrived. In classic D.I.Y. fashion that he'd become known for in later years, the "set-up" was simply a stereo Reel-to-Reel tape recorder and two microphones.
"Baby You're What I Need" is an up-tempo fuzzed-out R&B tune, reminiscent of The Mandala or Jon-Lee & The Checkmates. "Without My Sweet Baby" is in a class all its own however. This song is a deep, brooding, bluesy-soul tune, with an absolutely spell-binding combination of Henry's swirling B3 Organ, Tom's dreamy ascending/descending guitar lines and the impassioned wailing of Roy Kenner. This song oozes heartbreak; Roy's gasps of sorrow are visceral and real. "Without My Sweet Baby," along with their rendition of George Gershwin's "Summertime," were regarded by those who saw the band live as high points of their show, bar none! Roy's amazing delivery and ability to milk every note had audiences hanging on his every word.
This was set to be the debut release on Merv's new label. With that, TREND Records was born! Upon its pressing, the single was distributed to a few local radio stations, with most of the copies given to band members to hand out at shows. This single was pressed in a limited quantity of 250 copies. Interestingly enough, there was a single-sided promo released to radio stations and distributed by the band before the official TREND single release. This contained "Without My Sweet Baby" on the A-Side and the B-Side was blank. Only 100 copies of this promo were pressed.
Unfortunately, upon the official release, the single went virtually nowhere, although it did garner some airplay. It's remembered today merely as a footnote of Toronto's proud R&B past; only known by a select few passionate fans, collectors and historians. Many liken the 45 to a hidden gem, waiting to be discovered.
As 1965 became 1966, things were really looking up for The Associates. Though their record didn't net them much in way of opportunity, stories of their live show were spreading throughout Ontario. This resulted in them getting gigs farther away from Toronto and saw them on the road more frequently. A plan was also in the works over at the Bigland Agency early on, putting together a Maritimes tour for some of their more popular artists. The announcement came down in the March 14th issue of RPM Magazine:
"Roy Kenner & The Associates will be part of a 'Bigland' package to tour the Maritimes with Lynda Layne and The Big Town Boys."
The tour was set to begin in June and was reported on in multiple Canadian music publications after the initial announcement in RPM. Lynda Layne was an established Canadian pop star from Kitchener, Ontario. She appeared regularly on CBC's "Music Hop" TV show, Won RPM's "Most Promising Female Vocalist Award" in 1964 and had multiple singles released between 1963 and 1965 (some charting hits). The Big Town Boys were also an established pop act in Canada at the time. They had multiple charting singles, had appeared many times on Canadian music TV, at the beginning of March 1966 released their much anticipated studio album for Capitol Records, and were showing themselves to be one of the most promising acts nation-wide. This would prove the most "star-studded" event of The Associates career up until this point; speaking volumes to their immense talent and popularity locally. It seems Bigland felt they were up to the challenge by not only including them on the bill, but also having them be Lynda Layne's backing band throughout the tour.
The Associates had a few shows to perform before they embarked on the multi-week journey, including the high-profile opening gig for Wilson Pickett (while Jimi Hendrix was still his guitarist) on his May 25th visit to Toronto's Club 888, alongside The Five Rogues (soon to rebranded as The Mandala). This gig cemented the band's talent in the minds of The Rogues members; particularly that of Roy Kenner. Another notable event from this evening was in regards to Wilson Pickett's set. Wilson's drummer was unable to perform that night so Whitey Glan of The Rogues filled in.
The aforementioned tour began well; it wasn't initially reported, but this was to be an arena tour, visiting some of the bigger venues across the Maritimes. Among these were the Halifax arena, Lady Bing arena in New Brunswick and many others. By all accounts, The Halifax arena shows were the most attended and garnered the best reception.
While things got off to a great start, it wasn't to last. Nearing the end of the tour, John Henderson (keyboardist/backing vocals of The Big Town Boys) mother had passed away. He returned to Toronto early to be with family and Henry Babraj was asked to fill in for the last few dates. The Big Town Boys wore checkered-coloured shirts and Henry had to make a quick change when their act came up (careful not to rip his suit). This new arrangement meant that Henry was playing three consecutive sets, with three distinct acts, every night. He was tasked with learning The Big Town Boys repertoire in under twelve hours and excelled; performing nearly flawlessly. If there was any testament to the raw talent of Henry Babraj, it would be this; he was a consummate musician with skill well beyond his years. Eventually, Henry was contacted by the Big Town Boys who actually paid him money for replacing their keyboard player.
By the end of the tour, the money and morale had unfortunately run out for The Associates. Though most of the tour was a success, helping boost their image around the east coast (which they had previously never played), A number of incidents had taken place throughout the tour. Firstly, Ray's drums were stolen. Next, someone stole Henry's clothes and his suitcase, leaving him with nothing but his Big Town Boys shirt and the pants that he wore, as well as zero dollars to his name. The Associates were left to hitch-hike and find their own way home to Toronto. Roy and Henry got stranded in Montreal, Tom and Greg managed to get a truck ride back, transporting all the gear, Ray had to take the train.
Back in Toronto, the band was deeply impacted by the negative conclusion of the tour. Among other things, Henry was reminded in frustration by his parents that, he was wrong to leave school for this foolish endeavour. Additionally, there was dissatisfaction amongst the band with the Bigland Agency, particularly Ron Scribner. The group had long admired The Five Rogues and their eccentric manager Rafael Markowitz. Around this time, Mitch Markowitz (Rafael's younger brother) fancied himself as a manager too. He admired the Associates stage show and saw potential with them. Around late-August, he approached the band and offered to be their manager.
The Associates signed on with Mitch Markowitz as their advisor and manager in early September. In all honesty, they were hoping to emulate some of The Mandala's more potent business decisions; flashy suits, light shows, rebranding of some kind to stir up discussion, they were also hoping Mitch had some tricks of his own.
One of his first acts as manager was getting them on the star-studded line-up of the "Toronto Sound Showcase."
This landmark gig took place at Maple Leaf Gardens on September 24th, 1966. This was a fourteen hour (running from 10:00am until midnight) rock concert conceived of and sponsored by CHUM-AM Radio (who broadcast the show as it happened) and CTV's After Four Show. Fourteen of Toronto's most popular groups were asked to perform in an effort to bring attention to the startling level of local talent on display within Toronto clubs, night in and night out. All proceeds went to charity and each group was given two opportunities to perform; one in the morning/early afternoon, the other in the late afternoon/evening. By many accounts, it was a well-received show with the performers bringing their "A Game." Throughout the day a total of at least 26,000 people had attended the event. The roster consisted of: The Big Town Boys, Bobby Kris & The Imperials, Stitch In Tyme, Susan Taylor & The Peytons, Little Caesar & The Consuls, The Paupers, The Spasstiks, The Ugly Ducklings, The Five Rising Sons, The Last Words, The Tripp, Luke & The Apostles, The Secrets and of course, Roy Kenner & The Associates. Many of these groups were signed with The Yorkville Agency, and were also managed by Bill Gilliland, who was a well-known promoter in the Toronto area.
The Associates continued to gig around Toronto throughout the remainder of 1966. With a renewed vigour and vision, buoyed by their new manager, the band was posed to take over the city. Mitch Markowitz had a number of shows set up in December/January which essentially would be a high school and arena tour throughout more remote parts of Ontario. One gig in particular in New Liskeard, Ontario, sticks out in the minds of the members, particularly bassist Greg Carducci:
"It was the dead of winter, I remember Markowitz, he was driving and we were all jammed into this car. We were driving to New Liskeard and that's a hell of a long way from Toronto. I remember we were freezing; we had to take turns sitting in the back seat because one of the back doors was dented and air was seeping into the car. You could only sit back there for so long before you had to switch to the front and warm up; we were freezing to death! So we get up to New Liskeard, we unpacked the trailer and desperately tried to warm up before playing. The show was in a theatre, like an old-timey movie theatre. There was another band on the show, can't remember who they were, but they were some local band from New Liskeard. So our set goes well, the show goes well overall and then I remember we didn't get paid! Those were the famous words in those days 'Oh, yeah, we'll settle everything back at the Bigland building.' The disappearing cash was a result of promoter Duke/Luke Edwards. He was a black promoter who worked in Toronto and was ex-manager of Jon-Lee & The Checkmates, which is how we came to know him. I don't know what he circumstances were, whether he didn't make enough to pay the band or whether this was a deliberate action but all I know is, we didn't get paid!"
This rough experience begat a relatively rocky winter, in terms of band cohesion; tensions began to rise amongst the members, culminating with the firing of Ray Rychlewski in March of 1967. He was replaced by drummer Lorne Hamilton. Lorne unfortunately wasn't nearly the drummer that Ray had been; he was a technically gifted drummer but he lacked feeling in his playing.
To move past the discomfort surrounding the departure of Ray, the band began toying with ways to revitalize their image and boost morale. They considered changing their uniforms, stage presentation (adding professional grade ultraviolet lights) and lastly, changing their name to U.N.O. Ultimately, the band decided this was too extreme; only opting to change their live shows with the inclusion of a U.V. light show. The band carried on but unfortunately,the end was in sight. A disastrous miscalculation on the part of manager Mitch Markowitz, threatened to end everything for the group.
During the early days of June 1967, a globally recognized armed conflict broke out between Israel and an Arab coalition primarily consisting of Jordan, Syria and UAR Egypt, known as the Six-Day War. For whatever reason, Mitch Markowitz released a press statement that The Associates were going to travel to Israel to perform for the troops stationed there. But this wasn't discussed with the band and this statement forced them to cancel any gigs they had at the time, and prevented them from searching for more.
So Mitch booked the band into a travelling carnival that was taking place out in Sudbury for a few days before moving. At that time Sudbury was nothing like it is today and this did little to boost the morale of the band. Mitch had them playing in a tent at this carnival and people were charged to get in. Unfortunately, they could hear the band clear as day from outside so nobody was paying to come inside. This presented a real problem for the band. This was the first time they couldn't afford to eat while touring. They were at the carnival for nearly a week and didn't even have enough money to buy food!
This was it; this was the end for the band. They had been so thoroughly demoralized by the experience that they were nearly forced to steal to survive. The band had been going downhill and downhill fast. It was decided while still at the carnival in August that The Associates were to be no more.
Behind the scenes, Domenic Troiano had been chatting with Roy Kenner and it just so happened that the Mandala was also going through a period of flux. They had just lost singer George Olliver and keyboardist Joey Chirowski to disagreements with manager Rafael Markowitz, and were looking to replace them. Domenic had long admired the musicianship and stage-presence of Roy and Henry specifically; in regards to The Associates. He offered the pair the job and they accepted.
It was a rough period for a number of Toronto's R&B bands; The Mandala was changing their members, The Associates were breaking up, even Jon-Lee & The Checkmates broke up around this time. Mandala's newly formed line-up of went on to success in Canada and the U.S. with their future singles and upcoming studio album Soul Crusade in 1968. On the other hand, a new project was rising from the ashes of these three bands.
Joey Chirowski originally got out of the music business altogether after quitting The Mandala, finding work for Canadian Pacific Railways briefly. In late 1967, he returned to the live scene and began looking for a new group. An unknown singer by the name of Doug Stokes was putting together a group; he had the name (Power Proejct), he had the suits picked out, he just needed musicians. He recruited Joey Chirowski on keyboard, Associates bassist Greg Carducci, Associates drummer Ray Rychlewski and Checkmates guitarist Larry Leishman to form Power Project.
After a few weeks rehearsing and developing a repertoire, Lee Jackson (former singer of Jon-Lee & The Checkmates) briefly joined before leaving for Peter Jermyn's (ex-keyboardist of Luke & The Apostles) new group, Modern Rock Quartet in mid-1968. Him joining The Power Project was significant for influencing the group to change their name to Freedom Fair. This was a short-lived incarnation and after its demise many of the members would drift apart.
This, in rough terms, is where the story of Roy Kenner & The Associates ends. They were a fiercely talented and highly influential R&B band from the genre's heyday in Toronto. They backed many notable acts (including James Brown, Wilson Pickett and Ike & Tina Turner), helped launch the historic TREND Records with the release of their debut single and launched the career of Roy Kenner, who went on to sing with Bush, The James Gang, Law and many other notable groups. One thing is for certain, Roy Kenner & The Associates will live on in the hearts and minds of their fans for many more years to come.
WRITTEN & RESEARCHED BY AARON LUSCH
AARONLUSCH@HOTMAIL.COM
WITH NOTES PROVIDED BY GREG CARDUCCI & HENRY BABRAJ


I've been involved in drumming since the age of 16, studying with my father at Cool as Funk Drum School for around 8 years (once a week), this gave me a great grounding of many different styles of drumming and music in general.
After forming a progressive rock band and traveling around various venues, I was looking for a new musical challenge, I was informed a local brass band were in need of a drummer, I mainly wanted experience sight reading pieces of music and to play in different musical situations at this time, so a brass band seemed a good choice …a couple of years later I moved to Northumberland and met some of the members from Jayess and decided to go along to a rehearsal, I was impressed with the bands friendly attitude and musicality, I'm involved with numerous musical projects but value the reading challenges I get from playing with Jayess on a weekly basis, I'm also currently studying Tuned percussion and Timpani as secondary instruments to drum kit to which I can use within Jayess.
My favourite piece is 'On The Track' originally written by Jack Simpson , It is a xylophone solo which I have been working on in my spare time.
My favourite banding moment to date was winning the area contest and being part of the National Brass Band Finals.


One day, a friend of ours came from Hawaii to visit Zen River and brought along a small sachet of culinary lavender. First we made lavender cake. Quite yummy. Then I thought, hey, it might work well in a creamy, nutty salad dressing? It did. And if you enjoy the flavour, as well as the fragrance, of lavender you might be in for a treat.
Whizz all the ingredients together with an immersion blender or with in food processor until the nuts are creamy smooth. Garnish with a few lavender flower buds.


text:
2020s in electoral politics refers to events and outcomes from elections all around the world, during the decade of the 2020s.

Africa

Benin
Presidential elections were held in Benin on 11 April 2021 to elect the President of the Republic of Benin for a five-year term. Incumbent president Patrice Talon was re-elected for a second term in office with 86% of the vote.

Burkina Faso
General elections were held in Burkina Faso on 22 November 2020 to elect the President and National Assembly. In the presidential elections, incumbent president Roch Marc Christian Kaboré of the People's Movement for Progress was re-elected in the first round with 57.9% of the vote, avoiding the need for second round. The main campaign focus of the major presidential candidates was the growing insecurity in the country with the rise in terrorism and ethnic violence.

Burundi
General elections were held in Burundi on 20 May 2020 to elect both the president and the National Assembly. Évariste Ndayishimiye of the ruling CNDD–FDD was elected president with 71% of the vote. In the National Assembly elections, the CNDD–FDD won 72 of the 100 elected seats. The Conference of Bishops of Burundi issued a statement criticizing the transparency and freedom of the election process. The church deployed around 2,716 observers across Burundi's 119 municipalities. The conference's observers witnessed intimidation and expulsion of opposition observers from the polling and vote counting stations. The church condemned the ruling party for engaging in national election fraud. The East African Community issued a statement saying that "The 2020 Burundi elections hold an iconic place in the history of the nation, marking this the first peaceful and democratic transfer of power. More significantly, the process was domestically driven through own funding. The peaceful conclusion of the electoral process will not only be a big win for the people of Burundi, but for the East African Community as a region."

Cameroon
Parliamentary elections were held in Cameroon on 9 February 2020. The Cameroon People's Democratic Movement retained its majority in parliament, winning 139 of the 167 seats decided on election day. The ongoing Anglophone Crisis dominated the process, with supporters of Ambazonia calling for a boycott of the election. Ensuing violence resulted in a low turnout in the Northwest Region and Southwest Region, with separatists claiming that 98 percent of eligible voters had boycotted the election.

Cape Verde
Parliamentary elections were held in Cape Verde on 18 April 2021. The current prime minister, Ulisses Correia e Silva of the Christian democrat Movement for Democracy (MpD) party, won re-election after five years of government. His main contender was Janira Hopffer Almada, of the moderate socialist African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV). The two parties have been the dominant political forces in Cape Verde since its democratization, but several new parties were taking part in the election.

Comoros
Legislative elections were held in the Comoros on 19 January 2020; in constituencies where no candidate received a majority, a second round was held alongside local elections on 23 February. The elections were boycotted by the main opposition parties, including the two largest parties in the outgoing parliament, the Union for the Development of the Comoros and Juwa Party, in protest at constitutional reform and political repression, The result was a landslide victory for President Azali Assoumani's Convention for the Renewal of the Comoros, which won 20 of the 24 elected seats.

Cote d'Ivoire
Presidential elections were held in Ivory Coast on 31 October 2020. The election, boycotted by the opposition, saw the reelection of incumbent Alassane Ouattara. Several people were killed in clashes in Toumodi, as well as Tiébissou.

Djibouti
Presidential elections were held in Djibouti on 9 April 2021. Incumbent president Ismaïl Omar Guelleh was re-elected for his fifth five-year term, having served in the role since 1999.

Ghana
General elections were held in Ghana on 7 December 2020. Incumbent President Nana Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) was re-elected in the first round after securing a majority of the votes. Former President John Dramani Mahama said he would contest the results.

Guinea
Parliamentary elections were held in Guinea on 22 March 2020 alongside a constitutional referendum, after being postponed four times from the original date of January 2019. The 2020 Guinean presidential election resulted in a third term for President Alpha Condé, with protests against him resulting in at least 30 deaths according to the opposition.

Mali
Parliamentary elections were held in Mali on 29 March 2020, with a second round on 19 April. They were initially scheduled to be held on 25 November and 16 December 2018, but were moved to April 2019 and then to June 2019, before being postponed until 2020 by the Council of Ministers. The elections were marred by violence in the north and center of the country.

Incidents on April 19 prevented some people from casting votes, and on 30 April the Constitutional Court overturned the results in 31 districts, giving Rally for Mali, which is led by President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, ten more seats than originally expected. Opposition parties led by Iman Mahmoud Dicko established the Mouvement du 5 juin - Rassemblement des forces patriotiques  (June 5 Movement - Rally of Patriotic Forces) on 30 May, and thousands took to the streets in protest on 5 June.

Boubou Cisse was reappointed Prime Minister on 11 June, when he was instructed to form a new government. Tens of thousands of Malians protested again on 19 June, demanding the resignation of President Keïta. On June 20, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) called for new elections to be held.

President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta and Imam Mahmoud Dicko met on 5 July, but the opposition continued to call for civil disobedience to force Keïta's resignation and the dissolution of Parliament. Protests turned violent on 10 July. For the next three days, protesters in Bamako clashed with security forces, and security forces reportedly fired live rounds at the protesters, killing at least 11 and injuring 124.

Nigeria

Seychelles
General elections were held in Seychelles on 22–24 October 2020 to elect the President and members of the National Assembly. The National Assembly elections had been due in 2021, but in July 2020 were brought forward by President Danny Faure in order to hold them together with the presidential elections, a proposal supported by opposition parties.

The presidential elections were won by Wavel Ramkalawan of the Linyon Demokratik Seselwa (LDS), with the LDS also increasing its majority in the National Assembly, winning 25 of the 35 seats.

Somalia

Tanzania
General elections were held in Tanzania on 28 October 2020 to elect the President and National Assembly. The presidential election was won by incumbent John Magufuli of the Chama Cha Mapinduzi party. On 24 October 2020 the opposition claimed that the government was interfering in the election by making it more difficult to accredit thousands of opposition electoral observers, whose job is to ensure that the election is fair. The opposition has also claimed that the National Electoral Commission, whose members are appointed by the president, have barred the challenger Lissu from campaigning while letting the incumbent Magufuli campaign. From 27 October, the Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority (TCRA) blocked several popular social media websites to restrict communication amid violence in the islands of Zanzibar, where dozens have been shot dead and tens have been injured by the police and other security forces. Tanzania electoral watch panel, USA State Department, Commonwealth, and European Union were very critical about the elections.

Togo
Presidential elections were held in Togo on 22 February 2020. Incumbent president Faure Gnassingbé of the Union for the Republic (UPR) was re-elected for his fourth term with 71% of the vote in the first round. His closest challenger was Agbéyomé Kodjo, a former prime minister and leader of the newly established Patriotic Movement for Democracy and Development, who received 19% of the vote.

After observing the elections, ECOWAS determined that they were free and transparent, commending the population for its peaceful participation as an improvement from protests years prior against the long reign of the Gnassingbe family. However, sporadic internet shutdowns were recorded across the capital and other major cities, prompting both international watchdogs and opposition parties to question the results.

On 25 February Kodjo filed a petition at the Constitutional Court asking it to overturn the results. Three days later, he and Kpodzro called for public protests, resulting in the military surrounding their homes and the Ministry of Territorial Administration stating that protests would be illegal. Members of the National Assembly responded by accusing Kodjo of planning a coup.

Asia

Azerbaijan
Parliamentary elections were held in Azerbaijan on 9 February 2020. They were originally scheduled to take place in November 2020, but were brought forward after parliament was dissolved in December 2019. Opposition parties accused President Ilham Aliyev of limiting their ability to campaign, and called for a boycott of the election. The ruling New Azerbaijan Party retained its majority, winning 72 of the 125 seats, although this was later reduced to 70 when results in two constituencies were annulled. The second largest party (the Civic Solidarity Party) won only three seats.

China
On 23 October 2022, Xi Jinping is elected as General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party by the Central Committee, beginning a third term of the paramount leader of China.

India

Japan
On 29 September 2021, Fumio Kishida defeated Taro Kono in a runoff vote to become the leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and replaced outgoing party leader Yoshihide Suga. He received a total of 257 votes, from 249 parliament members and eight rank-and-file members, to become Japan's next Prime Minister. Kishida's Cabinet, which took office on 4 October 2021, consists of 21 members, including 13 who joined the Cabinet for the first time while also including 2 veterans, Toshimitsu Motegi and Nobuo Kishi who retained their respective posts from the previous cabinet under Suga. Kishida announced he would call a general election for 31 October 2021.

Mongolia
Parliamentary elections were held in Mongolia on 24 June 2020. The result was a victory for the ruling Mongolian People's Party, which won 62 of the 76 seats, a slight decrease from the 65 won in the 2016 elections. The Prime Minister Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh resigned on 27 January 2021 following a minor protest against the mistreatment of a hospital patient.

Myanmar
General elections were held in Myanmar on 8 November 2020, in which the National League for Democracy won 396 out of 476 seats in parliament, while the military's proxy party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party, won only 33 seats. In the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, democratically elected members of the ruling National League for Democracy were detained and/or deposed from their offices by the Tatmadaw; Myanmar's military.

North Korea
At the 8th Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea, Kim Jong-un was elected as the General Secretary of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, inheriting the title from his late father Kim Jong-il, who died in 2011.

South Korea
South Korea's 21st legislative elections were held on 15 April 2020. All 300 members of the National Assembly were elected, 253 from first-past-the-post constituencies and 47 from proportional party lists. They were the first elections held under the new electoral system. The two largest parties, the liberal Democratic Party and the conservative United Future Party, set up new satellite parties (also known as bloc parties) to take advantage of the revised electoral system. The reforms also lowered the voting age from 19 to 18.

The Democratic Party and its satellite, the Platform Party, won a landslide victory, taking 180 of the 300 seats (60%) between them. The Democratic Party alone won 163 seats — the highest number by any party since 1960. This guarantees the ruling liberal alliance an absolute majority in the legislative chamber, and the three-fifths super-majority required to fast-track its procedures. The conservative alliance between the United Future Party and its satellite Future Korea Party won only 103 seats, the worst conservative result since 1960.

Sri Lanka
Parliamentary elections in Sri Lanka were held on 5 August 2020 to elect 225 members to Sri Lanka's 16th Parliament. The incumbent Sri Lanka People's Freedom Alliance coalition claimed a landslide victory in the election, winning 145 seats, while Samagi Jana Balawegaya won 54 seats, Tamil National Alliance won 10 seats and National People's Power won 3 seats. The main opposition United National Party suffered the worst showing in its history following a split over party leadership, finishing in fourth place with only one seat. The election was postponed at least twice due to a surge in COVID-19 cases in the country, before the date was finalized as 5 August 2020.

Tajikistan
Parliamentary elections were held in Tajikistan on 1 March 2020. The result was a landslide victory for the ruling People's Democratic Party, which won 47 of the 63 seats. The only opposition party, the Social Democratic Party, received just 0.3% of the vote. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe was critical of the election.

Vietnam
On 31 January 2021, Nguyễn Phú Trọng is re-elected for a third five-year term as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam.

Europe

Albania
Parliamentary elections were held in Albania on 25 April 2021. The Socialist Party of Albania retained its majority.

Czech Republic

Croatia
The presidential elections' second round took place on 5 January 2020 between the two candidates with the highest number of votes in the first round. Zoran Milanović won the second round with 52.66% of the vote. The 2020 Croatian parliamentary election took place on 5 July 2020. The ruling HDZ obtained an upset victory over the Restart Coalition, who had previously been leading in opinion polls for several weeks prior to the elections.

Estonia

Greece
Presidential elections were held in Greece on Wednesday 22 January 2020 for the President of the Hellenic Republic. Incumbent President Prokopis Pavlopoulos, who was elected by the Hellenic Parliament on the 18 February 2015, was eligible for re-election but was not suggested by the government. Katerina Sakellaropoulou won the election with 261 votes. She was elected as the 13th and first female President of Greece.

Iceland
Presidential elections were held in Iceland on 27 June 2020. Absentee voting opened on 25 May 2020. Incumbent president Guðni Th. Jóhannesson was re-elected with 92% of the vote.

Ireland
The 2020 Irish general election resulted in a historic win for the Sinn Féin, making it the second largest party of the Dáil Éireann. The result was seen as a historic shift in Ireland's political landscape, effectively ending the two-party system of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil. The reason for the electoral upset for these parties was believed to be in voter dissatisfaction on issues of health, housing and homelessness. Sinn Féin won 37 seats, Fianna Fáil won 38, and Fine Gael won 35. Seán Ó Fearghaíl was re-elected to Ceann Comhairle at the first sitting of the 33rd Dáil on 20 February 2020.

Italy

Moldova
The 2020 Moldovan presidential election was won by Maia Sandu becoming the first female president and promising reform of the country's corruption. After entering office, she demanded the withdrawal of Russian troops from Transnistria.

North Macedonia
Early parliamentary elections were held in North Macedonia on 15 July 2020. It was originally scheduled for November 2020, but Prime Minister Zoran Zaev called early elections after the European Council failed to come to an agreement on starting talks with North Macedonia on joining the European Union in October 2019. The election date was set for 12 April, but was postponed until July due to the COVID-19 pandemic in North Macedonia.

Poland
The 2020 Polish presidential election was completed with a second round of voting on 12 July 2020. The first round of voting was held on 28 June 2020. The incumbent president Andrzej Duda, running with the support of Law and Justice, faced off against Civic Platform vice-chairman and Mayor of Warsaw Rafał Trzaskowski after first round results showed Duda with 43.5% of the vote and Trzaskowski with 30.46%. Results from the second round of voting, announced by the National Electoral Commission (PKW) on 13 July, indicated that Andrzej Duda had won with 51.03% compared to Rafał Trzaskowski's 48.97%.

Portugal

Romania
The 2020 Romanian legislative election had a record low turnout of 31.84 percent due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the ruling centre-right coalition winning the election, and the far-right Alliance for the Union of Romanians entering the legislature for the first time boosted by vaccine skepticism.

Serbia
Parliamentary elections were held in Serbia on 21 June 2020. Initially organised for 26 April 2020, they were postponed by a state of emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. In the period before the elections, inter-party European Parliament–mediated dialogue was held and certain changes in election legislation were made. Numerous parliamentary and non-parliamentary political parties boycotted the elections, including the major opposition coalition Alliance for Serbia, which said that there were no conditions for free and fair elections. This resulted in the lowest turnout since the establishment of a multi-party system in 1990. The Serbian Progressive Party–led coalition won one of the largest parliamentary majorities in Europe.

Slovakia
Parliamentary elections were held in Slovakia on 29 February 2020 to elect all 150 members of the National Council. The anti-corruption movement Ordinary People (OĽaNO) led by Igor Matovič emerged as the largest party, winning 53 seats. The ruling coalition comprising Direction – Social Democracy (Smer–SD), the Slovak National Party (SNS) and Most–Híd, led by Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini of Smer–SD, won only 38, with both the SNS and Most–Híd losing their parliamentary representation. It was the first time since the 2006 elections that Smer–SD did not emerge as the party with the most seats. As no party or electoral coalition won a majority of seats, a coalition government was needed. On 13 March, Matovič announced he had reached an agreement for a governing coalition with We Are Family, Freedom and Solidarity and For the People, though they had not agreed upon a common governing program.

North America

United States of America

2020 elections

South America

Bolivia
The 2020 Bolivian general election was won by the Movement for Socialism, which had been deposed from power during the 2019 Bolivian political crisis.

See also
 European Union

Notes

References

Bibliography

2020s decade overviews

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Play commences when the player places a bet and the dealer removes two cards from the shoe and places them face up on the table. The player then decides whether or not to raise the bet. The dealer deals a third card and if the value of the card falls between the values of the other two cards, the player is a winner.
Original bets are payed out at even money, and raise bets are payed out according to a scale, where the closer the two cards are together, the better the payout is.
it makes the most sense to raise on those hands that have a spread of seven or more.


02 DYNAMICS pfp with vibrato, 5 sec.; without vibrato, 2 sec.
Fortepiano and sforzato Medium dynamics with vibrato, 3 sec.
Medium dynamics without vibrato, 1, 1.5, 2, 3, 4, 6 sec.
Strong dynamics without vibrato, 4 and 6 sec..
pfp without vibrato, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10 sec..
fpf without vibrato, 4 and 6 sec..


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SeismoBuild is an innovative Finite Element package wholly and exclusively dedicated to seismic assessment and strengthening of reinforced concrete structures that is targeted to the design office. The program is capable of fully carrying out the Code defined assessment methodologies from the structural modelling through to the required analyses and the corresponding member checks.
SeismoStruct is an award-winning Finite Element package capable of predicting the large displacement behaviour of space frames under static or dynamic loading, taking into account both geometric nonlinearities and material inelasticity. Concrete, steel, frp and sma material models are available, together with a large library of 3D elements that may be used with a wide variety of pre-defined steel, concrete and composite section configurations.
SeismoApps is a cutting-edge suite of applications designed to implement basic seismological operations. Easily read and process strong-motion data with SeismoSignal, create a personal library of ground motion records with SeismoSpect, adjust earthquake accelerograms to match a specific target response spectrum with SeismoMatch, or generate suites of accelerograms for nonlinear dynamic analysis with SeismoArtif.
The links above provide fully functional demo verions of SeismoSoft applications. To purchase lincenses for long-term use, please contact DIMCO.


LAUNDRY SERVICE (PART-TIME) opening at Diakon - Manatawny Manor | Sign-on Bonus Provided!
TECHNICIAN, LINEN DISTRIBUTION (FULL-TIME) CASA GRANDE - SIGN ON BONUS - WILL TRAIN!
LAUNDRY SERVICE / LINEN SORT (FULL-TIME) SIGN ON BONUS UP TO $500! WILL TRAIN!


Ernest's Mural At Chew Jetty – Boy On Boat – Went to Chew Jetty last week to check out the mural by Ernest Zacharevic which is about a boy with fishing rod on a sampan. I'm so outdated already because it had been there for like a month. Anyway, I still want to go check it out and capture photo because it's cute.
Weather wasn't that nice that day, it was hazy, humid and hot! Argh. I couldn't spend a long time under the hot sun, it's very uncomfortable as I was unprepared. Just went there spontaneously and did not expect the weather to be so hot.
Here's Hueisean with the mural. It's drawn on the wall of a homestay wooden house at Chew Jetty.


While docked at this historic port, we are proposing a unique InterAm experience.
We're planning to give you urban and shiggy trails with varying degrees of length (plus a Ballbuster for you masochists). A themed Dress Run may also be in the works! After trails are finalized, we plan to offer a convenient online sign-up experience. All of the details you need will be posted here.
BRIGHTLINE is a high-speed rail service that can take you into downtown West Palm Beach from Fort Lauderdale in 30 minutes, or up from Miami in 60 minutes. Wi-fi is complimentary on the train and there are upgrades to seating that may be available.
TRI-RAIL has a stop in West Palm Beach and stations in Fort Lauderdale and Miami. They also feature a shuttle bus that connects you directly to the PBI, FLL and MIA airports.
I-95 has 30 exits from Jupiter to Boca Raton, but the interstate runs closer to the eastern side of The Palm Beaches so pay attention to the exits to hit West Palm Beach.
Florida's Turnpike goes from Orlando to Miami and is west of I-95. Insider tip: When driving southbound on the Turnpike, exit at Indiantown Road in Jupiter (Exit 116), from the toll booths turn left – and immediately find the entrance ramp for I-95 to finish your trip.
A1A follows the Atlantic Ocean beaches for 47 miles and is a must do if this is your first time in Florida.
US Highway 1 was the road that started it all into the Palm Beaches. This unique road goes through each city and is a classic north/south way to get into West Palm Beach.
US Highway 98 goes from Lake Okeechobee to Palm Beach and features scenic views of farmlands and glades.
If you're driving directly to the cruise terminal on Sunday, you'll park your car with the Port of Palm Beach. Parking is currently $19 per day (cash only) and is valet only.


Soldering Iron 5SS-200-IRON with supply voltage 24 VAC and consumed power 60 W for Soldering Stations SS-206B / 207B.
Soldering in electronics (integrated circuits, electronic components, printed circuit boards), in electrical engineering. For soldering stations SS-206B and SS-207B.
operating voltage - 24 VAC.


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text:
24 City
Film - Feature | February 6 | 7 p.m. | Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive
Jia Zhangke's exquisite documentary/fiction hybrid examines a Chinese factory-city being dismantled to make way for luxury apartment houses. Its workers, many of whom have spent their entire lives within the confines of the factory's shops, schools, and dormitories, narrate how its walls have come to embody China's modern history. For Jia, "history is always a blend of fact and imagination." Fictionalized monologues, based on workers' experiences but delivered by actors such as Joan Chen and Zhao Tao, are interwoven with real-life testimonies charting the factory's activities from the Korean War to the present day: stories of political engagement, love, regret, and regeneration. What emerges is an elegy to a bygone city whose physical structures may be erased by the march of capitalist development, but whose memories live on.
Event contact: afox@berkeley.edu, 510-642-0365


text:
Q: Heat transfer in a pipe I have a gas (assuming air) at T = 500 K that enters a cylindrical pipe. The outlet target temperature is 330K.
There will be heat transfer via: Forced convection from the gas to the inside of the pipe, conduction through the pipe thickness, convection to the ambient air environment ($T_{\infty} = 300 K) $ and radiation from the pipe surface.
What would be an appropriate assumption for the surface conditions of this heat sink pipe? Would the temperature be constant and the heat transfer a linear function of the pipe length?
It seems intuitive that the pipe surface temperature changes along the pipe, being hotter closer to the hotter inlet.

A: As dmckee said, the problem is complex. Fortunately, there are some simplifications that can be made without much damage to the accuracy. I hope I can present them in an accesible manner.
My guess is that since You have constant inlet and ambient temperatures and a target outlet temperature, what You are looking for are the pipe's dimensions and properties (type of material).
At the beginning You can neglect the radiation from the surface - at 500K it barely exists.
As it was mentioned, the easiest way to solve this problem is to compute an algorithm using software like MatLab or Wolfram Mathematica. Also get familiar with dimensionless numbers used in heat transfer theory. Two of them are more important than others - Nusselt number and Reynolds number. Nusselt number is vital for determining forced convective heat transfer coefficients, there are many empirical correlations for Nusselt number available, but they usually depend on the value of Reynolds number. Reynolds number defines whether the flow is laminar, transitional or turbulent. For turbulent flows in horizontal pipe's Gnielinski correlation for convective heat transfer coefficient is quite good. Calculating the heat transfer coefficients You will often have to define the wall temperature. It is generally unknown, it differs not only along the pipe's length but also in the radial direction - it is hotter on the inner surface of the pipe. Since the pipe's walls are usually thin, in Your calculations You can assume that the temperature is uniform along the radius, but You cannot assume that it is uniform along it's length. That's why the easiest way is to solve it iteratively, calculating the fluid's properties after each, let's say 5 cm of the pipe. Each time You can set the wall temperature to
$$\frac {T_{\text{fluid}} + T_{\text{amb}}}{2}$$, which isn't very bad approximation. You must remember though, that $T_{fluid}$ is 500K only at the first step, every next step it should be a result of the previous calculation. You carry on with the calculations unless the temperature of the fluid reaches 330K. Then You count the number of steps, multiply it by 5cm, and the result is the required pipe's length. Of course, at the beginning, pipe's inner and outer diameters shall be assumed as well as the pipe's material (it affects the value of thermal conductivity). Now that You have calculated the length You have to decide if it suits You, and alternatively change the pipe's diameters or material and repeat the calculations until the pipe's length satisfies You.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Hello dolls! Hope you're all having a gorgeous day my loves!
In this post I wanted to finally talk to you a little bit more about my amazing collaboration with United Colors Of Benetton. Like I showed you over here, the collaboration I'm doing with Benetton is for the project called United Bloggers Of Benetton. Today I'll tell you all about project 1 which is the first one we worked on. Project one was the Photoshoot. I chose to bring my personal photographer with me & 1 assistant, my sister (Alex) was my photographer (She's always been my photographer for the blog too) & Silvia was my assistant. The photoshoot involved me choosing 3 different outfits from the United Colors Of Benetton Store in Dubai Mall, trying them and taking photos in, around and outside the store. Some of the clothes, I was allowed to keep and shoot in different locations, I will show you all the outfits very soon!
Here are some of the pictures of the bright and colorful store at Dubai Mall.
Click here to 'LIKE' their Facebook Fan Page & click here to follow United Colors Of Benetton in the UAE.