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In case you missed the keynote from Mustafa Suleyman from DeepMind we are sharing with you our notes from the session with some useful links. DeepMind have made good progress with AI and ML over the years. Useful in many different environments such as energy and healthcare which are the areas Suleyman focuses on during his session at the Reinventing Energy Summit.
How can we apply emerging technologies to advance energy storage and renewable power sources, and make the world a more sustainable place? Paolo Fracas, CEO and Founder of Genport, explores the future of hybrid power sources, biofuels and energy storage.
Vital to a low carbon future, smart energy systems also form a central pillar of most smart city visions. But there is a yawning gap between the rhetoric and current practice that needs to be bridged if all the promised markets (for smart technologies, data analytics, control algorithms, demand response services) are to emerge and thrive.
The UK electricity grid is under stress, and at peak times, it's forced to use the oldest, most-pollutant and expensive power stations to meet the demand. Upside Energy has built a cloud service that coordinates thousands of batteries and thermal energy stores on domestic and small business sites to smooth the flow of energy across the grid. We spoke to founder Graham Oakes to learn more.
By 2020, renewable energy sources such as wind and solar will be cheap and easy to manage. Technological advances, environmental concerns and political backing will drive their adoption around the world. New Scientist and RE•WORK are holding the Reinventing Energy Summit, bringing together 250+ innovators, industry experts and world class research scientists to challenge the status quo and outline a new vision of for cleaner, smarter energy.
We're excited to announce a new event in collaboration with New Scientist! The Reinventing Energy Summit will explore the opportunities of applying AI and machine learning techniques to efficiently manage energy generation and consumption, predicting energy supply, smart grid management and operations, and much more.


Systems And Control Letters, 1997, v. 31 n. 1, p. 11-20 How to Cite?
This paper is concerned with computing an L 2-optimal reduced-order model for a given stable multivariable linear system in the presence of input and output frequency weightings. By parametrizing a class of reduced-order models in terms of an orthogonal projection and using manifold techniques as tools, both continuous and iterative algorithms are derived and their convergence properties are established. As an application, we show that an L 2 optimal reduced-order filter in the closed-loop sense can be computed using these algorithms. © 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.


After a 6.5 year battle with cancer Ken will rest on the tranquil waters of his favourite fishing spot. Survived by his wife & best friend Susan, children Kaleb (Melissa), Jolene (Ken) Riddle, Jenna, Jonas & Clinton. His precious granddaughters Kalyn & Sadie Hutchinson, Ryann & Reese Riddle. His furry fishing buddy Carlos. Ken is survived by his stepmother Penny, sister Sharon, brothers Keith (Roblyn), Brian (Mary-Jane), Stephen & numerous nieces & nephews. Predeceased by his father Ed in 2002 & his mother Georgina in 2013.
Ken was born at Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster. His family later moved to Victoria where he grew up in the Cordova Bay Area, spending his summers on the beach. Graduated in 1969 from Esquimalt High then continued on to work for BC Parks, building hiking trails & campsites at Manning Park, Garibaldi Park & Mt. Seymour. He then worked for Westcraft Windows in the Courtney area and Dave Burkhard construction until moving to Little Fort from Courtney in the fall of 1980 to farm and raise his family.
There in Little Fort Ken & Susan raised their 5 children. Developed their farm and had the only herd of registered Hays Converter cattle in the BC interior. During this time Ken worked full time for 26 years at Gilbert Smith Forest Products in Barriere until falling ill. Ken loved being outdoors, fishing, camping, sledding & fixing cars.
Thank you to the caring staff at Marjorie Willoughby Hospice House for taking such good care of us during Ken's final days. Also to all the doctors and home care support that helped over the past years.
A private family service will be held. Should friends desire donations may be made to Marjorie Willoughby Hospice House, 72 Whiteshield Crescent S, Kamloops BC V2E 2S9 or to the North Thompson Hospice House Society, Box 1, Little Fort, BC, V0E 2C0. Arrangements entrusted to North Thompson Funeral Services, Box 859, Barriere, BC,V0E 1E0, 250-672-1999.


text:
Every Assassination Makes the Army's Grip Over Pakistan Tighter and More Lethal
The killing of PTM leader Sardar Arif Wazir and the death of exiled Baloch journalist Sajid Hussain come at a time when the army is weakening the provinces by undermining the 18th amendment to the Pakistani constitution.
Pakhtun Tahaffuz Movement leader Arif Wazir, shot dead by gunmen on May 1, and exiled Baloch journalist Sajid Hussain, whose body was found in Uppsala, Sweden last week.
Mohammad Taqi
"Assassination", said George Bernard Shaw, "is the extreme form of censorship". And I have always maintained that censorship is the milder form of political assassination. Choking free expression strangulates the political process. In Pakistan, the country's army is practicing both censorship and assassination with increasing impunity.
On May 1, 2020, a leading member of the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM or Pashtun Defence Movement) Sardar Arif Wazir, was shot when he was strolling outside his house in Wana, in the former tribal district of South Waziristan. He later succumbed to his injuries in an Islamabad hospital. The PTM has said that the attackers were the so-called 'good Taliban'. The good Taliban are ostensibly the ones who are considered the Pakistan army's asset and do its dirty work, as against the 'bad Taliban', who had spun out of GHQ's orbit and attacked the army by forming the Tehrik-e-Taliban-Pakistan (TTP).
Arif Wazir's clan, along with scores of other tribal elders, has stood like a rock against the Pakistan army's policy of using the Pashtun tribal areas as the point d'appui to launch the Taliban into Afghanistan and in the process creating a jihadist ecosystem in the Pashtun areas straddling the Durand Line. The Taliban, both the good and bad, have killed these tribal elders called the Masharan, by the hundreds, over the past 14 years.
Arif Wazir was the 18th member of his family killed at the hands of the Pakistan army's strategic jihadist assets, and mud be in my mouth, he may not be the last one. He and his cousin Ali Wazir, who is a member of Pakistan's National Assembly (MNA) from the region, narrowly survived an armed assault last year and the army had shot and killed 13 PTM members in a separate incident.
Arif Wazir spent almost 15 months in prison, off and on since the inception of the PTM two years ago, on cooked-up charges at the behest of the army. He had just come home from the prison and had already started political activities with the PTM, the thrust of which has been to oppose the army's policy of rehabilitating the Taliban in the region. The PTM has been calling for an end to this practice. Over the past 15 years, the Pakistan army has launched several operations in the Pashtun tribal areas, which have now been integrated into the country's Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, ostensibly to purge the area of the Taliban. Local leaders, however, have lamented, including from the PTM's podium, that the army's operations were highly selective: they cunningly preserved and relocated all their Afghan jihadi assets and local Taliban supporters to the contiguous tribal areas and the Pashtun regions of the Balochistan province.
For example, the word about the army's flagship Operation Zarb-e-Azb was out for months before any action started on the ground in June 2014, allowing many Taliban to make good their escape. Additionally, the army used to impose curfew in the region and literally bussed out the Haqqani Network leaders and cadres before the first shot was fired. In fact, the Pakistan army has not been able to show that it arrested or killed a single Afghan jihadist or a local 'good Taliban' in Zarb-e-Azb. Writing about that operation, I had noted in June 2014, "The Pakistani calculus has always been that the US will leave behind a power vacuum in which the 'good' Taliban, like the Haqqani Network (HQN), would lead the charge. Indications are that the HQN ringleaders, including its head honcho, Sirajuddin Haqqani, and midlevel operatives have already evacuated North Waziristan."
Fast forward to 2020 and one can see Sirajuddin Haqqani not only finding a seat at the negotiations table with the United States, as the Taliban's deputy emir, but also becoming the first designated terrorist to have an op-ed published in the New York Times. The Pakistan army's calculus was right, albeit at an immeasurable cost to the local Pashtun population in their sweat, blood and treasure.
Thousands like Arif Wazir have been sacrificed at the altar of Pakistan army's jihadi policy and hundreds of thousands were internally displaced, becoming refugees in their own country. The army, however, does not seem to have any regrets and hence the current repatriation of its jihadist assets to the former tribal districts. The only thing different this time is that there is – in the form of PTM – a robust and organic political movement that is challenging the army's narrative and calling it out for its lies.
The army's lackeys like the governor of the Punjab province have tried to pin Arif Wazir's brutal assassination on the Afghan intelligence service.
The governor's verified twitter account posted that "The NDS first intended to kill Manzoor Pashteen (PTM's top leader). But when he went into hiding, Arif Wazir's corpse was delivered. (MNAs) Mohsin Dawar and Ali Wazir aided and abetted in this murder".
After having blamed the PTM endlessly for being an NDS proxy, the irony was perhaps lost on the governor's team! Regardless, they deleted the tweet and blamed it on unauthorised use of the account.
There is an undeclared ban on media coverage of the PTM's political activities and its leaders have been tacitly denied any screen or airtime. Newspapers have purged, under duress, columns and even columnists for writing about the PTM. The PTM has, however, been getting its message across through the deft use of social media and its leaders have penned op-eds for international publications. So, when curbs on media and coercing journalists didn't work, the establishment through its jihadist henchmen, appears to have resorted to the extreme form of censorship – assassinations. And Arif Wazir might not be the only one whose blood trail leads towards the army and its unsavoury allies.
Baloch journalist targeted
A Baloch journalist, Sajid Hussain, who was living in exile in Sweden and edited an online publication, The Balochistan Times, had gone missing in March. His body was found in a river near the Swedish town of Uppsala on April 23,2020. The New York Times wrote: "Reporters Without Borders suggested in a statement that Mr. Hussain's death could have followed an abduction "at the behest of a Pakistani intelligence agency…. Taliban and Islamic State militants operate in Mr. Hussain's home province in Pakistan, as do criminal groups." It is, therefore, critical to understand the nature of the army's involvement with the jihadists, drug barons and criminal groups.
Hussain had reported extensively on the Pakistan army's dirty war in Balochistan, the Baloch separatist movement and how it challenged an international drug lord named Imam Bheel's sway in Balochistan. In 2009, President Barrack Obama's administration had sanctioned Bheel as one of the four international drug-trafficking kingpins under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act. But drugs weren't Bheel's only act. He hobnobbed with Pakistani politicians including those friendly to the military establishment, and with the army itself. One of General Pervez Musharraf's ministers, Zubeida Jalal, allegedly got him off the hook in a hijacking case. Ironically, Bheel's son defeated the minister in the next general elections. But Bheel's importance for and collaboration with the army has been two-fold: firstly, he worked with the army against the secular Baloch militant separatists, and secondly, by helping with the Afghan Taliban's drug trade and trafficking to bankroll their war.
Without the autopsy report it is difficulty to say if indeed there was any foul play involved in the death of the journalist. However, Sajid Hussain sure had many enemies including the Pakistani intelligence agencies and its narco-mafia collaborators. Though the army has refrained from going after dissidents abroad, in 2018, the US, UK and European law enforcement agencies had personally warned dozens of Pakistani dissident writers, intellectuals and activists living in self-exile against traveling back to Pakistan or certain Middle Eastern and European countries. Before that, the former army dictator General Pervez Musharraf – ironically absconding from Pakistan's courts and now in Dubai – had called for assassinations of Pakistani dissent leaders and cadres living abroad.
Army-driven disinformation and worse
Add to this mix, the recent appointment of Lt. General (retired) Asim Saleem Bajwa as the special assistant to the prime minister for information, and one can see that the army's vice-like grip over the narrative is only going get tighter, with specific goals in their mind. General Asim Bajwa – no relation to the incumbent Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa – is currently serving as the chairman of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Authority (CPECA), effectively ensuring the army's control over the mega-billion project. But his real claim to fame is that as the director general of Inter-services Public Relations (DG ISPR) he was the architect of media censorship and coercion in the post-Musharraf dictatorship era. He prodded, induced, cajoled and coerced media houses and newspapers to self-censor. In my own case, he literally ordered Pakistan's Daily Times, where I had written a weekly column for six years, to shut it down along with my co-columnist and Baloch rights campaigner Mir Muhammad Ali Talpur's weekly piece. He created a culture of purging dissident voices from the electronic media through duress.
Another one of his nefarious contributions was building social media troll armies to hound, harass, smear and drown out the voices that oppose the army's hegemony in politics. As DG ISPR, he created a larger-than-life public persona of the then COAS, General Raheel Shareef, through sheer projection and propaganda. According to the respected military historian, Hamid Hussain, "This was resented by professional officers and he was ridiculed by fellow officers as 'twitter-in-chief' and 'Goebbels of Pakistan'. Current army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa realised the error and has ordered toning down the projection."
But General Qamar Bajwa had his own Goebbels, albeit a rather crude and unlettered one: Major General Asif Ghafoor. General Ghafoor was a volatile and often times petty man, who picked personal vendettas on Twitter, only to be chastised and ridiculed. He, however, carried on relentlessly with the troll farming and media control with great success. Large media and publishing houses were cowed down, one after the other. However, since General Ghafoor was posted out earlier this year, his replacement, Major General Babar Iftikhar, has been struggling to find his feet. It seems that while General Iftikhar is learning on the job, General Asim Bajwa has been sent in as reinforcement. Another reason for buttressing the (dis)information front is that the army-friendly Prime Minister Imran Khan's spokespersons and information ministers have fumbled and faltered. They have been replaced more times than one can remember. The brass – perennially obsessed with image and least concerned with changing the reality – was not happy with its puppet's failure to put lipstick on the pig.
Why the constitution's 18th amendment is a red rag for GHQ
But there is more to these attempts to gag the media and silence the dissenters, quite literally, at this juncture. The army is extremely unhappy with the landmark 18th Constitutional Amendment, which was passed unanimously 10 years ago and signed into law by the then president, Asif Ali Zardari. The 18th amendment is one of the most detailed parts of the constitution. It remedied many malicious mutations inducted into the Pakistani constitution by military rulers, including arrogating the power of dissolving the national assembly and thus the government to the president. President Zardari voluntarily gave up that power through this amendment.
In 1972, when the rump Pakistani parliament got to the business of framing a new constitution in the aftermath of East Pakistan's secession and independence, it agreed on a federal structure. It was also agreed that for a set period of time, various subjects would fall under the domain of both the federal government and the federating units i.e. the provincial governments. This concurrent list was to be abolished in due course but thanks to two bouts of martial law spanning 20 years in total, and a decade of controlled democracy, that never happened. Finally, when the 18th amendment devolved the bulk of the joint subjects to the provinces, that along with the National Finance Commission (NFC) award did not go down well with the army, and many in the civil bureaucracy. So much so that the current distributions have essentially remained frozen at what the 7th NFC award had granted in 2010.
The Business Recorder's columnist, Rashed Rahman, recently wrote: Under this 7th NFC award, the Centre receives 42.5% of the divisible pool, while the remaining 57.5 percent is distributed amongst the provinces on the formula of shares being determined as follows: 82% on the basis of population, 10.3% on the basis of poverty and backwardness, 5% on revenue collection and 2.7% on inverse population."
The premise of devolution was that the federal government would increase the tax-to-GDP ratio and cut expenditure in redundant ministries. With the army's Imran Khan project going bust, the economic outlook remains in the doldrums and the tax base has actually shrunk, making the army – the biggest beneficiary of the federal largesse – nervous. But unwilling to jettison its disastrous venture, the army has opted to attempt to claw back what was duly awarded to the provinces through the 18th amendment. To this end, the Imran-Bajwa regime's ministers have already been commissioned to impugn the 18th amendment and the NFC Award, with the ultimate goal of rolling back many of their provisions.
With Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) holding on to a parliamentary majority with the skin of its teeth, let alone having the required two-thirds majority, and almost all other parties opposing a rollback, the plot seems to be to coerce major political parties like the former PM Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) and Zardari's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) to fall in line. Both the PMLN and PPP leadership face cooked-up graft charges, for which they have been in and out of prison. A get-out-of-jail carrot will likely be dangled along with the stick of more cases, should they refuse to play ball.
A senior PMLN leader very close Nawaz Sharif recently told me that they don't see any reason to undo the 18th amendment and if there are issues in delivery and application, the provinces should be asked to review. But a camp within the PMLN allied with Nawaz Sharif's younger brother Shehbaz Sharif seems a bit more amenable to the army's demands. The ethno-national Baloch and Pashtun parties and the PPP, which has its stronghold in Sindh province, are likely to resist a change in the quantum of provincial autonomy and divisible pool allocations.
While a complete roll back of the 18th amendment would be improbable, the army through Imran Khan is most likely going to shake down the opposition parties to get maximum concessions. The army is essentially out to regain all the political space it lost after the ouster of General Pervez Musharraf and restoration of democracy. It knows full well that tinkering with the 18th amendment effectively means weakening the federation and triggering political chaos. But its plan seems to be to manage this – through brute force, gagging the media, and blackmailing the political parties already hamstrung by concocted legal cases. And to make the power grab complete, the vestiges of dissident voices, especially in the Pashtun and Baloch areas, are to be handled with lethal force.
This not-so-surreptitious attempt at usurpation comes in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, when local and global attention is on fighting the deadly disease. But Pakistan's democratic forces will be well-advised to close ranks and keep an eye out for the army's virulent moves. Mischief is afoot and only a robust, cohesive political opposition can counter it. Otherwise, the censorship, assassinations and power grab will go on.
Mohammad Taqi is a Pakistani-American columnist. He tweets at @mazdaki
Note: In an earlier version of this article, the photo of Ali Wazir was inadvertently used instead of Arif Wazir.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Is the Corvette Z06 the Bang for Your Buck, Supercar Nut Cruncher?
For the record, the 2015 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 is the most powerful production car GM has ever produced. Yes, it's more powerful than the previous generation C6 Corvette ZR1. You can thank its 6.2-liter supercharged LT4 V8 for that. It produces an insane 650 horsepower and 650 lb-ft of torque. In case you haven't realized, those are Ferrari and Lamborghini outputs – and the Z06 coupe carries a base price of $78,995. Think about it: that amount of power, performance and track capabilities for less than six figures.
OK, yes, there's the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and its blown V8 with 707 hp, but that's not a track car. So considering the new Z06's price and newfound refinement and build quality, is it a true supercar killer? Check out Motor Trend's test drive review to find out.


Perfectly updated rancher with a full basement situated on a quiet cul-de-sac. Centrally located within walking distance to West Oaks / 7 Oaks Malls and Abbotsford's jewel Mill Lake Park. Completely renovated main floor features an open floor plan, master bedroom suite with ensuite and walk-in closet, 2 additional bedrooms and main floor laundry. Great suite potential in the basement with 2 separate entrances, rough in for a bathroom and an already finished bedroom and rec room. Got toys? How about a fully enclosed 23 by 30 garage plus RV parking. Nothing left to do but move in and enjoy.


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Home>Entertainment> DeWanda Wise To No Longer Co-Star In "Captain Marvel"
DeWanda Wise To No Longer Co-Star In "Captain Marvel"
By Chantilly Post
Chantilly Post
@chantillypost
DeWanda Wise is sticking to her Spike Lee series.
It was previously announced that She's Gotta Have It actress DeWanda Wise was set to start in Marvel's upcoming Captain Marvel as Monica Rambeau. Due to some schedule conflicts, the actress had to, unfortunately, cancel her role in the anticipated film.
The Hollywood Reporter shares the news saying her filming for the second season of the Spike Lee series just doesn't work with the Marvel filming schedule. The 33-year-old confirmed the news herself via her Instagram story.
"It's true. I will no longer be in Captain Marvel because the schedule conflicts with Season 2 of She's Gotta Have It," she stated. "Last week I felt pretty devastated—this week is leaps and bounds better...You see, if you had told me this would happen any year prior to 2016, I would have doubled over with laughter. But here we are—at a moment in culture where scheduling conflicts are rapidly replacing lack of options, and I feel absolutely blessed to be here."
Brie Larson has the lead role in the film that is set to hit theatres March 2019. You can check out some of the first looks here.
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ENTERTAINMENT DeWanda Wise To No Longer Co-Star In "Captain Marvel"


Black Faith Party is traditional Depeche Mode convention in Prague. Music and videoprojection : videos, live, tv shows, best hits and also b-sides of legendary band Depeche Mode. A little synthpop/electro music is included too, but main theme is, of course, Depeche Mode.


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Balkans | The mayors of the Balkan countries met in Athens
Home » Balkans | The mayors of the Balkan countries met in Athens
Within the scope of the B40 Athens Summit of the Balkan Cities Network, nearly 70 mayors from 10 Balkan countries gathered in Athens, the capital of Greece.
At the summit, the presidency of the B40 Balkan Cities Network was transferred from Istanbul to Athens.
In the opening speech of the summit, the Mayor of Athens, Kostas Bakoyannis, stated that more than 100 bilateral meetings between mayors are planned within the scope of the B40 Balkan Cities Network Athens Summit, and said: "The most important element is the open and fruitful dialogue between neighbours." He said.
Ekrem Imamoglu, Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, who attended the summit, stressed in his speech that he favors the cooperation of civilizations rather than the clash of civilizations, and said: "For me, the Balkans are the center of cooperation, just like Istanbul, which is located in the heart of the world geographically, is a city meetings." He said.
Imamoglu said that he sees great global potential and future for cooperation when he looks at the Balkan geography, "I see a region that is integrated not only with the European Union (EU), but also with the whole world, and it can breathe with the whole world." Use the phrase.
Drawing attention to the differences and diversity within the Balkan countries, Imamoglu said, "Unity is strength." He said.
İmamoğlu said, "As much as Athens and Istanbul are brothers, Taksim and Syntagma Square and the people who fill those squares are also brothers." He said.
Referring to the burning of the Qur'an in Sweden, Imamoglu said, "We must condemn such provocative attempts together and forcefully because such populist and extremist methods have nothing to do with freedom and democracy. On the contrary, these attempts are hate crimes that can sow enmity between people." Peace and quiet are disrupted." He said.
The program of mayors who came to Athens from the Balkan countries within the scope of the summit started with a visit to the Acropolis Museum last night.
The summit is expected to continue until tomorrow.
Balkans | A march was organized in Kosovo against abuse of the disabled
Balkans | An invitation from Switzerland to Kosovo and Serbia
Balkans | Bulgaria agrees to send a package of arms aid to Ukraine
Balkans | Bosnia and Herzegovina's 560-year-old traditional drink: Bosnian coffee
Balkans | 17,904 megawatt hours of electricity were produced in the past 24 hours
Balkans | Encouraged by Swedish law, neonazis target both Jews and Muslims
Balkans | Plenkovic: Milanovic is a complete Putin fan
Balkans | Vucic announces the strengthening of the border with North Macedonia
Balkans | Aid for flood victims in Kosovo from Turkish soldiers
Balkans | TMBH announced the acceptance of the formalization of the Turkish language in Vasilevo Municipality
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Dena Porter's photography is informed by her career as a sociologist and an education administrator.
Inspired by her father's love of film photography, Ms. Porter has studied photography at Maine Media Workshops (with Alison Shaw), the Smithsonian Institution, and the Cape Cod Arts Association. Her work has been exhibited in Asheville, North Carolina , New York City, and Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts and she has completed commissioned works for patrons along the East Coast. Her "Menemsha Harbor Fog" photo was selected for a juried, Island photographer's show at the West Tisbury Free Public Library in 2016. Her current exhibition, entitled "Reflections on New York City" is inspired by her curiosity about how others experience life in New York City. She uses reflections and shadows to capture overlooked moments in everyday urban living. Follow her on Facebook and Instagram as @denaporter. She is also a freelance photographer for the Martha's Vineyard Times.
An avid adventurer and athlete, Dena captures life and light wherever possible!
Click article to read about her photography exhibitions:
"Photographer Dena Porter Shows us How to Look Deeper", Martha's Vineyard Times, July 24, 2018
"Dena Porter Goes Solo", Martha's Vineyard Times, October 11, 2017
Freelance Photography Assignments
Click articles to see her photography:
"Dance the Night Away", Martha's Vineyard Times, September 26, 2018
"Nothing Stilted About this Group", Martha's Vineyard Times, August 15, 2018
"Vineyard Verse", Martha's Vineyard Times, June 27, 2018
"Martha's Vineyard Sea Salt", Martha's Vineyard Times, June 21, 2018
"Memorial Day Weekend Colors Island Red, White & Blue", Martha's Vineyard Times, May 25, 2018


Sublimely acted and tremendously moving, Yaron Silberman's A Late Quartet is film about passion, music and love in all of it's forms.
The first scene A Late Quartet is of the eponymous quartet settling down to play. It's a quiet scene, they give each other lingering looks and then we cut away. At the end of the film this scene is replayed and is now immensely powerful as we understand the looks, the silences. Powerful stuff indeed.
In an opening scene, music teacher Peter (Christopher Walken) reads an excerpt from TS Elliot's Four Quartets as he is introducing them to Beethoven's Op 131, No 14 in C sharp minor. The lines are all about time passing, eternity, opportunity. It's recited in an almost conversational fashion and immediately makes us warm to this intelligent and creative man. As well as teaching Peter has been cellist in perennially popular, somewhat self important string quartet The Fugue (a fugue is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices). It is to be their extremely impressive 25th Season playing together. At a practice Peter just can't seem to co-ordinate his body like normal, and they postpone, you feel they have never postponed practicing. A visit to the a kindly doctor (lovely Madhur Jaffrey) confirms the worst, he has early Alzheimers. The news devastates but also makes the others ponder their fates, both as people and musicians. It brings to the surface unsaid problems in the group that had been simmering for years, threatening the chance of them ever playing together again.
Beethoven's Op 131, No 14 in C sharp minor is a central part of this film. The fact that it is supposed to be played attacca (without any breaks between the movements) is a central issue. First violinist Daniel (Mark Ivanir) an uptight and controlling man, wants to play it as they always have, with his notes as a safety blanket. Second violinist Robert, childlike and restless (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) wishes to take some risks, mix it up a bit, play without notes. Viola player Juliette is in the middle of the two men emotionally and also the closest one to Peter. It is her presence that we imagine has helped the group stay together so long, the calming, emotional supportive one. However she is incredibly cold to Robert in tense scene in a taxi and this leads him off down a most self destructive path that is perhaps the singularly most reckless act of the film. Although this is hotly contested by Daniel becoming involved with Juliette and Robert's daughter, Alexandra (a great role for Brit Imogen Poots). The underlying tensions between the two violinists have remained dormant for 25 years but after Peter's diagnosis things quickly to seed. Robert has the most complete journey of any of the four characters as he has the most to go through but each of the three goes through some emotional awakenings before the film is out. The mother daughter relationship between Alexandra and Juliette provides two fantastic scenes one with Alexandra confronting her mother in the most brutally honest fashion and the other when Alexandra sees her mother talk about her on an interview and finally begins to understand. Although these scenes are wonderful it was Catherine Keener's character that I felt lacked a little something, I didn't feel like I entirely got to know her which is shame because Keener is a fantastic actor. All of the actors make believable virtuoso musicians, apparently Hoffman could actually play pretty well by the end of the production (course he could) and he does look the most at home but they all should be commended.
Phillip Seymour Hoffman really is something in this film. Robert is a blessing of a character and is certainly the one with the most completed character arc. Still, what Hoffman does here is really something special. This is the second film where I have seen Walken be more contemplative, Seven Psychopaths being the other. It suits him this more contained style. The loss of Miriam, the love of Peter's life, his illness and now potentially the loss of the other love of his life – playing cello. It's heartbreaking to watch and handled with majestic dignity by Walken and Silberman.
Frederick Elms has done a great job with the cinematography, New York looks picture perfectly romantic glistening in the snow. Production designer John Karsada has created beautiful, believable worlds for these characters, every location rings true from Daniel's brick exposed man pad to Robert's seedy hotel room he is banished to after his indiscretion. Although a film about classical musicians may not need much in the way of score to impress, Angelo Badalementi has created a wonderful score to accompany the classics.
The beauty of this film is, like one of The Fugue's concerts, it starts slowly, builds to a crescendo and then returns to quietness. It's well directed by documentary maker Silberman and sublimely played by four actors at the top of their game.
Check out the A Late Quartet trailer here.


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When Blackhawk says "we're not just making gear; we're honoring a vow," that is not just lip service to its market – it is a serious commitment to the company's quality in its products. This is because in 1990, a Navy SEAL was navigating a minefield when his pack failed. Seeing his gear fall to the ground, he vowed that if he got out of there alive, he would make gear the right way. He did survive, and that became Blackhawk's founding value – the company's commitment to quality and reliability applies to everything it does. By putting the needs of men and women in uniform at the forefront of its entire operation, Blackhawk aims to better serve those who serve and protect us.
"That is still our motto and we will always be committed to that," Manager of Operations Lamont Kotter explains. "Our products are essential for the soldier, law enforcement professionals and civilians, and they perform a vital function for them. This focus on quality is driven deep into the organization and the brand."
With its facility in Manhattan, Mont., Blackhawk is a leading U.S. manufacturer of tactical, military, shooting sports and law enforcement equipment. The company designs and manufactures tactical gear, law enforcement duty gear, holsters, hydration systems, protective gloves and gear, apparel and footwear, knives, illumination tools, breaching tools and recoil-reducing tools. Blackhawk is part of Vista Outdoor LLC, which is a leading provider of innovative outdoor products.
Blackhawk's operation is very much vertically integrated, which is key in ensuring it delivers high levels of quality, according to Kotter. The company takes products from concept to final production at its own facility, designing products, building its own tooling and running its own production. It does all of this under its own roof in Montana, although Blackhawk has established strong relationships with trusted and valued partners that contribute to the operation.
"We can control the quality, but we can also turn things around quickly," Kotter says. "There is no bureaucracy here, so we can react quickly to any need in the market. We've invested heavily in our people. For example, we invested in our manufacturing engineering team to train them in automation technology so we can do all of our own automation projects. We didn't want to hire any outside company to come in and automate for us. With the skills of our people, we can quickly change to adapt and improve. Continuous improvement is bred deep here, and we are always measuring output and performance and trying to improve."
With this focus on quality and improvement, Blackhawk was named the 2017 Montana Manufacturer of the Year by the Montana Manufacturing Association, which, Kotter says, is based on business excellence and a strong community mindset. "We love doing business in Montana because of its great people and great overall community," he adds.
The Five Values
Blackhawk maintains its focus on product excellence by staying true to its core values of safety, quality, delivery, engagement and cost. The company constantly works to improve in those areas for its customers, Kotter says, and each department in the operation measures the five values in their own way. He notes this not only helps Blackhawk enhance its products, but also improves overall performance, customer relations and the entire business model.
"Continuous improvement in these five areas is part of everything we do," Kotter explains. "It's such a fun environment because we like challenges and face them as a team."
An annual exercise at Blackhawk is to look at what has been accomplished in the previous year, determine where the company wants to be and create strategies for the upcoming year to improve and influence in each of the five values. Right now, the company is focused on being more cost efficient, faster in production and more nimble in response to the needs of the market.
"We are launching a new holster this year – the T-Series – it is new to the market and we're really excited about it," Kotter says. "T-Series is based on all the great things of the Serpa holster with added benefits and improvements. The T-Series is thumb-driven, so it has a different release method, but it is still based on our master-grip principle. The holster naturally releases the weapon, although it stays safe and secure until the operator needs it."
He notes the T-Series holster is made with two materials, a strong durable material for protection and retention of the firearm, and a low-friction internal material that allows for a smooth and effortless draw. The liner also provides sound-dampening for stealth drawing and holstering. As a result, the T-Series is "very fast and very secure," Kotter says.
"We are heavily engaged in designing new product and building tooling for it," he adds. "For the T-Series, we set an internal record for the number of molds built and product launch in such a short period of time."
A successful product like this is a result of the strength of the Blackhawk team, he stresses. "This culture fits very well with our founder's mentality," Kotter says. "We come together as a team to solve problems so we can provide a valuable product and help the consumer in some way. We're always trying to improve and help each other, which results in a great product and great culture."
The Blackhawk culture also is apparent in the local area, he says. The company believes it has a duty to contribute to the community near its facility, and this year it helped develop a manufacturing curriculum at two of the local high schools. People from Blackhawk's manufacturing team also helped to teach the classes.
"We measured students' perception of manufacturing before and after the class, and we saw a 60 percent improvement when the class was completed. So many folks really don't understand how exciting, clean, team-oriented and positive manufacturing is. But when they come in and see the environment, team focus and the optimistic way in which we approach challenges, they get excited about the opportunity in this industry. We encourage the students to look at manufacturing and all the different career paths in this market, and we also do mentoring and job coaching with young people."
A Passion to Improve
The U.S. Army recently awarded a contract for a new pistol, Kotter says, and that is driving other agencies and governmental departments to follow suit, so Blackhawk is working to develop products related to that. He notes the company sees a strong demand on the civilian side, and that will continue to be an area of growth.
Blackhawk plans to drive the market with new products, and it recently moved its corporate headquarters back to Virginia Beach, Va., to once again become more connected to the market, Kotter says. By using its continuous improvement focus on its five values, as well as working to remain innovative, he believes Blackhawk will continue to ensure the market has what it needs.
"We have a passion to always get better," he says. "I'm very proud of this team and what they accomplish every day, the improvements they drive and how they help and support each other. I feel very fortunate to be in manufacturing and especially to be a part of a great team producing outstanding products."
'Lighthouse' Firms Lead, Not Stuck in 'Pilot Purgatory'


Westport Innovations (co-founder): WPT- TSX & WPRT-NASDAQ; and Xenex Innovations (founder): now private.
Over the past two decades, Joseph's multi-faceted experiences include corporate finance, mergers & acquisitions, initial public offerings, reverse takeovers, capital pool companies, joint ventures, intellectual property management, licensing, outsourcing, business development and other strategic transactions. Throughout his career, he has worked in the high tech, alternative energy, industrials, natural resources, environmental and life sciences sectors.
He has advised many international companies, particularly Asian and North American, on raising capital, going public (and private), corporate reorganization, strategic planning, managing growth and exit strategy. In addition, he assisted numerous charities in fund raising and launching new initiatives.
Joseph received his Bachelor of Arts (Economics) degree from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and lived in Southern California for over a decade. He also holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Victoria and has been a member of the Canadian Bar Association and the Law Society of British Columbia.