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Jorge Messi: The agent father behind Leo's fortunes
By Dermot Corrigan and Adam Crafton
"Who is prepared for all this?" said Jorge Messi in 2016. "Maybe nobody is. I tried to see how the other footballers managed things. It's hardly that difficult."
Nobody could really have been ready to manage the career of Lionel Messi, from his arrival at Barcelona as a 13-year-old super talented starlet in need of medical treatment through to his current determination to force an exit from the Catalan club.
Leo is not like other footballers — the scorer of 634 goals and winner of 34 trophies during 15 years in the Barca first team, but away from the pitch a painfully shy character who just wants to be left alone to play ball.
Jorge is also not like other agents or "handlers" of top sporting talents, although it is not uncommon for those even at the very top of that trade to enter the business in unusual ways. Jorge Mendes was famously a Portuguese nightclub DJ, while Mino Raiola worked in his family's pizza business, and both have done OK.
Messi senior was a supervisor at a metal factory in Rosario, but now he is the chief executive of a "family business" that turns over more than €150 million a year between Leo's Barca salary, his many commercial contracts, the family's property investments and other various business interests.
All the trophies, goals and moments of magic have also been accompanied by seemingly unnecessary off-field dramas. Meanwhile, Leo continued to keep playing football and winning trophies at Barcelona, right up until this August's 8-2 Champions League quarter-final defeat against Bayern Munich, which may now be the last of his 731 appearances in a blaugrana shirt.
Through it all — whether wearing matching tuxedos celebrating winning another Ballon d'Or or more soberly dressed in court accused of tax fraud — Jorge and Leo have been inseparable. Advisors and counsellors have come and gone, often after fallings out, but the father and son duo remain inseparably linked. They appear to act as one, and think as one, in good times and in bad.
Last week's infamous Burofax that announced Leo's intention to use a clause in his Barca contract to unilaterally leave the club has again shone a spotlight on their relationship. It has also left them looking very alone in a world where they no longer have as much control as they have become used to.
Jorge is now coming to the Catalan capital for a meeting with Josep Maria Bartomeu, maybe the most high profile agent-president summit in all football history, to decide what happens next in Leo's career. But are the Messis really prepared for what they have gotten themselves into? Is their hand really as strong as they think it is? And do they have the skills and nous to play their cards right, now that everything has finally been put out on the table?
Jorge Messi was always a football fan, but his first organised entrance into the sport was when he helped as coach at the local Grandoli club, where little Leo played his first games.
"(Leo) always followed what I said to him as his coach," Jorge told Kicker in 2013. "Even today he is still like that. He has never told me, I'm 25 now and grown up and the best player in the world. The other day I mentioned a couple of things to him after the game against Madrid. I'm still the same as a father as when I was his coach at Grandoli."
The obviously incredibly talented Leo soon moved on, starring for the youth teams of Rosario's biggest club, Newell's Old Boys, but by the age of 13 it was clear Leo needed treatment for a hormone condition affecting his growth. The Messis were not poor — Jorge was a section head at the city's huge Acindar metal works — but they could not afford to pay $900 a month required for the treatment. Neither could Newells, even though Leo was already famous enough to have been the subject of a page long profile in the Rosario newspaper La Capital in September 2000.
Just two weeks after that newspaper article, father and son disappeared. Classmates and teachers at his school wondered where he had got to. Staff at Newells thought he had taken an offer to move to a Buenos Aires club. There was even a rumour that maybe he had hepatitis.
Jorge and Leo had actually left Rosario for Catalonia without telling anyone outside the family where they were going, to spend two weeks on trial at Barcelona. Leo impressed team-mates and coaches with his dazzling ability, but Barca's hierarchy moved slowly, and also dragged their heels on arranging a job for Jorge in the city.
When they returned home to Rosario without a deal having been agreed, Jorge organised for Leo to have a trial with River Plate, just to put extra pressure on.
It was not until December that Barca director Charly Rexach famously signed a contract written on a napkin in the presence of then Messi family advisors Josep Maria Minguella and Horacio Gaggioli.
A less romantic tale is that Jorge and Leo would not return to the club until they were sure they were going to be paid the 100 million pesetas per season they felt they were worth.
In one telling of the story, Leo Messi and Barcelona were made for each other. The La Masia academy was the perfect place to polish his natural talents, while the Catalan club offered the ideal structure for him to progress smoothly towards success as a senior. The reality is that — on a business level with Jorge at least — things have been strained from the very start.
The first big drama arrived less than 12 months after they arrived. Barca had a new general manager who questioned why the club were paying so much money (about €120,000 a year) to a kid who was not yet playing competitive games. Jorge reacted by making contact with another Rosario native Jorge Valdano, to see about moving to Real Madrid. It all got sorted, but not before one Barca director reacted to hearing that the Messis were threatening to "pull a Figo" by asking "Who does he think he is, Maradona?". Few outside La Masia or Argentina had ever heard of Leo, but Jorge had already shown he was willing to use any leverage he could when dealing with the club.
Leo's first big public coming out was the Gamper Trophy season curtain-raiser against Juventus in August 2005, a few months after he turned 18. Messi set up a goal for Andres Iniesta in a 2-2 draw, was praised afterwards by Juventus coach Fabio Capello, and heard his name chanted for the first time by 90,000 Nou Camp fans. A week previously he had already made his debut for Argentina's senior team, but he could not play for Barca's first team in La Liga as their complement of non-Spanish players was full.
Inter Milan tried to take advantage of the situation and offered to triple Leo's wages. Jorge was interested and did not accept assurances from Barca's then sporting director Txiki Begiristain, leading president Joan Laporta to get directly involved. The Messis rejected two salary offers lower than Inter's proposal, before reaching an agreement on what was the teenager's third new contract in 18 months. Laporta also made sure Messi and his father became Spanish citizens, which meant Leo no longer had any problem playing in La Liga.
The Messis were obviously operating on a pretty special level from an early stage, due to Leo's unique talents, though not everyone sees a father-son, agent-player relationship as ideal.
One source close to Barcelona says: "If I need medical help, I go to a doctor. I do not go to my dad, simply because I trust him more and know him better. It should be the same approach with an agent."
Jorge had already tried the patience of many at Barca, but Laporta saw the value of keeping tight with both Messis. Through regular pay bumps, Leo replaced Ronaldinho as the team's best-paid player within three years of making his first-team debut.
When Sandro Rosell arrived as president in 2010, negotiations became trickier. In December 2013, then club vice-president Javier Faus said publicly he saw no reason why Barca should improve "this gentleman's" contract "every six months". "Mister Faus is someone who knows nothing about football, and wants to run Barca like it was a business, which it is not," Messi replied in a very rare interview with RAC1 Catalan radio.
Faus did not last much longer at the club, and Messi kept agreeing to new deals, with current president Bartomeu increasingly taking control of negotiations. One source tells The Athletic that in reality Jorge in recent times has never had to do much tough negotiating with Barca. "It was not a negotiation during his more recent contracts with Barca," the source says. "A couple of the contracts were not even questioned, they were simply put on the table to make him feel more important."
There were other ways he could exert influence, as several sources stated the Messi entourage would suggest players the club should sign, although this was deemed to be friendly advice rather than instruction.
In the earlier days, it was rumoured Jorge's approach could cause problems.
"He can come across as self-important, as you would expect as the dad of the best player in the world," a source close to one round of negotiations tells The Athletic. "Most dads of footballers are, but the way it was described to me, how he acts in meetings with the club over the years has been classless. Everyone knows who your son is, you don't need to act like that."
In public Bartomeu and everybody else at Barcelona have always maintained their relationship with the Messi family is excellent and that they all always want the same thing — for Leo to end his career as part of a winning team at the Nou Camp. The Athletic asked a former blaugrana executive who dealt directly with Jorge during contract renewal talks in recent years whether things were always quite so amicable in private.
"Jorge is a good guy, well mannered and respectful like his family," the source replied. "This is a delicate situation, but I wish him all the best in his new adventure."
It was difficult to tell if the tone was deliberately ironic, but it sounded like he was very happy not to still have to deal with the Messis.
When Leo signed for Barcelona in 2001, the entire Messi family all moved to the Catalan capital, but mother Cecilia and siblings Rodrigo, Matias and Maria-Sol soon moved back to Rosario. Jorge and Leo lived in a relatively small apartment in the Les Corts barrio close to both the Nou Camp and the city's main train station. Money sent home from Spain allowed the rest of the family to live very well in Argentina, but everyday life was not that exciting for father and son.
Jorge is more extroverted than his son, but they still did not know many people in the new city, and were wary of those they did come into contact with. Father and son played computer games, ate takeaways, spent a lot of time in each other's company, and relied on each other in many ways. That super tight connection has continued over the years, even after Leo grew up, got married and had kids, and Jorge returned to Rosario to run everything remotely from there, with help at times from older brother Rodrigo.
Lionel Messi poses with his brother Rodrigo (L), sister Maria Sol, father Jorge, mother Celia, nephew Tomas and brother Matias in 2003 (Photo: Marcelo Boeri/El Grafico/Getty Images)
"Leo has other people running his communications, and business, but his father is always there," says one source who has dealt with the family from early in their time in Catalonia. "He tries to do everything for his son. He has not learned how to step back and move aside and let other people work in a more professional way. They are a good family, they love each other, but they do not seem to be particularly good at building relationships with people who can help them."
Another source counters: "Having Jorge as his manager is an advantage for Leo in some ways, as you can always rely on your father. But maybe also a disadvantage as sometimes you need someone more experienced. Jorge was not a specialist in business, and suddenly he ran a big company called Lionel Messi Limited."
At the family's pristine offices on Avenida Diagonal in Barcelona, only a small number of people are employed. There is a receptionist, a German financial controller, a former private banker called Alfonso Nebot to take care of Messi's investments and then a former Barcelona employee, Pau Negre.
Within the main office are three private offices: one for Jorge, one for Rodrigo and one for Leo. The trio are rarely in attendance. After Messi won his first Ballon d'Or in 2009, the family poached Negre to consult almost exclusively on Messi's international commercial portfolio.
The Messis have worked with many commercial partners — and the family is estimated to currently earn more than €30 million a year from top international companies like Adidas, Gatorade, Huawei, Mastercard and Pepsi. Their status means the family does not need to go out looking for new partners — companies knock on their door with fantastic offers and they can decide which they want to take.
It is clear the Messis know it is right and proper for Leo to earn lots of money — both as the best player in the world, and as a global brand attractive to millions of fans worldwide.
Some partners have managed to build trust with the family over the long term, but always handling both Jorge and Leo very carefully, and making it very clear to both how big the financial rewards involved were going to be. Negre is as close as anyone, in a business sense, to the family yet those familiar with the player believe even he will not have had a central role in advising over the player's current approach to leaving Barcelona.
Within their small circle are also some long-time colleagues who joined the family from within FC Barcelona along the way. While if a move to Manchester City is pushed through in the coming weeks, Leo and Jorge will be reunited with a number of former blaugrana directors and staff they know well, and also, of course, with City manager Pep Guardiola. Not that everyone is entirely convinced by the notion of a date with destiny at City or the perception of an everlasting bond between Messi and Guardiola.
One source close to the family recalls discussions about the player's future previously but that Messi would be more charmed in conversation by "historic English clubs such as Manchester United", while he was attracted to London during regular conversations with Cesc Fabregas.
"I always had the feeling he wanted an experience abroad," the source says. "Even more of a surprise than City is that he would go back to working with Pep. The relationship after so many intense seasons at Barcelona with Guardiola was not the best with the players.
"This was not Leo in particular. Leo and Pep did not have direct problems but the last season was not the best and the relationship between players and manager became very tired. Go and look at the players Guardiola has signed at Bayern and City. You won't find many he coached at Barca. The relationship between Guardiola and the players was broken by the end. However, time heals. Messi is not stupid. He knows his best moment was with Guardiola on the bench, so maybe he thinks he needs this guy to get the best of him."
Messi's relationship with Guardiola may be rekindled. However, it is striking that, although the family have worked with various different agents and advisors, especially earlier in Leo's career, in many cases the relationships have not lasted very long or ended very well.
The Messis have left people behind them who are upset with how they have been treated, as Leo has kept winning Ballons d'Or and Jorge has kept the millions coming in. Some around them have felt that even more important than maximising total revenues was to ensure that nobody else got a share of "their" money.
"I could talk to you about the character of many people I know in the world, but I would never even think about talking about the character of a guy like this," says a source who was very helpful to the family at first, but felt he was then discarded. "I'm really sorry, but for a long time now I've forgotten about this guy."
Others are more sympathetic. Messi is big business and many individuals have sought over the past two decades to capitalise by being associated with his name. "There is distrust," admits one source, "because of course everyone wanted a slice of Leo. It is understandable that the family should want to protect him."
Another source consulted for this article recalls watching Leo walking into a UEFA gala in Monaco, then spotting behind that Jorge Messi had stopped to chat with musician Rod Stewart. That added to a feeling that he was not using a foremost networking opportunity in the most professional way. An experienced agent looking on from the outside says that it strikes him how everything when it comes to the Messis always seems to come back to money.
"If you manage a player well, you manage it well all-round," he says. "If he ends up with serious tax issues, it suggests they just look to capitalise on everything financially to the maximum without looking to the consequences."
It is not at all uncommon for La Liga stars to get involved in tax issues, with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Jose Mourinho among the many to have had their own problems in this area through recent years.
The Messis were among the first to be targeted when the Spanish tax authorities began to take a close look at football in 2013. Leo and Jorge were both accused of having evaded more than €4 million in taxes between 2007 and 2009 by routing image rights income through offshore tax havens Uruguay and Belize, then through others in the UK and Switzerland.
"Since my son's career started, I am talking about 2000 when we arrived in Barcelona, I have always tried to make his life easier," Jorge said during testimony in court in June 2016. "He played football, and I accompanied him how I could."
That was part of an explanation that he had hired some tax advisors in Argentina when Leo started making professional player money at Barca, and followed their advice on how to structure his finances. Leo also told the judge during those proceedings that "I signed the contracts as I trusted in my dad".
Having previously thought they were off the hook by paying five million euros to cover unpaid taxes plus "reparations", both Messis were eventually found guilty on three counts of defrauding the tax department and handed down suspended jail sentences of 21 months. They also received huge fines — €2 million for Leo, €1.5 million for Jorge.
Jorge and Leo in court in 2016 (Photo: Joan Cros/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Their money does have altruistic uses though. In 2007 came the establishment of the Leo Messi Foundation, which has since raised many millions for good causes through the use of the player's worldwide fame. They have helped fund the biggest children's cancer centre in Europe, the €30 million SJD Pediatric Center de Barcelona, within walking distance of the Nou Camp. In August 2020, just as news broke he was leaving Barca, the Argentine press reported his foundation paid for 50 respirators for hospitals in Rosario.
However, the foundation has also led the family into awkward territory, from a PR point of view at least. "Messi y Amigos" games organised to raise money for various charitable causes saw fellow stars including Robinho, Diego Forlan, Javier Mascherano, Ariel Ortega take part in a series of games in South and North America in summer 2012 and 2013.
Controversy came after it was reported there had been Spanish judicial investigation into whether the games played in Medellin and Bogota each year had been used by Colombian drug traders to "launder millions of dollars".
"I am very sorry about what they are saying, not just about me but about people I love like my papa and players who are friends," Messi said in reply to these allegations in December 2013. "What we do in these games is 100 per cent for charity. I am deeply united with my dad and my family, in the personal and the professional. I concentrate on playing football, and he concentrates on my off-field interests, and selecting the best professionals to help us."
The Spanish investigators looking into the situation did not find anything that merited bringing charges but it did not reflect well on the organisers that the allegations had arisen at all.
"I do not consider they are the smartest people in the world," says one source close to the club. "Leo is the best player in the world, in history but he never had the best agent or the best people working for him. At that level, you need a manager, a social media manager, a financial manager, an investment manager.
"My point is that if you ask me about the negotiating skills or business strategy or career plan, they never seemed to have it or the most professional approach. But that does not make it wrong, necessarily."
In more recent years, Leo's siblings have also had their own business interests, operating somewhere within the Messi family brand. In 2016, Maria Sol and Rodrigo opened a restaurant in Barcelona city centre, with tables decked out like pitches, tactics diagrams decorating the walls and TVs showing games, but it closed to the public in October 2018. Since 2017 the family have three "MiM" branded hotels in Sitges, Ibiza and Mallorca, although these are managed by the well established Majestic Hotel Group.
Most recently, Rodrigo also decided to become an advisor to young players, and has taken an interest in different emerging starlets coming through La Masia. He attempted to build a relationship with Leo's young Barca team-mate Ansu Fati, and sold himself publicly as Fati's main agent although the player's family also keep communication open with other big agents around Europe.
That made it appear, to the outsider, that the Messis had given their endorsement to a teenager who has the potential to be the best attacker out of La Masia since Leo himself. In the agent world, perceptions of Rodrigo are not overly high. It is not unusual for the brother of a famous player to become an agent but one source compares his track record to that of Pere Guardiola, the brother of Pep, who prepared for life as an agent by working for a long time in a senior position at Nike, while also receiving major funding from sports' rights' company MediaPro.
The day after Bayern humiliated Barca in the Champions League, it was revealed that Fati had started a relationship with Polaris Sports, a sister company of Jorge Mendes' Gestifute. This suggests bad news for the Rodrigo bond with Fati, while also acting as a harbinger that the connection between the Messis and Barca was coming to an end.
By 2018, the relationship between Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid, especially between the player and the president Florentino Perez, was close to breaking point. The pair had always had an imperfect bond, right from the beginning as Ronaldo had really been signed by previous president Ramon Calderon, but they stuck together for nine years to win four Champions Leagues.
Ronaldo's agent Jorge Mendes was then told to quietly find a buyer willing to pay €100 million. Mendes quickly found Juventus, and the deal was done. It was far from a fairytale ending and hurt Ronaldo's already uneasy relationship with Madrid fans, but it was done professionally with emotions kept out of things as much as possible.
Such a smooth parting was never likely for Leo Messi at Barcelona because separating the personal and the professional is much more difficult for all involved. The Athletic reported recently that Bartomeu has his own reasons for persuading Leo to leave, especially as it would help fix a huge hole in the club's accounts. And two decades of stresses and strains between Jorge and many different Barca directors had also taken a huge psychological toll.
A source who had a senior position at the Nou Camp in recent years, however, hit back when The Athletic suggested it had been inevitable for frustrated Barca directors at some point to decide they could no longer pay the Messis the ever-growing amounts they kept demanding.
"The idea that Messi is leaving for money is science fiction," the source says. "Messi was already the best-paid player in the world. He is going for the lack of a sporting project. Over recent years the club has spent an enormous amount of money without building a team which can compete at the level that Messi expects."
Many of Barca's socios have also grown hugely frustrated as the team's competitive level has dipped in recent years, as seen alarmingly in their increasingly humiliating Champions League exits. So Messi might have had a very supportive audience had he come out to explain now why he has decided to leave. Current and former team-mates Luis Suarez and Carles Puyol have publicly supported his stance, but Leo has remained silent.
"Messi has always had a communication problem," says a source who has helped past and present Barca players with communication advice. "He has never realised what he can win by talking. Maybe the Burofax had to be done from a legal point of view, but it should have been accompanied by a press conference, or a press statement, maybe."
Leo had become more comfortable expressing himself in recent years, especially since becoming both Argentina and Barcelona captain. Having three children with his childhood sweetheart and now wife Antonella Roccuzzo — Thiago (born 2012), Mateo (born 2015) and Ciro (born 2018) — has also changed him, and the influence of Jorge and Rodrigo on his decision making appears much less than even when he was in his mid-20s.
In his private life he appears more as the head of the family, while professionally he has spoken out on behalf of his team-mates, especially in recent months during public disagreements with former sporting director Eric Abidal and Bartomeu. Although behind these statements was always the idea that he himself had felt personally attacked by what had been said about him, and felt he had to respond.
Barca fans were mostly on Messi's side during those battles with the club's hierarchy. However, the apparent coldness of his decision to now leave the club, in a dark moment in its history, is hurting his relationship with supporters who have loved him so deeply. It has also been noticeable that besides Suarez and Vidal, who have both been told they are no longer wanted by Barca, no other current players have offered any public support for Messi's stance.
Indeed, it is understood some senior players have been, at best, "surprised" by the aggression in Messi's approach and one source close to several players highlighted how Suarez, whose Barca career is all but over after a phone call from Ronald Koeman last week, still turned up for testing and training this week. While Suarez was informed he is no longer needed, Messi has only been told he would be key to Koeman's project.
"Barca's socios are now being critical of Messi as he has confused the club with the president," says one club member. "Messi should have come out to speak, said he loves Barca so much but I have to leave, and give the reasons, explain his problems with the president. This silence, and his way of leaving, is a bit sad for everyone. It is a beautiful story, with a sad ending."
Amid the family's official silence since the infamous Burofax was sent, the vacuum has been filled with other noise as they and Barca have attempted to steer the media narrative and win the PR battle. Leo's silence may have raised an idea that he is not fully in agreement with the policy over his future being led by Jorge, but a source in Argentina with knowledge of the situation says that "they are in total agreement", and that by keeping silent they are following the advice of their legal advisors. They do not feel the need to talk at the moment, and remain confident they are on the winning side in this battle and will be able to get what they want.
Indeed, one person who knows the family plays down the notion that Jorge is leading the decision. "In the past," the source explained. "Jorge managed absolutely every detail of Leo's daily life. Even those close to the circle, if they wanted a message to Leo, it needed to go through his father or brother.
"Since the 2014 World Cup and the tax issues, it has been different. Messi has evolved and matured. He is less shielded now. His father will have a say and he and his brother will likely be present for conversations with Barcelona. But brother Rodrigo will not have any say in Leo's decision. Jorge will have his opinion but Leo, I do believe, is the one driving this.
"I was listening to the radio and they said 'Advisors of Messi are taking the wrong or right decision'. No, the advisors of Messi work for him, so it is he who is deciding the strategy. It was he who didn't turn up to training. The advisors may suggest things about the contract but he is making the moves now."
Messi's confidence in the battle with Barcelona is not shared by many observers familiar with Spanish contract and sports law. Or some of those who have previously been close to the family, but fallen out along the way. Minguella was among those who helped to introduce Jorge Messi to Barcelona's directors back in 2000, but has not worked with them for many years now. Whether coincidence or not, the 79-year-old started his own YouTube show days after the Burofax arrived at the Nou Camp. Minguella told episode one that the Messis had "jumped into the swimming pool" by following the advice of their lawyers and claiming they had allowed themselves to be outmanoeuvred by Bartomeu.
"I've said many times that Barca's directors are dopes, but this time they have acted cleverly…" Minguella claimed. "Neither Leo Messi nor his people expected this reaction from the president. He is usually a ditherer, but in this he moved fast and created many doubts on the other side."
Time will tell whether the policy being pursued by the Messis will work in their favour, and they will be able to engineer an exit so that Leo can go on winning even more trophies and Jorge can keep control of his affairs off the pitch. However, the way in which they have gone about their business means they have already soured many relationships, and will now undoubtedly affect how Leo is remembered at the Nou Camp.
When the Messis found a way to get out of Rosario back in 2000, they left even without telling the people closest to them at first. Leo's talent was such that no matter what they asked for, or how they treated some of the people around them, things would always work out in their favour.
Leo became the best player, arguably, the world has ever seen. Jorge kept his son's career on a mostly upward trajectory, even allowing for the tax problems and PR disasters along the way, especially when measured by the amount of money they kept earning. They did not need anything more than a small office in Barcelona with a very small number of professional staff helping with administration and technical questions. The family always made the most important decisions.
This situation might be different, however, especially as a point will inevitably come when Leo's ability to make things happen on the pitch will decline. Even Abu Dhabi backed City will struggle to match his current €100 million a year gross wages, and at 33 his time at the very top of the game must soon come to an end. Beyond that there will be a difficulty in continuing to monetise the Messi brand into the medium term, especially if the Barca connection has been badly damaged.
That pure talent probably made it almost impossible to fail as Leo Messi's agent, and explains perhaps why Jorge said in 2016 that it was "hardly that difficult". As Leo has matured he has relied less and less on his father and now feels he deserves to have control of his own career, including, it seems, to leave Barcelona for free.
The controversy that move has caused, and the uncertainty over where his contract leaves him, means there are real worries that they may pay dearly for never having put in place a proper professional structure to manage their affairs.
In any potential meeting with Bartomeu and the Barca board over the coming days they will be on their own, where they have always been most comfortable. However, this may be the time they need support more than ever.
"This is the first time in Messi's history where he needs good management," says a veteran Argentine reporter who has covered Leo's career at Barca on the ground from the very start. "From when he was 13 years old, until now, his football has always prevailed, they could make mistakes in investments, marketing, Leo's image, the entourage, the strategy, planning his career, everything.
"The 'ace' has always been Lionel the player, not Jorge the manager. Right now is the first time they have to really negotiate and resolve something, and they are doing it all wrong."
(Top photo: Joan Cros/NurPhoto via Getty Images)


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Anime Review: Valvrave the Liberator (2013)
Posted on September 12, 2013 by Suz in Anime, Geek It!, Reviews // 1 Comment
From the emotionally intense Chihayafuru S2 to the mind-blowing Attack on Titan to the happy-go-lucky Uta No Prince Magi Love 2000%, the lineup for early 2013 was well-received amongst all Otakus. With such strong favourites, what could possibly rival against these popular titles? A mecha series – believe it or not – and it's none other than Ko Matsuo's Valvrave the Liberator which sneakily declared itself as this year's unexpected dark horse contender.
Thanks to the success of mecha predecessors such as Code Geass, Gurren Lagann and Macross Frontier, many would have brushed aside Valvrave the Liberator due to the overrated status of the genre. However, the Sunrise production has proven itself to be a worthy addition to the mecha family as it surprisingly rejuvenates the genre with its bizarre style and twists.
Set in a futuristic date, Valvrave the Liberator focuses around Haruto Tokishima, a student from Sakimori High School living on the sphere's 'Module 77'. Caught amidst a battlefield, Haruto stumbles upon an abandoned, highly-technological mecha called 'Valvrave' and uses it to defend the module from a Dorssian invasion.
But with the almighty Valvraves under Module 77's control, the enemy have their ambitious eyes on the machines and threaten to invade and claim the Valvraves as their own. The students of Sakimori High soon abandons JIOR territory and announces Module 77 to be an independent state. Students running an independent country? As ridiculous as it sounds, this rebellion will amuse viewers greatly as we begin to wonder what the students will do with their newfound independence and power.
In a shocking twist, Haruto gets approached by L-Elf Karlstein, a Dorssian spy who intends to revolutionise Dorssia one day. Knowing L-Elf is the key to success, both Haruto and L-Elf join forces in an unlikely alliance to secure the sovereignty of their new formed nation.
To put Valvrave the Liberator in a few words that many would understand, the show is basically a mix of The Host, Twilight, Code Geass and Gundam. Yes, a bit of odd combination but you will need to watch the show in order to comprehend the eccentric hybrid concept… and it's all because of the Valvrave machines.
When a pilot first enters a Valvrave, he/she is forced to answer whether they're willing to give up his/her humanity. Sounds ominous, doesn't it? Naturally, one's acceptance of the Valvrave machines come with fame, power and status.
But just as Haruto discover the cursed fate of piloting a Valvrave, other students encounter hidden Valvraves deep within the school and decides to join Haruto in fighting the enemy. While the Valvrave machines appear to be significantly powerful (than usual mecha machines) with its destructive, lightsaber-like attacks, it is the thrilling twisted power and its consequences that a Valvrave user must face that continuously grasps the audience's attention.
For such a popular series, Haruto the protagonist is rather disappointing as he is naive, foolish and often acts upon his emotions in an illogical manner. He carries no distinctive heroic quality and the first sign of naivety demonstrated by his character was when he spontaneously decided to invade a Valvrave after believing he had witnessed his long-term crush being killed.
Anti-protagonist L-Elf is much more accomplished as the perfect rebellious protagonist as he is very much like Death Note's Light and Code Geass's Lelouch. Mysterious, silent, ambitious and psychopathic, you will witness thrilling explosive action scenes instigated by L-Elf himself. And as a result, L-Elf's badass character balances it out with Haruto's one-dimensional character, ultimately saving the anime from losing integrity and the audience's interest.
Besides L-Elf, Valvrave the Liberator would not have been successful if it weren't for the occasional death or betrayal as each episode reveals a twist that will surprise the audience in some unexpected way. Nothing beats the controversy shown in Episode 10, but luckily for the series, they were clever to messily cover up the drama in its own twisted way.
While Valvrave the Liberator seems like the typical mecha anime, the show doesn't take itself too seriously nor does it aim to be highly intense. On par with Macross Frontier and Gurren Lagann, Valvrave stands out on its own and manages to entertain and hype the audience at the end of every episode. And if you were wondering, yes, Valvrave's story is actually composed and written by Ichirō Ōkouchi, also known as the mastermind behind Code Geass Season 1 and 2. Surprising or not?
Valvrave the Liberator is the perfect show for teenagers as it contains light-hearted romance, adventure, rebellion, great animated action scenes, engaging plot twists, and a fantastic soundtrack. While Valvrave isn't as epic as Code Geass, it brings out the nostalgic feeling of watching mecha anime and reminds us of how brilliant and fantasical the genre is. And because of that, it's no wonder that Valvrave is set to return for a second season next month (October). Will the second triumph over the first season? We shall find out!
Valvrave
Valvrave the Liberator
Valvrave The Liberator | Anime Gauge

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The tweet was later confirmed to be Ben Affleck's goodbye to the character. Affleck was introduced as the caped crusader in the 2016 DC Superhero adventure Batman v Superman, and later played Bruce Wayne once again in 2017's Justice League. He also reprised the role for a glorified cameo in Suicide Squad.
The Batman will follow the adventures of a younger Bruce Wayne. The story was set to follow Batman in his later years, with Ben Affleck original attached to direct and co-write the script alongside Geoff Johns. While the pair did finish a draft of the screenplay, they could never get it where it needed to be. Affleck later removed himself from directing, handing the reigns over to Matt Reeves, though still presumably attached to star at the time.
There has been much back and forth about Ben Affleck's ultimate involvement in The Batman. But now it's official. He is done. Reeves says this about carrying the movie into the future, explaining his plans for the film.
When Ben Affleck was still attached to the movie, there were other actors also involved, including Joe Manganiello as Deathstroke and J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Gordon, both reprising roles from Justice League. It's now likely that they will no longer be involved. So far, there is no word on whom will replace Ben Affleck. Jon Hamm has been a popular candidate, but he's likely aged out of what Warner Bros., DC and Matt Reeves are now searching for.
It is expected that Henry Cavill is out as Superman as well, but that has yet to be confirmed. Gal Gadot will continue playing Wonder Woman, with a sequel coming next year. And Jason Momoa just tore it up at the box office as Aquaman, so he's not going anywhere. Along with announcing a date for The Batman, Suicide Squad 2, which is now simply being called The Suicide Squad, was given an August 2021 release date, and Warner Bros. also announced DC Super Pets for that same summer.


In his memorandum to the heads of executive departments and agencies (agencies) on advancing pay equality in the Federal Government, the President directed the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to provide guidance to agencies on reviewing their pay and promotion policies and practices. (See Attachment 1.) Instructions for completing your review are in Attachment 2 of this memorandum. As required by the President's memorandum, the results of your review are due to OPM no later than August 8, 2013.
The focus of our review, at this time, is on agency policies and practices on starting salaries and promotions for General Schedule (GS) employees and equivalent-level employees in other pay systems. We are limiting our current review to pay systems that cover more than 100 employees in a given agency. However, for employees in GS or equivalent-level pay systems with fewer than 100 covered employees in an agency, you are encouraged to identify any policies or practices that may contribute to gender pay inequality and may share their findings and views with OPM to assist in the development of a Governmentwide strategy for addressing any gender pay gap. In the future, we may ask agencies to conduct a further review and analysis for employees not subject to review under this memorandum.
Please submit the results of your review by e-mail to pay-leave-policy@opm.gov or by fax to (202) 606-0824. Each response must cover your entire agency. Therefore, departments and independent agencies must consolidate information from all of their components or bureaus before sending a response to OPM. OPM will use the information from agencies to develop a Governmentwide strategy to address any gender pay gap in the Federal workforce.
Agency headquarters-level human resources offices may contact Pay and Leave at OPM at (202) 606-2858 orpay-leave-policy@opm.gov. Requests from individual employees will be returned or forwarded to the appropriate agency human resources office. For more information on equal pay in the Federal Government, please see OPM's August 16, 2011, memorandum here.
The Federal Government is the Nation's largest employer. It has a special responsibility to act as a model employer. While salary ranges in the Federal workforce are generally determined by law, the fixing of individual salaries and other types of compensation can be affected by the exercise of administrative discretion. Such discretion must be exercised in a transparent manner, using fair criteria and adhering to merit system principles, which dictate that equal pay should be provided for work of equal value.
Section 1. Government-wide Strategy for Advancing Pay Equality.
Sec. 2. Agency Review of Pay and Promotion Policies and Practices.
Please provide written responses to the following questions to OPM. Agency responses should be organized as consistent as possible with the outline below. Please do not respond by providing copies of agency policies or merely pointing to provisions of law, regulations, or OPM policies or standards without explanation. A complete response will include detailed information on the results of your review including any need for further analysis and study. Agencies are not required to conduct any new data analysis of gender pay at this time. OPM will review data reported to central systems to supplement agency policy reviews.
Agency reviews must cover General Schedule (GS) and equivalent-level employees unless there are fewer than 100 employees in the agency covered by the applicable pay system. For the purpose of this memorandum, the term "General Schedule" refers to employees in the GS, GM, and GL pay plans. The term "equivalent-level employees" refers to white collar employees who are not in executive or senior-level positions. This term excludes employees in blue collar prevailing rate pay systems (i.e., craft, trades, and laboring prevailing rate pay systems with pay set under 5 U.S.C. 5341 et. seq., such the Federal Wage System or crews of vessels under section 5348) and Executive Schedule, Senior Executive Service, and senior-level and scientific and professional positions; administrative law judges; administrative appeals judges; members of boards of contract appeals; and employees in any equivalent pay systems. Please also exclude experts, consultants, and any advisory committee members. Agencies do not need to review policies and practices for employees in excluded pay systems at this time.
1. Does your agency provide applicants or candidates any information on the pay-setting flexibilities your agency uses to set starting salaries or on typical starting salary data beyond the salary range included in the job announcement? If so, please describe what information your agency provides to applicants or candidates and when your agency provides this information.
2. Does your agency review its use of pay-setting flexibilities on a periodic basis to examine the gender distribution of employees for which the authorities were used? If so, please describe the type of analysis your agency conducts, the variables considered (e.g., occupation, grade, location), how frequently you conduct this analysis, how you use the analysis to influence your pay-setting policy and practice, and the results of your most recent analysis.
1. Did your agency use the superior qualifications and special needs pay-setting authority in FY 2012?
2. Does your agency or any component currently have written policies on this authority? If so, please describe any areas where current policies (at agency or component level) provide approval requirements, criteria, or limitations that are more specific than the regulations.
3. Does your agency or any component policy or practice allow or require the use of a candidate's existing non-Federal salary in setting the employee's starting salary? If so, please describe.
4. Does your agency or any component policy or practice consider how recent a candidate's experience or education must be when using this authority? If so, please describe.
5. Does your agency or any component policy or practice place any limits on the use of this authority by occupation, grade level, full-time or part-time work schedule, or other factor? If so, please describe.
1. Did your agency use the maximum payable rate rule in FY 2012?
2. Does your agency or any component currently have written policies on this rule? If so, please describe any areas where current policies (at the agency or component level) provide approval requirements, criteria, or limitations that are more specific than the regulations.
3. Does your agency or any component policy or practice address how recent the employee's highest previous rate must be to be used in applying this rule? If so, please describe.
4. Does your agency or any component policy or practice place any limits on the use of this authority by occupation, grade level, full-time or part-time work schedule, or other factor? If so, please describe.
1. How does your agency set starting salaries for employees hired for the first time?
2. How does your agency set starting salaries for employees hired after a break in service?
3. Does your agency policy or practice place any limits on setting starting salaries by occupation or other factors? If so, please summarize.
4. Are the pay tables or rate ranges for GS equivalent-level employees in your agency available to the public? If so, how (e.g., posted online)? If not, why not?
Section 2(c) of the President's memorandum directs agencies to provide OPM information on and an analysis of all agency-specific policies and practices for evaluating individuals regarding promotions, particularly individuals who work part-time schedules (for example, those who serve as caregivers to children or other family members).
1. Does your agency have a policy or practice for establishing positions as part-time?
2. May employees request changes from full-time to part-time work schedules in their current positions? If so, please describe the criteria used to determine whether to approve full-time to part-time requests.
3. Does your agency provide information to your workforce about part-time opportunities? If so, how are the opportunities publicized?
4. Describe the promotion opportunities for part-time employees in your agency?
5. Does your agency have any policies specific to your part-time workforce? If so, please describe.
6. Does your agency review the results of merit promotion actions for equal employment opportunity (EEO) statistical purposes, e.g., selectee gender in relation to the applicant pool or other EEO related statistical data? If so, please provide the results related to gender for FY 2012.
7. Does your agency have any gender-specific positions? If so, please provide the title, series, and grade ranges for male- and female-specific positions. If the grade ranges are not equal, please provide the basis for the difference.
Section 2(d) of the President's memorandum directs agencies to provide OPM information on and an analysis of any additional agency-specific policies or practices that may be affecting gender pay equality. Please provide any additional input you have on whether there are any policies or practices in your agency or Governmentwide that may be affecting gender pay equality in General Schedule starting salaries or starting salaries for equivalent-level employees in your agency. With respect to agency policies and practices, please include input on relevant recruitment-related policies and practices. We would also like you to comment on whether (1) the law and regulations on General Schedule pay-setting (i.e., 5 U.S.C. chapter 53, subchapter III, and 5 CFR part 531, subpart B) or (2) the law (i.e., 5 U.S.C. chapter 51), regulations (i.e., 5 CFR part 511), and OPM's policies and standards on General Schedule classification may be affecting gender pay equality.
Section 2(e) of the President's memorandum directs agencies to provide OPM information on and an analysis of any best practices the agency has employed to improve gender pay equality. We welcome descriptions and copies of any policies, studies, or other materials you have developed and implemented to improve gender pay equality in any pay system applicable to employees in your agency (e.g., any efforts to recruit women into higher-paying occupations).
Please provide an executive level summary of your findings as a result of this review that could be included in the Governmentwide strategy to address any gender pay gap that OPM will submit to the President. This executive summary should provide a high-level summary highlighting the agency's significant findings and overall conclusions regarding gender pay equality in the agency.


Congratulations to everyone from me as well.
Congratulations, everyone! I'm looking forward to working closer with all of you!
Four new mods! We've obviously not been behaving.
Congratulations to everyone, hope you enjoy your new roles!
This is such a wonderful announcement! I know your four will be superb moderators. You all deserve it!!
Congrats also to our SPT! Thanks for joining, and I look forward to working with all of you.
Congratulations to the new SPT as well!
No problem Kassie! I'm glad more Moderators are on the team!
Hey, look at that! Congratulations everyone!
Congratulations and welcome aboard everyone. Please be sure to keep arms, legs, and belongings within the vehicle at all times.
Freaky, a roller coaster is what this feels like! Good thing I don't get motion sickness.


hope some one can use it.
People who use Tull fan forums to try sell tickets to Tull fans at cost instead of using scalpers or trying to profit on Craigslist or stubhub or whatever scheister sites are out there are VERY COOL. Karma points unlimited and a hearty Hail Tull to clow for taking the time to locate us, register and try offload a ticket to a fan.
Thanks I am an old timer trying to find an appreciative fan.
Hopefully there will be one out there.
Boards like this are great for sharing the love of music.
Ticket sold. Found an old tull head on craiglist and will enjoy a good night of music up close and personal. I will try to give a review on Sunday.
Remember selling extras at cost brings good seats in future. Worked many times in my case.
Spread the joy of music.
A warm welcome from me clow that word Tullhead takes me back.
Welcome to the Jethro Tull Forum clow.
Have a great concert - if it's any bit a good as the Uk shows earlier in the year you're in for a treat.


All Passes except Evening Concerts Sold Out!!
Accommodation not possible for any of these nights without a 7 day or weekend pass.
Program and start times subject to changes, please check for updates.
Maximum 333 tickets will be sold.
Costa Rican Local Discount: If you are born and raised in Costa Rica, we have a special discount for you. Please email us at office@sound-silence.org and we will provide you with a coupon code.
Children 12 and under have free entrance, but must still pay for food.
Food packages must be purchased before March 1st. Not possible to buy individual meals.
If you are unable to attend, we invite you to sell or gift your ticket to another guest. It's better for you and better for us. So far, our guests have enjoyed a 100% success rate in selling their tickets for full price.


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2014-15 TV Show Season Ratings (week 1)
Which TV shows are doing the best? The worst? Wondering how your favorite series are doing in the ratings? Here are the season average ratings of the 2014-15 network TV shows — through the end of week one (Sunday, September 28, 2014).
ABC shows (so far): 20/20, Black-ish, Dancing with the Stars, Forever, The Goldbergs, Grey's Anatomy, How to Get Away with Murder, Marvel's Agents of SHIELD, The Middle, Modern Family, Nashville, Once Upon a Time, Resurrection, Revenge, Shark Tank, and Scandal.
CBS shows (so far): 48 Hours, 60 Minutes, The Amazing Race, The Big Bang Theory, Blue Bloods, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, The Good Wife, Hawaii Five-0, Madam Secretary, NCIS, NCIS: New Orleans, Person of Interest, Scorpion, and Survivor.
FOX shows (so far): Bones, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Family Guy, Gotham, Hell's Kitchen, The Mindy Project, New Girl, Red Band Society, The Simpsons, Sleepy Hollow, and Utopia.
NBC shows (so far): The Biggest Loser, The Blacklist, Chicago Fire, Chicago PD, Dateline NBC, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, The Mysteries of Laura, Parenthood, and The Voice.
Note: If you're not seeing the updated charts, please try reloading the page. You can also view them here and here.
The averages are based on the final national numbers (live plus same day viewing). The demos are typically reported with one decimal place but I've included two for more accurate ranking.
Keep in mind that the demo numbers are typically what's most important to advertisers. Therefore, that's how the networks measure success. Advertisers pay more for ad time on a show that has a higher demo rating. Because older viewers don't count? No, it's because younger viewers watch less traditional TV and are harder to reach.
How are your shows doing? Check the current rankings (broken out by network):
How are your shows doing in the ratings? Check the current rankings:
A&E | ABC | AMC | Bravo | CBS | CMT | The CW | FOX | Freeform | FX | FXX
Hallmark | HBO | History | MTV | NBC | OWN | Showtime | Starz | Syfy | TBS
TNT | TV Land | USA Network | WGN America
What do you think? Are you surprised by any of the ratings? Which shows should be doing better?
More about: ABC TV show ratings, CBS TV show ratings, FOX TV show ratings, NBC TV show ratings, Network season ratings (by week), The CW TV show ratings
James E. Snead
I watch it every week, it is one of my favorite shows
Karen Downton
I love Hawaii five-0. Have watched every episode since the pilot ep. Season 5 has just started so I'm trying not to worry. Its only early days yet


text:
De totale zonsverduistering van 31 juli 1981 trok veel over zee en was achtereenvolgens te zien in deze 3 landen : Georgië, Rusland en Kazachstan.

Lengte

Maximum

Het punt met maximale totaliteit lag in Rusland niet ver van de plaats Zlatoustovsk en duurde 2m02,4s.

Limieten

Zie ook
Zonsverduisteringen van 1981 t/m 1990
Lijst van zonsverduisteringen
Saros 145 zonsverduisteringserie

Externe links
 NASA Google map van deze verduistering
 NASA overzicht van alle verduisteringen

Zonsverduistering
1980-1989

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Guesthouse Verena is perfectly located for both business and leisure guests in Bentota. The hotel has everything you need for a comfortable stay. Take advantage of the hotel's 24-hour room service free Wi-Fi in all rooms 24-hour front desk express check-in/check-out luggage storage. All rooms are designed and decorated to make guests feel right at home and some rooms come with internet access – wireless air conditioning desk mini bar alarm clock. Access to the hotel's fitness center fishing spa massage garden will further enhance your satisfying stay. For reliable service and professional staff Guesthouse Verena caters to your needs.


Except as otherwise stated, Hughes Estate Sales, Inc. (Hughes) acts as agent for the seller. The contract for the sale of the property is therefore made between the seller and the buyer. All property is sold "as is," and neither Hughes nor any consignor makes any warranties or representation of any kind or nature with respect to the property, and in no event shall they be responsible for the correctness, nor deemed to have made any representation or warranty, of description, genuineness, authorship, attribution, provenance, period, culture, source, origin, or condition of the property and no statement made at the sale, or in the bill of sale, or invoice or elsewhere shall be deemed such a warranty of representation or an assumption of liability.
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Some lots offered are subject to a reserve. The reserve is a confidential minimum price agreed upon by the consignor and Hughes below which the lot will not be sold. In most cases, the reserve will be set below the estimated range, but in no case will it exceed the estimates listed. A representative of Hughes will execute such reserves by bidding for the consignor. In any event and whether or not a lot is subject to a reserve, the auctioneer may reject any bid or raise not commensurate with the value of such lot. Lots without reserves are typically opened for bidding at 50% of their low estimate.
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text:
Home / Opinion / Letters to the Editor
editor | August 19, 2013 5:43 pm
Bloodbath in Egypt
SIR, This refers to the sharply-analysed editorial ,"Egypt&'s bloodiest day" (17 August). Britain, France, Australia and Turkey have called for an emergency session of the Security Council to discuss the military&'s massacre in Egypt.
The death toll has crossed 700 and President Obama has cancelled the joint military exercise with Egypt next month, condemning the "violent crackdown" on Muslim Brotherhood protesters. However, the supporters of the ousted President, Mohamad Morsi, are not satisfied with the statement. Last week they marched to the US embassy after the Friday prayers.
They are extremely critical of Washington&'s failure to call Mohamed Morsi&'s removal a military coup. In the face of mounting discontent, the country&'s Vice-President, ElBaradei, winner of the Nobel Peace prize and pro-reform leader in the interim government, has resigned in protest against the military&'s reprisal.
Britain and France have called for an immediate end to the violence as have Saudi Arabia , the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. Political dialogue is an essential pre-requisite for genuine democracy. India&'s claim that it is watching the situation is not an appropriate response from a country that aspires to be a world power.
Yours, etc., SS Paul, Chakdaha, 17 August.
SIR, In their Perspective page articles on Egypt and Bangladesh, both Ayesha Jalal and AM Choudhury have offered their perceptions on contemporary issues. Ayesha Jalal suggests that "Egypt can learn from Pakistan". In other words, the Egyptian army should come to terms with the Muslim Brotherhood and rule Egypt together… with Morsi in continued detention. This political experiment can be described as synthesis. In dialectics, the thought-process moves in a clockwise manner. Ayesha Jalal&'s prescription goes anti-clockwise, seeking to create another Pakistan in Egypt. In Myanmar, the junta is moving towards democracy. This is clockwise movement, in keeping with the principles of dialectics.
In Choudhury&'s piece on Bangladesh, the theists represent a thesis and the atheists antithesis. The synthesis will be a prolonged process. And in the interim, Begum Hasina will have to fight the fundamentalists. Chowdhury has explained dialectics lucidly. Karl Marx was sure about the thesis (feudalism) and the antithesis (capitalism). Though he spoke about synthesis (Communism), he was sure that the emergence of synthesis would take a long time in coming. Perhaps Hasina will bring about the synthesis between the country&'s theists and atheists.
In India, the process has been anticlock-wise. The synthesis of liberalism is gradually giving way to fundamentalism ~ the antithesis.
Yours, etc., GN Mukherjee, Kolkata, 31 July.
SIR, This refers to your thought-provoking editorial, "How much more?" (8 August). After the killing of five soldiers along the LoC in Poonch, one must wonder whether our soldiers will continue to be used as cannon fodder.
Pakistan has consistently been getting away with such barbarity. India has come through as a soft target, a convenient punching bag by the neighbouring bully. And this has encouraged China to intrude into Ladakh. It has even prompted the Sri Lankan navy to be tough towards Indian fisherman.
Yours, etc., Arun Kumar Bhaduri, Kolkata, 10 August.
CONCERT TO REVERE
SIR, 'Classical Reverence' (Marquee, 17 August) makes me nostalgic. In 1966, a musical programme was organised at National Medical College & Hospital. Midway through the concert, the organisers announced that Vishnu Govind Jog had agreed to grace the occasion. The announcement was greeted with cheers.
V G, as he was generally known, was accompanied by Ustad Keramotullah Khan on the tabla and Pandit Jnan Prakash Ghose on the harmonium. Visually, it was a puppet show. All the musicians appeared to be tied with an invisible thread. The companions' response to every stroke of VG seemed as though they were giving a matching answer. There was a feeling of joy, solace and tranquility. The three maestros stopped performing at midnight. The entire audience left the venue silently, forgot to applause and did not wait for any announcement. Fifty years later, the enthralling experience is still fresh in my mind.
Yours, etc., Susanta Kumar Ghose, Kolkata, 18 August.
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Bursztyn – odmiana długodojrzewającego sera wytwarzanego z krowiego mleka, o wyrazistym smaku i krystalicznej strukturze. Charakteryzuje się czarną skórką i kruchą zwartą strukturą.

Pierwszy bursztyn pojawił się w 2002 r. Początkowo nosił nazwę Koneser, niestety zaproponowana nazwa okazała się zajęta i wybrano drugą z propozycji, która obowiązuje do dziś. Bursztyn jest flagowym produktem polskiego serowarstwa i doceniany jest przez konsumentów na całym świecie.

Proces tworzenia bursztynu jest wielofazowy:
 w kotle serowarskim do mleka dodawany jest wyselekcjonowany szczep serowarski,
 formowany jest kształt, ser trafia do odpowiedniej solanki, gdzie uzyskuje swój smak,
 w dojrzewalni ser spędza minimum 6 miesięcy, gdzie zachodzą procesy fizykochemiczne i mikrobiologiczne, dzięki którym ser uzyskuje charakteryzujące go kryształki,
 uzyskana forma masowana jest specjalnymi pastami w celu uzyskania finalnego smaku i zapachu,
 ser leżakuje na odpowiednim drewnie, gdzie dzięki wysokiej częstotliwości obracania nabywa swoją finalną formę.

Wartości odżywcze

Przypisy

Sery z krowiego mleka
Sery
Polskie sery


Family. Fireworks. Picnics. Parades. If you are lucky, it is really hot out and the sprinklers will be turned on! It isn't just a 3 day weekend. This is the one day a year we celebrate the birth of our country. Happy Birthday, America!
Here are some fun America trivia for you as you prepare for your festivities!
Besides John Hancock, can you name one of the other signers of the Declaration of Independence? I can! I'm related to John Morton, one of the signers from Pennsylvania.
Do you know the name of the famous American symbol of freedom across the street from Independence Hall in Philadelphia? I do because my father and grandfather both took their oaths of office for the military there!
What town has the oldest continuous celebration of Independence Day?
This year (2009) is the ________ anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
What year did July 4th become a paid holiday for federal employees?
Where can you go to view the Declaration of Independence?


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It's Time to Retire This Scapegoat for Segregation
Op-Ed: In fight for affordable housing, Houston officials must stop hiding behind the veil of NIMBY.
Chrishelle Palay | Op-Ed May 31, 2017
(Photo by Henry Han)
I'd spoken at dozens of community public meetings before, but nothing had prepared me for the eye opening and virulent experience that I would face that rainy Tuesday afternoon. As I signed the speaker's list and squeezed into the standing room only cafeteria at Briargrove Elementary School, I began talking myself out of talking. I'd come to speak on behalf of thousands of families in desperate need of the 233 units that were being proposed in Houston's upscale Galleria neighborhood. As the president of Houston Housing Authority made his presentation about the mixed income development, an angry crowd of more than 500 people, mostly anglos, loudly interrupted, shouting remarks that were not at all reflective of this oft-touted "post racial" era.
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"How will our seniors feel safe?"
"This sounds like the plan they had for bussing years ago!"
"Those people don't belong here"
After witnessing the verbal assault on the HHA president, I convinced myself that it would be best if my comments were submitted via email. Then my name was called.
Perplexed eyes locked in on me, an African-American woman, as I walked to the podium. I nervously shared that families in search for decent housing, near great jobs, transportation and high performing schools had a right to choose where they lived and not be relegated to other neighborhoods simply because they possessed a housing choice voucher or earned a working class wage. I reminded the angry crowd that "those people" they were villainizing help provide the lifestyle to which the meeting attendees had become accustomed. It seemed that "those people" were good enough to serve, but not to live in, that community. The incessant booing and nasty remarks that punctuated my talk surprisingly fueled a fire inside of me that I didn't know existed. I ended my comments charging the audience to face their fears and to live the inclusive lifestyle that many of them claim to embrace. As my colleague escorted me to my car afterwards, as it was apparent I was not in a "safe zone," it dawned on me that I'd just stared NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) in its face.
Almost 50 years after the passage of the Fair Housing Act, this discriminatory practice continues to play a major role in the perpetuation of segregation. The benefits of desegregation have not reached major metropolitan cities, like Houston, in the United States. Instead, many city governments too quickly acquiesce to pervasive NIMBY arguments. But such failures to confront and correct the history of racial exclusion carry a high social cost.
Sadly, NIMBY is the typical response to proposed affordable housing development in well-resourced communities. Neighborhoods that offer close proximity to high-performing schools, access to transit, employment centers and quality food choices typically lack affordable places to live — by design. The tenants of subsidized housing are overwhelmingly African-American and Hispanic. Almost always, neighborhoods with organized opposition to affordable development are mostly white.
The Houston Housing Authority's (HHA) proposal to build a mixed-income development (including some workforce and public housing) near Houston's upscale Galleria proved the truth of this assertion. The NIMBY backlash was immediate and ferocious, as members of the community made it clear that they did not want the development in their backyard. Many said they were concerned about school overcrowding and increased traffic. Others made comments about the potential residents of the development, making comments including: "They're going to steal the tires off of our Suburbans. They're going to bring down our property value!"
This is well-recognized coded language that perpetuates the legacy of racial exclusion. And unfortunately, it provides government with a scapegoat to continue housing policies that lead to segregation. Local governments have historically failed to stand up to NIMBY to promote housing justice for all of its residents.
Especially in Texas, a NIMBY reaction to a housing proposal is usually enough to stop elected officials from supporting a development. After the backlash in Houston, Houston's Democratic mayor and City Council blocked funding for the project. Although the project required no funding from the city, Texas rules require a resolution of support or no objection. The city did neither, which lead to a federal investigation by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The investigation found Houston in violation of the Civil Rights Act by catering to racially charged NIMBYism. Most recently, Houston's Mayor Sylvester Turner sent a letter to HUD requesting the Title VI finding be rescinded and stated firmly that the resistance to the project's approval was related primarily to expensive development costs. Ironically, a similarly proposed project, with similar costs, in a neighborhood with a poverty rate of 35 percent (compared to 6.1 percent in the Galleria neighborhood) was approved by the City Council and is currently under construction.
When government responds to bias from a wealthy white constituency by forsaking low-income black and brown constituents, no one is well served. The wedge between communities is driven deeper, and separateness and place-based racial discrimination grows worse.
NIMBYs often suggest that affordable housing developments should be built in communities that are historically black and brown, so that residents can be near their social networks. The reality is that most of these areas already have a high concentration of subsidized housing. Because they often lack nearby job opportunities, well-resourced schools, convenient transportation, quality infrastructure and other amenities, these areas may suffer increased crime rates, dropout rates and high poverty.
Cities across the nation will be better served when policymakers admit that while they, personally, may not have created a system of segregated housing, it is their responsibility to build diverse, thriving cities. This means making sure every community pays its fair share. We must move past our discomfort and recognize the role race played and still plays in shaping housing policy. We must call out the pretexts that allow for ongoing racial discrimination and segregation. Government officials must stop hiding behind the veil of NIMBY. For the sake of our economy, our safety, our education — and everything that makes our society fair and equitable — we must hold lawmakers accountable for their role in building the diverse communities that we claim to hold dear.
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Chrishelle Palay is the Houston co-director at Texas Low Income Housing Information Service, a housing policy advocacy organization. She is a Next City Vanguard alumni and Ford Public Voices Fellow of The OpEd Project.
Tags: affordable housing, houston, racism, nimbys, perspective


Converting a story about a legendary and revered person into a work of dance theater isn't an easy task, as the facts that were the foundation for the legend have long since been overwhelmed by the legend's power. Do you ignore details that might provide essential drama which might otherwise be lost? Do you treat the person as flawless, or disclose details that might blemish the image honed and polished over centuries? And are there cultural and / or political constraints that limit any flexibility?
I don't know whether any of these considerations were taken into account in the creation of Princess Zhaojun, which had its New York premiere on Thursday at Lincoln Center's Koch Theater. What the Chinese National Opera and Dance Theater presents is Princess Zhaojun the legend, without blemishes or distracting back stories. Although I'll comment in this review on certain likely historical information the inclusion of which might have made the presentation more authentically dramatic, I have no idea whether the dance's creators considered, or were able to consider, any options beyond what they did.
In sum, for what it attempts to be, Princess Zhaojun is quite successful. There are few attempts here to add texture to characterizations – distractions from the accepted story-line do not exist, and there is no room to question. And, with some exceptions, the dances are a series of set scenes – like postcards that come to life. But Princess Zhaojun is an undeniably beautiful and vivid-looking production, with stunning costumes and lighting, accomplished choreography when considered in its cultural context, and its uplifting message is never subject to misinterpretation. Princess Zhaojun, one of the legendary "Four Beauties" of China whose beauty was said to cause birds to drop from the sky (other "Beauties" had similar appellations – e.g., causing fish to fall to the river bottom), is a heroine of China, who preserved peace and enabled the Chinese people, including the various ethnic groups within and around its borders, to flourish united.
In the Second Act (there's no intermission), titled "Foreign Land," Zhaojun and her faithful servant Xiang Xi make the slow pilgrimage across the frozen plains to the forbidding northern border (complete with wall – the Great Wall), under Huhanye's protection – and gradually, despite his primitive appearance, he becomes her sun and stars. They stop to camp, and Zhaojun falls asleep and dreams (even in Chinese dance theater, there's a Petipa dream scene) that she's back home with her friends, the nymphs of her youth, but that war with the nomadic brute barbarians who carry them off and do unspeakable things to them, and who kill (in her dream) the respected Han General Wei Jiang, will continue unless she does something about it. She's a vision in a vision in a vision.
The Wedding Scene (Third Act) follows, during which the Dothraki-like soldiers have a wild, primitive celebration (although they don't force Zhaojun to eat a horse's heart), but Huhanye's son, nasty Prince Jujulei, who doesn't like the idea of this marriage alliance, suddenly presents his trophy – General Wei Jiang, whom he's captured and bagged like an animal. At Zhaojun's insistence, Huhanye orders the general released, and decrees that cross-border raids will thereupon be strictly forbidden. In the Fourth Act (Peace), twenty years later, an epidemic has erupted causing Huhanye to become seriously ill. Zhaojun cares for him – not, apparently, by slaughtering his horse – but he dies anyway. Temporarily undone by grief (although Huhanye's ghost seems to materialize regularly), she recovers to nurse the affected Xiangnu population to health, and even consents, per Xiangnu custom, to marry Huhanye's successor – Prince Fujulei – to maintain peace between the two Han and the Xiangnu. In the Epilogue, now old and gray, Zhaojun is revered by all for her courage and tenacity, and Han and Xiangnu march together in her honor.
Normally I would not discuss the factual information that's out there about Princess Zhaojun, and if nothing else, artistic license certainly permits Princess Zhaojun's creators to recreate the story as they see fit, but it shows what might have been added to the narrative mix.
At this time, the northern boundaries of the Han Empire were subject to repeated raids by various tribes, including the Xiongnu. One source states that the Xiongnu, collectively known as the Hun (related to Attila?) in what is now Outer Mongolia, had an established empire in that area (antecedents of Genghis Khan?), that cross-border raids had occurred for millennia, and that a Han emperor a century earlier than Yuan had proposed marriage alliances to keep the peace. [Another states that at the time of Zhaojun, the Xiongnu had split into a number of states, each of which was subservient to the Han Empire, and the details of that game of thrones might make for a very good TV series.]. However powerful the Xiongnu may have been when the alliance with the Han began, a series of environmental calamities reduced the Xiongnu's significance to that of a vassal state. In an effort to augment his status, so some accounts go, Huhanye proposed the marriage alliance to Emperor Yuan. Yuan agreed, and would have offered one of his daughters to be married to the Xiongnu monarch, but none of them wanted the honor of leaving the comfort of the palace. So, sight unseen, he picked Zhaojun … or Zhaojun volunteered because she was tired of being isolated in the palace basement. On first sight, Huhanye (who already had many other wives) fell madly in love with her – and Emperor Yuan, who had not previously seen Zhaojun's flesh in the flesh, had that painter executed.
To Zhaojun's surprise, she fell madly in love with Huhanye too – or she just learned to cope. She bore Huhanye, who already had many children by his other wives, at least one son. After Huhanye's death a few years after their marriage, Zhaojun reportedly was aghast at the thought of marrying his son, that nasty Fujulei, but as that was the Xiongnu custom, and since the then Han emperor refused to allow her to return to civilization, she agreed to do it. She bore Huhanye's son two daughters.
The subsequent legend of Zhaojun grew after her death, adding and deleting facts as the years passed.
Obviously, the facts about Zhaojun as they may have been discovered (reportedly based on contemporaneous accounts) are far more interesting, and potentially far more theatrically dramatic, than the "facts" embedded in the legend and related in the dance. And although I can't criticize Princess Zhaojun's libretto for blindly adhering to the legend (and maybe embellishing it a little), failing to include at least some of this remarkably interesting information, and instead artificially creating drama to provide what drama there is, renders the entire dance considerably more cardboard than it needed to be.
In any event, we take it as it is. Princess Zhaojun is nothing if not opulent. Not surprisingly, for a production from China, the costumes are extraordinary. Credited to Yang Donglin and Sun Aina, there is not one scene of groups of women in which they do not look resplendent with the look of silk (the Han), or celebratory velvet (the "candle dance" – yes, in a way remindful of La Bayadère – that opens the wedding scene), or simple cloth elegance (the Xiongnu). The men are less lyrically portrayed – they're warriors, but the same care has been taken with their costumes. [Like the Capulets and Montagues, the Han and the Hun have "colors" – the Han wear blue and orange (they should perform at Mets games); the Xiongnu are costumed in "animal-hide" tan.] And unlike some contemporary dance productions where the lighting, extraordinary though it might be, draws attention to itself, the lighting in Princess Zhaojun never does – you don't see the lights as objects that move up and down or change color, but as means to electrifyingly illuminate or bathe the stage. Designed by Ren Dongsheng (who apparently also designed the opulent looking sets), the lighting is used almost as another character at times: in one extraordinary scene, it's as if the heavens open and a deity with piercing light penetrating from "eyes in the sky" looks down to illuminate, and silently comment on, isolated areas of the stage.
Aside from my quarrel with the one dimensionality of the characterizations and the story, even though that may be exactly what director Kong Dexin wanted, the choreography (credited to a committee, each member of which presumably oversaw the choreography for individual dances), seen through Western eyes, is – with exceptions – disappointing. Women generally shuffle across the stage with tiny forward steps that make them appear to glide on air (like the angels in "George Balanchine's 'The Nutcracker'"), often posed with arms and torsos arched at a gentle "feminine" angle, and men who thrust and stump and then thrust and stump some more. For this reason, although each individual dance to one extent or another is different from another, as the scenes progress the women's "folk dances" and the men's martial combat mesh in the mind.
Having said that, the critical analysis here must be on recognizing that this dance must be seen through Chinese cultural eyes, not Western eyes. Its heritage – aside from the story's specifics – is Asian. And in this context, the appearance of flatness, of uniformity, of relative unemotional detachment, of limited but exaggerated stylized movement, is not inappropriate. I would have preferred to have seen more variety within each dance, but it's there – you just have to overlook the sense of sameness and of minimal movement variation, beautifully staged and executed as many of the dances involving the women most definitely are.
Those dances that are most memorable are those rare segments in which the leads, primarily Zhaojun and Huhanye, either dance solo or together. There is considerable beauty to the lyrical romantic choreography, with Zhaojun effectively melting into Huhanye's arms as he receives her liquid body and effortlessly manipulates her, lifting and carrying her like a feather. There are no bravura "tricks" here. It's all relatively low–key. But these dances are such a break from the cast of thousands pageantry that they stand – or dance – out. Also standing out is the one corps scene that is significantly different from the others – the "nymphs" in Zhaojun's dream scene. None of them appear to be moving the same way as others, there's an intentional sense of freedom consistent with Zhaojun's memory of her happy youth, and the in-dream violence between these nymphs and the barbarian invaders (stylized – I doubt if anyone would find it offensive) is a visual shock.
Aside from the pageantry, there is one scene that is particularly noteworthy – and it contains little dancing. When General Wei Jiang and some of his soldiers are en route to the wedding, they get ambushed by Prince Fujulei and his men. Slowly, almost unnoticeably, Fujulei's soldiers replace Wei Jiang's soldiers – but Wei Jiang proceeds forward without noticing, followed closely behind by Fujulei as they exit the stage. The audience doesn't see a battle, doesn't see the capture, but what's happening is obvious, and Wei Jiang is next seen in a bag at the wedding.
Multiple casts rotate in the lead roles. I saw what I presume is the first cast – Dou Shuaifang as Zhaojun, Zhu Lin as Huhanye, Guo Haifang played Fujulei, Yang Siyu was Wei Jiang, and Yu Yu played Xiang Xi. They, and the rest of the 41-member cast, performed magnificently. Dou Shuaifang did particularly fine work in a very one-dimensional role, especially acting virginally shy in her initial dance with Huhanye (and simply looking gorgeous in everything else – including carrying that pipa), and Zhu Lin's Huhanye, in addition to being a capable and ardent partner, had the most acting to do, at times looking like Kal Drogo, at times – like when he first spies Zhaojun and could hardly contain himself – as if he'd just won the concubine lottery.
Legend or human, it's undeniable that Princess Zhaojun is the embodiment of cross-cultural acceptance for the greater good. China as it is now known believes it owes its unity, at least in large part, to this woman who was a concubine, a queen, a sad and tragic figure, and a heroic one. And in a sense, when the Chinese celebrate the lunar New Year and parade through the streets within a multi-unit dragon that blends the occupants together to move as one, they implicitly honor Princess Zhaojun, the mother of Chinese dragons.