School in classical Athens wasn't compulsory, but a father who didn't send his boys to school had about the same status as a leper, so effectively every boy got an education. Girls were educated at home; which might annoy the ladies reading this, but in fact by the time I'm finished you might think the girls were the ones better off.
The first thing all kids were taught was how to read and write. Literacy levels were high. Very high. And that applies to both women and men. They might have had the highest general literacy until our modern age; and even then there are a few modern nations with literacy levels probably below that of classical Athens. A common insult of the time was to say of someone, "He can't swim and he can't read." Meaning, "This guy is a total idiot." In a civilization of islands that relied on trade, swimming was a basic survival skill. By implication, so too was reading.
Every play, every history, every document of the time takes it for granted that the women could read as well as the men. Also, plenty of pottery shows women playing musical instruments. Literacy and music covers off two thirds of the male curriculum.
The boys learned these things: reading and writing, music, poetry, "wrestling" (sport), and the big one...reciting Homer.
A boy who didn't learn his Homer to a minimum standard could expect some beatings. Homer was way too large for any normal person to remember it all, but there were core parts everyone had to know. (Though having said that, Diotima can recite all of Homer end to end, and so too could a professional bard of the time). If you read any dialogue from the period — the dialogues in Plato are a good example — you'll see that educated Athenians threw in quotes from Homer in their conversation in much the same way that Victorian period Englishmen threw in Latin tags. I don't do that in my stories because it would drive you insane, though I've popped in the occasional easily recognized tag. In The Ionia Sanction, as an experiment I put a quote from Homer at the top of every chapter. The one at the start of chapter one is, "Evil deeds do not prosper; the slow man catches up with the swift."
There are numerous texts from the time extolling the virtues of a good beating to instill moral fiber in the weak. The same didn't apply to the girls. Dr Arnold of Rugby School would probably have approved.
The Athenians had to pass a law limiting the school day to from dawn to dusk. I'm not kidding. No doubt when it was passed, the teachers grumbled how kids had it too soft these days, but they seem to have stuck to the letter of the law. So an Athenian boy rose before dawn, arrived at school as the sun peeked over the horizon, and returned home when it was dark. And let me point this out...no weekends! Religious festival days were the only respite for the boys.
Oh boy, this is awesome! Now when our kids complain about school, we can pull this out!
Always happy to help with child management. Good point; the next time my daughters are slow getting up for school, I'll tell them it could be worse.
Curses! I wish I was teaching World History this year--I'd totally use this.
As it is, I think I'll just print it out to remind myself next time I do teach World History.
Those Ancient Greeks should have been glad they didn't go to school in Alaska. They'd be at school 20 hours a day in the summer. But only 4 hours a day in the winter.
"'To Start Press Any Key'. Where's the ANY key?"
"Lisa, Vampires are make-believe, like elves, gremlins, and eskimos."
Did Greeks have school houses for the boys?
I understand Roman boys attended school outdoors in courtyards or other open spaces.
Once they were finished with official school, the ones who wanted to learn more would go to the gymnasium, which is where the philosophers hung out. These days we think of an academy as a place of learning, but the original Academy, where Plato taught, was in fact a gymnasium. Modern languages retain both meanings. In English, gymnasium is a place to exercise; in German, gymnasium means high school. But that's for the grown-up who want higher learning. The kids are either in a grotty room somewhere, or outdoors like the Romans.
Wasn't, though, school different than the western style of classroom teaching? As I recall, and I could be mixing up my ancient cultures, so forgive me, the Greeks were quite individual focused in their "curriculum." Students were required to master basics but they were also encouraged to branch out and study things that were interesting to them. It was an environment that encouraged critical thinking, as I recall, vastly different from what we have today in the US in public schools.
I've always wondered how widespread reading was before the Classical period, especially in the countryside. There's the famous story of the farmer who asked Aristides to write his own name out on an ostrika because the farmer didn't know his letters. Also? Ooouuuch!
Aha! Hi Anthony. You're thinking of the philosophy schools. Socrates and his ilk went out of their way to make people think for themselves. So yes, you're right.
"...the children, when they have learnt their letters and are getting to understand the written word as before they did only the spoken, are furnished with works of good [i.e. moral] poets to read as they sit in class, and are made to learn them off by heart: here they meet with many admonitions, many descriptions and praises and eulogies of good men in times past, that the boy in envy may imitate them and yearn to become even as they."
Hi Meghan, yes, but that story, which I'm sure is true, is to highlight how even people who were the most ignorant of state affairs had become sick of Aristeides.
I'm sure the sons of dead poor small farmers didn't get the same educational opportunities as kids in the big city. I have a feeling that's the case today, too.
I find it interesting to compare the ancient situation to mediaeval times: mediaeval kings called in their scribes to read messages to them. Imagine if Pericles or Themistocles had to do that. It's inconceivable!
Ah! I knew some part of Greek education had a free-form critical thinking component to it. I didn't know it came after paying your school dues.
I loved school. I am envious!
Ionia Sanction giveaway on GoodReads.com!


The joy of pregnancy can be easily tarnished with the reality of swollen legs, back pain, nausea and anxiety. Chinese Medicine has well established protocols for addressing these distressing symptoms.
Chinese Medicine always takes an individualised approach to treatment. It has an elaborate system of diagnostic analysis that adapts to the specific symptoms and body signs that any one person presents. The full range of Chinese Medicine skills including acupuncture, acupressure and Chinese herbal medicine offer a reputable treatment option for the management of pregnancy.
Damian Carey, our Doctor of Chinese Medicine, has decades of experience in assisting with all aspects of pregnancy.
Assisted Conception: Level Three - Weak or Unclear Evidence of Efficacy This level of evidence is applied to conditions that have not yet shown clear, consistent results. Keep in mind that any single study demonstrating a positive effect is insufficient; it is only after a series of consistent studies that science will draw a positive conclusion. And please also keep in mind that 'lack of evidence of efficacy' is not the same thing as 'evidence of lack of efficacy'!
Induction of Labour: Level Three - Weak or Unclear Evidence of Efficacy This level of evidence is applied to conditions that have not yet shown clear, consistent results. Keep in mind that any single study demonstrating a positive effect is insufficient; it is only after a series of consistent studies that science will draw a positive conclusion. And please also keep in mind that 'lack of evidence of efficacy' is not the same thing as 'evidence of lack of efficacy'!
Labour Pain: Level Two - Evidence of Potential Positive Effect Conditions with this level of evidence have moderate support of efficacy, but insufficient to make definitive conclusions. But please keep in mind that 'insufficient evidence of efficacy' is not the same thing as 'evidence of lack of efficacy'!
Post-Natal Depression: Level Three - Weak or Unclear Evidence of Efficacy This level of evidence is applied to conditions that have not yet shown clear, consistent results. Keep in mind that any single study demonstrating a positive effect is insufficient; it is only after a series of consistent studies that science will draw a positive conclusion. And please also keep in mind that 'lack of evidence of efficacy' is not the same thing as 'evidence of lack of efficacy'!
Pregnancy & Back or Pelvic Pain: Level Two - Evidence of Potential Positive Effect Conditions with this level of evidence have moderate support of efficacy, but insufficient to make definitive conclusions. But please keep in mind that 'insufficient evidence of efficacy' is not the same thing as 'evidence of lack of efficacy'!
Au DW, Tsang HW, Ling PP, Leung CH, Ip PK, Cheung WM. Effects of acupressure on anxiety: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Acupuncture in Medicine: Journal of the British Medical Acupuncture Society. 2015 Oct;33(5):353-9.
Bazzan AJ, Zabrecky G, Monti DA, Newberg AB. Current evidence regarding the management of mood and anxiety disorders using complementary and alternative medicine. Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics. 2014 Apr;14(4):411-23.
Chan YY, Lo WY, Yang SN, Chen YH, Lin JG. The benefit of combined acupuncture and antidepressant medication for depression: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Affective Disorders. 2015 May 1;176:106-17.
Chang SC, Hsu CH, Hsu CK, Yang SS, Chang SJ. The efficacy of acupuncture in managing patients with chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome: A systemic review and meta-analysis. Neurourology and Urodynamics. 2016 Jan 6.
Close C, Sinclair M, Liddle SD, Madden E, McCullough JE, Hughes C. A systematic review investigating the effectiveness of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) for the management of low back and/or pelvic pain (LBPP) in pregnancy. Journal of Advanced Nursing. 2014 Aug;70(8):1702-16.
Engel CC, Cordova EH, Benedek DM, Liu X, Gore KL, Goertz C, et al. Randomized effectiveness trial of a brief course of acupuncture for posttraumatic stress disorder. Medical Care. 2014 Dec;52(12 Suppl 5):S57-64.
Levett KM, Smith CA, Dahlen HG, Bensoussan A. Acupuncture and acupressure for pain management in labour and birth: a critical narrative review of current systematic review evidence. Complementary Therapies in Medicine. 2014 Jun;22(3):523-40.
Liddle SD, Pennick V. Interventions for preventing and treating low-back and pelvic pain during pregnancy. The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2015(9):Cd001139.
Qin Z, Wu J, Zhou J, Liu Z. Systematic Review of Acupuncture for Chronic Prostatitis/Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome. Medicine. 2016 Mar;95(11):e3095.
Mollart LJ, Adam J, Foureur M. Impact of acupressure on onset of labour and labour duration: A systematic review. Women and Birth: Journal of the Australian College of Midwives. 2015 Sep;28(3):199- 206.
Selva Olid A, Martinez Zapata MJ, Sola I, Stojanovic Z, Uriona Tuma SM, Bonfill Cosp X. Efficacy and Safety of Needle Acupuncture for Treating Gynecologic and Obstetric Disorders: An Overview. Medical Acupuncture. 2013 Dec 1;25(6):386-97.
Shen C, Wu M, Shu D, Zhao X, Gao Y. The role of acupuncture in in vitro fertilization: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Gynecologic and Obstetric Investigation. 2015;79(1):1-12.
Smith CA, Crowther CA, Grant SJ. Acupuncture for induction of labour. The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2013(8):Cd002962.


International Cat Care (iCatCare) and its veterinary division the International Society of Feline Medicine (ISFM) consider the declawing of cats for anything other than genuine therapeutic medical reasons to be an act of mutilation, and to be unethical.
iCatCare and ISFM support the World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) Code of Conduct in calling for legislation to be passed wherever possible to prohibit the performance of non-therapeutic surgical procedures, including declawing.
Scratching is a normal feline behaviour, and is associated with territorial marking as well as conditioning of the claws and digits. Claws are also an important means of defence against attack from other animals.
Declawing may lead to acute and chronic pain, lameness, and other surgical complications. Recent evidence suggests declawed cats are more likely to suffer back pain (possibly secondary to altered weight bearing from the declawing) and behavioural changes such as increased biting behaviour, inappropriate urination or defecation, over-grooming and aggression.
Even if future improvements in surgical techniques can negate some of the adverse effects associated with declawing, iCatCare and ISFM believe this procedure is unethical other than if required to manage a medical condition, and should be banned.


A shabby chain of creamy roses will adorn your sweet baby's head. Hand sewn pearls are in the center of each rose. This can also be made into a ribbon wrapped headband for a little girl. (Thank you to Daydreamer Photography by Carissa for the beautiful newborn photo).


text:
In: Karnataka Board, Poetry
What is the central idea of the poem An August Midnight?
An August MidnightBritish PoetryKarnataka Board Class 6thThomas Hardy
Daanish Malik
2022-04-20T22:20:08+05:30Added an answer on April 20, 2022 at 10:20 pm
The connotation and purpose of existence are central features in 'An August Midnight.' To depict a vivid recollection with a message, thorough details are used to create a sense of the past. The speaker is well aware of his surroundings and gives an observant perspective on the events that are being recounted.
An August Midnight Summary
Cancel the best answer
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Briefly describe the significance of the title the north ship
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Explain "The Sun Rising" as a metaphysical poem
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Can present day writers aptly describe the beauty of the speaker's friend? Explain.
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What is the theme of the poem The convergence of twain?
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What is the central idea of the poem Dear mum?
What is the theme of the poem Home they brought her warrior dead?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Kassiah: This wasn't my favorite. I know, I know–Erin told me I can't read anymore books with Billionaire in the title, but I had already grabbed this one when she made that rule. Anyway, this book was just meh to me.
Nik Valentini has worked his way to the top from literally nothing, and he's livid when he finds out someone has been embezzling money from him, especially when he thinks it's his new flame, Sara. Sara has a difficult past and a difficult family, and she knows she's not at fault for Nik's missing funds. They come to a cockamamie agreement where she's basically going to be with him all the time as his assistant after he sends her brother to an expensive rehab, all while trying to get to the bottom of finding the missing money and how this all ties together. Of course, you know what happens. Can they get over their issues of betrayal and lack of trust (in general and each other) to find true love?
This book was fast-paced and was a quick read. The story was interesting, but I just wasn't invested in these characters. The solution Nik has for finding out what's going on is totally implausible, not only for a billionaire CEO, but especially for a guy from the streets. Sara and Nik had chemistry for sure and there are some hot times, but ultimately it just wasn't enough for me.


text:
Walls as Rooms / 2: Fortified Churches in Transylvania
November 21, 2013 by Mariabruna Fabrizi 1 Comment
A while ago we wrote about British castles and how they became an inspiration for Louis Kahn's research on "servant" and "served" spaces.
A further historical example on the use of the thickness of a wall as an inhabitable volume may be found in some of the fortified churches sprawled all over the Transylvanian territory.
During the XII century, part of the Transylvania region (today's Romania) was colonized by the Saxons. Since this area was under the constant threat of Ottoman or Tartar invasions, most of the communities started building fortifications walls around the center of their social lives: the churches of the villages.
Defensive towers and storehouses, as well as residential rooms, were progressivly added in order to host the villagers during the long sieges.
Different kinds of fortifications may be found, the central element always being the church.
In some cases, only a small wall was eriged, sometimes multiple rows of fortifications or even a real fortress with bastions and iron gates were built.
The plans reveal the striking contrast between the regular -designed- proportions of the single churches and the unplanned shape of the simple or inhabited walls which mostly follows the topographical conditions.
Only seven of these villages, founded by the Transylvanian Saxons and characterized by fortified churches, have been included in the Unesco list of world heritage, but about 150 are still present in the area (out of an original 300 fortified churches).
Notable examples:
"The church is modeled after churches of Jerusalem, as well as built in the style of Late Gothic churches from the Rhineland. In the 15th century, it was surrounded by a wall 12m high, forming a quadrilateral with rounded corners. The wall was reinforced by four horseshoe-shaped towers, two of which have since disappeared. The entrance—a vaulted gallery—is protected by a barbican and flanked by a lateral wall. The defensive structure is strengthened by embrasures and bartizans, while the covered way is surrounded by a parapet. The granaries and rooms that accommodated the villagers are arranged on four levels above the cellars".
(Description from Wikipedia)
Cisnădie
"Originally built in the 12th century as a Romanesque basilica, the church was fortified during the 15th century, to protect the local population of Saxons against repeated Ottoman raids. The fortification process included the construction of fortified towers over the two side entrances and the choir, the building of a double structure of defence walls, a moat and several defensive towers along the walls. Simultaneously to the fortification work the church itself suffered a gothicization process."
(Below, in descending order: Hărma, Copsa Mare, Movile, Seica Mica.)
(First collage at the top of the post: Brasov, Vurpar Sibiu, Boian, Codlea, Malancrav, Archita, Cristian, Visem?)
(Second collage: Apold, Biertan, Bradeni, Cincu, Ighisul Nou, Valchid, Buzd)
Images courtesy of Wikipedia.
Villages with fortified churches in Transylvania
Walls as Rooms: British Castles and Louis Kahn
Fortresses of the Saxons from Transylvania
Villages with Fortified Churches in Transylvania (Unesco)
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Filed Under: Architecture, Walls as Rooms Tagged With: Architecture, Churches, form of form, Fortified
Enter the Space Inside a Wall: Two Installations by The Chapuisat Brothers – Perda Filosofal says:
[…] Walls as Rooms / 2: Fortified Churches in Transylvania […]


text:
Willi Büchner-Uhder (* 26. Dezember 1928 in Quedlinburg; † 3. Februar 2003 in Halle) war ein deutscher Jurist und Professor für Staats- und Verwaltungsrecht.

Leben
Er studierte an der Universität Halle Rechtswissenschaft bis 1951. Am 10. Juni 1955 promovierte er an der Juristischen Fakultät der Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg über ein Thema zur Entwicklung und Gestaltung des Beamtenrechts in der Bundesrepublik aus DDR-Sicht. Zum Dozenten für Verwaltungsrecht wurde er 1956 ernannt. Nach seiner Habilitation am  29. Juni 1963 wurde er zum Professor mit Lehrauftrag für Staatsrecht berufen und Direktor des Instituts für Staatsrecht, das ursprünglich als Institut für Staats- und Verwaltungsrecht bezeichnet wurde.
In einer Festveranstaltung würdigte Büchner-Uhder 1965, nunmehr Dekan der Juristischen Fakultät der Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg als Nachfolger von Gerhard Reintanz, die Verdienste des Gelehrten Arthur Wegner aus Anlass dessen 65. Geburtstages. Er war Mitunterzeichner eines Appells an Rechtswissenschaftler der Bundesrepublik gegen die Notstandsgesetze zusammen mit weiteren Professoren der Hallenser Juristenfakultät, namentlich Rudolf Herrmann, Rolf Lieberwirth, Gerhard Reintanz sowie Hans Spiller, und anderen namhaften Rechtswissenschaftlern aus der DDR.
Als Mitglied des Komitees zum Schutze der Menschenrechte nahm Büchner-Uhder an Podiumsgesprächen teil, beispielsweise  zum Themenkomplex "Menschenrechte und Völkerrecht" zusammen mit Peter Alfons Steiniger und Hermann Klenner sowie weiteren Juristen.

Unter Mitwirkung von Rechtswissenschaftlern der Universitäten  Leipzig, Berlin, Jena und Halle leitete Büchner-Uhder eine Arbeitsgruppe, die
das Programm für das in den 1970er Jahren wieder eingeführte Lehrgebiet  Verwaltungsrecht in der DDR erstellte, das  ab  1. September 1984 durch das Ministerium für Hoch- und Fachschulwesen in Kraft gesetzt wurde. Die Universität Leipzig war in der Arbeitsgruppe u. a. mit dem Verwaltungsrechtler Karl Bönninger vertreten.

Als Abgeordneter der Stadt Halle an der Saale gehörte Büchner-Uhder zu einer Delegation, die am 23. März 1987 nach Karlsruhe zur Vorbereitung eines Partnerschaftsvertrages fuhr. Der Vertrag wurde dann am 17. September 1987 während einer Sitzung der Stadtverordnetenversammlung  Halle im Stadthaus unterzeichnet.  Am 21. September desselben Jahres wurde die Städtepartnerschaft durch den Karlsruher Gemeinderat im Beisein des Hallenser Oberbürgermeisters Christoph Anders verbindlich gemacht. Eine so genannte "Westreise" hatte er bereits 1963 zusammen mit seinem damaligen Prodekan Rolf Lieberwirth nach Frankfurt am Main unternommen, um  dem einstigen Dekan der hallischen Juristenfakultät nach 1945 und  langjährigen Ordinarius für Zivil- und Zivilprozessrecht Wolfgang Hein zu seinem 80. Geburtstag zu gratulieren und im Rahmen eines Festakts eine Laudatio zu halten.

Büchner-Uhder war ehrenamtliches Redaktionsmitglied der DDR-Fachzeitschrift "Staat und Recht". Er gehörte zu den 18 Autoren des Nachschlagewerks Rechtshandbuch für den Bürger, das von Karl A. Mollnau 1985 und in einer weiteren Auflage 1986  herausgegeben wurde.

Nach der am 1. Januar 1991 erfolgten Abwicklung der Sektion Rechtswissenschaft der Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg betätigte sich Büchner-Uhder als Autor von juristischen Fach- und Lehrbüchern noch bis 1996.

Veröffentlichungen (Auswahl)
 Kommunalrecht nach dem Landesrecht von Sachsen, Sachsen-Anhalt, Thüringen
 Kommunalrecht für die neuen Bundesländer: Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Sachsen, Sachsen-Anhalt, Thüringen [Fallsammlung]
 Deutsches Staats- und Verwaltungsrecht. Systematische Darstellung unter Berücksichtigung der Rechtslage nach dem Beitritt der ehemaligen DDR
 Kommunalverfassung: Handbuch für die kommunale Praxis in den neuen Bundesländern; Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Sachsen, Sachsen-Anhalt, Thüringen
 Ein Kind ist da
 Menschenrechte – eine Utopie?
 Juristen nur für Wirtschaft und Justiz ?
 Wissenschaftler, Humanist und Patriot
 Staat, Recht, Wirtschaft. Beiträge der Juristischen Fakultät der Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg
 Zur Stellung des sozialistischen Verwaltungsrechts im Rechtssystem der DDR
 Zur Extensität des Verwaltungsrechts
 Die Chance des Mannes. Bemerkungen zu einem Buch von Günter Görlich

Einzelnachweise

Weblinks
 Willi Büchner-Uhder in Kürschners Deutscher Gelehrten-Kalender, Ausgabe 1992, S. 446 Spalte 1

Staatsrechtler (20. Jahrhundert)
SED-Mitglied
DDR-Bürger
Deutscher
Geboren 1928
Gestorben 2003
Mann
Verwaltungsrechtler (20. Jahrhundert)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


They look like enormous ice cubes. The transparent, 30-foot modules, each weighing a ton, are surrounded by people moving briskly in bright yellow hazmat suits. And at first glance, it's hard to imagine that, inside these 12 structures a few yards from the general hospital in Beni, a life-and-death battle is being waged.
These are Biosecure Emergency Care Units for Outbreaks (or "cubes," from their French acronym). Costing US$17,000 apiece, they are a key component of Beni's Ebola Treatment Center (ETC). The bustling men and women are local and international health workers who have been mobilized over the past six months to combat DRC's latest Ebola outbreak and help save lives. Their yellow garb is Personal Protective Equipment, which must be burned after each use.
Masika Lubaho and her husband Katsuva Mukuro have put on their best outfits to visit their 15-year-old daughter, Julie, who's being treated in one of the cubes. "She has been sick for three weeks. At first, we didn't want to take her to the hospital because of everything we'd heard about Ebola," Masika says.
Deployed in record time last August by the organization ALIMA (Alliance for International Medical Action), the mobile units with transparent walls are an innovation in the fight against Ebola. "The plastic sleeves attached to the chamber walls allow workers to administer some of their care without entering the cube. They also allow families to see and communicate with patients without risk of contamination," explains Jacques Étienne, head of ALIMA's Ebola treatment center.
According to UNICEF statistics, children represent over a third of Ebola cases in regions affected by the epidemic. A young woman named Kasomo knows this all too well. Not long ago, she was also confined in a cube after losing her nine-year-old son to Ebola. "He died at the hospital while we were filling out the admission form. We brought his body back home…that's how I got the virus, too," she says, as she rocks a young baby in her arms. Kasomo was diagnosed in time and brought to the Ebola treatment center in Beni. And she survived.
The city of Beni is in a region embroiled in conflict — home to 9 million people, North Kivu is one of the most fragile regions in the world. The province faces many challenges, with dozens of armed groups defying state institutions, weak delivery of basic social services, and a lack of economic opportunities. It all further fuels frustration.
In this context, the medical teams faced resistance from the communities they were trying to serve, where distrust of institutions sometimes hampered the humanitarian workers' efforts. The situation worsened in late December, when residents of Beni and Butembo in eastern DRC, the two main epicenters of the epidemic, saw their participation in the presidential elections cancelled because of Ebola. More recently, following attacks on its Ebola treatment centers in the towns of Butembo and Katwa, now the epicenters of the epidemic in North Kivu, Médecins sans Frontieres (MSF) was forced to suspend its activities.
The World Bank is supporting the government's effort to contain the outbreak, which has infected more than 900 people and claimed more than 500 lives in DRC since August and could spread to neighboring countries. International partners believe they got involved too slowly in West Africa in 2014-2015, when Ebola caused more than 11,000 deaths in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. By contrast, at the first signs of an outbreak last spring in DRC's Equateur province, the government's response plan was fully funded in just two days. Alongside the DRC government, donors included the World Bank Group through the International Development Assocation (IDA) financing and the first financial commitment from the Pandemic Emergency Financing Facility (PEF).
When the current Ebola outbreak – the tenth to hit DRC since 1976—started in North Kivu, the government partnered with the World Health Organization, other UN agencies, as well as donors and NGOS set up a Coordination Center in Beni to support the response. The government and partners meet three times a day in a prefab building that serves as a headquarters. They share updates on new cases, bring figures up to date, and assess the progress of the joint response.
Throughout these two latest outbreaks in DRC in 2018 and 2019, the World Bank together with the PEF has ensured robust funding for a comprehensive Ebola response, so that health workers can focus on saving lives instead of on raising money. The DRC government and international partners are now escalating the effort from February through July 2019, and the World Bank has just announced IDA support totaling $60 million. In addition, the PEF has also made available up to $20 million. Together, this $80 million will cover more than half the projected cost of the six-month escalated response, with other donors expected to contribute the rest.
"If the financial resources exist, it's because the World Bank and the government of Congo spared no expense in helping conquer this epidemic," says Dr. Aruna Abedi, the Health Ministry's coordinator for the Ebola response.
World Bank support focuses not only on urgent outbreak response but also on long-term strengthening of the country's health system, along with technical support and proactive pandemic preparedness investments. According to Michel Muvudi, the World Bank Group's senior health specialist in DRC, a crucial aspect of the current fight against Ebola was establishment, with World Bank funding, of free medical care in the eight affected health zones. In isolated regions, where just one in five people has access to health care, ensuring free treatment is essential to accessing health care and combating a disease like Ebola, where early detection and treatment are critical.
"In the fight against Ebola, we tend to overmedicalize our response and put faith in our financial, logistical, and technical capabilities above all else. The paradox with Ebola is that, although it's true that we need considerable resources, including state-of-the-art treatment centers with doctors and nurses in hazmat outfits, engaging with the community to stem the epidemic is every bit as important," says Muvudi.
The World Health Organization (WHO) is very active on the ground, with 450 people deployed in the cities of Beni and Butembo and the surrounding areas, supporting the Health Ministry in confronting the challenges of Ebola. Abdou Salam Gueye, WHO's on-site operations coordinator, sums up the situation: "Our role is to make sure the necessary resources are where they're needed, at the time they're needed." He adds, "If there is hope to be found in this epidemic, it's that there's an experimental vaccine for the first time" (the rVSV-ZEBOV vaccine, produced by the pharmaceutical company Merck and financed by GAVI).
So far, over 80,000 people have been vaccinated, including health workers, who are often among the earliest victims. According to Dr. Aruna Abedi, the Health Ministry's coordinator for the Ebola response, better response protocols and the use of vaccines are two innovations allowing responders to make progress. But Dr. Abedi also urges the international community to keep up the fight until the outbreak is contained.
The cooing voices of her tiny charges remind her that life goes on.


For use in congested traffic, start stop vehicle technology (microhybrid) offers the promise of significant increases in fuel economy and reduction of pollutant emissions, without large increase in the vehicle sales price. A key enabling component of the start stop system is the battery. Present start stop systems employ lead acid batteries because of their low initial cost and excellent low temperature performance, but these batteries suffer from life limitations especially when subjected to repeated deep cycling and high charge rates. Consequently, alternate battery systems with improved life characteristics are the key to enable widespread adoption of start stop vehicles. Liion technology is the leading candidate to replace lead acid batteries in start stop systems and several battery companies have announced Liion batteries for start stop applications. However, most Liion battery systems offered today suffer from one or more disadvantages such as poor low temperature performance, poor high rate charge acceptance, or high cost relative to lead acid batteries. This is at least in part because the materials in these batteries are not optimized for the specific requirements of start stop applications. TIAX is developing Liion technology for start stop applications that overcomes the limitations of the current Liion systems by tailoring its proprietary CAM7 cathode material for use opposite lithium titanate anode (LTO) anode in pouch cells that provide excellent cold cranking capability, elevated temperature stability, cycle life and safety for 12V start stop batteries. In Phase I, TIAX showed that CAM7 cathode/LTO anode pouch cell technology provides excellent 30 °C cold cranking capability and elevated temperature stability (without pouch cell gassing/swelling), that the performance could be improved by CAM7 material modifications that specifically targeted the start/stop implementation, and that CAM7 cells had superior performance to competing cathodes. In Phase II we will optimize the CAM7 material and the cathode and anode electrode designs for the 12V start stop battery application. We will develop a cell design for 12V start stop batteries based on automobile company input and our internal results. We will assemble scaled versions of these cells into 12V modules that achieve USABC 12V start stop vehicle battery stability and scaled power and energy targets, and we will demonstrate the excellent abuse tolerance of these cells under standard thermal, electrical and mechanical abuse tests. The TIAX start stop battery technology will facilitate widespread commercialization of start stop microHEVs by enhancing the available energy, dynamic charge acceptance, and life of Liion batteries used in microHEVs. Rapid, widespread adoption of affordable microHEVs in traffic congested areas of the country can yield benefits including reduced adverse health impacts from pollution in urban and other high traffic areas, reduced adverse environmental and economic impacts of global warming, and reduced economic impacts of fluctuations in global petroleum supply and price. Key Words Start stop vehicle battery, microhybrid vehicle battery, lithiumion. TIAX is developing low cost microhybrid vehicle battery technology that will facilitate widespread commercialization of start stop vehicles by presenting a compelling value proposition for drivers in congested traffic areas. This will reduce the fuel consumption and pollutant emission associated with idling in traffic, yielding public health, environmental quality, and economic benefits.


text:
New Hospital Out-of-Pocket Policies Reveal How Obamacare Pinches the Poor
By Brett Healy - July 28, 2016
Common Ground, Obamacare, Obamacare Exchange
Out-of-Pocket policies just latest example of Obamacare's failing health
By Chris Rochester
MacIver Institute Communications Director
The decision by several major Wisconsin healthcare systems to eliminate out-of-pocket payments for lower-income patients is giving us further evidence that Obamacare continues to fail to live up to President Obama's fib-riddled sales pitch when the law squeaked its way into law in 2010.
Ascension Health and Froedtert Health have both decided to waive out-of-pocket costs for patients with an income at 250 percent of the federal poverty line or below. On its face, this is good news for struggling families having difficulty paying their hospital bills. The reason these major health systems made this move, however, is that Obamacare continues to fail to live up to its promise to provide affordable health insurance for Americans.
Under Obamacare, out-of-pocket costs have increased dramatically. A MacIver Institute analysis last year found the deductibles in Wisconsin for a bronze plan ranged from $3,000 – $6,850 for an individual and $6,000 – $13,700 for a family. Max-out-of-pocket costs ranged from $6,000 – $6,850 for an individual and $12,000 – $13,700, according to data from the Department of Health and Human Services.
From day one, Obamacare's cheerleaders made one promise after another. There was the infamous promise "if you like your health care plan, you'll be able to keep your health care plan, period." Also, if we liked our doctor, we could keep our doctor, period. The emphatic "period" should've been a giant asterisk instead.
We were promised premiums would be reduced by $2,500 per year for the typical family. Instead, premiums have increased significantly and will continue to go up as next year's rates are announced later this year.
We were promised if we already had insurance, it would be "stronger, better and more secure than it was before." Instead, plans that weren't cancelled have been loaded with expensive new benefit mandates.
We were promised no family making less than $250,000 would see a tax hike. In reality, Obamacare saddles the middle class with 18 tax hikes, penalties, and fees.
We were promised by the President, "I will not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficits, either now or in the future." In reality, Obamacare's costs have already become unsustainable. He promised the cost curve of healthcare would bend down; it's done the opposite. He promised to protect Medicare; Obamacare explicitly cuts Medicare. He promised his law would cover every American; millions remain uninsured.
Finally, we were promised Obamacare "means more choice, more competition, lower costs for millions of Americans." The opposite is happening. Despite steep price increases, insurers are suffering losses in Obamacare markets so massive they're in full retreat, reducing competition and choice across the country.
Insurers' staggering losses are forcing them to drop out of Obamacare markets nationwide. Humana's exit from most markets is just the most recent example. Blue Cross Blue Shield announced its withdrawal from Minnesota in June, the same month UnitedHealth announced its withdrawal from Wisconsin. Before that, Anthem significantly cut back its offerings in Wisconsin.
Wisconsin also leads the nation in emergency room visits, and ER visits in Milwaukee spiked after Obamacare's implementation, according to a 2014 HCTrends report. This indicates many people don't have access to the affordable primary care physicians Obamacare promised and are using ER services as a substitute.
Despite the obvious fundamental flaws sinking Obamacare, Washington bureaucrats continue their futile quest to prop up the system.
The feds are fighting a federal court's ruling that it illegally gave insurance companies taxpayer money without a Congressional appropriation. They're tweaking rules in an effort to balance the risk pools of failing Obamacare exchanges. They're tightening restrictions dictating when people can enroll in a plan, cracking down on "special enrollment periods." They're even trotting out celebrities in an attempt to convince younger, healthier people to enroll. What's next? Virtual Obamacare promos on Pokemon Go?
As President Reagan famously warned, "The more the plans fail, the more the planners plan." This one-liner perfectly frames the downward spiral of Obamacare.
The bad news for Obamacare doesn't stop at the string of broken promises or massive losses for insurers. Taxpayer-funded health insurance co-ops are also, predictably, in intensive care. Intended to be an alternative to for-profit insurance plans, they were infused with around $1.7 billion in taxpayer funds to set up shop and even more to prop them up.
These state-based health insurance co-ops are going down like dominoes.
Wisconsin's own co-op, Common Ground, faces a tough year in which its fate will be decided. Common Ground has lost $84.8 million and owes the federal government $107.7 million. It's unlikely taxpayers will see much or any of that money repaid.
If Common Ground collapses in 2016 as some experts predict, it will join Ohio's InHealth Mutual, Connecticut's HealthyCT, and Illinois' Land of Lincoln Health, all of which failed or will shut down this year alone. Of the original 23 co-ops, 16 have failed so far. Only 7 remain, many on life support.
Any way you look at Obamacare – unaffordable deductibles, decreased choice, less competition, skyrocketing costs – the wheels are clearly falling off Obama's key accomplishment.
It's time for President Obama and the Washington bureaucrats to stop tinkering around the edges, acknowledge that Obamacare has failed to provide access to affordable healthcare, and scrap the law in favor of free-market, patient-centered reform.
Courtesy: The Daily Signal
Brett Healy
Brett Healy is the President of the John K. MacIver Institute for Public Policy, a Wisconsin-based think tank that promotes free markets, individual freedom, personal responsibility and limited government.


Three-year-olds, looking to polish their resumes, will be featured in the $50,000 Turf Paradise Derby and $30,000 Arizona Oaks Saturday at Turf Paradise.
The 'Derby,' which will be run at 1 1.16 mile, attracted a field of nine and will be run as the seventh race on the eight-race card.. The Oaks, which also drew the same size field, will be run at one mile and will go as the fifth race. Post time will be 12:55 pm.


The Alliance for Climate Protection was founded in 2006 by former United States Vice President Al Gore. The Alliance is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization committed to educating the global community about the urgency of implementing comprehensive solutions to the climate crisis. The organization oversees numerous campaigns, including Repower America, The Climate Project, Repower at Home, the WE Campaign, the Reality Coalition and works with its affiliated organization, the Climate Protection Action Fund.
Maggie Fox is the President and CEO of the Alliance for Climate Protection. For over 30 years, Fox has worked on various environmental campaigns and national issues. At one time, Fox was the National President of America Votes, which is a progressive coalition of over 40 organizations that are coming together to recruit voters and convince them to support progressive causes. She served as the Deputy Executive Director of the Sierra Club. Fox has consulted with a number of progressive organizations on their energy and climate campaigns including the Energy Future Coalition, Western Resource Advocates and the Ocean Conservancy.
Maggie Fox began her career as a teacher and community organizer on the Navajo and Hopi Reservations of Arizona and New Mexico and worked for the Colorado, North Carolina and Northwest Outward Bound Schools for over a decade. She earned her B.A. from the University of North Carolina, a Masters in Education from the University of Colorado, and a J.D. with an emphasis in Environmental Law and Native America Natural Resources Law from Northwestern School of Law.
The primary funding source for the Alliance for Climate Protection is Al Gore's networks and his personal work. Paramount Classics, distributor of Gore's documentary An Inconvenient Truth, announced in August of 2006 that it would donate 5% of all box office receipts to the Alliance. Al Gore has also donated all his proceeds from the film to the Alliance. After receiving the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, Al Gore pledged to donate 100% of his share of the prize (approximately $1.5 million) to the Alliance. Gore's published book, Our Choice, has had all proceeds donated to the Alliance as well.
Some of the profits from the Live Earth concerts and profits from the associated book - The Live Earth Global Warming Survival Handbook, were also used to fund the Alliance.
Repower America was launched in 2008 by Al Gore, based on a speech he gave in July of 2008. The campaign calls for a plan to "repower" the United States and revitalize national energy infrastructure through investment in energy efficiency, clean renewable energy sources, a unified smart energy national grid and clean car technology.
A major part of the Repower America campaign is the Repower Wall, an interactive online forum housing personal videos and written testimonials calling for action to solve the climate crisis. The Repower America brand is shared by the Alliance and by their affiliate the Climate Protection Action Fund.
The Climate Project (TCP) educates and engages people at a peer-to-peer level worldwide about the urgency and solvability of the climate crisis.. Volunteers are trained to give a version of Al Gore's slideshow featured in An Inconvenient Truth. They are active in 55 countries and have given a combined total of over 70,000 presentations. The Alliance for Climate Protection and The Climate Project unified their programs and activities in March of 2010.
In 2010, the Alliance for Climate Protection launched Repower at Home, a national program dedicated to reducing residential energy waste.
Repower at Home provides users with information about saving energy in their own homes and tools for inspiring others to follow their lead. Repower at Home has challenged Americans to reduce their energy use by the equivalent of seven million pounds of coal by October 10, 2010.
In March 2008, the Alliance launched a three-year, $300 million campaign aimed at mobilizing Americans to push for aggressive reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. This campaign is one of the most ambitious and costly public advocacy campaigns in U.S. history. In August 2008, the WE Campaign released a television advertisement demanding that American leaders give the American people "truly clean energy" within ten years (Alliance for Climate Protection's Repower America Project).
The Alliance for Climate Protection, League of Conservation Voters, National Wildlife Federation, Natural Resources Defense Council and Sierra Club launched the Reality Coalition, a national grassroots and an aggressive multimillion-dollar advertising campaign to change the public perception of clean coal. In early 2009, the Coen Brothers directed a TV commercial for the group titled: This Is Reality.
The Climate Protection Action Fund is a non-profit, non-partisan affiliated organization that directly influences the passage of key local, state and federal climate and energy legislation and policies that are critical to solving what they perceive as our most urgent climate problems. According to the website, the Action Fund uses targeted legislative campaigns, issue advocacy and grassroots organizing to promote actions to combat global warming.
The Climate Reality Project Official site for the Alliance for Climate Protection.
↑ More Heat, Less Light New York Magazine, June 20, 2010 - "Later this summer, Gore's Alliance for Climate Protection is planning to launch a program called Repower at Home that will focus on helping Americans create more energy-efficient homes."
This page was last modified on 7 October 2011, at 00:18.


text:
Bootnotes
Farewell Sir Iain Vallance!
We pop round BT Towers with some flowers and a card
By Kieren McCarthy in San Francisco 1 May 2001 at 10:06
As sticklers for good manners, we decided to visit BT Towers at St Paul's yesterday and wish the company's chairman Sir Iain Vallance farewell as he leaves his job today.
It seemed a little rude to turn up without anything, so we bought him some lovely white lillies and a "Sorry to hear you're going" card to present to him. We even wrote him a little poem about his time at BT and fall from grace.
Along with cameraman Lester "Borneo" Haines, we strolled into BT's headquarters and asked the desk to give Sir Iain a bell. Incredibly, the gruff man behind the desk wouldn't have any of it. He wouldn't even call Sir Iain's office (he changed tack at this point and said Sir Iain wasn't even in the building. After a brief discussion, we decided this was a lie).
"But we were hoping to have a pic of us shaking hands with him," I explained, gesturing to the camera Lester was holding. No go. Not even a representative. Fallen at the first hurdle and evidence that BT's security guards, at least, don't believe that it's good to talk.
Nevermind. A quick call to the PR folk in the building and they rushed down. Sadly, Sir Iain wasn't with them but god-among-PRs Michael Wadley offered to accept the gifts on Iain's behalf and even brought a young protégé to liven up proceedings - Andrea "angie" Paradine. The picture was had, beer invitations swapped and we left feeling that we had done our little bit to help Sir Iain in what must a difficult day for him. And that's if he avoids the mobs of rampaging Mayday anarchists.
Here's our soothing message to Sir Iain that we put in the card and the short poem that we'd knocked up in the morning:
Dear Sir Iain,
All of us at The Register are sorry to see you go.
We realise you've not had an easy time of it and our reporting of the many errors made by BT management over the last two years can't have helped. We are, however, bolstered by the knowledge that you will not be too financially disadvantaged by your decision to quit.
We have written you a little poem which we hope will bring you strength in the years to come (see below)
All the best and keep in touch
The Register staff
PS If it's of any consolation, we only ever asked for Sir Peter's resignation. In fact, this card was meant for him but you went first.
A Hard Day's Knight
Dear Sir Iain
We'll miss your presence,
You gave it your all
Despite us peasants
But BT is in dire straits
And you've had to take the fall
Robert the Brace ran off fast
Leaving you and Pete to face them all
It must be hard to be the one
And be scapegoated for so long
People say your foresight was none
But we all know that they're all wrong
Just a shame that shares have slumped
And debt has gone through the roof
To deal with crises, as well you know
You must remain aloof
But we still love you, yes we do
Even though BT in the poo
And we don't think you're a wuss
Our dear president emeri-tus
The only question is: what shall we do for Sir Pete Bonfield when he "leaves"? ®


text:
Notes from the Small Press 10: Some Sav Sadness Comics by Bob Lynch
For this tenth instalment in my mini-comix archaeology series Notes from the Small Press – links to the previous nine posts in the series at the end of this one – I thought I'd take a look at some of the small press comics produced by Bob Lynch in the 1980s. Lynch is another of those British cartoonists linked to the Fast Fiction scene of the '80s and '90s; his self-produced comics could be found for sale on the Fast Fiction table at the Westminster Comic Mart, and he also contributed regularly to the Fast Fiction anthology – not to mention other anthologies like Harley Richardson's Ugly Mug.
Indeed it was in Fast Fiction issue #18, February 1986, where I believe I first saw Bob Lynch's work (Fast Fiction editor Ed Pinsent's website seems to suggest that Lynch's strips started appearing as early as #16, but unfortunately my Fast Fiction collection has a few gaps in it) – on the cover for a start, which you can see on the right there, but also in a story inside titled "Behold the Hamster". Lynch's confident, cartoony strip stood out even in such esteemed company as Glenn Dakin, Steve Way and the aforementioned Mr. Pinsent; a lot of that was to do with how the other creators in that issue were of a similar sensibility – what we'd recognise today as "art comix", for want of a better term – whereas Lynch employed a bold, Brit humour-comics style. But it was also the way Lynch launched you into a fully-realised, hermetically sealed madcap world, boasting characters and plots he'd clearly been developing for a while.
"Behold the Hamster" was in fact only the first part of a four-part story which continued through issues #19, #20 and #22 of Fast Fiction (#21 featured a standalone Lynch tale about a chemically mutated "rhymic" slug named Samantha), and starred Lynch's regular lead Sav Sadness. Sav is a kind of everyman who lives in a world where giant robots, space travel and bizarre scientific experiments exist alongside suburban mundanity, and where household appliances can talk and have names. In a recap at the start of the strip, we learn that Sav and his wife Juline's son, Dim, was bitten by a radioactive scientist, swelling Dim's brain "until his intellect was twice the power of Einstein's", before he eventually went supernova and became a nebula cloud floating above the city. Meanwhile, back in the present day, a rogue scientist resurrects a recently deceased hamster – called Helen, of course – into the body of which Dim's nebulous mind gets transplanted by lightning.
All of which will give you some idea of the lunatic nature of Lynch's storylines. There's more to them than mere craziness, however; there's a self-awareness that runs though everything Lynch does, manifesting in a meta approach where characters are often cognizant of starring in a comic – breaking the fourth wall to address the reader or comment on events in adjacent panels – either preceding or following. In the second episode of "Behold the Hamster", Helen/Dim even reads the previous issue of Fast Fiction to find out how she/he ended up in this situation (thus providing a handy recap into the bargain).
Lynch's cartooning perhaps reached its apotheosis in one of his full-length A4 comics, Sav Sadness in: Sadness in Space (1988). He'd self-published another similar-length A5 comic before this one – The Whirlpool of Disaster, subsequently revised and repackaged in an A4 edition in 1989 – but Sadness in Space saw him at the height of his powers. The story begins with Sav's appliances – Ronny the Radio, Sharon the Shower, etc. – rebelling over Sav's idle existence, before a confluence of coincidences sends our hero into space, where he gets mixed up in an Alien pastiche involving an extraterrestrial glove puppet. It's a gloriously sustained piece of nonsense, stuffed full of terrible jokes and logic-defying non sequiturs, and remains as fresh and energetic today as it was twenty years ago.
Lynch quit making comics sometime in the 1990s; I don't know what he's up to these days but he does have a Flickr photostream containing all manner of photographs and doodles. It also includes the complete Sadness in Space and Behold the Hamster stories, as well as what looks like all of his other comics work, too. So rather than simply poring over my badly reproduced excerpts, you can go and read the full comics yourself – something I'd obviously heartily recommend. When so much of the work from that vibrant and under-appreciated '80s/'90s era of British small press comics-making is seemingly lost forever, it's nice that, for a change, an important small press comics creator has all of his material available online. And you never know: if enough people visit his photostream, perhaps Bob Lynch might be inclined to produce some new comics. Here's hoping.
Notes from the Small Press 1: Fast Fiction Presents the Elephant of Surprise
Notes from the Small Press 2: Monitor's Human Reward by Chris Reynolds
Notes from the Small Press 3: Small Pets
Notes from the Small Press 4: Anais in Paris by Mardou
Notes from the Small Press 5: The Curiously Parochial Comics of John Bagnall
Notes from the Small Press 6: Ed Pinsent's Illegal Batman and Jeffrey Brown's Wolverine: Dying Time
Notes from the Small Press 7: The Comix Reader #1
Notes from the Small Press 8: A Help! Shark Comics Gallery
Notes from the Small Press 9: Some Gristavision Comics by Merv Grist
Labels: comics, cover design, Ed Pinsent, Fast Fiction, science fiction, small press
Eastbourne Buy: The Most Dangerous Game by Gavin Lyall (US First Edition, Scribner's, 1963); William Berry Cover
It can't have escaped your attention that there's a right royal wedding taking place today, but let me reassure you that this post has nothing to do with the union between Kate and Wills... Except, if you're really desperate for a tenuous link, that with an estimated two billion watching the event on telly around the world, it could be said the (now-married, in fact) couple have become a highly successful British export... and the author I'm blogging about today was also, in his day, a highly successful British export. (No? Oh well, please yourself.)
That author is Gavin Lyall, a UK thriller writer who I've covered numerous times on this 'ere blog, most recently in a review of his 1964 sophomore novel The Most Dangerous Game. And it's to that same Scandinavia-set aviation actioner I'm returning today, in an edition that actually predates the British first I wrote about in that previous post. How can it possibly predate the British first, I hear you cry? Well let's find out.
This is the American first edition of The Most Dangerous Game, published in hardback by Charles Scribner's Sons in 1963 – a year before the UK first edition. Indeed, if we take a look at the copyright page:
We can be even more precise about the publication date. See the "A-9.63 [H]"? The "A" denotes a first printing, as was standard with Scribner's books around this period, while the "9.63" denotes the month and year – in other words, September 1963 (not sure what the "H" denotes, though). So this US first edition/first printing was published before the '64 Hodder & Stoughton UK first. As to how that came to be the case, during this initial phase of his career Lyall was, as I mentioned up top, very successful overseas, especially in America, where his debut novel, The Wrong Side of the Sky, did so well for Scribner's that they managed to secure first world publication rights to his second – i.e. The Most Dangerous Game. Thus this American Scribner's edition is in effect the true first of the novel.
I bought this copy in Camilla's secondhand bookshop in Eastbourne (hence the "Eastbourne Buy" in the post title), during my birthday day out last month – just one of a pile of books I bought that day (all of which I will eventually blog about, you lucky, lucky bastards). I'd seen it there before but decided against buying it on the previous trip because I wanted a UK first – not realising what I now know about the US being the true first. But on this occasion I couldn't resist it; quite apart from anything else I really like that moody blue dustjacket, which was designed (read: illustrated) by William Berry, a Texan artist who worked as an illustrator and painter in New York in the 1960s. And it is, after all, a cracking novel – pop along to my other post on it if you want to read what I made of it.
So then, what shall we have next in this series of random book blogging posts? Excellent question. Hmm. Y'know, I really have no idea what I'll be posting next. Ooh, tell you what we haven't had for a while, though: a Notes from the Small Press. Let's see if I can't rustle one of those up for the weekend...
Labels: book collecting, bookshops, Camilla's, cover design, crime fiction, espionage, first edition, Gavin Lyall, Lewes, spy fiction, suspense, thrillers
Westlake Score: The Rare Coin Score by Richard Stark (Allison & Busby Paperback, 1988); a Lewes Book Bargain
For this latest random book blogging post, let's have something we haven't had for a while on Existential Ennui: a Westlake Score. But it's not just a Westlake Score. Oh no. It's also a Lewes Book Bargain...
This British paperback edition of Donald "Richard Stark" Westlake's ninth Parker novel, The Rare Coin Score, was published by Allison & Busby in 1988. I bought it in the Lewes branch of charity shop Oxfam the other day (witness the Oxfam price sticker still affixed to the back), which makes it the one and only Richard Stark novel I've ever seen for sale anywhere in Lewes (I've spotted at least one other non-pseudonymous Westlake paperback for sale – a Penguin edition of either Killy or 361, I think it was). At least, up to now, anyway: I donated a couple of unwanted Stark books to charity at the weekend, so there might be one or two ex-library editions still floating about.
Those apart, though, it's safe to say Richard Stark doesn't generally feature in Lewes's various bookshops and charity shops, so of course I snapped up this edition of The Rare Coin Score when I saw it, even though I already own an Allison & Busby hardback of the same novel. But before you berate me for depriving some other Lewesian of the pleasure of the novel (and bearing in mind that I did, as I say, donate some Starks myself), let me just point out that this paperback is one I haven't seen before. Trent at Violent World of Parker doesn't appear to have it in his "known printings" cover gallery for the novel (feel free to grab the images from this post, Trent), and I don't recall ever seeing the cover online before. So by purchasing it and then blogging about it, I am, in a way, performing a service for the wider Parker community. In other words, Lewes's loss is the Parker obsessives' gain.
As with almost all of the Allison & Busby editions of the Parker novels, the cover on this one was designed by Mick Keates. There were, as we've already established, three distinct phases of cover design during Allison & Busby's tenure as the British publisher of the Parkers (not counting the final one for Point Blank alone): from 1984-1986 there was the bold typographical approach of the initial eight Parker novels published by A&B; from '86-'88 there was the "torn" masthead and photo/film still style seen on paperbacks-of-hardbacks like Point Blank and straight-into-hardbacks like The Green Eagle Score; and from 1990-1991 there was that same torn masthead but incorporating illustrations by Stephen Hall. This paperback of The Rare Coin Score of course falls into the second phase; the fuzzed photo on the front looks familiar, but there's no credit, so I can't quite place it I'm afraid.
You can read my brief appreciation of the novel itself here, and there's another pithy overview of it on the Reviews of Unusual Size blog. But next here on Existential Ennui, I'll have one of the books I bought on my birthday a month ago: an intriguing edition of a Gavin Lyall novel I only reviewed at the start of March...
Labels: book collecting, bookshops, cover design, crime fiction, Donald E. Westlake, Lewes, paperbacks, Parker, publishing, Richard Stark, thrillers, Westlake
The Vesuvius Club (Lucifer Box #1) by Mark Gatiss: Signed First Edition (Simon & Schuster, 2004)
Continuing this random offering of posts on books I've either had hanging around for a while or ones I simply fancied blogging about – and after yesterday's slight birthday detour – here's a novel I bought because it's the first book in a trilogy, and I picked up the third book in the series in a Sydenham charity shop earlier in the year...
This is the 2004 Simon & Schuster hardback first edition and first printing of Mark Gatiss's The Vesuvius Club. It's the first of League of Gentlemen/Doctor Who/Sherlock writer/actor/producer Gatiss's three books starring lascivious secret service agent Lucifer Box. Each book is set in a distinct historical period: book two, The Devil in Amber (2006) is set just after World War I, while book three, Black Butterfly (2008), is set in the 1950s; I blogged about Black Butterfly back in March and outlined the themes of the series then. As to The Vesuvius Club, let's have a look at the dustjacket flap blurb to see what this one's all about:
As well as detailing the plot, you'll start to get a sense from that glance at the jacket and endpapers of the excellent design of the book. For, as in the case of Black Butterfly, the various designers and illustrators – and indeed stray Doctor Who aficionados – involved in the look of this first edition of The Vesuvius Club have really gone to town. The jacket was designed by the Simon & Schuster's in-house team and David Mann, but the illustration is by Ian Bass, from a concept by former Doctor Who Magazine editor Clayton Hickman. (Hickman and Gatiss were both active in Doctor Who fandom before they became involved in the show in a professional capacity – as indeed were current and former showrunners Steven Moffatt and Russell T. Davies.) A number of other Bass illustrations pepper the book's interior, too:
Incidentally, Bass and Gatiss also created a graphic novel version of The Vesuvius Club, which was published in 2005. But back to the leering appreciation of the first edition of the novel: the orange arlin case replicates Bass's front cover illustration in a black deboss, while the endpapers, as we've already glimpsed, reproduce Edwardian era adverts (in a similar fashion to issue six of Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill's original League of Extraordinary Gentlemen comic book series, from 1999):
It is, like Black Butterfly, a thoroughly lovely book to gaze at and handle (and hopefully to read; I've yet to start it), and all involved are to be applauded for going the extra mile in its design, particularly in this day and age, when the overall look of novels – ends, case, etc. – has, as I've lamented previously, become something of an afterthought.
Oh, and there's one last thing to note about this particular copy of The Vesuvius Club:
It's signed on the title page. Splendid.
Next on Existential Ennui: a Westlake Score... and a Lewes Book Bargain...
Labels: Alan Moore, book collecting, comics, cover design, Doctor Who, espionage, first edition, illustration, James Bond, signed, spy fiction, thrillers
A Book for Rachel's Birthday: The Sea, the Sea by Iris Murdoch (Chatto & Windus, 1978, First Edition/First Impression)
Something a little different today...
This is the UK hardback first edition of Iris Murdoch's nineteenth and perhaps most famous novel, The Sea, the Sea, published by Chatto & Windus in 1978. I say "perhaps most famous" because in a career that included such well-known works as Under the Net (1954) and The Bell (1958), The Sea, the Sea is the novel that finally won Murdoch the Booker Prize, in 1978. It's a story about obsession and the use and surrender of magical power, as a theatre director, over sixty and a bachelor, goes to live in a lonely house beside the sea, a house which appears to be haunted... The dustjacket boasts two details from works of art; on the front is a detail from Hokusai's The hollow of the deep-sea wave off Kanagawa, and on the back is a detail from a wall painting in the Golden Hall of the Horyu-ji, Nara, Japan.
The fact that The Sea, the Sea won the Booker makes it one of the more collectible of Murdoch's books, but while there is a ready supply of first editions on AbeBooks, crucially, most of those are second or third impressions (no doubt reprinted at the time due to demand from the Booker-curious) – even if their listings don't state as much (I'm betting a query to the sellers concerned would confirm that in most cases). True firsts, i.e. first editions and first impressions – with a jacket, and not ex-library – are rather thinner on the ground: a copy from a UK seller would set you back around £125-£150.
Now, ordinarily, at this juncture I might be inclined to disclose how much I paid for a particular book. But I shan't be revealing how much I paid for this first edition of The Sea, the Sea, as in this instance that would be particularly vulgar. Reason being, it's a present, for Rachel, whose birthday it is today. The Sea, the Sea, you see, is Rachel's favourite Iris Murdoch novel, and possibly one of her most favourite novels of all time. So by the time Rachel reads this post, she'll be clutching a true first edition of the book in her hands.
All of which leaves only one thing left to say:
Happy birthday, honey! x
Labels: book collecting, cover design, first edition, Lewes, literary
Lewes Book Bargain: Never Shake a Skeleton by Alfred Flett (Michael Joseph, 1973); Beverley le Barrow Cover
It's Bank Holiday Monday here in the UK, which means it's a holiday for most folk (I guess the clue's in the name there). But I couldn't very well leave you with nothing to read but the weekend's Doctor Who novelisation post, now could I? So, to kick off a run of what will be for the foreseeable future a reasonably random selection of posts – whatever comes to hand or takes my fancy, basically, although it's a safe bet many of the books will be of a crime or espionage bent – let's have a look at a book I bought in the Lewes Antique Centre, down on Cliffe High Street:
Never Shake a Skeleton by Alfred Flett was published in hardback in the UK by Michael Joseph in 1973. It's the story of an operative for the Establishment, "Freeman", who's led by a beautiful blonde to, as the jacket flap copy has it, "believe he could win a war. But he found, to his horror, that his own side played rougher than the wartime enemy. He tried again—thirty years later. This was his second error. He shook some skeletons. And 'Freeman' found, once more, that his own side were the toughest antagonists of them all..."
I think I get a vague sense of the story from that blurb; it seems to encompass espionage elements, which was part of the reason I bought it. But not the whole reason. I was also curious about Alfred Flett, who, as the back cover author bio notes, was a journalist (and presumably carried on as such after Never Shake a Skeleton was published; there was no second novel for him), which made me wonder if he was any relation to the former Observer journo Kathryn Flett. He almost certainly wasn't her father – her dad's name is Doug, I believe – but might he be related some other way?
But it was spying (hey!) the credit for the cover photograph that made me decide to plonk down the (meagre amount of) cash in the end. Because, once again, it was taken by Beverley le Barrow – here spelt with no third "e" in his first name – a.k.a. Sun newspaper Page 3 snapper Beverley Goodway. I last blogged about Beverley a couple of weeks ago during Ross Thomas Week, Mark III, but as is now traditional I'll direct you to this post for a summary of all my previous missives on him. Interestingly, Never Shake a Skeleton wasn't the only first edition on the shelves of the Lewes Antique Centre which sported a Le Barrow dustjacket; there were a couple of '70s John Creasey novels with cover photos by Beverley, too. Seems Mr. Le Barrow was even busier during the 1970s than I figured...
Next: a first edition that doesn't, in fact, belong to me...
Labels: Beverley le Barrow, book collecting, cover design, crime fiction, espionage, first edition, journalism, Lewes, Ross Thomas, suspense, thrillers
Notes from the Small Press 10: Some Sav Sadness Co...
Eastbourne Buy: The Most Dangerous Game by Gavin L...
Westlake Score: The Rare Coin Score by Richard Sta...
The Vesuvius Club (Lucifer Box #1) by Mark Gatiss:...
A Book for Rachel's Birthday: The Sea, the Sea by ...
Lewes Book Bargain: Never Shake a Skeleton by Alfr...


text:
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Bancrofts Now Say They'll Meet Murdoch Over DJ Deal
By: Mark Fitzgerald
After twice slamming the door on Rupert Murdoch's $5 billion offer to buy Dow Jones & Co., the controlling Bancroft family late Thursday agreed to discuss the deal with his News Corp.
The Wall Street Journal, in a story by Sarah Ellison, released what it said was a preliminary text of a statement that was still being finalized Thursday evening.
"After a detailed review of the business of Dow Jones and the evolving competitive environment in which it operates, the Family has reached consensus that the mission of Dow Jones may be better accomplished in combination or collaboration with another organization which may include News Corporation," the statement reads in part.
The far-flung family, which together controls 64% of the voting stake, had previously said members representing 52% of voting shares opposed the Murdoch bid.
But Murdoch's $60-a-share offer is a 67% premium on the languishing stock's previous price, and observers had predicted the bid would be too rich to pass up.
Significantly, the Bancrofts appeared to be welcoming a bidding war for the financial publishing and services giant. "The family also indicated its receptivity to other options that might achieve the same overarching objective," the statement said.
The statement repeated the concerns that individual family members, and the Ottaway family stockholders, expressed about keeping the flagship Wall Street Journal's editorial independence and integrity under any new ownership.
"Accordingly, the family has advised the company's board that it intends to meet with News Corporation to determine whether, in the context of the current or any modified News Corporation proposal, it will be possible to ensure the level of commitment to editorial independence, integrity and journalistic freedom that is the hallmark of Dow Jones," the statement said.
The New York Times reports tonight: "The decision, which represents a remarkable turnaround for both the company and for Mr. Murdoch?s bid, could end more than a century of family control over the company. For much of that time, The Wall Street Journal has been the gold standard in financial journalism….
"According to people close to the family who declined to be identified, the family wants any bidder to meet two conditions. The first is more money, which means that any bidder, including Mr. Murdoch, would have to beat his first offer of $60 a share. Second, and perhaps more important, the family wants an independent overseer to guarantee what it called 'the editorial independence and integrity of The Wall Street Journal.'
"While the Bancroft family originally came out against Mr. Murdoch?s offer, people close to the family now suggest that its straw poll may have been taken too quickly and did not fully represent the view of the entire family.
"Moreover, some family members who seemed to be Mr. Murdoch?s staunchest opposition, decided, in the end, to consider a sale."
The full family statement follows.
As we have been since 1902, the Bancroft family remains resolute in its commitment to preserve and protect the editorial independence and integrity of The Wall Street Journal as well as the leadership, strength and vitality of The Journal and all of the other publications and services of Dow Jones.
Since first receiving the News Corporation proposal, the family has carefully considered and discussed among ourselves and with our advisers how best to achieve that overarching objective while serving the best interests of the company?s various constituencies.
After a detailed review of the business of Dow Jones and the evolving competitive environment in which it operates, the family has reached consensus that the mission of Dow Jones may be better accomplished in combination or collaboration with another organization, which may include News Corporation.
Accordingly, the family has advised the company?s board that it intends to meet with News Corporation to determine whether, in the context of the current or any modified News Corporation proposal, it will be possible to ensure the level of commitment to editorial independence, integrity and journalistic freedom that is the hallmark of Dow Jones.
The family also indicated its receptivity to other options that might achieve the same overarching objective.
There can be no assurance that the dialogue with News Corporation or any other party will result in the negotiation, or the desire of family members to purse the negotiation, and execution of any agreement regarding the company or in any transaction. References herein to the Bancroft family are to various individual family members and trusts for the benefit of family members. Ultimate voting and dispositive power with respect to the shares of the company held or controlled by such individuals and trusts resides with those individuals and the trustees of the trusts
← Black and Blue: Prosecution Rests in Trial of Hollinger Chief
Kids: Engage Us, Don't Patronize! →


Cocchi Rosa An aromatised aperitivo wine made in the town of Asti in Piedmont since 1891, founded by Giulio Cocchi, a pastry chef keen to experiment with new flavour combinations. With tastes of wild roses, herbs, fruit and spices, Cocchi Rosa is sweet and delicious, best enjoyed over ice with a dash of soda.
Citadelle Gin The most awarded gin in the world, with over 60 awards and medals to its name, Citadelle is created on the grounds of Chateaux de Bonbonnet, Cognac, by renowned French distiller Alexandre Gabriel. Featuring three character traits (juniper, citrus and exotic notes), Citadelle is best served with tonic and a lemon twist, with oysters on the side, whose mineralogy complements the gin perfectly.
Sekforde for Gin&Vodka Ahealthier alternative for tonic, Sekforde are the first bespoke mixers designed to complement and enhance the flavours of spirits. Using only natural botanicals and English sparkling water, Sekforde contain less than half the sugar normally found in tonics and soft drinks.


Bottlenose dolphins were observed continuously for the first 2 hour survey yesterday, foraging between the headland and the Cardinal Buoy, and approaching close to the harbour wall at times. Three Atlantic grey seals were also sighted in the morning. The sea conditions deteriorated steadily throughout the day with no cetacean or seal activity recorded in the bay between 13:00 and 17:00 but a black-throated diver was spotted on the water.


Dear my lovely readers! Finally, I have some time to write about my Hong Kong Disneyland trip already. Anyway, it was my 2nd time to Hong Kong Disneyland. My 1st time I came to here when I was 16 years old. That time I came with my family and this time I came with my husband with our hard work. So, I can say that HK Disneyland checked as I already sat almost all the rides and watched all the shows as well. I wish to visit other countries Disneyland as well!!
MISSJASJAS HAS CHECKED HK DISNEYLAND!!
This is the Disney MTR!! It was so cute inside of the MTR!!
How to get here? It is depends where you stay anyway. Just make sure you're at Tung Chung Line and interchange at Disneyland Resort Line.
Once you arrive, you can take the escalator and go up!!
Remember to buy your ticket in advance! I bought my ticket at Klook!
Isn't cute? Mickey and his friends!
Anyone can guess what is this attraction??
Welcome to this attraction called "It's A Small World"
After walking for so long, my stomach calling and it is time for lunch!
I ordered this from Royal Banquet Hall (Grill).
After that, we started walking until we found Toy Story Land.
At Toy Story Land, there are 3 attractions you can sit are RC Racer, Slinky Dog Spin and Toy Soldier Parachute Drop. You also can take pictures with the Toy Story characters too. Remember to check the schedule to take pictures with all the characters if you want!! -----> MEET AND GREET CHARACTERS TIME .
After spending time at Toy Story Land, we walked towards AdventureLand. At here, there are 5 attractions : Jungle River Cruise, Karibuni Marketplace, Liki Tikis, Rafts to Tarzan's Treehouse and Tarzan's Treehouse.
If you want to visit Tarzan's Treehouse, you need to stand on the raft and go into it and take pictures only. I didn't go this time because I already went. Anyway, we skipped AdventureLand as that time the rides almost gonna close. So, we headed to Grizzly Gulch. At here, there are 3 attractions : Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars, Geyser Gulch and Wild West Photo Fun.
These pictures are the Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars.
After that, we walked towards Mystic Point for another attraction is Mystic Manor. At here, you can take pictures at Garden of Wonders and Mystic Point Freight Depot.
We came to Royal Princess Garden and there are so many Disney Princesses costumes and there is the only one character I managed to take picture with.
Finally, we are done with all the attractions. So, it is time for us to watch shows before going back. There are 3 shows we managed to catch up. I missed all the shows very much because I was keep wow wow wow!! Hahaha. These pictures on below are taken by me.
It is time for me to say goodbye to HK Disneyland!
Thank you very much for reading my long post #MISSJASJASINHK!
You can buy your ticket at KLOOK for more cheaper price and no need to Q up to buy your ticket at there.


Enjoy the convenience of telephone banking using this automated system. You can access up-to-the-minute account information and transfer money among your checking and savings accounts. You can even transfer from your checking or savings account to make a payment on your Benchmark loan account. Merchants can verify customer accounts. All of these options are available to you at the touch of your fingertips.
You will be asked for the type of account and the account number that you wish to access, so be sure to have this information available.
You will then be asked for your PIN (Personal Identification Number).
After entering your PIN, you can receive automated information about your account.
If you wish to check more than one account or make a transaction, simply follow the prompts. It's as easy as that!
Each account you have with Benchmark will require the establishment of a PIN. You may choose the same PIN for all accounts or choose a different one for each account.
Initially, your PIN(s) will be the last four (4) digits of the primary owner's Social Security Number. You will then need to select a new secret four-digit PIN of your own choosing and one that you can easily remember.


text:
Lakewood VB is runner-up for 3rd time in 4 years
Vikings fall to Pontiac Notre Dame Prep in Class B state final
Lakewood VB is runner-up for 3rd time in 4 years Vikings fall to Pontiac Notre Dame Prep in Class B state final Check out this story on lansingstatejournal.com: http://on.lsj.com/2ATe5Gv
Special to Lansing State Journal Published 6:59 p.m. ET Nov. 18, 2017
Lake Odessa Lakewood senior Kayla Sauers goes low to dig a ball in the Class B state title game, Nov. 18 in Battle Creek.(Photo: Tom Lang/For the Lansing State Journal)Buy Photo
BATTLE CREEK – Pontiac Notre Dame Prep thwarted Lake Odessa Lakewood's third attempt at a Class B state championship in the last four years with a gritty battle Saturday afternoon at Kellogg Arena. Notre Dame adds to the state championship it won in 2013 and Lakewood has now finished runner-up in 2014, '16 and '17.
"It's hard when it's that close," said Lakewood coach Kellie Rowland. "But you defend two of them (players) and then there's a third. We don't have the size and that hurt us at times."
While Notre Dame Prep dominated the first two sets, Lakewood fought hard in the third and almost extended the match, before falling 25-16, 25-17, 28-26.
The Vikings (47-5-2) got hot in the third set, grabbed a big lead, but then let the Fighting Irish back in it.
MORE: Fowler volleyball finishes runner-up in Class D
MORE: A sweet 3-peat: Bronson volleyball claims third straight Class C state title
"I think our defense was amazing," Rowland said. "We talked about it. The third set is very difficult to win, and so we said just do everything you can and keep going at them. But against a team like that, you can't give them any errors.
"We made some errors at key times that we just couldn't make (and win)."
Lake Odessa Lakewood senior Kayla Sauers celebrates the Vikings' brief lead with teammates in the third set, before Pontiac Notre Dame eventually came back in the game and won the Class B state title, Nov. 18 in Battle Creek. (Photo: Tom Lang/For the Lansing State Journal)
Notre Dame Prep's Maria Famularo said she kept thinking about the last volleyball state championship her school won and it drove her and her teammates to experience the same.
"I was an eighth-grader when they won (in 2013) and I was actually at that game and was watching and said, 'I want to have that feeling,'" she said after the team grabbed the trophy.
Famularo and the rest of the Fighting Irish became the only new champion in 2017. In each of the other three classes, the defending champs successfully repeated their titles.
Famularo acknowledged that Lakewood didn't make it easy.
"They were digging our balls, they were getting in our heads," Famularo said about the third set. "We were getting frustrated with them, but we trusted the process and kept going back to the basics and it worked out for us at the end."
Couch: It's time for Dantonio to explain his vision for MSU football
Couch chat replay: What's next for MSU football
Greater Lansing boys and girls basketball stat leaders: Jan. 17
Vote for LSJ high school athlete of the week: Jan. 6-11
Meet the senior setting tone in perfect start for Potterville hoops
Bracketology: MSU drops in NCAA tourney projections after loss


After two years in the capacity, Mr. Henry Sun is standing down as Chairman of the Hong Kong Fur Federation (HKFF). He has been succeeded by Honorary Chairman, Mr. Wilson Chiu, on April 1, 2017, supported by Ms. Rose Ko and Mr. Dennis Fong as Vice-Chairmen.
Mr. Henry Sun had presided over this extremely active Federation during a period which new effort had been devoted to further enhancing the outstanding image of "Fur by Hong Kong" thus strengthening Hong Kong as the leading fur manufacturer and exporter of the world. Mr. Henry Sun will remain as Honorary Chairman to the HKFF Board.
Thanks to the support of its members, and a dedicated Board of Directors comprising of 20 members, the HKFF has developed into a truly professional trade association, much admired throughout the industry. The new Chairman has declared his intention of maintaining the unity and objectives of the Federation among its more than 150 members and is expected to keep leveraging on its far-reaching promotional events and activities to reinforce the excellence of Fur by Hong Kong in both new and existing markets.


I love writing and reading.
15 Should we add a stack-specific close reason for off topic "inTRApersonal" questions?
13 Do we want to be back on HNQ?
10 When should one recommend deletion for a Low Quality Post in the queue?
21 Is it bad if I sidetrack to a backstory that's not really necessary but is interesting?
15 Can a cat who only lives in a (small) flat be happy?
14 Revisiting the "Hot Network Questions" feature, what are our shared goals for having it?