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Giant pandas Tian Tian and Yang Guang arrive in Edinburgh - Telegraph
Wildlife
Giant pandas Tian Tian and Yang Guang arrive in Edinburgh
The first pandas to come to Britain in almost two decades may have arrived as a couple but they will spend the majority of their lives apart.
Giant panda Yang Guang settles into his new home at Edinburgh Zoo Photo: ROB MCDOUGALL
Giant panda Tian Tian is unloaded from a plane at Edinburgh Airport Photo: PA
Graphic showing how the two giant pandas were transported from Chengdu to Edinburgh
Panda Yang Guang arrives at Edinburgh Airport in Scotland Photo: GETTY
By Auslan Cramb , and Richard Alleyne
6:15AM GMT 05 Dec 2011
Comments
The pair, who it is hoped will produce cubs during their 10 year stay, will be housed in adjacent cages separated by bullet proof glass.
While they may be able to see each other, they will only come together for a few days a year - to mate.
The separate lives are designed to mimic behaviour in the wild and to prevent the pair fighting which has happened with previous attempts to mate pandas in captivity.
Flown into Edinburgh on a private jet, with an entourage of helpers and greeted by thousands of people, there was no doubting the couple’s superstar status.
There was a welcoming party on the red carpet, a bagpipe greeting and bamboo cake.
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Tian Tian and Yang Guang - the names translate as Sweetie and Sunshine - are the first giant pandas to live in the UK for 17 years, in what is seen as a reinstatement of "panda diplomacy".
They flew with four dedicated staff, including a vet and two animal handlers, and were treated throughout as VIPs - that is Very Important Pandas.
Capt Paul Cassel, the chief FedEx pilot, said the pair were among the most precious cargo he had flown and “not unlike humans in first class, who sit back, eat, drink and enjoy the ride".
Tian Tian appeared subdued after the 10-hour flight from Chengdu in the Sichuan province of China, while the “happy go lucky” Yang Guang looked, like any weary long-haul passenger, eager to escape.
They will spend 10 years at Edinburgh Zoo as part of a global conservation programme, and will be unveiled to the public on December 16, after a settling-in period.
Their new homes are semi-detached £250,000 enclosures with caves, pools, climbing features and bullet-proof glass, that allow them to see each other.
But like pandas in the wild, they will only be brought together to mate.
Their keepers hope they will not only find the cool climate to their liking, but will become the first giant pandas to breed in Britain, potentially in February when Tian Tian could be receptive for a whole 48 hours.
Their arrival marks the culmination of a five-year project, backed by the Princes Royal, David Cameron, the Prime Minister, and Alex Salmond, the First Minister, who is currently in China.
It is hoped it will be more successful than in 1974 when Prime Minister Edward Heath returned from China with Ching-Ching and Chia-Chia for London Zoo.
Those panda's proved to be less diplomatic than their donors had originally intended.
Keeping Ching-Ching and Chia-Chia proved a "pretty expensive business" not only in bamboo shoots but in also providing the appropriate shelter.
So much so that London Zoo was forced to launch a public appeal for funds.
Sadly the pair never produced any cubs and after Ching-Ching's death in 1985, aged 12 or 13, Chia-Chia was sent on a permanent breeding loan to the Mexico City Zoo.
Without its star attractions London Zoo, immediately started negotiations with China and other zoos for a new pair.
Finally, in 1991, Ming Ming arrived from China and Bao Bao from Berlin Zoo.
However, the couple fought savagely and produced no cubs. They were sent home in "disgrace" in 1994.
The latest pandas were met by Michael Moore, the Scottish Secretary, Nicola Sturgeon, the Deputy First Minister, and the Chinese Charges d‘Affaires.
Officials from the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, the charity that runs the zoo, said it was a "historic occasion".
Panda-cams will provide online footage of the animals during their stay and are expected to attract viewers from around the world.
Their annual food bill is estimated at £70,000, and although their diet consists mostly of bamboo, they will also eat rats, mice and eggs.
The zoo will also have to pay around £600,000 a year to the Chinese authorities for the animals, which are expected to boost visitor numbers by 70 per cent.
An extra one million visitors are expected over the decade.
The panda merchandise is in the shop, more than 1,500 advance tickets have been sold and companies are being invited to buy £12,000 corporate VIP packages, featuring a buffet lunch, followed by one hour private viewings.
Conservationists estimate there are 1,600 pandas remain in the wild, and animal welfare groups have criticised the project as "primarily commercial".
A spokeswoman for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said: "Edinburgh Zoo is putting the 'con' in conservation by trying to hoodwink the public into believing that the salvation of pandas lies in warehousing these sensitive animals.
"If the zoo were serious about helping pandas, they would be asking the public to donate to schemes that protect pandas in their native habitats."
Chris Draper, of the Born Free Foundation, said the panda deal was a "short-sighted and retrograde step" designed to resurrect the fortunes of a “fading visitor attraction”.
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Panda (disambiguation)
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Earl Scruggs (1924-2012) pioneered and was master of the three-fingered technique for playing what?
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Q&A: Edinburgh's giant pandas - BBC News
BBC News
Q&A: Edinburgh's giant pandas
12 August 2014
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Image copyright PA
Image caption Tian Tian, pictured in April this year, a few days before she was artificially inseminated
Since they took up residence in Edinburgh Zoo, they have become two of the city's best-known characters.
Yang Guang and Tian Tian, the giant pandas, arrived in a 10-year loan deal from the Ya'an reserve in Chengdu, China, on 4 December 2011. The pair, who are are both aged 10, have since attracted visitors from around the world.
Tian Tian conceived for the first time in 2013, but the pregnancy failed. Now the zoo says it believes she is pregnant again and may give birth at the end of the month.
When did Tian Tian become pregnant?
Tian Tian was artificially inseminated on 13 April after she failed to mate naturally.
Experts began to analyse hormone and protein levels on a daily basis in Tian Tian's urine. In July, Edinburgh Zoo announced she had conceived although was not technically pregnant.
On 12 August, Iain Valentine, director of Giant Pandas for the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, said the latest scientific data did suggest Tian Tian was pregnant and may give birth at the end of the month. Two Chinese experts with experience of dealing with panda births are due to arrive in Scotland later this month to support the Edinburgh Zoo team monitoring Tian Tian.
But Mr Valentine cautioned that the late loss of a cub remains a possibility.
Has Tian Tian been pregnant before?
Image copyright Getty Images
Image caption Nine-year-old giant panda Yang Guang has fathered cubs before
Tian Tian has given birth to cubs before and Yang Guang has also fathered cubs. But this took place in China before their arrival at Edinburgh Zoo.
They were unsuccessful during 2012's mating season and the following April Tian Tian was artificially inseminated. The zoo says it had been able to confirm she became pregnant in 2013 although believes it she reabsorbed the foetus late term. This is a common occurrence in giant pandas in both zoos and the wild.
How long does a panda pregnancy last?
Pandas normally mate in April or May and the female gives birth in August or September. Both Yang Guang and Tian Tian were August cubs.
Unusually, though, pandas sometimes have what's called delayed implantation which means the length of time from mating to giving birth can be extended because the female panda's body may respond to adverse conditions.
Could there be twins?
Image copyright Getty Images
Pandas quite often have twins, although, in the wild, the mother would decide quite early which cub was stronger and the other wouldn't survive.
In captivity, every effort is made to rear both cubs. And Tian Tian has had twins in the past.
Would the panda cub or cubs remain in Edinburgh?
Edinburgh Zoo has a financial arrangement with the Chinese authorities.
The zoo will keep Yang Guang and Tian Tian for 10 years at an annual fee of £600,000.
As part of the deal, any cubs will remain in Edinburgh for two years before being sent back to China. At that age, cubs would be independent of their mothers in the wild.
When will the public be able to see any new panda cub or cubs?
It could be several months before Tian Tian and a new panda cub or cubs will be seen by the public after a birth.
Visitors to Edinburgh Zoo need to obtain a free timed ticket to see the panda enclosure. Because of the possible pregnancy, viewing of the indoor dens of the enclosure were closed to the public at the start of August this year. The zoo said this was because it was a "critical time" in Tian Tian's potential pregnancy and she was showing sensitivity to noise.
The outdoor viewing areas remained open but zoo officials say the entire panda enclosure will be closed to visitors from 16 August until further notice. It says visitors with pre-booked tickets for dates after 15 August will be contacted by email with details on how to re-arrange their bookings.
Edinburgh Zoo has indicated the enclosure could reopen several weeks after a birth, with only Yang Guang on view in the first instance.
Why do giant pandas seem to find it so difficult to breed?
Image copyright Getty Images
The number of giant pandas is very small, perhaps 1,600 in the wild and another 300 in zoos.
One important reason for their decline has been destruction of the bamboo forests where they live in south-west China.
The Chinese recognise that pandas need to be able to move around freely and so are trying to link up existing areas which are presently broken up by roads or railways.
It is also true that female pandas will only mate during a 36-hour window each year.
In the wild, they might have several partners in that period. In captivity, zoos are using artificial insemination to replicate those breeding opportunities.
Some ecologists have argued that pandas are already doomed to extinction because their limited diet makes it impossible for them to adapt.
Optimists say they've already survived for eight million years - considerably longer than humans.
Why did Yang Guang and Tian Tian come to Edinburgh?
Image copyright Getty Images
There was considerable diplomatic effort on the part of the Scottish and UK governments, with the zoo also making its own case.
Edinburgh Zoo argued that they had suitable staff and could call on outside experts who would work together on panda breeding and conservation.
Since the agreement was reached, staff from Edinburgh have been working closely with Chinese panda specialists.
Scottish keepers have been to the panda breeding centre near Chengdu in Sichuan Province and panda conservationists from China have come to Edinburgh.
Aside from conservation, the giant pandas represent a potential financial lifeline for Edinburgh Zoo which had been suffering falling visitor numbers before Tian Tian and Yang Guang arrived.
In the first year of the Edinburgh pandas, the zoo enjoyed a 50% increase in its visitor numbers, more than enough to cover the cost of payments to China. A report last year from Scottish Enterprise estimated they will generate almost £28m for the Edinburgh economy during their 10-year stay, with an additional £19m being spent in the wider Scottish economy.
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i don't know
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The Chinese (translated) 'Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists' which once instigated a famous rebellion against colonial and imperial presence in Peking (now Beijing) China, were better known by what name?
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Chinese Cultural Studies: Concise Political History of China
Concise Political History of China
Compiled from Compton's Living Encyclopedia on America Online (August 1995)
1. HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL CONTINUITY
A significant aspect of China is its long cultural and national history. The Chinese people have shared a common culture longer than any other group on Earth. The Chinese writing system, for example, dates back almost 4,000 years. The imperial dynastic system of government, which continued for centuries, was established as early as 221 BC. Although specific dynasties were overturned, the dynastic system survived. China was even ruled at times by foreign invaders, such as the Mongols during the Yuan Dynasty, from AD 1279 to 1368, and the Manchus during the Ch'ing Dynasty, from AD 1644 to 1911, but the foreigners were largely absorbed into the culture they governed. It is as if the Roman Empire had lasted from the time of the Caesars to the 20th century, and during that time had evolved a cultural system and written language shared by all the peoples of Europe.
The dynastic system was overturned in 1911, and a weak republican form of government existed until 1949. In that year, after a long civil war, the People's Republic of China, with a Communist government, was proclaimed. This government and the ruling Communist party have controlled China ever since. Although the dynastic system has disappeared, the People's Republic occupies essentially the same territory and governs the same people. If anything, the culture and power of China seem stronger in the late 20th century than at almost any other period in history. Under the People's Republic, China's role in world economic and political affairs has grown increasingly more important.
2. BEGINNINGS AND EARLY HISTORY
Archaeological evidence suggests that China is one of the cradles of the human race. The earliest known human in China, whose fossilized skull was unearthed in Shanxi Province in 1963, is believed to date back to 600,000 BC. The remains of Sinanthropus pekinensis, known as Peking Man and dating back to 400,000 BC, were excavated in 1923 at Zhoukoudianzhen near Peking. Peking Man was closely related to Pithecanthropus of Java and lived during the Old Stone Age. In the upper caves of Zhoukoudianzhen are found artifacts of a late Old Stone Age man (50,000-35,000 BC), who ranks in age with the Cro-Magnon of Europe. This was an early form of Homo sapiens, or modern man, who made tools out of bones as well as stones, made clothes out of animal hides, and knew how to make fire.
Around the 4th or 3rd millennium BC, in the New Stone Age, great changes occurred in the lives of the ancient Chinese. Larger numbers of people began living together at settled places, cultivating land, and domesticating animals. These people made polished stone tools and built shelters in pit dwellings and beehive huts that were covered with reed roofs. Such villages were found mostly in the area of the great bend of the Huang He on the North China Plain. Despite its severe winters, this area was well suited to agriculture. In fact, it closely resembled the other cradles of ancient civilizations, such as the valley of the Nile in Egypt.
The people of this period (3000-2000 BC) also developed the art of making pottery for storing food and drink. Two distinct types have been discovered: red clay pots with swirling black designs in the northwest near Yangshao village, and smooth black pottery in northeast China near Lungshan, a site in Shandong Province.
3. SHANG DYNASTY
The Chinese had settled in the Huang He, or Yellow River, valley of northern China by 3000 BC. By then they had pottery, wheels, farms, and silk, but they had not yet discovered writing or the uses of metals.
The Shang Dynasty (1766-1122 BC) is the first documented era of ancient China. The highly developed hierarchy consisted of a king, nobles, commoners, and slaves. The capital city was Anyang, in north Henan Province. Some scholars have suggested that travelers from Mesopotamia and from Southeast Asia brought agricultural methods to China, which stimulated the growth of ancient Chinese civilization. The Shang peoples were known for their use of jade, bronze, horse-drawn chariots, ancestor worship, and highly organized armies.
Like other ancient peoples, the Chinese developed unique attributes. Their form of writing, developed by 2000 BC, was a complex system of picture writing using forms called ideograms, pictograms, and phonograms. Such early forms of Chinese became known through the discovery by archaeologists of oracle bones, which were bones with writings inscribed on them. They were used for fortune-telling and record keeping in ancient China.
Bone libraries and others: ancient times. The earliest known libraries were connected with palaces and temples. In China, records of the Shang dynasty (1767?-1123? BC) were written on animal bones and tortoise shells. An early library called "The Healing Place of the Soul," in the palace of Egypt's King Ramses II (1304?-1237 BC) at Thebes, consisted of thousands of papyrus scrolls. Among the most important libraries in the ancient Near East was the palace library of Ashurbanipal (668?-627? BC) at Nineveh in Assyria. This early type of national library, collected "for the sake of distant days," consisted of over 30,000 clay tablets. Early librarians were usually priests, teachers, or scholars. The first known Chinese librarian was the philosopher Lao Tse, who was appointed keeper of the royal historical records for the Chou rulers about 550 BC.
4. CHOU DYNASTY (1122-221 BC)
The Chou Dynasty (1122-221 BC) saw the full flowering of ancient civilization in China. During this period the empire was unified, a middle class arose, and iron was introduced. The sage Confucius (551-479 BC) developed the code of ethics that dominated Chinese thought and culture for the next 25 centuries (See Confucius).
The Chou conquest of the Shang was given an important meaning by later moralistic interpretations of the event. The Chou kings, whose chief deity was heaven, called themselves "Sons of Heaven," and their success in overcoming the Shang was seen as the "mandate of heaven." From this time on, Chinese rulers were called "Sons of Heaven" and the Chinese Empire, the "Celestial Empire." The transfer of power from one dynasty to the next was based on the mandate of heaven.
Chou rule in China continued for nearly nine centuries. During that time great advances were made. The long period of the Chou Dynasty is divided into two subperiods: Western (Early) and Eastern (Later) Chou, named for the locations of the capitals.
Western (Early) Chou (1122-771 BC).
Western Chou territory covered most of the North China Plain. It was divided into about 200 princely domains. The Chou political system was similar to the feudal system of medieval Europe. The Chou people combined hunting and agriculture for a living. Associating the success or failure of crops with the disposition of nature, the people prayed to numerous nature gods for good harvests. One of the ruler's duties was to placate heaven and Earth for all people. Failure to do so deprived him of the right to rule. Such beliefs are still widely held today among the Chinese people. Ancestor worship also developed during the Chou period and has been important in East Asia for the last 2,000 years.
The Chou were invaded in 771 BC by a less cultured, more militaristic people from the northwest. The capital was moved east to Luoyang. From this point on, the dates are considered reliable. The manner in which the Western Chou fell followed a pattern that was repeated throughout Chinese history. People who led a nomadic, or wandering, life in the northern steppe land would invade settled agricultural communities to solve periodic food shortages.
The conflict between the nomads and settled farmers has been a continuing feature of Chinese history. Settled Chinese called the nomads "barbarians," a term applied to all peoples of non-Chinese culture up to the 20th century. From this concept an idea developed that China was the center of the
civilized world, hence the traditional name "Middle Kingdom/Country," referring to China.
Eastern (Later) Chou (771-221 BC).
The Eastern Chou is also two periods. The first is Ch'un Ch'iu, the Spring and Autumn period (771-481 BC), named for a book credited to Confucius. The second is Chan-kuo, the Warring States period
(481-221 BC).
In the Spring and Autumn period, iron replaced bronze for tools and weapons. The use of iron led to an increase in agricultural output, growth of the population, and warfare among the states. By the 4th century BC the number of states had shrunk to seven. In 256 BC the princes of those states assumed the title of king, stopped paying homage to the Chou king, and continued to fight for supremacy. The strongest of the seven states was Ch'in.
The disruption caused by this prolonged warfare had a number of long-range consequences. One was the rise of a new social group, the scholars (shi). They were forerunners of the scholar-officials of the Chinese Empire, who became the most influential group in China. In the Later Chou period, however, they were a relatively small group of learned people. Often wandering from state to state in search of permanent employment, the shi worked as tutors to the children of feudal princes and as advisers to various state governments. The most famous of these scholarly shi was Confucius.
5. CH'IN EMPIRE (221-206 BC)
After nearly 900 years, the Chou Dynasty came to an end when the state of Ch'in, the strongest of the seven surviving states, unified China and established the first empire in 221 BC. The Ch'in empire did not last long, but it left two enduring legacies: the name China and the idea and structure of the empire. This heritage outlasted the Ch'in Dynasty itself by more than 2,000 years. (See Ch'in Dynasty)
The first Ch'in emperor was called Ch'in Shih Huang Ti. The title of emperor was used for the first time in Chinese history to set the Ch'in ruler apart--as the ruler of the unified land--from the kings, the heads of the earlier, smaller states. The construction of massive palaces and the ceremony of the court further enhanced the power of the emperor by inspiring awe in the people.
A centralized bureaucracy replaced the old feudal system. The empire was divided into provinces and counties, which were governed by centrally appointed governors and magistrates. The former ruling families who had inherited their places in the aristocracy were uprooted and forced to live in the capital of Xianyang. Other centralizing policies included census taking and standardization of the writing system and weights and measures.
The Ch'in army conducted massive military campaigns to complete the unification of the empire and expand its territory. The Ch'in empire stretched from the Mongolian plateau in the north to Vietnam in the south. As with rulers before and after him, the first emperor was preoccupied with defending his territory against northern nomads. After waging several successful campaigns, the emperor ordered the building of the wall of "ten thousand li" (a li is a Chinese unit of distance) to protect the empire. This task involved connecting the separate walls that were built by former northern states to form the famous Great Wall. The Ten Thousand Li Wall, as it is known in China, is 1,500 miles (2,400 kilometers) long, from 15 to 50 feet (5 to 15 meters) high, and from 15 to 25 feet (5 to 8 meters) wide. Although closely linked with the first ruler of the Ch'in Empire, the wall as it stands today dates mainly from the later Ming Dynasty.
Ch'in Shih Huang Ti's harsh rule provoked much opposition. The emperor feared the scholars most. He had them rounded up and put them to death or sent them into exile. Many went into hiding. Moreover, all books, except technical ones, were confiscated and burned. In the last years of his life, Ch'in Shih Huang Ti became fearful of threats on his life and lived in complete secrecy. He also became obsessed with obtaining immortality. He died in 210 BC in Shandong Province, far from the capital of Xianyang, during one of his long quests to find the elixir of life.
The Ch'in empire disintegrated rapidly after the death of the first emperor. The legitimate heir was killed in a palace intrigue, and a less able prince was put on the throne. Conditions worsened throughout the empire. In 209 BC, rebellions erupted all over China. Two men had the largest following. Hsiang Yu was a general of aristocratic background; Liu Pang was a minor official from a peasant family. By 206 BC rebels had subdued the Ch'in army and destroyed the capital. The struggle between Hsiang Yu and Liu Pang continued for the next four years, however, until Liu Pang emerged as the victor in 202 BC. Taking the title of Kao Tsu, High Progenitor, he established the Han Dynasty.
6. THE HAN EMPIRE (202 BC-AD 220)
The four-century-long Han rule is divided into two periods: the Earlier or Western Han and the Later or Eastern Han. In between these two was the short-lived Hsin Dynasty (AD 9-23).
Earlier (Western) Han (202 BC-AD 9).
The Han Kao Tsu preserved many features of the Ch'in imperial system, such as the administrative division of the country and the central bureaucracy. But the Han rulers lifted the Ch'in ban on philosophical and historical writings. Han Kao Tsu called for the services of men of talent, not only to restore the destroyed classics but to serve as officials in the government. From that time, the Chinese Empire was governed by a body of officials theoretically selected on merit. Such a practice has few parallels elsewhere at this early date in human history.
In 124 BC, during the reign of Wu Ti (140-87, the Martial Emperor), an imperial university was set up for the study of Confucian classics. The university recruited talented students, and the state supported them. Starting with 50 when the university first opened, the number of government-supported students reached 30,000 by the end of the Han Dynasty. Emperor Wu also established Confucianism as the official doctrine of the state. This designation lasted until the end of the Chinese Empire.
The Early Han faced two major difficulties: invasions by the barbarian Huns and the influence of the imperial consort families. In the Han Dynasty, the Huns (known as Hsiung-nu by the Chinese) threatened the expanding Chinese Empire from the north. Starting in Wu Ti's reign, costly, almost century-long campaigns had to be carried out to establish Chinese sovereignty along the northern and northwestern borders. Wu Ti also waged aggressive campaigns to incorporate northern Korea in 108 BC and northern Annam in 111 BC into the Han empire. The Early Han's other difficulty started soon after the first emperor's death. The widowed Empress Lu dominated politics and almost succeeded in taking the throne for her family. Thereafter, families of the empresses exerted great political influence. In AD 9 Wang Mang, a nephew of the empress, seized the throne and founded a new dynasty of Hsin.
Wang Mang's overambitious reform program alienated him from the landlords. At the same time the peasants, disappointed with Wang's inability to push through the reform, rose in rebellion. In AD 17 a rebel group in Shandong painted their faces red (hence their name, Red Eyebrows) and adopted religious symbols, a practice later repeated by peasants who rebelled in times of extreme difficulty. Wang Mang's force was defeated, and he was killed in AD 23.
Later (Eastern) Han (AD 23-220).
The new ruler who restored peace and order was a member of the house of Han, the original Liu family. His title was Kuang Wu Ti, "Shining Martial Emperor," from AD 25 to 57. During the Later Han, which lasted another 200 years, a concerted but unsuccessful effort was made to restore the glory of the former Han. The Later Han scored considerable success in recovering lost territories, however. Sent to befriend the tribes on the northwestern frontier in AD 73, a great diplomat-general, Pan Ch'ao, eventually led an army of 70,000 almost to the borders of eastern Europe. Pan Ch'ao returned to China in 101 and brought back information about the Roman Empire. The Romans also knew about China, but they thought of it only as the land where silk was produced.
The Later Han period was particularly plagued with evils caused by eunuchs, castrated males recruited from the lower classes to serve as bodyguards for the imperial harem. Coming from uneducated and poor backgrounds, they were ruthlessly ambitious once they were placed within reach of power. Toward the end of the Later Han, power struggles between the eunuchs and the landlord-officials were prolonged and destructive. Peasant rebellions of the Taoist-leaning Yellow Turbans in 184 and the Five Pecks of Rice in 190 led to the rise of generals who massacred over 2,000 eunuchs, destroyed the capital, and one after another became dictators. By 207 General Ts'ao Ts'ao had emerged as dictator in the north. When he died in 220 his son removed the powerless emperor and established the kingdom of Wei. The Eastern Han came to an end, and the empire was divided into the three kingdoms of Wei, Shu Han, and Wu. The pattern of the rise and fall of Han was to be repeated in later periods. This characteristic came to be known as the dynastic cycle.
Han culture.
The Chinese show their pride in Han accomplishments by calling themselves the Han people. Philosophies and institutions that began in the Chou and Ch'in periods reached maturity under the Han. During Han times, the Chinese distinguished themselves in making scientific discoveries, many of which were not known to Westerners until centuries later. The Chinese were most advanced in astronomy. They invented sundials and water clocks, divided the day equally into ten and then into 12 periods, devised the lunar calendar that continued to be used until 1912, and recorded sunspots regularly. In mathematics, the Chinese were the first to use the place value system, whereby the value of a component of a number is indicated by its placement. Other innovations were of a more practical nature: wheelbarrows, locks to control water levels in streams and canals, and compasses.
The Han Chinese were especially distinguished in the field of art. The famous sculpture of the "Han flying horse" and the carving of the jade burial suit found in Han period tombs are only two superb examples. The technique of making lacquer ware was also highly developed. The Chinese are proudest of the tradition of historical writing that began in the Han period. Ssu-ma Ch'ien (145?-85? BC) was grand historian (an office that combined the duties of court recorder and astronomer) during the time of Wu Ti. His `Historical Records', which took ten years to complete, established the pattern and style followed by subsequent histories. In the Later Han, the historical tradition was continued by the Pan family. Pan Piao, the father, started to bring Ssu-ma Ch'ien's `Records' up to date. The work was continued by his son Pan Ku (twin brother of the general Pan Ch'ao) and was completed by his daughter Pan Chao, China's earliest and most famous woman scholar. Unlike Ssu-ma Ch'ien, the Pan family limited their work to 230 years of the Early Han. This was the first of the dynastic histories, subsequently written for every dynasty. Pan Chao also wrote a highly influential work on the education of women, `Lessons for Women'. `Lessons' emphasized the "virtues" of women, which restricted women's activities. The Confucianism that the Han Dynasty restored differed from the original teachings of Confucius. The leading Han philosophers, Tung Chung-shu and others, used principles derived from the early Chinese philosophy of nature to interpret the ancient texts. The Chinese philosophy of nature explained the workings of the universe by the alternating forces of yin and yang--dark and light--and the five elements: earth, wood, metal, fire, and water. The Han period was marked by a broad eclecticism. Many Han emperors favored Taoism, especially the Taoist idea of immortality.
7. THE PERIOD OF DISUNITY (220-581)
After the fall of the Later Han, the Chinese Empire remained divided for three and a half centuries. The first half-century began with the domination of the Three Kingdoms: Wei under the Ts'ao family in the north, Shu Han under Liu Pei in the southwest, and Wu under Sun Ch'uan in the southeast. Invaders from the north soon overran the kingdoms and set up their own states, but the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534), established by one of the barbarian tribes, the Toba, was the only one to last. Four dynasties established by the Chinese ruled in the south during the 4th and 5th centuries. The Three Kingdoms period was made famous by the novel `Romance of the Three Kingdoms', which glamorized the period as an age of chivalry.
8. THE SUI DYNASTY (581-618).
The prolonged period of disunity finally ended when a general from the northwest united China by establishing the new dynasty of Sui. A second great period of imperial unity was begun. The relationship of the Sui to the succeeding T'ang Dynasty was much like that of the Ch'in to the Han. It served as the unifying foundation on which its successor could build. The first Sui emperor, Wen Ti, introduced a series of economic reforms, such as reduction of the peasants' taxes, a careful census for equitable tax collection, and restoration of the equal allocation system used in the Northern Wei. Every taxable male received a grant of land, part of which was returnable when he ceased to be a taxpayer at age 60 and part of which he could pass on to his heirs. He also revived the Han system of examinations based on Confucian classics.
Sui Wen Ti's premature death might have been caused by his ambitious son Yang Ti, whose grandiose projects and military campaigns ultimately led to the Sui's downfall. Some of his projects were productive, especially the construction of the Grand Canal, which linked up the Huang, Huai, and Yangtze rivers and connected north and south China.
Yang Ti's overly ambitious scheme of expanding his empire led to disastrous wars against Korea. After a series of futile expeditions, the Chinese army of over a million was defeated and forced to flee. In 618, Yang Ti was assassinated in an army coup; one of the coup leaders, Li Shih-min, installed his father as emperor, founding the T'ang Dynasty. After about a decade, during which he was able to secure his father's abdication, he took the throne himself in 626 as the emperor T'ai Tsung.
9. THE T'ANG DYNASTY (618-907).
The T'ang emperors set up a political system in which the emperor was supreme and government officials were selected on the bases of merit and education. The early T'ang rulers applied the equal allocation system rigorously to bring about a greater equity in taxation and to insure the flow of taxes to the government. A census was taken every three years to enforce the system, which also involved drafting people to do labor. These measures led to an agricultural surplus and the development of units of uniform value for the principal commodities, two of the most important prerequisites for the growth of commerce and cities.
The T'ang capital of Chang'an was one of the greatest commercial and cosmopolitan cities in the world at that time. Like most capitals of China, Chang'an was composed of three parts: the palace, the imperial city, and the outer city, separated from each other by mighty walls.
The T'ang was a period of great imperial expansion, which reached its greatest height in the first half of the 8th century. At that time, Chinese control was recognized by people from Tibet and Central Asia in the west to Mongolia, Manchuria (now the Northeast region of China), and Korea in the
north and Annam in the south.
The An Lu-shan rebellion.
Most of the T'ang accomplishments were attained during the first century of the dynasty's rule, through the early part of Emperor Hsuan Tsung's long reign from 712 to 756. However, late in his reign he neglected government affairs to indulge in his love of art and study. This led to the rise of viceroys, commanders responsible for military and civil affairs in the regions. An Lu-shan was a powerful viceroy commanding the northwest border area. He had both connections at the imperial court and hidden imperial ambitions. In 755 he rose in rebellion.
The emperor fled the capital with an ill-equipped army. These troops soon rebelled and forced the emperor to abdicate in favor of his son.
The new emperor raised a new army to fight the rebels. An Lu-shan was assassinated in 757, but the war dragged on until 763. Afterward, the Chinese Empire virtually disintegrated once again. The provinces remained under the control of various regional commanders. The dynasty continued to linger on for another century, but the T'ang empire never fully recovered the central authority, prosperity, and peace of its first century.
The most serious problem of the last century of T'ang was the rise of great landlords who were exempt from taxation. Unable to pay the exorbitant taxes collected twice a year after the An Lu-shan rebellion, peasants would place themselves under the protection of a landlord or become bandits. Peasant uprisings, beginning with the revolt under the leadership of Huang Ch'ao in the 870s, left much of central China in ruins.
In 881 Huang Ch'ao's rebels, now numbering over 600,000 people, destroyed the capital, forcing the imperial court to move east to Luoyang. Another rebel leader founded a new dynasty, called Later Liang, at Kaifeng in Henan Province in 907, but he was unable to unify all China under his rule. This second period of disunity lasted only half a century. Once again, however, China was divided between north and south, with five dynasties in the north and ten kingdoms in the south.
T'ang culture. Buddhist influence in art, especially in sculpture, was strong during the T'ang period. Fine examples of Buddhist sculpture are preserved in rock temples, such as those at Yongang and Longmen in northwest China. The invention of printing and improvements in papermaking led to the printing of a whole set of Buddhist sutras (discourses of the Buddha) by 868. By the beginning of the 11th century all of the Confucian classics and the Taoist canon had been printed. In secular literature, the T'ang is especially well known for poetry. The great T'ang poets such as Li Po and Tu Fu were nearly all disillusioned officials.
The T'ang period marked the beginnings of China's early technological advancement over other civilizations in the fields of shipbuilding and firearms development. Both reached new heights in the succeeding dynasty of Sung.
Papermaking; Firearms By the 13th century papermaking spread throughout Europe. Paper was a Chinese invention. It had been adopted by the Persians and then by the Arabs, who brought the art to Europe. (See Paper)
Powder (not gunpowder, because guns were not yet known) and fireworks rockets were introduced into Europe in the 1200s. They had been invented in China some years earlier.
The earliest mention of firearms is in a Dutch chronicle dated 1313. It states that firearms were invented in Germany. The first picture of a primitive cannon can be found in an English manuscript dated 1326. (See Rocket; Explosive; Firearms)
10. THE SUNG DYNASTY (960-1279)
Over 300 years of Sung history is divided into the two periods of Northern and Southern Sung. Because of the barbarian occupation of northern China the second half of the Sung rule was confined to the area south of the Huai River.
Northern Sung (960-1126). General Chao K'uang-yin, later known as Sung T'ai Tsu, was said to have been coerced to become emperor in order to unify China. Wary of power-hungry commanders, Sung T'ai Tsu made the military into a national army under his direct control. Under his less capable successors, however, the military increasingly lost prestige. Unfortunately for China, the weakening of the military coincided with the rise of successive strong nomad nations on the borders.
In contrast to the military's loss of prestige, the civil service rose in dignity. The examination system that had been restored in the Sui and T'ang was further elaborated and regularized. Selection examinations were held every three years at the district, provincial, and metropolitan levels.
Only 200 out of thousands of applicants were granted the jinshi degree, the highest degree, and appointed to government posts. From this time on, civil servants became China's most envied elite, replacing the hereditary nobles and landlords.
Sung dominion extended over only part of the territories of earlier Chinese empires. The Khitans controlled the northeastern territories, and the Hsi Hsia (Western Hsia) controlled the northwestern territories. Unable to recover these lands, the Sung emperors were compelled to make peace with the Khitans in 1004 and with the Hsi Hsia in 1044. Massive payments to the barbarians under the peace terms depleted the state treasury, caused hardship to taxpaying peasants, and gave rise to a conflict in the court among advocates of war, those who favored peace, and reformers.
In 1069 Emperor Shen Tsung appointed Wang An-shih as chief minister. Wang proposed a number of sweeping reforms based on the classical text of the `Rites of Chou'. Many of his "new laws" were actually revivals of earlier policies, but officials and landlords opposed his reforms. When the emperor and Wang died within a year of each other, the new laws were withdrawn. For the next several decades, until the fall of the Northern Sung in 1126, the reformers and antireformers alternated in power, creating havoc and turmoil in government.
In an effort to regain territory lost to the Khitans, the Sung sought an alliance with the newly powerful Juchens from Manchuria. Once the alliance had expelled the Khitans, however, the Juchens turned on the Sung and occupied the capital of Kaifeng. The Juchens established the dynasty of Chin, a name meaning "gold," which lasted from 1115 to 1234, in the north. They took the emperor and his son prisoner, along with 3,000 others, and ordered them to be held in Manchuria.
Southern Sung (1126-1279). Another imperial son fled south and settled in 1127 at Hangzhou, where he resumed the Sung rule as the emperor Kao Tsung. The Sung retained control south of the Huai River, where they ruled for another one and a half centuries.
Although militarily weak and limited in area, the Southern Sung represented one of China's most brilliant periods of cultural, commercial, maritime, and technological development. Despite the loss of the north, trade continued to expand, enabling a commercial revolution to take place in the 13th century. Cut off from the traditional overland trade routes, Sung merchants turned to the ocean with the aid of such improvements as compasses and huge oceangoing ships called junks. The development of a paper money economy stimulated commercial growth and kept it going.
End of the Southern Sung. While the Sung ruling class and the imperial court indulged themselves in art and luxurious living in the urban centers, the latest nomad empire arose in the north. The formidable Mongol armies, conquerors of Eurasia as far west as eastern Europe and of Korea in the east, descended on the Southern Sung.
Culture in the Sung period.
The Sung period was noted for landscape painting, which in time came to be considered the highest form of classical art. The city-dwelling people of the Sung period romanticized nature. This romanticism, combined with a mystical, Taoist approach to nature and a Buddhist-inspired contemplative mood, was reflected in landscape paintings showing people dwarfed by nature.
In philosophy, the trend away from Buddhism and back to Confucianism, which had begun in the late T'ang, continued. Pure and simple restoration of the ancient teaching was impossible, however, because Confucianism had been challenged by Buddhism and Taoism. Confucianism needed to explain humanity and the universe as well as to regulate human relations within society. In the late T'ang and early Sung, several strands of Confucianism emerged. The great scholar Chu Hsi synthesized elements of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism. This reconstituted philosophy became known as Neo-Confucianism, and it was the orthodox state doctrine until the end of the imperial system. Chu Hsi's philosophy was one that stressed dualism, the goodness of human nature, and self-cultivation by education through the continuing "investigation of things."
The Sung scholars and historians also attempted to synthesize history. Ssu-ma Kuang made the first effort at producing a comprehensive history since Ssu-ma Ch'ien of the Han. In 294 chapters, he wrote a chronological account of the period from 403 BC to AD 959, which was abridged by Chu Hsi in the 12th century. Another first in Sung scholarship was the creation of encyclopedias. `Assembled Essentials on the T'ang', a collection completed in 961, became the example for the various types of encyclopedic literature that followed.
The Sung period is famous for porcelain with a celadon glaze, which was one of the most desired items in foreign trade (See Pottery and Porcelain). The development of gunpowder led to the invention of a type of hand grenade. In shipbuilding, the great seagoing junks were admired and imitated by Arab and Western sailors. By far the largest ships in the world at the time, they had watertight compartments and could carry up to 1,000 passengers.
The Sung cities. Oceanic and coastal trade was concentrated in large ports such as Canton, Hangzhou, and Chuanzhou (Marco Polo's Zayton), where large foreign trading communities developed. Koreans dominated the trade with the eastern islands, while Persians and Arabs controlled commerce across the western seas. Along with commercial expansion came the urbanization, or increasing importance of cities, in Sung society. Hangzhou, the Southern Sung capital, had a population of more than 2 million. Commercialization and urbanization had a number of effects on Chinese society. People in the countryside faced the problems of absentee landlordism. Although many city residents enjoyed luxury, with a great variety of goods and services, poverty was widespread.
A change associated with urbanization was the decline in the status of women of the upper classes. With the concentration of the upper classes in the cities, where the work of women became less essential, women were treated as servants and playthings. This was reflected in the practices of concubinage and of binding girls' feet to make them smaller. Neither practice was banned until the 20th century.
11. THE YUAN (Mongol) DYNASTY (1279-1368)
The Mongols were the first of the northern barbarians to rule all of China. After creating an empire that stretched across the Eurasian continent and occupying northern China and Korea in the first half of the 13th century, the Mongols continued their assault on the Southern Sung. By 1276 the Southern Sung capital of Hangzhou had fallen, and in 1279 the last of the Sung loyalists perished.
Before this, Kublai Khan, the fifth "great khan" and grandson of Genghis Khan, had moved the Mongol capital from Karakorum to Peking. In 1271 he declared himself emperor of China and named the dynasty Yuan, meaning "beginning," to signify that this was the beginning of a long era of Mongol rule.
In Asia, Kublai Khan continued his grandfather's dream of world conquest. Two unsuccessful naval expeditions were launched against Japan in 1274 and 1281. Four land expeditions were sent against Annam and five against Burma. However, the Mongol conquests overseas and in Southeast Asia were neither spectacular nor were they long enduring.
Mongol rule in China lasted less than a century. The Mongols became the most hated of the barbarian rulers because they did not allow the Chinese ruling class to govern. Instead, they gave the task of governing to foreigners. Distrusting the Chinese, the Mongol rulers placed the southern Chinese at the lowest level of the four classes they created. The extent of this distrust was reflected in their provincial administration. As conquerers, they followed the Ch'in example and made the provincial governments into direct extensions of the central chancellery. This practice was continued by succeeding dynasties, resulting in a further concentration of power in the central imperial government.
The Chinese despised the Mongols for refusing to adapt to Chinese culture. The Mongols kept their own language and customs. The Mongol rulers were tolerant about religions, however. Kublai Khan reportedly dabbled in many religions.
The Mongols and the West. The Mongols were regarded with mixed feelings in the West. Although Westerners dreaded the Mongols, the Crusaders hoped to use them in their fight against the Muslims and attempted to negotiate an alliance with them for this purpose. Friar John of Carpini and William of Rubruck were two of the better known Christian missionaries sent to establish these negotiations with the Mongol ruler.
The best account of the Mongols was left by a Venetian merchant, Marco Polo, in his `Marco Polo's Travels'. It is an account of Polo's travels over the long and perilous land route to China, his experience as a trusted official of Kublai Khan, and his description of China under the Mongols. Dictated in the early 14th century, the book was translated into many languages. Although much of medieval Europe did not believe Polo's tales, some, like Christopher Columbus, were influenced by Polo's description of the riches of the Orient. (See Kublai Khan; Mongol Empire; Polo, Marco)
After the death of Kublai Khan in 1294, successive weak and incompetent khans made the already hated Mongol rule intolerable. Secret societies became increasingly active, and a movement known as the Red Turbans spread throughout the north during the 1350s. In 1356 a rebel leader named Chu Yuan-chang and his peasant army captured the old capital of Nanjing. Within a decade he had won control of the economically important middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, driving the Mongols to the north. In 1368 he declared himself the emperor Hung-wu and established his capital at Nanjing on the lower Yangtze. Later the same year he captured the Yuan capital of Peking. (See Kublai Khan; Mongol Empire)
Kublai Khan (1215-94). The founder of China's Yuan (Mongol) Dynasty was a brilliant general and statesman named Kublai Khan. He was the grandson of the great Mongol conqueror, Genghis Khan, and he was overlord of the vast Mongol Empire. The achievements of Kublai Khan were first brought to the attention of Western society in the writings of Marco Polo, the Venetian traveler who lived at the Chinese court for nearly 20 years (See Polo, Marco).
Kublai Khan was born in 1215, the fourth son of Genghis Khan's fourth son. He began to play a major role in the consolidation of Mongol power in 1251, when his brother, the emperor Mongke, resolved to complete the conquest of China. He therefore vested Kublai with responsibility for keeping order in conquered territory. After Mongke's death in 1259, Kublai had himself proclaimed khan. During the next 20 years he completed the unification of China. He made his capital in what is now Beijing.
Kublai's major achievement was to reconcile China to rule by a foreign people, the Mongols, who had shown little ability at governing. His failures were a series of costly wars, including two disastrous attempts to invade Japan; they brought little benefit to China. Although he was a magnanimous ruler, Kublai's extravagant administration slowly impoverished China; and in the 14th century the ineptitude of his successors provoked rebellions that eventually destroyed the Mongol dynasty. (See Genghis Khan; Mongol Empire)
Polo, Marco (1254-1323?). In 1298 a Venetian adventurer named Marco Polo wrote a fascinating book about his travels in the Far East. Men read his accounts of Oriental riches and became eager to find sea routes to China, Japan, and the East Indies. Even Columbus, nearly 200 years later, often consulted his copy of `The Book of Ser Marco Polo'.
In Marco's day the book was translated and copied by hand in several languages. After printing was introduced in the 1440s, the book was circulated even more widely. Many people thought that the book was a fable or a gross exaggeration. A few learned men believed that Marco wrote truly, however, and they spread Marco's stories of faraway places and unknown peoples. Today geographers agree that Marco's book is amazingly accurate.
Marco Polo was born in the city-republic of Venice in 1254. His father and uncles were merchants who traveled to distant lands to trade. In 1269 Marco's father, Nicolo, and his uncle Maffeo returned to Venice after being away many years. On a trading expedition they had traveled overland as far as Cathay (China). Kublai Khan, the great Mongol emperor of China, asked them to return with teachers and missionaries for his people. So they set out again in 1271, and this time they took Marco.
From Venice the Polos sailed to Acre, in Palestine. There two monks, missionaries to China, joined them. Fearing the hard journey ahead, however, the monks soon turned back. The Polos crossed the deserts of Persia (Iran) and Afghanistan. They mounted the heights of the Pamirs, the "roof of the world," descending to the trading cities of Kashgar (Shufu) and Yarkand (Soche). They crossed the dry stretches of The Gobi. Early in 1275 they arrived at Kublai Khan's court at Cambaluc (Peking). At that time Marco was 21 years old.
Polo at the Court of the Great Khan
Marco quickly became a favorite of Kublai Khan. For three years he governed busy Yangchow, a city of more than 250,000 people. He was sent on missions to far places in the empire: to Indochina, Tibet, Yunnan, and Burma. From these lands Marco brought back stories of the people and their lives.
The Polos became wealthy in Cathay. But they began to fear that jealous men in the court would destroy them when the khan died. They asked to return to Venice. Kublai Khan refused. Then came an envoy from the khan of Persia. He asked Kublai Khan for a young Mongol princess for a bride. The Polos said that the princess' journey should be guarded by men of experience and rank. They added that the mission would enable them to make the long-desired visit to Venice. The khan reluctantly agreed.
Since there was danger from robbers and enemies of the khan along the overland trade routes, a great fleet of ships was built for a journey by sea. In 1292 the fleet sailed, bearing the Polos, the princess, and 600 noblemen of Cathay. They traveled southward along Indochina and the Malay Peninsula to
Sumatra. Here the voyage was delayed many months.
The ships then turned westward and visited Ceylon and India. They touched the East African coast. The voyage was hazardous, and of the 600 noblemen only 18 lived to reach Persia. The Polos and the princess were safe. When the Polos landed in Venice, they had been gone 24 years. The precious stones they brought from Cathay amazed all Venice.
Later Marco served as gentleman-captain of a ship. It was captured by forces of the rival trading city of Genoa, and he was thrown into a Genoese prison. There he wrote his book with help from another prisoner. Marco was released by the Genoese in 1299. He returned to Venice and engaged in trade. His name appears in the court records of his time in many lawsuits over property and money. He married and had three daughters. He died about 1323.
12. THE MING DYNASTY (1368-1644)
Having restored Chinese rule to China, the first Ming emperor tried to model his rule after that of the Han, but the Ming fell far short of the Han's accomplishments. The land under Ming domination was less than under either the Han or the T'ang. The Ming dominion changed little after the first two decades. It was confined mostly to what is known as China proper, south of the Great Wall and east of Xinjiang and Tibet.
In culture, as well, the Ming lacked the Han's creativity and brilliance. Coming after almost a century of foreign domination, the Ming was a period of restoration and reorganization rather than a time of new discovery. In a sense, the Ming followed a typical dynastic cycle: initial rehabilitation of the economy and restoration of efficient government, followed by a time of stability and then a gradual decline and fall.
The emperor Hung-wu modeled his government on the T'ang system, restoring the doctrine and practices of Confucianism and continuing the trend toward concentration of power in the imperial government, especially in the hands of the emperor himself. He tried to conduct state affairs singlehandedly, but the work load proved overwhelming. To assist him, he gathered around him several loyal middle-level officials, thus creating an extra-governmental organization, the Grand Secretariat. The central bureaucracy was restored and filled by officials selected by the examination system. That system was further formalized by the introduction of a special essay style called the eight-legged essay, to be used in writing the examination. In addition, the subject matter of the examinations was restricted to the Five Classics, said to have been compiled, edited, or written by Confucius, and the Four Books, published by Chu Hsi.
In the field of provincial government, the emperor Hung-wu continued the Yuan practice of limiting the power of provincial governors and subjecting them directly to the central government. The empire was divided into 15 provinces. The first capital at Nanjing was in the economic heartland of China, but in 1421 the emperor Yung-Lo, who took the throne after a civil w ar, moved the capital to Peking, where he began a massive construction project. The imperial palace, which is also known as the Forbidden City, was built at this time.
The Ming produced two unique contributions: the maritime expeditions of the early 15th century and the philosophy of Wang Yang-ming. Between 1405 and 1433, seven major maritime expeditions were launched under the leadership of a Muslim eunuch, Cheng Ho. Each expedition was provided with several seagoing vessels, which were 400 feet (122 meters) high, weighed 700 tons (635 metric tons), had multiple decks and 50 or 60 cabins, and carried several hundred people. During these expeditions, the Chinese sailed the South Pacific, the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea, and the Persian Gulf. They traveled as far west as eastern Africa and as far south as Java and Sumatra. But these missions ended just as suddenly as they had begun.
In philosophy, Wang Yang-ming developed a system of thought that ran counter to the orthodox teaching of Chu Hsi. While Chu Hsi believed in learning based on reason and the "investigation of things," Wang Yang-ming believed in the "learning of the mind," an intuitive process.
During the second half of the Ming Dynasty, European expansion began. Early in the 16th century Portuguese traders arrived and leased the island of Macao as their trading post. In 1582 Matteo Ricci, an Italian Jesuit missionary, arrived in Macao. Because of his knowledge of science, mathematics, and astronomy and his willingness to learn the Chinese language and adapt to Chinese life, he was accepted by the Chinese and became the first foreigner allowed to live in Peking permanently. Jesuits followed him and served the Ming emperors as mapmakers, calendar reformers, and astronomers.
Unlike earlier brief contacts with the West or the later Western incursions into China, the 16th-century Sino-Western relationship was culturally oriented and mutually respectful. Both the Chinese and the Jesuits tried to find common ground in their thoughts. The Jesuits' activities produced 300,000 converts in 200 years, not a great number among a population of more than 100 million. Among them, however, were noted scholars such as Hsu Kuang-ch'i and Li Chih-tsao, who translated many of the works that Jesuits brought to China. The Jesuits wrote over 300 Chinese works.
In the last century of its existence, the Ming Dynasty faced numerous internal and external problems. The internal problem was tied to official corruption and taxation. Because the Ming bureaucracy was relatively small, tax collection was entrusted to locally powerful people who evaded paying taxes by passing the burden on to the poor. A succession of weak and inattentive emperors encouraged the spread of corruption and the greed of eunuchs. In the 1620s a struggle between the inner group of eunuchs and the outer circle of scholar-officials led to the execution of about 700 scholars.
Externally, the security of the Ming empire was threatened from all directions. The Mongols returned and seized Peking in 1550, and their control of Turkestan and Tibet was recognized by the Ming in a peace treaty of 1570. Pirates preyed on the east coast, and Japanese pirates penetrated as far inland as Hangzhou and Nanjing. In the 1590s the Ming had to send expeditionary forces to rescue Korea from invading Japanese soldiers under Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The Ming drove back the Japanese forces, but not without depleting the treasury and weakening their defensive network against neighboring Manchuria to the northeast.
In Manchuria the Manchus (Pinyin: Manzhous) had organized a Chinese-style state and strengthened their forces under a unique form of military organization called the banner system. However, it was not the Manchus who overthrew the Ming but a Chinese rebel, Li Tzu-cheng, who became a leader among the bandits who had become desperate because of a famine in the northwest in 1628. By 1642 Li had become master of north China and in 1644 he captured Peking.
There he found that the last Ming emperor had hanged himself, ending the "Brilliant" dynasty. Li, however, was not destined to rule. The rule was to pass once again into the hands of a people from beyond the Great Wall, the Manchus. They were invited into China by the Ming general Wu San-kuei to eliminate the rebels. After driving the rebels from the capital, the Manchus stayed and established a new dynasty, the Ch'ing.
13. THE CHING DYNASTY (1644-1911)
Like the Mongols in the 13th century, the Manchus (formerly the Juchen) were barbarians who succeeded in ruling the whole of China, but, unlike the 13th-century conquerers, the sinicized Manchus made their rule more acceptable to the Chinese. As a result, Ch'ing rule lasted 267 years, compared with 89 years for the Yuan.
The Pax Sinica 1683-1795
The Manchus took Peking with relative ease in 1644, but they did not gain control of the whole of China until 1683. Thereafter, the Manchus enjoyed more than a century of peace and prosperity, a period that came to be called Pax Sinica (Peace in China). By the end of that period the dynasty had reached the height of its power.
Two strong emperors who were considered models of all Confucian ideals ruled for much of this period: the emperors K'ang-hsi (1661-1722) and Ch'ien-lung (1735-96). By recruiting the well-educated in government and promoting Confucian scholarship, these two Manchu rulers firmly established themselves as Confucian rulers in China. Outside China, both were successful conquerers. All of the Ch'ing empire's vast territories, including Mongolia in the north, Xinjiang in the northwest, and Tibet in the southwest, were incorporated into the expanding Chinese Empire during this period.
The Ch'ing adopted the Ming system of government with two exceptions: the insertion of Manchu power at the head of the Chinese state, and the creation of the Grand Council in the emperor Yung-cheng's reign. The Grand Council superseded the Grand Secretariat and became the most powerful body in the government. In provincial government, the Ch'ing created 18 provinces from the 15 Ming provinces. A governor, usually Chinese, headed each province, and a governor-general, usually a Manchu before the 19th century, headed every two provinces. Local landlords and administrators were generally left alone if they submitted to the new rule.
The K'ang-hsi era marked the height of Jesuit success in China, with more than 200,000 converts. Thereafter, Jesuit influence waned rapidly because of the rivalry between the Jesuits and other Catholic missionaries and the so-called Rites Controversy, which concerned the Jesuits' willingness to tolerate the converts' performance of ceremonies honoring Confucius. The pope denounced the Jesuit view and prohibited the ceremonies.
The long period of peace and prosperity had some adverse effects on Chinese society. There was a shortage of land, resulting from an increase in the population from 100 million to 300 million at the end of the 18th century. Decadence and corruption spread in the imperial court. There was a decline of the Manchu military spirit, and the Ch'ing military organization deteriorated. The long and illustrious reign of the emperor Ch'ien-lung was marred by the first of many serious rebellions in the Ch'ing era, the White Lotus Rebellion from 1796 to 1804. It was not put down for ten years, and China entered the 19th century rocked by revolt. More devastating were the incursions of Western powers, which shook the foundation of the empire. (See Ch'ien-lung)
19th Century Invasions and rebellions.
The first of many Sino-Western conflicts in the 19th century was the first Opium War, fought from 1839 to 1842. It was more than a dispute over the opium trade in China; it was a contest between China as the representative of ancient Eastern civilization and Britain as the forerunner of the modern West. Free trade advocates in the West had protested against the restrictive trading system in force at Canton. They demanded free trade in China, the opening of more ports to Westerners, and the establishment of treaty relations. The Treaty of Nanjing, which ended the first Opium War, opened five ports to the British--the first of the "treaty ports" where Western nations were granted various privileges. A second Opium War, also known as the Arrow War, fought from 1856 to 1860, pitted China against Great Britain and France.
The Opium Wars disrupted the old life and economy of southern China. A number of peasant revolts occurred in the 1840s, coming to a head in the Taiping Rebellion, the biggest rebellion in Chinese history. The leader of the Taipings was Hung Hsiu-ch'uan, from a village near Canton. Believing that God had chosen him to save the world, he adopted a confused version of Christianity as his guiding doctrine and set out to overthrow the Manchus and change society. The combination of religious fervor and anti-Manchu sentiment attracted a following that rose to over 30,000 within a short time. In 1852 the T'ai-p'ing T'ienkuo (Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace) was proclaimed. In 1853 the rebels took the city of Nanjing and made it their capital.
Other revolts erupted at about the same time: the Nien Rebellion in the northeast and Muslim rebellions in the southwest and the northwest. Fearing a linkup among the rebels that would engulf all of China, the Ch'ing government created regional armies manned entirely by Chinese and commanded by Chinese of the scholar-gentry class. The commanders of the new forces, all loyal supporters of the dynasty--Tseng Kuo-fan, Tso Tsung-t'ang, and Li Hung-chang--suppressed the rebels with the help of Western weapons and leadership. They annihilated the Taipings in 1864, the Niens by 1868, and the Muslims by 1873.
The internal rebellions were suppressed, but external threats continued. After a brief period of "cooperation" in the 1860s, foreign powers renewed their assault on China, reacting to widespread antiforeign violence. Again, China became embroiled in a series of conflicts: the Tianjin Massacre with France in 1870, the Ili crisis with Russia in 1879, the Sino-French War from 1884 to 1885, and the Sino-Japanese War from 1894 to 1895. Each brought further humiliation and greater impairment of sovereignty. In the last two incidents territory was lost, and an indemnity had to be paid to the victor
in the Sino-Japanese War.
Opium Wars
China in the 19th century was beset by internal turmoil. It was easy prey to more powerful nations that wanted to exploit every advantage to profit from trade. Chief among these advantages was the opium trade. Official Chinese resistance to opium resulted in two trade wars in which Great Britain, France, the United States, and Russia gained significant commercial privileges. These conflicts were the first Opium War from 1839 to 1842 between China and Britain and the second Opium War (1856-60) fought by China against Britain and France.
Opium had been introduced into China in the 7th century. By the early 18th century opium addiction had become such a severe problem that the government tried to prohibit trade in it. The prohibition was a failure. When the British discovered the value of the opium trade in 1773, they determined to benefit. The Chinese paid the British for the opium, and the British in turn used the money as part payment for goods bought from the Chinese.
In 1839 the Chinese government made a concerted effort to suppress the opium trade. All the opium warehouses in Canton were confiscated. This serious effort, followed by a minor military incident, led to hostilities. In February 1840 the British sent an expedition against Canton.
The conflict, in which the more powerful British were victorious, was ended by the Treaty of Nanjing, which was signed on Aug. 29, 1842, and a supplemental treaty of Oct. 8, 1843. These treaties provided for payment of an indemnity of 21 million dollars by the Chinese, cession of five ports for British trade and residence, and the right of British citizens in China to be tried in British courts. It was at this time that Britain gained control of Hong Kong.
In October 1856 the Canton police boarded a British-registered ship, the Arrow, and charged its crew with smuggling. This incident led to the second war. In this war the British were joined by the French, and an Anglo-French force occupied Canton late in 1857. The Treaty of Tianjin in 1858 temporarily halted the fighting, opened new trading ports, allowed residence in Peking for foreign emissaries, gave freedom of movement to Christian missionaries, and permitted travel in the interior.
The Chinese refusal to ratify the treaty led to an Anglo-French attack on Peking and the burning of the Summer Palace. In 1860 the Chinese signed the Convention of Peking by which they promised to observe the 1858 treaty.
Taiping Rebellion
In terms of casualties, it was one of the worst civil wars in history. More than 20 million--possibly more than 30 million--died, and 17 provinces were ravaged by the Taiping Rebellion. This was the most serious of several internal disturbances that took place in China between 1850 and 1873 and that seriously weakened the Ch'ing Dynasty and helped prepare the way for the revolutions of the 20th century.
The leader of the rebellion was Hung Hsiu-ch'uan, an unsuccessful civil-service candidate who came under the influence of fundamentalist Christianity. Thinking of himself as a son of God sent to reform China, he helped found the Association of God Worshipers in about 1846. Preaching that all property should be held by the people, he attracted many followers in Guangxi Province. By January 1851, when the rebellion began, Hung's ranks had swelled from several thousand ragged peasants to more than 1 million disciplined and eager soldiers. They took the city of Nanjing in March 1853 and made it their capital. For several years the rebel armies dominated the Yangtze River valley. They failed, however, to take Shanghai, where the defenders were commanded by an American named Frederick Townsend Ward and the British general known as Chinese Gordon . By 1862 the movement was losing steam, weakened by internal strife and defections. Nanjing fell in July 1864 to the army of Gen. Tseng Kuo-fan, and Hung committed suicide. Sporadic resistance continued for four more years.
Late 19th Century Revolutionary ideas and organizations.
The reforms that were sponsored by the imperial government were too little and too late. A drastic change was necessary. The idea of overthrowing the Manchus was suggested by Liang Ch'i-ch'ao in his concept of hsin min (new people). Publishing a magazine in Japan, where he had fled after the Hundred Days, Liang called for the Chinese people to renew themselves and also indicated that the Chinese nation was distinct and separate from the ruling dynasty of the Manchus. Although he did not advocate overthrowing the dynasty, the message was quickly picked up by the more radical leaders who were already leaning toward revolution.
One such leader was Sun Yat-sen, who is now revered as the father of modern China by Nationalists and Communists alike. Born into a peasant family near Canton, the traditional stronghold of anti-Manchu rebels, Sun followed a traditional Chinese path during his early years. He was educated in Hawaii, converted to Christianity, and had a short-lived medical career before switching to politics and attempting to propose a reform program to Li Hung-chang in 1894. After forming a secret revolutionary society and plotting an unsuccessful uprising in Canton in 1894, Sun began a long period of exile outside China. He gained wide recognition as a revolutionary leader in 1896, when his arrest in the Chinese legation in London and subsequent rescue were reported sensationally in newspaper articles.
In 1905, in Japan, he brought together several revolutionary groups and formed the Revolutionary Alliance Society. Its program consisted of the now famous Three People's Principles: nationalism, freeing all China from foreign control; democracy, overthrowing the Manchus and introducing a democratic political system; and people's livelihood. Although Sun himself could not live in China, members of the alliance infiltrated many social organizations there. The revolutionary spirit that had been developed by Sun became especially high among students' and soldiers' groups.
The Empress Dowger
TZ'U-HSI (1835-1908). Known in the West as the empress dowager, Tz'u-hsi dominated the political life of China for nearly 50 years. As ruler acting for child emperors, she and her cohorts brought a measure of stability to their nation. But, under her, the government was dishonest and did not make changes that were needed to benefit the people. This eventually led to the end of the Ch'ing Dynasty, which ruled from 1644 to 1911, and a revolution.
Tz'u-hsi was born in Peking on Nov. 29, 1835. She became a consort of the emperor Hsien-feng (ruled 1850-61) and mother of the emperor T'ung-chih. When T'ung-chih became emperor in 1861, he was only 6. She and another consort became co-regents along with a brother of the former emperor. Under this three-way rule the Taiping Rebellion was ended. Other disturbances were put down, and some modernization was brought to China.
Tz'u-hsi gradually increased her power within the ruling coalition, and even when the emperor matured she continued to control the government. After the young emperor's untimely death, she saw to it that her 3-year-old nephew was named as heir, though this violated succession law. Thus the two owagers
continued acting as regents. The other dowager died--presumably murdered--in 1881, and Tz'u-hsi ruled alone. From 1889 to 1898 she lived in apparent retirement in the summer palace. The new emperor's attempts at reform after losing the Sino-Japanese War (1894-95), however, brought her back into action--determined to stave off any changes. In 1899 she backed the officials promoting the Boxer Rebellion. After China's defeat at the hand of foreign troops, she fled the capital and accepted humiliating peace terms. She returned in 1902 and belatedly tried to install the reforms she had once opposed. Before her death, on Nov. 15, 1908, she had the emperor poisoned. His successor was a 2-year old who was forced from the throne four years later.
Boxer Rebellion
In the summer of 1900 members of a secret society roamed northeastern China in bands, killing Europeans and Americans and destroying buildings owned by foreigners. They called themselves I-ho ch'uan, or "Righteous and Harmonious Fists." They practiced boxing skills that they believed made them impervious to bullets. To Westerners they became known as the Boxers, and their uprising was called the Boxer Rebellion.
Most Boxers were peasants or urban thugs from northern China who resented the growing influence of Westerners in their land. They organized themselves in 1898, and in the same year the Chinese government--then ruled by the Ch'ing Dynasty--secretly allied with the Boxers to oppose such outsiders as Christian missionaries and European businessmen. The Boxers failed to drive foreigners out of China, but they set the stage for the successful Chinese revolutionary movement of the early 20th century.
Foreigners had entered China during an era of imperialism. In the late 1800s Great Britain and other European nations, the United States, Russia, and Japan scrambled for spheres of influence there. In some cases they seized Chinese territories, but usually they only sought the riches of trade and commercial enterprise. At the same time, Roman Catholic and Protestant missionaries tried to convert the Chinese to Christianity. These outsiders were resented and feared by the Chinese, who saw Western religion and business practices as a threat to their traditional ways.
By May of 1900, Boxers were wandering the countryside and attacking Western missionaries and Chinese converts to Christianity. In June an expeditionary force, made up of Russian, British, German, French, American, and Japanese troops, was organized to proceed to Peking (now Beijing), put
down the rebellion, and protect Western nationals.
The Chinese dowager empress Tz'u-hsi, the aunt of Emperor Kuang-hsu, ordered her troops to block the advance of this expedition. The foreigners were turned back. Meanwhile, Boxers were rampaging in Peking, burning down churches and the houses of Westerners, and killing Chinese Christians. Foreign troops then seized Chinese coastal forts to insure access to Peking. Enraged, the dowager empress ordered the death of all foreigners in China. The German minister to China was assassinated, and Boxer rebels began an eight-week attack on the walled foreign compound in Peking. (See Tz'u-hsi)
In response, the allied foreign governments sent some 19,000 soldiers to Peking, capturing the city on Aug. 14, 1900. The invaders looted the city and routed the Boxers, while the empress and her court fled to the north. By the time the rebellion ended, at least 250 foreigners had been killed. It took a year for the parties to the conflict to agree on a settlement, which was entitled the Peace of Peking. This protocol, which was signed in September 1901, was dictated by the Western powers and Japan in such a way as to humiliate China. Heavy fines were levied against the Chinese government, and existing commercial treaties were amended in favor of the Western powers. The foreign coastal defenses were dismantled.
The failure of the Boxer Rebellion to eject the West and the humiliation of the Chinese by the terms of the Peace of Peking generated more support for nationalist revolutionaries. In 1911 the Ch'ing Dynasty collapsed. Revolutionaries led by Dr. Sun Yat-sen then took over the Chinese government,
ending more than 2,000 years of monarchy.
14. THE CHINESE REVOLUTION I: NATIONALIST
The Revolution of 1911.
In the industrial city of Wuhan, a soldiers' groupwith only a loose connection to Sun's alliance rose in rebellion in the early morning of Oct. 10, 1911 (since celebrated as Double Ten, the tenth day of the tenth month). The Manchu governor and his commander fled, and a Chinese ommander, Li Yuan-hung, was pressured into taking over the leadership. By early December all of the central, southern, and northwestern provinces had declared independence. Sun Yat-sen, who was in the United States during the revolution, returned and was chosen head of the provisional government of the Republic of China in Nanjing.
The Manchu court quickly summoned Yuan Shih-kai, the former commander of the reformed Northern Army. Personally ambitious and politically shrewd, Yuan carried out negotiations with both the Manchu court and the revolutionaries. Yuan was able to persuade the Manchus to abdicate peacefully in return for the safety of the imperial family. On Feb. 12, 1912, the regent of the 6-year-old emperor formally announced the abdication. The Manchu rule in China ended after 267 years, and with it the 2,000-year-old imperial system.
THE REPUBLIC OF CHINA (1912-1949)
Early in March 1912, Sun Yat-sen resigned from the presidency and, as promised, Yuan Shih-kai was elected his successor at Nanjing. Inaugurated in March 1912 in Beijing, the base of his power, Yuan established a republican system of government with a premier, a cabinet, a draft constitution, and a plan for parliamentary elections early in 1913. The Kuomintang (KMT, National People's party), the successor to Sun Yat-sen's organization, was formed in order to prepare for the election.
Despite his earlier pledges to support the republic, Yuan schemed to assassinate his opponents and weaken the constitution and the parliament. By the end of 1914 he had made himself president for life and even planned to establish an imperial dynasty with himself as the first emperor. His dream was thwarted by the serious crisis of the Twenty-one Demands for special privileges presented by the Japanese in January 1915 and by vociferous opposition from many sectors of Chinese society. He died in June 1916 a broken man. After Yuan's death, a number of his proteges took positions of power in the Beijing government or ruled as warlords in outlying regions. In August 1917 the Beijing government joined the Allies and declared war on Germany. At the peace conference in Versailles, France, the Chinese demand to end foreign concessions in China was ignored.
Sun-yat Sen (1866-1925). Known as the father of modern China, Sun Yat-sen worked to achieve his lofty goals for modern China. These included the overthrow of the Manchu Dynasty, the unification of China, and the establishment of a republic.
Sun Yat-sen was born on Nov. 12, 1866, in Guangdong Province and attended several schools, including one in Honolulu, Hawaii, before transferring to a college of medicine in Hong Kong. Graduating in 1892, Sun almost immediately abandoned medicine for politics. His role in an unsuccessful uprising in Canton in 1895 prompted Sun to begin an exile that lasted for 16 years. Sun used this time to travel widely in Japan, Europe, and the United States, enlisting sympathy and raising money for his republican cause. Sun returned to China in 1911 after a successful rebellion in Wuhan inspired uprisings in other provinces. As leader of the Kuomintang, or Nationalist party, Sun was elected provisional president of the newly declared republic but was forced to resign in 1912.
In 1913 his disagreements with government policies led Sun to organize a second revolution. Failing to regain power, Sun left once again for Japan, where he organized a separate government. Sun returned to China and attempted to set up a new government in 1917 and 1921 before successfully installing himself as generalissimo of a new regime in 1923.
Sun increasingly relied on aid from the Soviet Union, and in 1924 he reorganized the Kuomintang on the model of the Soviet Communist party. Sun also founded the Whampoa Military Academy and appointed Chiang Kai-shek as its president. Sun summarized his policies in the Three Principles of the People--nationalism, democracy, and socialism. He died of cancer in Peking on March 12, 1925. Sun's tomb in Nanking is now a national shrine.
The May Fourth Movement.
After World War I The Chinese felt betrayed. Anger and frustration erupted in demonstrations on May 4, 1919, in Beijing. Joined by workers and merchants, the movement spread to major cities. The Chinese representative at Versailles refused to endorse the peace treaty, but its provisions remained unchanged. Disillusioned with the West, many Chinese looked elsewhere for help.
The May Fourth Movement, which grew out of the student uprising, attacked Confucianism, initiated a vernacular style of writing, and promoted science. Scholars of international stature, such as John Dewey and Bertrand Russell, were invited to lecture. Numerous magazines were published to stimulate new thoughts. Toward the end of the movement's existence, a split occurred among its leaders. Some, like Ch'en Tu-hsiu and Li Ta-chao, were beginning to be influenced by the success of the Russian Revolution of 1917, which contrasted sharply with the failure of the 1911 Revolution in China to change the social order and improve conditions. By 1920, people associated with the Comintern (Communist International) were disseminating literature in China and helping to start Communist groups, including one led by Mao Zedong. A meeting at Shanghai in 1921 was actually the first party congress of the Communist Party of China (CCP).
The CCP was so small that the Soviet Union looked elsewhere for a viable political ally. A Comintern agent, Adolph Joffe, was sent to China to approach Sun Yat-sen, who had failed to obtain assistance from Great Britain or the United States. The period of Sino-Soviet collaboration began with the Sun-Joffe Declaration of Jan. 26, 1923. The KMT was recognized by the Soviet Union, and the Communists were admitted as members. With Soviet aid, the KMT army was built up. A young officer, Chiang Kai-shek, was sent to Moscow for training. Upon returning, he was put in charge of the Whampoa Military Academy, established to train soldiers to fight the warlords, who controlled much of China S(See Chiang Kai-shek). Zhou Enlai (also Chou En-lai) of the CCP was deputy director of the academy's political department.
Sun Yat-sen, whose power base was in the south, had planned to send an expedition against the northern warlords, but he died before it could get under way. Chiang Kai-shek, who succeeded him in the KMT leadership, began the northern expedition in July 1926. The Nationalist army met little resistance and by April 1927 had reached the lower Yangtze. Meanwhile, Chiang, claiming to be a sincere follower of Sun Yat-sen, had broken with the left-wing elements of the KMT. After the Nationalist forces had taken Shanghai, a Communist-led general strike was suppressed with bloodshed. Following suppressions in other cities, Chiang set up his own government at Nanjing on April 18, 1927. He professed friendship with the Soviet Union, but by July 1927 he was expelling Communists from the KMT. Some left-wingers left for the Soviet Union.
The northern expedition was resumed, and in 1928 Chiang took Peking. China was formally unified. Nationalist China was recognized by the Western powers and supported by loans from foreign banks.
The Nationalist Eera (1928-1937).
The Nationalist period began with high hopes and much promise. More could have been accomplished had it not been for the problems of Comintern corruption and Japanese aggression. In his efforts to combat them both, Chiang neglected the land reform needed to improve the lives of the peasants. Driven from the cities, the Communists concentrated on organizing the peasants in the countryside. On Nov. 1, 1931, they proclaimed the establishment of the Chinese Soviet Republic in the southeastern province of Jiangxi, with Mao Zedong as chairman. Here the first units of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army were formed. While conducting guerrilla warfare in these regions, the soldiers carried out an agrarian revolution that was based on Mao's premise that the best way to win the conflict was to isolate the cities by gaining control of the countryside and the food supply.
A military man by temperament and training, Chiang sought to eliminate the Communists by force. He defined his anti-Communist drive as "internal pacification before resistance to external attack," and he gave it more importance than opposition to the increasingly aggressive Japanese. With arms and military advisers from Nazi Germany, Chiang carried out a series of "extermination campaigns" that killed about a million people between 1930 to 1934. Chiang's fifth campaign, involving over half a million troops, almost annihilated the Communists. Faced with the dilemma of being totally destroyed in Jiangxi or attempting an almost impossible escape, the Communists decided to risk the escape. On Oct. 15, 1934, they broke through the tight KMT siege. Over 100,000 men and women set out on the Long March of about 6,000 miles (9,600 kilometers) through China's most rugged terrain to find a new base in the northwest.
In the meantime, the Japanese had made steady inroads into China. The Mukden Incident of 1931, through which Mukden was occupied by the Japanese, was initiated by Japanese officers stationed along the South Manchurian Railway. This was followed by the occupation of Manchuria and the creation of the puppet state of Manchukuo in 1932. By the mid-1930s the Japanese had seized Inner Mongolia and parts of northeastern China and had created the North China Autonomous Region with no resistance from the Nationalists. Anti-Japanese sentiment mounted in China, but Chiang ignored it and in 1936 launched yet another extermination campaign against the Communists in Shaanxi. Chiang was forced to give up the anti-Communist drive when his troops mutinied and arrested him as he arrived in Xi'an in December 1936 to plan strategy. He was released after he agreed to form a united front with the CCP against the Japanese, who were making steady inroads into China.
In China, World War II broke out on July 7, 1937, with a seemingly insignificant little battle between Chinese and Japanese troops near Peking, called the Marco Polo Bridge Incident. Within a few days, the Japanese had occupied Peking, and the fighting spread rapidly. The war in China fell into three stages. The first (1937-1939) was characterized by the phenomenally rapid Japanese occupation of most of China's east coast, including such major cities as Shanghai, Nanjing, and Canton. The Nationalist government moved to the interior, ultimately to Chongqing in Sichuan, and the Japanese established puppet governments in Peking in 1937 and in Nanjing in 1940. The second stage (1939-1943) was a period of waiting, as Chiang blockaded the Communists in the northwest (despite the united front) and waited for help from the United States, which had declared war on Japan in 1941.
In the final stage (1944-1945), the United States provided massive assistance to Nationalist China, but the Chongqing government, weakened by inflation, impoverishment of the middle class, and low troop morale was unable to take full advantage of it. Feuds among the KMT generals and between Chiang and his United States military adviser, General Joseph Stilwell, further hampered the KMT.
When Japanese defeat became a certainty in the spring of 1945, the Communists seemed in a better position to take over from the Japanese garrisons than the KMT, which was far away in the rear of the formation. A United States airlift of KMT troops enabled them to occupy many cities, but the countryside stayed with the Communists.
After the end of World War II in Europe in May 1945, the Allied war effort moved to the east. The Soviet Union joined the war against Japan at the end of July. On August 6 and 9 the United States dropped the world's first atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. On Aug. 14, 1945, the Japanese surrendered. In China, however, civil war raged over who should take charge of the Japanese arms and equipment. At the end of August an agreement was reached in Chongqing between a CCP delegation and the KMT, but the truce was brief.
In January 1946 a cease-fire was negotiated by United States General George C. Marshall. The Nationalist government returned to Nanjing, and China was recognized by the new United Nations as one of the five great powers. The United States supplied the Chiang government with an additional $2 billion ($1.5 billion had been spent for the war). Although the KMT's dominance in weapons and supplies was enormous, it was kept under guard in the cities, while the Communists held the surrounding countryside. As inflation soared, both civilians and the military became demoralized. The CCP, sensing the national mood, proposed a coalition government. The KMT refused, and fighting
erupted again.
The short and decisive civil war that followed was resolved in two main places: Manchuria and the Huai River area. Despite a massive airlift of KMT forces by the United States, Manchuria was lost in October 1948 after 300,000 KMT forces surrendered to the CCP. By the end of 1948 the KMT had lost over half a million men, more than two thirds of whom had defected. In April 1949 the Communists moved south of the Yangtze.
After the fall of Nanjing and Shanghai, KMT resistance evaporated. By the autumn, the Communists had taken all mainland territories except Tibet. Chiang Kai-shek and a number of his associates fled to the island of Taiwan, where they set up what they claimed was the rightful government of China.
15. THE CHINESE REVOLUTION II: COMMUNIST
The Communist Party
The Chinese Communist party is the primary political force in China. Unlike parties in Western democracies, it is a tightly organized movement that controls and leads society at all levels. The party sets policy and controls its execution through government officials who are also party members. The effect is to make the government an organ of the party.
At the time of its founding in 1921, the Chinese Communist party focused on organizing urban workers, but it achieved only limited success in this effort. Orthodox Marxism expected the Communist Revolution to begin among industrial workers. However, Karl Marx had developed his theories based upon highly industrialized economies, and the industrial sector in China was small and relatively primitive. It was Mao Zedong who adapted Marxist theory to the conditions of an underdeveloped, primarily agricultural society . Although Mao's successors downgraded some of his more radical ideas, Marxism-Leninism-Mao Thought--Marxism as it was interpreted by Mao--is still officially designated as the guiding philosophy that is behind both the party and the government.
The Chinese Communist party is organized as a hierarchy, with power concentrated at the top. Above the local units, or cells, is a pyramid-like structure of party congresses and committees at various levels, culminating in the National Party Congress. The national congress is supposed to meet every five years, though this has not always been the case. When it is not in session, direction of the party is in the hands of a Central Committee of about 200 members, which is elected by the congress. The Central Committee, in turn, elects the Political Bureau, which in 1982 consisted of 25 full members and three alternates. It is within the Political Bureau and its elite Standing Committee that power is concentrated and the highest level decisions of state are made. There is also a secretariat that carries on the day-to-day business of the party.
Prior to 1982, the highest party office was that of chairman, held for more than 25 years, through most of the People's Republic's history to that time, by Mao Zedong. In an effort to ensure that the power Mao had enjoyed was never again concentrated in one person, a new party constitution adopted in 1982 abolished the chairmanship and replaced it with the administrative position of general secretary to the Secretariat. The constitution also established a body called the Central Advisory Commission to assist and advise the Central Committee. One of the objects of the commission was to encourage elderly party leaders to continue to be active in various functions of the Communist party. The commission became an obstacle to reform and was abolished in 1992.
Theoretically, party membership is open to anyone over 18 who accepts the party program and is willing to work actively in one of its organizations. Members are expected to abide by the party's discipline and to serve as model workers. The backbone of the party consists of full-time paid workers known as cadres (Chinese, ganbu). The term cadre is also used for public officials holding responsible positions who may or may not be members of the party.
THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
On Oct. 1, 1949, Mao Zedong proclaimed the establishment of the People's Republic of China. The CCP hailed its takeover of China as a people's victory over and liberation from imperial domination (especially that of the United States) and the oppressive KMT regime. The Red Army was renamed the People's Liberation Army. During the early days of the People's Republic, the troops were restrained, foreign-educated Chinese returned to help the country, and most local administrators remained in office.
The first Communist government, the People's Consultative Council, included non-Communists among its 662 members. However, in the top committee, 31 out of 56 seats were occupied by Communists, and the constitution of 1954 drastically curtailed the role of non-Communists. After 1954, more authority was concentrated in the central government under the State Council. Real power, however, lay with the Communist party, especially the Central Committee, then composed of 94 members. This committee held together the triad of power--army, government, and party. The inner circle of the Central Committee was the 19-member Political Bureau and its seven-member Standing Committee.
Land reform. One of the first tasks of the Communist government was land reform, redistributing land from landlords to the peasants. The Agrarian Law of 1950 began the nationwide land reform, which was almost completed by the beginning of 1953.
Social reform. Land reform erased the social distinction between landlord and peasant. The new marriage law of 1950 and the campaigns of the early 1950s removed distinctions within the family. Women were given full equality with men in matters of marriage, divorce, and property ownership. Children were encouraged to denounce parents if they failed to support the Communist line.
Thought reform. Believing that the revolution could not be carried on without reform of people, the CCP launched a massive campaign to change China's entire psychology. The Four Olds campaign was launched to eradicate old ideas, habits, customs, and culture. The Three Anti's movement was directed at officials, with the aim of eliminating corruption, waste, and "bureaucratism." The Five Anti's campaign, directed at the remaining businessmen and bourgeoisie, opposed bribery, tax fraud, cheating, and stealing state property and economic information. For Chinese Christians, The Three Selfs movement stressed self-government, self-support, and self-propagation, the object being to separate the churches in China from their parent denominations abroad. Leading churchmen were forced into denouncing religion as cultural imperialism. The idea of cultural imperialism was extended to art and literature, which henceforth were to serve the people, the class struggle, and the revolution.
Economic planning. Along with the reforms of land tenure, society, family, and even thought, the CCP announced the first five-year plan in 1953 to speed up the socialization of China through a planned economy. The plan's aim was to produce maximum returns from agriculture in order to pay for industrialization and Soviet aid. The means chosen was the collectivization of agriculture. Land and farm implements were pooled into cooperatives and later into collective farms, which controlled the production, price, and distribution of products. By May 1956, 90 percent of the farmers were members of cooperatives.
Similarly, 80 percent of heavy industry and 40 percent of light industry were in government hands by October 1952. The government also controlled all the railways and most steamship operations. To speed China's development even more, Mao Zedong, Liu Shaoqi, and others, after overcoming some opposition within the leadership, launched the Great Leap Forward in 1958.
The Great Leap Forward
The Great Leap Forward was designed to overcome the backwardness of China's economy, industry, and technology. It was to be achieved through use of the vast manpower and indomitable spirit of the Chinese. Steel production was to be increased by setting up small-scale "backyard furnaces," and agricultural output was to be raised by combining the collective farms into communes. About 26,000 communes were created by the Communist government, each composed of approximately 5,000 households.
After a year, the leaders admitted that the success of the program had been exaggerated. The steel produced by the backyard furnaces was of low quality, and the quantity fell short of the projected goal. The people's reluctance to join communes was stronger than expected, and the size of the communes had to be reduced. Domestic life in homes, as well as private plots for family use, had to be restored. The effect of the Great Leap Forward on the people and the economy was devastating. Coupled with three straight years of poor harvests, it resulted in a severe food shortage and industrial decline. For the next several years, while lip service was paid to Mao's thought and to Great Leap-type activism, the real power was in more conservative hands.
The Cultural Revolution
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution was a radical movement that closed schools, slowed production, and virtually severed China's relations with the outside world. It was proletarian because it was a revolution of the workers against party officials. It was cultural because it meant to alter the values of society in the Communist sense. It was great, because it was on a mammoth scale. It lasted for two years in its intense form, lingered on for another year and a half, and was not officially declared over until 1977.
The Cultural Revolution had its roots in a power struggle between Mao and his supporters, including his wife, Jiang Qing, and Lin Biao--who believed that the initial fervor of the revolution was being lost--and more conservative, bureaucratic elements within the leadership. One point at issue was the educational system, and particularly the fact that urban youth (especially the children of privileged officials) appeared to have a better chance of getting a university education than the children of rural peasants. Mao feared that Chinese society was becoming rigid, and to prevent this he relied for support on the military and on youth.
In the summer of 1966, a group of Beijing high school girls protested against the system of college entrance examinations. The Central Committee acceded to the students' demand by promising a reform and postponing the 1966 enrollment for half a year. Freed from their studies, students demonstrated in Beijing in August, touching off demonstrations of young people in general. Obviously inspired by Mao, youths wearing red armbands and flashing copies of the "little red book" containing Mao's thought (`Quotations from Chairman Mao Zedong'), marched through the streets shouting the slogan, "To bypass the Communist party apparatus and force the hierarchy's political foes into submission." These Red Guards, as they were called, were given free railway passes, and they poured into Beijing and other cities in great numbers throughout 1967.
In early 1967 some of the highest ranking leaders, former close revolutionary associates of Mao himself, were criticized and dismissed. Liu Shaoqi, who had been president of the republic, Zhu De, and Deng Xiaoping were among the better known victims. Even Confucius was attacked as having been a hypocritical supporter of the bourgeoisie. Throughout the country, revolutionary committees sprang up, seized power from the local government and party authorities, and harassed--and in some cases attacked--those suspected of being disloyal to Mao's thought.
The disorders reached a climax in July 1967 in the city of Wuhan, when the local military commander tried to rally the people against the radicals and troops had to be sent in to restore order. From that time on, steps were taken to quiet the more disruptive portions of the Cultural Revolution, though it was not until 1968 that society returned to something resembling normality. In March 1969 the government issued a directive to open all schools. The situation was so chaotic, however, that the universities were not reopened until September 1970.
The Cultural Revolution greatly affected the CCP leadership. When the long-postponed ninth congress of the CCP was finally convened in April 1969, two thirds of the old members of the Central Committee were missing. Mao's attempt to maintain a state of permanent revolution had been immensely costly. Years of work and progress were sacrificed: A whole generation of youth went without education; factories and farms lay idle. China fell even further behind the industrialized powers of the world. As the Cultural Revolution died down, Zhou Enlai, who had been premier since the founding of the People's Republic, quietly took control. Deng Xiaoping and other "pragmatic" leaders were reestablished. The party and government relaxed their control over the people and granted certain civil rights in a new constitution adopted in 1975.
International Relations of the People's Republic
The People's Republic has undergone several shifts in foreign policy since 1949. Initially, it was closely tied to the Soviet Union and firmly identified as a member of the socialist camp.
Within a few years, however, the Sino-Soviet relationship had begun to deteriorate, the victim, among other factors, of differing national interests, differing interpretations of Marxism, and Chinese resentment over heavy-handed Soviet attempts at control. By the mid-1960s China and the Soviet Union had become openly hostile toward each other.
China was largely isolated from the rest of the world during the height of the Cultural Revolution, but when the upheavals subsided it began to take a more practical foreign policy line. Trade was opened up with a number of Western countries, China started to play an active role in international organizations, and diplomatic relations were established with countries willing to recognize the People's Republic--rather than the Nationalist government on Taiwan--as the government of China. Most dramatically, contacts were begun with the United States, leading to full diplomatic recognition on Jan. 1, 1979.
While China's political system changed little by the 1990s, its economy had become the fastest-growing in the world. Relations with the United States became unstable on two fronts. The Chinese government refused to allow the human rights concerns to become an issue in trade talks. Trade itself became a major issue, as exports to the United States exceeded imports. In addition, North Korea's probable possession of nuclear weapons posed an unsettling problem for China and the United States in the mid-1990s.
MAO ZEDONG, or MAO TSE-TUNG (1893-1976).
In China Mao Zedong is remembered and revered as the greatest of revolutionaries. His achievements as ruler, however, have been deservedly downgraded because he was among the worst of politicians. He knew well how to make a revolution, but once in power he could not put his love of revolution aside for the sake of governing.
Mao was born on Dec. 26, 1893, in Shaoshan, Hunan Province. His father was a peasant who had become successful as a grain dealer. Mao's schooling was intermittent. During the Revolution of 1911-12 he served in the army for six months. After that he drifted for a while without goals, but he managed to graduate from the First Provincial Normal School in Changsha in 1918. He then sent to Peking University, where he became embroiled in the revolutionary May Fourth Movement. This movement marked the decisive turn in Chinese revolutionary thought in favor of Marxist Communism as a solution to China's problems.
In 1921 Mao helped found the Chinese Communist party. He was at that time a school principal in Hunan. Two years later, when the Communists forged an alliance with Sun Yat-sen's Nationalist party (the Kuomintang), he left work to become a full-time revolutionary. It was at this time that Mao discovered the great potential of the peasant class for making revolution. This realization led him to the brilliant strategy he used to win control of China: gain control of the countryside and encircle the cities.
The Communists and the Nationalists coexisted in an uneasy relationship until the end of World War II. The Nationalist leader after 1925 was Chiang Kai-shek, who was determined to rule China. He never trusted the Communists, and at times he persecuted them. Mao's first wife was executed by the Nationalists in 1930.
The Chinese Soviet Republic was founded in November 1931 in Jiangxi Province. In 1934 Mao and his forces were driven out, and they went northward in what is known as the Long March. By 1935, however, the Communists and Nationalists forged a united front against the Japanese. Rivalry persisted, but the front held until 1945. The revolution that then began ended in 1949 with the Communists victorious.
In addition to his problems with the Nationalists, Mao's dealings with the Soviet Union's Joseph Stalin were always uneasy. Stalin grew wary of a competing Communist power of China's size on the Soviet borders. Mao eventually came to regard the Soviets as revisionists and felt they were traitors to the cause of world revolution.
Mao's title as ruler of China was chairman of the People's Republic. For the first five years he rarely appeared in public and seemed to be only a ceremonial figure. He never achieved the total control in China that Stalin did in the Soviet Union. Many of his comrades were influential in directing policy, often in ways with which Mao disagreed. In 1955 he emerged from isolation determined to play the decisive role in economic policy and political restructuring.
Failing to gain the allegiance of the intellectuals, he turned to the masses with a program called the Great Leap Forward. While not a complete economic disaster, it had severe consequences. After it disrupted both city and countryside, he was forced to retreat from his policies in favor of his opponents. To counter opposition he launched the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, urged on by his radical wife, Jiang Qing. This vast upheaval wrecked the Communist party bureaucracy, paralyzed education and research, and left the economy almost a shambles.
Only slowly did China begin to recover. By then Mao was old and ill. Other, more moderate hands guided policy. Zhou Enlai seemed to emerge as the nation's real leader when relations were reestablished with the United States.
Mao's personality cult remained strong until his death on Sept. 9, 1976. Shortly afterward, however, a power struggle was under way. Members of the party who had been purged by the Cultural Revolution returned to govern China. Chief among them was Deng Xiaoping (See Deng Xiaoping).
16 POST-MAO CHINA
Passing of the old guard.
The year 1976 marked the end of an era. Zhou Enlai died in January. Zhu De, who as chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress had been serving as nominal head of state, died in July. Finally, Mao himself, the chairman of the party and the embodiment of the revolution, died in September. Although many elderly leaders remained in positions of power, the old guard--the veterans of the Long March and the civil war--was clearly passing from the scene.
There were no provisions for automatic succession. At one time, Lin Biao had been Mao's designated successor, but Lin had died under mysterious circumstances in 1971. The stage was set for a power struggle, with the initial advantage going to the radical faction. Zhou's death left the moderate pragmatists in a weakened position, and Deng Xiaoping, as their most visible leader, came under immediate attack.
In April the people staged an unusual demonstration to protest the removal, by the police, of memorial wreaths honoring Zhou from Beijing's Tiananmen (the Gate of Heavenly Peace leading to the old Forbidden City). With this as an excuse, the radicals blamed Deng for the disorders and dismissed him from office. But the radicals, in turn, lost their protector when Mao died. Within a month, the "Gang of Four" radical leaders, including Jiang Qing, Mao's widow, were arrested, and Deng was reinstated once again. The Gang of Four were subsequently tried and convicted of various crimes against the state. They became a convenient scapegoat for the new leadership, which did not wish to blame China's ills on Mao directly.
In the following years, the pragmatists consolidated their position. Although he did not take any of the main party or government positions, Deng emerged as the outstanding figure within the leadership. An elderly man himself, he brought in younger men who shared his views. The new policies were confirmed in the party and state constitutions adopted in 1982. These included accelerating China's economic development by the best possible means; for example, by rewarding good work, even if this resulted in some inequalities in society. Steps were also taken to prevent the concentration of power that had marked Mao's time. Thus, the new state constitution limited state leaders to two consecutive terms.
Nevertheless, the new leadership remained firmly committed to Communism. The 1982 constitution stated again the Four Fundamental Principles that should guide the society: the leadership of the Communist party, the "people's democratic dictatorship," the socialist road, and Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought. The new constitution allowed a greater measure of political freedom and civil rights, and legal safeguards were introduced. It was evident, however, that there were limits to the new liberalization. After an early period during which considerable freedom of speech was allowed, the post-Mao leadership began to warn against destructive criticism.
The Four Modernizations.
The new regime's goal was the development of China's economy by means of the Four Modernizations: of agriculture, industry, national defense, and science and technology. The Four Modernizations were first announced by Zhou at the tenth party congress in 1973, when the country was just starting its slow recovery from the Cultural Revolution. The new leadership under Deng placed great stress on them, with the aim of bringing China into the front rank among the world's nations.
To achieve the ambitious aims of the program, the new leadership replaced the Maoist dogma of stressing the revolutionary spirit, the "red," with the practical value of the "expert." In education, academic achievements were emphasized, and nationwide college entrance examinations were reinstated. In industry, the authority of experts was reasserted. In agriculture, peasants were allowed private plots. Some overambitious projects were begun, and some replanning proved necessary. Nevertheless, the Chinese were cautiously optimistic that they would attain their goals. They set a reasonable economic growth rate of 7.2 percent per year and began a rigorous campaign to slow the rate of population increase. They hoped that these measures would quadruple industrial and agricultural production by the year 2000. In 1987 Deng retired and was succeeded by Zhao Ziyang as general secretary and Li Peng as premier. (See Deng Xiaoping; Zhao Ziyang)
DENG XIAOPING (born 1904).
During the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s, China's Communist government publicly humiliated Deng Xiaoping by parading him through the national capital in a dunce cap. Yet, after the deaths of Zhou Enlai and Mao Zedong in 1976, he emerged as his country's paramount leader. Whether in exile or in power, Deng was long acclaimed as a reformer who resisted rigid Communist ideology. But his image was tarnished in mid-1989 when he ordered a military crackdown on the student pro-democracy movement. At the same time the government began to build a personality cult around the aging, ailing survivor of purges who had once belittled the similar deification of Mao. Deng Xiaoping was born on Aug. 22, 1904, to a wealthy family in Sichuan Province. At age 16 he went to Paris to study. While there he was befriended by Zhou. After he returned home in 1924, Deng joined the Communist party and was sent to the Soviet Union for another year of study. In the political movement led by Mao, he started out as an underground organizer. He participated in the Long March of 1934-35.
Deng became a vice-premier in 1952, the party secretary in 1954, and a member of the ruling Politburo in 1955. During the Cultural Revolution radical Maoists condemned him as a bourgeois "freak." In 1973 he was rehabilitated under Zhou, and, as the most senior vice-premier, became the effective head of the government during Zhou's later illness. But Mao's supporters were alarmed by his efforts to promote economic reform through "capitalist methods of production." Instead of succeeding Zhou when the premier died, Deng was banished by the radical Gang of Four, an elite group of Mao's supporters led by Mao's wife, Jiang Qing.
After Mao's death, the Gang of Four lost power. Until 1980-81 Deng struggled for supreme control with Hua Guofeng, Mao's chosen successor, but he finally engineered the promotions of his own proteges--Zhao Ziyang as premier and Hu Yaobang as party secretary. In late 1987, to force the resignation of senior leaders, Deng gave up his own committee posts. At the beginning of the year Hu Yaobang had been ousted because his leniency toward dissidents and his support of Western-style democracy were blamed for a rash of student demonstrations for reform. In Deng's next effort to establish the line of succession, Zhao took over the party leadership.
For the rebellious Chinese students, Hu's disgrace had made him a martyr; his death on April 15, 1989, became the catalyst for more aggressive pro-democracy demonstrations that ended in the massacre of unarmed marchers in Peking (Beijing) on June 4. Deng's other designated heir, Zhao, was removed because he favored concessions to the protesters. A new leader, Jiang Zemin, was chosen for his law-and-order stance during similar demonstrations in Shanghai. General Secretary Jiang next took over Deng's chairmanship of the party's Central Military Commission in November 1989. Deng resigned from his last official post in March 1990. (See China)
Jiang Zemin (born 1926).
In the wake of the student-led pro-democracy movement in China, Jiang Zemin emerged as one of the nation's most influential Communist leaders. In June 1989, when the Communist party was purged of its moderate leaders, he was appointed party general secretary and chosen as the heir apparent to the senior leader Deng Xiaoping (See Deng Xiaoping).
Jiang was born in July 1926 in Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province. Little is known about his childhood. He joined the Communist party while attending Shanghai's Jiaotong University, where he graduated in 1947 with a degree in electrical engineering. After several Shanghai factory jobs and advanced training in Moscow in the 1950s, Jiang worked up to a top position at a northeastern Chinese automobile plant. He did not hold a government post until 1980. Jiang became a member of the party's Central Committee in 1982 and the Political Bureau in 1987. As the mayor of Shanghai from 1985 until his surprise appointment as general secretary, and later the city's party chief, Jiang had gained recognition as an economic reformer. Many believed the ideologically tough Jiang was chosen to replace the moderate Zhao Ziyang as a reward for his swift action in quelling the student demonstrations in Shanghai. (See Zhao Ziyang)
As general secretary, Jiang called for strict vigilance against what he described as efforts by the West to subvert the Chinese government. In October 1989 the party announced that Jiang would serve as the "core" of the next generation of Chinese leaders.
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Boxing
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The federation of which sport ruled in early 2012 that bikinis would not be compulsory for its competitors at the London Olympics?
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Boxer Rebellion | Open Access articles | Open Access journals | Conference Proceedings | Editors | Authors | Reviewers | scientific events
Hanyu Pinyin
Yìhétuán Yùndòng
The Boxer Rebellion, Boxer Uprising or Yihetuan Movement was an anti-imperialist uprising which took place in China towards the end of the Qing dynasty between 1899 and 1901. It was initiated by the Militia United in Righteousness (Yihetuan), known in English as the "Boxers," and was motivated by proto- nationalist sentiments and opposition to foreign imperialism and associated Christian missionary activity. The Great Powers intervened and defeated Chinese forces.
The uprising took place against a background of severe drought and the disruption caused by the growth of foreign spheres of influence . After several months of growing violence against the foreign and Christian presence in Shandong and the North China plain , in June 1900, Boxer fighters convinced they were invulnerable to foreign weapons converged on Beijing with the slogan "Support Qing government and exterminate the foreigners." Foreigners and Chinese Christians sought refuge in the Legation Quarter . In response to reports of an armed invasion to lift the siege, the initially hesitant Empress Dowager Cixi supported the Boxers and on June 21 declared war on foreign powers . Diplomats, foreign civilians and soldiers as well as Chinese Christians in the Legation Quarter were placed under siege by the Imperial Army of China and the Boxers for 55 days.
Chinese officialdom was split between those supporting the Boxers and those favoring conciliation, led by Prince Qing . The supreme commander of the Chinese forces, the Manchu General Ronglu (Junglu), later claimed that he acted to protect the besieged foreigners. The Eight-Nation Alliance , after being initially turned back, brought 20,000 armed troops to China, defeated the Imperial Army, and captured Beijing on August 14, lifting the siege of the Legations . Uncontrolled plunder of the capital and the surrounding countryside ensued, along with the summary execution of those suspected of being Boxers.
The Boxer Protocol of September 7, 1901 provided for the execution of government officials who had supported the Boxers, provisions for foreign troops to be stationed in Beijing, and 450 million taels of silver—more than the government's annual tax revenue—to be paid as indemnity over the course of the next thirty-nine years to the eight nations involved. [6]
Contents
Historical background
Origins of the Boxers
The Righteous and Harmonious Fists or "Boxers United in Righteousness" (Yihequan/I-ho-chuan) was a secret society which arose in the inland sections of northern coastal province of Shandong . American missionaries were probably the first to refer to the well-trained, athletic young men as "Boxers," because of the martial arts and calisthenics they practiced. The Boxers' primary practice was spirit possession , which involved "the whirling of swords, violent prostrations, and chanting incantations to Taoist and Buddhist spirits." [7]
The excitement and moral force of these possession rituals was especially attractive to unemployed and powerless village men, many of whom were teenagers. Template:Sfnb The Boxers believed that through training, diet, martial arts and prayer they could perform extraordinary feats, such as flight. Furthermore, they popularly claimed that millions of spirit soldiers would descend from the heavens and assist them in purifying China of foreign oppression. [8] The Boxers, armed with rifles and swords, claimed supernatural invulnerability towards blows of cannon, rifle shots, and knife attacks. The Boxer beliefs were characteristic of millenarian movements, related to such practices as the Native American Ghost Dance , a practice of a different society under stress. [9]
File:Boxer1900.jpg
A Boxer during the revolt
Several secret societies in Shandong prepared the way for the Boxers. In spite of ambivalence toward their heterodox practices, in 1895, Yuxian , a Manchu who was then prefect of Caozhou and would later become provincial governor, used the Big Swords Society in fighting bandits. The Big Swords, emboldened by this official support, also attacked their local Catholic village rivals, who turned to the Church for protection. The Big Swords responded by attacking Catholic churches and burning them. "The line between Christians and bandits," remarks one recent historian, "became increasingly indistinct." As a result of diplomatic pressure in the capital, Yuxian executed several Big Sword leaders, but did not punish anyone else. More secret societies started emerging after this. Template:Sfnb
The early years saw a variety of village activities, not a broad movement or a united purpose. Like the Red Boxing school or the Plum Flower Boxers, the Boxers of Shandong were more concerned with traditional social and moral values, such as filial piety, than with foreign influences. One leader, for instance, Zhu Hongdeng (Red Lantern Zhu), started as a wandering healer, specializing in skin ulcers, and gained wide respect by refusing payment for his treatments. Template:Sfnb Zhu claimed descent from Ming dynasty emperors, since his surname was the surname of the Ming Imperial Family. He announced that his goal was to "Revive the Qing and destroy the foreigners" ("扶清灭洋": "Fu Qing mie yang"). [10]
Although women were not allowed to join the Boxer units, they formed their own groups, the Red Lanterns . Local lore reported that they were able to fly, walk on water, set Christians' homes on fire, and stop foreign guns, powers which the male Boxers themselves did not claim. But the only reliable account of their actual activities comes from the Battle of Tientsin , when they nursed wounded Boxers and did work such as sewing and cleaning. Template:Sfnb
Causes of conflict and unrest
International tension and domestic unrest fueled the spread of the Boxer movement. First, a drought followed by floods in Shandong province in 1897–1898 forced farmers to flee to cities and seek food. As one observer said, "I am convinced that a few days' heavy rainfall to terminate the long-continued drought ... would do more to restore tranquility than any measures which either the Chinese government or foreign governments can take." [11]
A French political cartoon depicting China as a pie about to be carved up by Queen Victoria ( Britain ), Kaiser Wilhelm II ( Germany ), Tsar Nicholas II ( Russia ), Marianne ( France ) and a samurai ( Japan ), while a Chinese mandarin helplessly looks on.
A major cause of discontent in north China was missionary activity. The Treaty of Tientsin (or Tianjin) and the Convention of Peking , signed in 1860 after the Second Opium War , had granted foreign missionaries the freedom to preach anywhere in China and to buy land on which to build churches. Template:Sfnb On 1 November 1897, a band of armed men who were perhaps members of the Big Swords Society stormed the residence of a German missionary from the Society of the Divine Word and killed two priests. This attack is known as the Juye Incident . When Kaiser Wilhelm II received news of these murders, he dispatched the German East Asia Squadron to occupy Jiaozhou Bay on the southern coast of the Shandong peninsula. Template:Sfnb Germany's action triggered a "scramble for concessions " by which Britain, France, Russia, and Japan also secured their own sphere of influence in China. Template:Sfnb
In October 1898, a group of Boxers attacked the Christian community of Liyuantun Village where a temple to the Jade Emperor had been converted into a Catholic church. Disputes had surrounded the church since 1869, when the temple had been granted to the Christian residents of the village. This incident marked the first time the Boxers used the slogan "Support the Qing, destroy the foreigners" ("扶清灭洋": "Fu Qing mie yang") that would later characterise them. Template:Sfnb The "Boxers" called themselves the "Militia United in Righteousness" for the first time one year later, at the Battle of Senluo Temple (October 1899), a clash between Boxers and Qing government troops. Template:Sfnb By using the word "Militia" rather than "Boxers," they distanced themselves from forbidden martial arts sects, and tried to give their movement the legitimacy of a group that defended orthodoxy. Template:Sfnb
Aggression toward missionaries and Christians drew the ire of foreign (mainly European) governments. [12] In 1899, the French minister in Beijing helped the missionaries to obtain an edict granting official status to every order in the Roman Catholic hierarchy, enabling local priests to support their people in legal or family disputes and bypass the local officials. After the German government took over Shandong many Chinese feared that the missionaries and quite possibly all Christians were imperialist attempts at "carving the melon," i.e., to divide and colonise China piece by piece. Template:Sfnb A Chinese official expressed the animosity towards foreigners succinctly, "Take away your missionaries and your opium and you will be welcome." [13]
The early growth of the Boxer movement coincided with the Hundred Days' Reform (11 June – 21 September 1898). Progressive Chinese officials, with support from Protestant missionaries, persuaded Emperor Guangxu to institute reforms which alienated many conservative officials by their sweeping nature. Such opposition from conservative officials led the Empress Dowager to intervene and reverse the reforms. The failure of the reform movement disillusioned many educated Chinese and thus further weakened the Qing government. After the reforms ended the conservative Empress Dowager Cixi seized power and placed the reformist Guangxu Emperor under house arrest.
The national crisis was widely seen as being caused by foreign aggression. Template:Sfnb Foreign powers had defeated China in several wars, asserted a right to promote Christianity and imposed unequal treaties under which foreigners and foreign companies in China were accorded special privileges, extraterritorial rights and immunities from Chinese law, causing resentment and xenophobic reactions among the Chinese. France, Japan, Russia and Germany carved out spheres of influence, so that by 1900 it appeared that China would likely be dismembered, with foreign powers each ruling a part of the country. Thus, by 1900, the Qing dynasty, which had ruled China for more than two centuries, was crumbling and Chinese culture was under assault by powerful and unfamiliar religions and secular cultures. [14]
Boxer War
File:Chinese Muslim Kansu Braves 1900 Boxer Rebellion.jpg
Chinese Muslim troops from Gansu , also known as the Gansu Braves , killed a Japanese diplomat on 11 June 1900. Foreigners called them the "10,000 Islamic rabble." [15]
In January 1900, with a majority of conservatives in the Imperial Court, the Empress Dowager changed her long policy of suppressing Boxers, and issued edicts in their defense, causing protests from foreign powers. In Spring 1900, the Boxer movement spread rapidly north from Shandong into the countryside near Beijing. Boxers burned Christian churches, killed Chinese Christians, and intimidated Chinese officials who stood in their way. American Minister Edwin H. Conger cabled Washington, "the whole country is swarming with hungry, discontented, hopeless idlers." On 30 May the diplomats, led by British Minister Claude Maxwell MacDonald , requested that foreign soldiers come to Beijing to defend the legations. The Chinese government reluctantly acquiesced, and the next day an international force of 435 navy troops from eight countries (75 French, 75 Russian, 75 British, 60 U.S., 50 German, 40 Italian, 30 Japanese, 30 Austrian) disembarked from warships and traveled by train from Dagu (Taku) to Beijing. They set up defensive perimeters around their respective missions. [16]
On 5 June, the railroad line to Tianjin was cut by Boxers in the countryside and Beijing was isolated. On 11 June, at Yongding gate , the secretary of the Japanese legation, Sugiyama Akira (杉山 彬 ? ), was attacked and killed by the Muslim soldiers of General Dong Fuxiang , who were guarding the southern part of the Beijing walled city. Template:Sfnb Armed with Mauser rifles but wearing traditional uniforms, Template:Sfnb Dong's troops had threatened the foreign Legations in the fall of 1898 soon after arriving in Beijing, [17] so much that troops from the United States Marine Corps had been called to Beijing to guard the legations. [18] The German Kaiser Wilhelm II was so alarmed by the Chinese Muslim troops that he requested the Caliph Abdul Hamid II of the Ottoman Empire to find a way to stop the Muslim troops from fighting. The Caliph agreed to the Kaiser's request and sent Enver Pasha (not the future Young Turk leader ) to China in 1901, but the rebellion was over by that time. [19]
Also on June 11, the first Boxer, dressed in his finery, was seen in the Legation Quarter. The German Minister, Clemens von Ketteler , and German soldiers captured a Boxer boy and inexplicably executed him. [20] In response, thousands of Boxers burst into the walled city of Beijing that afternoon and burned many of the Christian churches and cathedrals in the city, burning some victims alive. [21] American and British missionaries had taken refuge in the Methodist Mission and an attack there was repulsed by American Marines. The soldiers at the British Embassy and German Legations shot and killed several Boxers, [22] alienating the Chinese population of the city and nudging the Qing government toward support of the Boxers. The Muslim Gansu braves and Boxers, along with other Chinese then attacked and killed Chinese Christians around the legations in revenge for foreign attacks on Chinese. [23]
Seymour Expedition
File:BoxerJapaneseMarines.jpg
Japanese marines who served in the Seymour Expedition .
As the situation grew more violent, a second international force of 2,000 sailors and marines under the command of the British Vice-Admiral Edward Seymour , the largest contingent being British, was dispatched from Dagu to Beijing on 10 June 1900. The troops were transported by train from Dagu to Tianjin with the agreement of the Chinese government, but the railway between Tianjin and Beijing had been severed. Seymour resolved to move forward and repair the railway, or progress on foot if necessary, keeping in mind that the distance between Tianjin and Beijing was only 120 km. When Seymour left Tianjin and started toward Beijing, it angered the Chinese Imperial court. As a result, the pro-Boxer Manchu Prince Duan became leader of the Zongli Yamen (foreign office), replacing Prince Ching. Prince Duan was a member of the imperial Aisin Gioro clan (foreigners called him a "Blood Royal"), and Empress Dowager Cixi had named his son as next in line for the imperial throne. He became the effective leader of the Boxers, and he was extremely anti-foreigner like his friend Dong Fuxiang, and wanted to expel them from China. He soon ordered the Imperial army to attack the foreign forces. Confused by conflicting orders from Beijing, General Nie Shicheng let Seymour's army pass by in their trains. [24]
File:SeymourTianjin.jpg
Admiral Seymour returning to Tianjin with his wounded men, on 26 June.
After leaving Tianjin, the convoy quickly reached Langfang, but found the railway there to be destroyed. Seymour's engineers tried to repair the line, but the allied army found itself surrounded, as the railway both behind and in front of them had been destroyed. They were attacked from all parts by Chinese irregulars and Chinese governmental troops. Five thousand of Dong Fuxiang's " Gansu Braves " and an unknown number of "Boxers" won a costly but major victory over Seymour's troops at the Battle of Langfang on 18 June. [25] Template:Sfnb As the allied European army retreated from Langfang, they were constantly fired upon by cavalry, and artillery bombarded their positions. It was reported that the Chinese artillery was superior to the European artillery, since the Europeans did not bother to bring along much for the campaign, thinking they could easily sweep through Chinese resistance. The Europeans could not locate the Chinese artillery, which was raining shells upon their positions. [26] Mining, engineering, flooding, and simultaneous attacks were employed by Chinese troops. The Chinese also employed pincer movements, ambushes, and sniper tactics with some success against the foreigners. [27]
File:Italian mounted infantry in China 1900 HD-SN-99-01989.jpg
Italian mounted infantry near Tientsin in 1900
News arrived on 18 June regarding attacks on foreign legations. Seymour decided to continue advancing, this time along the Beihe river, toward Tongzhou , Script error: No such module "convert". from Beijing. By the 19th, they had to abandon their efforts due to progressively stiffening resistance and started to retreat southward along the river with over 200 wounded. Commandeering four civilian Chinese junks along the river, they loaded all their wounded and remaining supplies onto them and pulled them along with ropes from the riverbanks. By this point they were very low on food, ammunition and medical supplies. Unexpectedly they then happened upon The Great Xigu Arsenal , a hidden Qing munitions cache of which the Allied Powers had had no knowledge until then. They immediately captured and occupied it, discovering not only Krupp field guns, but rifles with millions of rounds in ammunition, along with millions of pounds of rice and ample medical supplies.
There they dug in and awaited rescue. A Chinese servant was able to infiltrate through the Boxer and Qing lines, informing the Eight Powers of the Seymour troops' predicament. Surrounded and attacked nearly around the clock by Qing troops and Boxers, they were at the point of being overrun. On 25 June, a regiment composed of 1800 men, (900 Russian troops from Port Arthur , 500 British seamen, with an ad hoc mix of other assorted Alliance troops) finally arrived on foot from Tientsin to rescue Seymour. Spiking the mounted field guns and setting fire to any munitions that they could not take (an estimated £3 million worth), Seymour, his force, and the rescue mission marched back to Tientsin, unopposed, on 26 June. Seymour's casualties during the expedition were 62 killed and 228 wounded. Template:Sfnb
Conflicting attitudes within the Imperial Court
File:Qing Imperial Army.jpg
Qing Imperial soldiers during the boxer rebellion
Meanwhile in Beijing, on June 16, the Empress Dowager summoned the Court for a mass audience and addressed the choices between using the Boxers to evict the foreigners from the city or seeking a diplomatic solution. In response to a high official who doubted the efficacy of the Boxers' magic, Cixi replied:
Perhaps their magic is not to be relied upon; but can we not rely on the hearts and minds of the people? Today China is extremely weak. We have only the people's hearts and minds to depend upon. If we cast them aside and lose the people's hearts, what can we use to sustain the country?
Both sides of the debate at court realized that popular support for the Boxers in the countryside was almost universal and that suppression would be both difficult and unpopular, especially when foreign troops were on the march. Template:Sfnb
Two factions were active during this debate. On one side were anti-foreigners who viewed foreigners as invasive and imperialistic and evoked a nativist populism. They advocated taking advantage of the Boxers to achieve the expulsion of foreign troops and foreign influences. The pro-foreigners on the other hand advanced rapprochement with foreign governments, seeing the Boxers as superstitious and ignorant.
The event that tilted the Imperial Government irrevocably toward support of the Boxers and war with the foreign powers was the attack of foreign navies on the Dagu Forts near Tianjin, on 17 June 1900.
Siege of the Beijing legations
File:Western Legations Peking 1900 Clowes Vol VII.jpeg
Locations of foreign diplomatic legations and front lines in Beijing during the siege
On June 15, imperial Chinese forces deployed a weapon called "electric mines " in the river Beihe (Peiho) to prevent the Eight-Nation Alliance from sending ships to attack. [28] With a difficult military situation in Tianjin and a total breakdown of communications between Tianjin and Beijing, the allied nations took steps to reinforce their military presence significantly. On 17 June they took the Dagu Forts commanding the approaches to Tianjin, and from there brought increasing numbers of troops on shore. When Cixi received an ultimatum[ when? ] demanding that China surrender total control over all its military and financial affairs to foreigners, [29] she defiantly stated before the entire Grand Council , "Now they [the Powers] have started the aggression, and the extinction of our nation is imminent. If we just fold our arms and yield to them, I would have no face to see our ancestors after death. If we must perish, why not fight to the death?" [30] It was at this point that Cixi began to blockade the legations with the armies of the Peking Field Force , which began the siege. Cixi stated that "I have always been of the opinion, that the allied armies had been permitted to escape too easily in 1860 . Only a united effort was then necessary to have given China the victory. Today, at last, the opportunity for revenge has come," and said that millions of Chinese would join the cause of fighting the foreigners since the Manchus had provided "great benefits" on China. [31] On receipt of the news of the attack on the Dagu Forts on the 19 of June, the Empress Dowager immediately sent an order to the legations that the diplomats and other foreigners depart Beijing under escort of the Chinese army within 24 hours. [32]
The next morning, the German envoy Klemens Freiherr von Ketteler was killed on the streets of Beijing by a Manchu captain. [33] The other diplomats feared they also would be murdered if they left the legation quarter and they defied the Chinese order to depart Beijing. The legations were hurriedly fortified. Most of the foreign civilians, which included a large number of missionaries and businessmen, took refuge in the British legation, the largest of the diplomatic compounds.[ citation needed ] Chinese Christians were primarily housed in the adjacent palace (Fu) of Prince Su who was forced to abandon his property by the foreign soldiers.[ citation needed ]
File:Boxer2y.jpg
Eight nations alliance soldiers and European recruits
On the 21 of June, Empress Dowager Cixi declared war against all foreign powers. Regional governors who commanded substantial modernized armies, such as Li Hongzhang at Canton, Yuan Shikai in Shandong, Zhang Zhidong at Wuhan, and Liu Kunyi at Nanjing, refused to join in the Imperial Court's declaration of war and withheld knowledge of it from the public in the south. Yuan Shikai used his own forces to suppress Boxers in Shandong, and Zhang entered into negotiations with the foreigners in Shanghai to keep his army out of the conflict. The neutrality of these provincial and regional governors left the majority of China out of the conflict. [34]
The legations of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Austria-Hungary, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, the United States, Russia and Japan were located in the Beijing Legation Quarter south of the Forbidden City . The Chinese army and Boxer irregulars besieged the Legation Quarter from 20 June to 14 August 1900. A total of 473 foreign civilians, 409 soldiers from eight countries, and about 3,000 Chinese Christians took refuge there. [35] Under the command of the British minister to China, Claude Maxwell MacDonald , the legation staff and security personnel defended the compound with small arms, three machine guns, and one old muzzle-loaded cannon, which was nicknamed the International Gun because the barrel was British, the carriage Italian, the shells Russian, and the crew American. Chinese Christians in the legations led the foreigners to the cannon and it proved important in the defense. Also under siege in Beijing was the Northern Cathedral (Beitang) of the Catholic Church. The Beitang was defended by 43 French and Italian soldiers, 33 Catholic foreign priests and nuns, and about 3,200 Chinese Catholics. The defenders suffered heavy casualties especially from lack of food and mines which the Chinese exploded in tunnels dug beneath the compound. [36] The number of Chinese soldiers and Boxers besieging the Legation Quarter and the Beitang is unknown.
File:1900 China war, burning of the Temple.jpg
1900, soldiers burned down the Temple, Shanhaiguan . The destruction of a Chinese temple on the bank of the Pei-Ho, by Amédée Forestier
On the 22 and 23 of June, Chinese soldiers and Boxers set fire to areas north and west of the British Legation, using it as a "frightening tactic" to attack the defenders. The nearby Hanlin Academy , a complex of courtyards and buildings that housed "the quintessence of Chinese scholarship ... the oldest and richest library in the world," caught fire. Each side blamed the other for the destruction of the invaluable books it contained. [37]
After the failure to burn out the foreigners, the Chinese army adopted an anaconda-like strategy. The Chinese built barricades surrounding the Legation Quarter and advanced, brick by brick, on the foreign lines, forcing the foreign soldiers to retreat a few feet at a time. This tactic was especially used in the Fu, defended by Japanese and Italian soldiers and inhabited by most of the Chinese Christians. Fusillades of bullets, artillery, and firecrackers were directed against the Legations almost every night—but did little damage. Sniper fire took its toll among the foreign soldiers. Despite their numerical advantage, the Chinese did not attempt a direct assault on the Legation Quarter although in the words of one of the besieged, "it would have been easy by a strong, swift movement on the part of the numerous Chinese troops to have annihilated the whole body of foreigners ... in an hour." [38] American missionary Frank Gamewell and his crew of "fighting parsons" fortified the Legation Quarter, [39] but impressed Chinese Christians to do most of the physical labor of building defenses. [40]
The Germans and the Americans occupied perhaps the most crucial of all defensive positions: the Tartar Wall. Holding the top of the Script error: No such module "convert". tall and Script error: No such module "convert". wide wall was vital. The German barricades faced east on top of the wall and Script error: No such module "convert". west were the west-facing American positions. The Chinese advanced toward both positions by building barricades even closer. "The men all feel they are in a trap," said the American commander, Capt. John T. Myers , "and simply await the hour of execution." [41] On 30 June, the Chinese forced the Germans off the Wall, leaving the American Marines alone in its defense. At the same time, a Chinese barricade was advanced to within a few feet of the American positions and it became clear that the Americans had to abandon the wall or force the Chinese to retreat. At 2 am on 3 July, 56 British, Russian, and American soldiers under the command of Myers launched an assault against the Chinese barricade on the wall. The attack caught the Chinese sleeping, killed about 20 of them, and expelled the rest of them from the barricades. [42] The Chinese did not attempt to advance their positions on the Tartar Wall for the remainder of the siege. [43]
Sir Claude MacDonald said 13 July was the "most harassing day" of the siege. Template:Sfnb The Japanese and Italians in the Fu were driven back to their last defense line. The Chinese detonated a mine beneath the French Legation pushing the French and Austrians out of most of the French Legation. Template:Sfnb On 16 July, the most capable British officer was killed and the journalist George Ernest Morrison was wounded. [44] But American Minister Edwin Hurd Conger established contact with the Chinese government and on 17 July, an armistice was declared by the Chinese. Template:Sfnb More than 40% of the legation guards were dead or wounded. The motivation of the Chinese was probably the realization that an allied force of 20,000 men had landed in China and retribution for the siege was at hand.
Officials and commanders at cross purposes
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Han Chinese General Nie Shicheng , who fought both the Boxers and the Allies. Template:Sfnb
The Manchu General Ronglu concluded that it was futile to fight all of the powers simultaneously, and declined to press home the siege. Template:Sfnb The Manchu Zaiyi (prince Duan), an anti-foreign friend of Dong Fuxiang , wanted artillery for Dong's troops to destroy the legations. Ronglu blocked the transfer of artillery to Zaiyi and Dong, preventing them from attacking. [45] Ronglu forced Dong Fuxiang and his troops to pull back from completing the siege and destroying the legations, thereby saving the foreigners and making diplomatic concessions. Template:Sfnb Ronglu and Prince Qing sent food to the legations, and used their Manchu Bannermen to attack the Muslim Gansu Braves ("Kansu Braves" in the spelling of the time) of Dong Fuxiang and the Boxers who were besieging the foreigners. They issued edicts ordering the foreigners to be protected, but the Gansu warriors ignored it, and fought against Bannermen who tried to force them away from the legations. The Boxers also took commands from Dong Fuxiang. [46] Ronglu also deliberately hid an Imperial Decree from General Nie Shicheng . The Decree ordered him to stop fighting the Boxers because of the foreign invasion, and also because the population was suffering. Due to Ronglu's actions, General Nie continued to fight the Boxers and killed many of them even as the foreign troops were making their way into China. Ronglu also ordered Nie to protect foreigners and save the railway from the Boxers. [47] Because parts of the Railway were saved under Ronglu's orders, the foreign invasion army was able to transport itself into China quickly. General Nie committed thousands of troops against the Boxers instead of against the foreigners. Nie was already outnumbered by the Allies by 4,000 men. General Nie was blamed for attacking the Boxers, as Ronglu let Nie take all the blame. At the Battle of Tianjin (Tientsin) , General Nie decided to sacrifice his life by walking into the range of Allied guns. Template:Sfnb
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Han Chinese General Dong Fuxiang was overtly hostile to foreigners and his "Gansu Braves" relentlessly attacked the besieged legations.
Reflecting this vacillation, some Chinese soldiers were quite liberally firing at foreigners under siege from its very onset. The Dowager Empress did not personally order Chinese Imperial troops to conduct a siege, and on the contrary had ordered them to protect the foreigners in the legations. Prince Duan led the Boxers to loot his enemies within the Imperial court and the foreigners, although Imperial authorities expelled Boxer troops after they were let into the city and went on a looting rampage against both the foreign and the Chinese Imperial forces. Older Boxers were sent outside Beijing to halt the approaching foreign armies, while younger men were absorbed into the Muslim Gansu army. [50]
With conflicting allegiances and priorities motivating the various forces inside Beijing, the situation in the city became increasingly confused. The foreign legations continued to be surrounded by both Imperial and Gansu forces. While Dong Fuxiang's Gansu army, now swollen by the addition of the Boxers, wished to press the siege, Ronglu's Imperial forces seem to have largely attempted to follow the Dowager Empress's decree and protect the legations. However, to satisfy the conservatives in the Chinese imperial court Ronglu's men also fired on the legations and let off firecrackers to give the impression that they, too, were attacking the foreigners. Inside the legations and out of communication with the outside world, the foreigners simply fired on any targets that presented themselves, including messengers from the Chinese court, civilians and besiegers of all persuasions. [51] Dong Fuxiang was denied artillery held by Ronglu which stopped him from leveling the legations, and when he complained to the Empress Dowager on June 23 she dismissively said that "Your tail, is becoming too heavy to wag." The Alliance discovered large amounts of unused Chinese Krupp artillery and shells after the siege was lifted. Template:Sfnb
The armistice, although occasionally broken, endured until 13 August when, with an allied army led by the British Alfred Gaselee approaching Beijing to relieve the siege, the Chinese launched their heaviest fusillade on the Legation Quarter. As the foreign army approached, Chinese forces melted away.
Gaselee Expedition
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The Boxers bombarded Tianjin in June 1900, and Dong Fuxiang's Muslim troops attacked the British Admiral Seymour and his expeditionary force.
Foreign navies started building up their presence along the northern China coast from the end of April 1900. Several international forces were sent to the capital, with varying success, and the Chinese forces were ultimately defeated by the Eight-Nation Alliance of Austria-Hungary , France , Germany , Italy , Japan , Russia , the United Kingdom , and the United States .
British Lieutenant-General Alfred Gaselee acted as the commanding officer of the Eight-Nation Alliance, which eventually numbered 55,000. The main contingent was composed of Japanese (20,840), Russian (13,150), British (12,020), French (3,520), U.S. (3,420), German (900), Italian (80), Austro-Hungarian (75) and anti-Boxer Chinese troops. [53] The international force finally captured Tianjin on 14 July under the command of the Japanese Colonel Kuriya, after one day of fighting.
File:CaptureTianjin.jpg
The capture of the southern gate of Tianjin. British troops were positioned on the left, Japanese troops at the centre, French troops on the right.
Notable events included the seizure of the Dagu Forts commanding the approaches to Tianjin and the boarding and capture of four Chinese destroyers by British Commander Roger Keyes . Among the foreigners besieged in Tianjin was a young American mining engineer named Herbert Hoover , who would go on to become the 31st President of the United States. [54]
The march from Tianjin to Beijing of about 120 km included about 20,000 allied troops. On 4 August, there were approximately 70,000 Imperial troops and anywhere from 50,000 to 100,000 Boxers along the way. The allies only encountered minor resistance, fighting battles at Beicang and Yangcun . At Yangcun, the 14th Infantry Regiment of the U.S. and British troops led the assault. The weather was a major obstacle. Conditions were extremely humid with temperatures sometimes reaching Script error: No such module "convert".. These high temperatures and insects plagued the Allies. Soldiers dehydrated, and horses died. Chinese villagers killed Allied troops who searched for wells. Template:Sfnb
The heat killed Allied soldiers, who foamed at the mouth. The tactics along the way were gruesome on either side. Allied soldiers beheaded already dead Chinese corpses, bayoneted or beheaded live Chinese, and raped Chinese girls and women. [55] Cossacks were reported to have killed Chinese civilians almost automatically and Japanese kicked a Chinese soldier to death. [56] The Chinese responded with violence and mutilation, slaughtered captured Russians, [55] and Lieutenant Smedley Butler saw the remains of two Japanese soldiers who were tortured and killed by the Chinese, who gouged the eyes and cut off the tongues of Japanese soldiers before nailing them to doors. [57] Lieutenant Butler was wounded during the expedition in the leg and chest by bullets, later receiving the Brevet Medal in recognition for his actions.
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Chinese troops wearing modern uniforms in 1900
The international force reached Beijing on 14 August. Following the defeat of Beiyang army during the humiliating First Sino-Japanese War , the Chinese government had invested heavily in modernizing the imperial army, which was equipped with modern Mauser repeater rifles and Krupp artillery. Three modernized divisions consisting of Manchu Bannermen protected the Beijing Metropolitan region. Two of them were under the command of the anti-Boxer Prince Qing and Ronglu, while the anti-foreign Prince Duan commanded the ten-thousand-strong Hushenying , or "Tiger Spirit Division," which had joined the Gansu Braves and Boxers in attacking the foreigners. It was a Hushenying captain who had assassinated the German diplomat Ketteler. The Tenacious Army under Nie Shicheng received western style training under German and Russian officers in addition to their modernized weapons and uniforms. They effectively resisted the Alliance at the Battle of Tientsin before retreating and astounded the Alliance forces with the accuracy of their artillery during the siege of the Tianjin concessions (the artillery shells failed to explode upon impact due to corrupt manufacturing). The Gansu Braves under Dong Fuxiang, which some sources descried as "ill disciplined," were armed with modern weapons but were not trained according to western drill and wore traditional Chinese uniforms. They led the defeat of the Alliance at Langfang in the Seymour Expedition and were the most ferocious in besieging the Legations in Beijing. Some Banner forces were given modernized weapons and western training, becoming the Metropolitan Banner forces, which were decimated in the fighting. Among the Manchu dead was the father of the writer Lao She .[ citation needed ]
File:Siege of Peking, Boxer Rebellion.jpg
Corporal Titus scaling the walls of Peking
The British won the race among the international forces to be the first to reach the besieged Legation Quarter. The U.S. was able to play a role due to the presence of U.S. ships and troops stationed in Manila since the U.S. conquest of the Philippines during the Spanish–American War and the subsequent Philippine Insurrection . In the U.S. military, the action in the Boxer Rebellion was known as the China Relief Expedition . American soldiers scaling the walls of Beijing is an iconic image of the Boxer Rebellion. [58]
The British Army reached the legation quarter on the afternoon of 14 August and relieved the Legation Quarter. The Beitang was relieved on 16 August, first by Japanese soldiers and then, officially, by the French. Template:Sfnb
Evacuation of Imperial Court from Beijing to Xi'an
File:BoxerTroops.jpg
Painting of Western and Japanese troops
In the early hours of 15 August, just as the Foreign Legations were being relieved, the Empress Dowager, dressed in the padded blue cotton of a farm woman, the Emperor Guangxu, and a small retinue climbed into three wooden ox carts and escaped from the city covered with rough blankets. Legend has it that the Empress Dowager then either ordered that the Emperor's favorite, Consort Zhen the Pearl Concubine, be thrown down a well in the Forbidden City or tricked her into drowning herself. The journey was made all the more arduous by the lack of preparation, but the Empress Dowager insisted this was not a retreat, rather a "tour of inspection." After weeks of travel, the party arrived in Xi'an in Shaanxi province, beyond protective mountain passes where the foreigners could not reach, deep in Chinese Muslim territory and protected by the Gansu Braves. The foreigners had no orders to pursue the Empress, so they decided to stay put. Template:Sfnb
The Muslim Gansu Braves under Muslim General Ma Fulu engaged in fierce fighting during the Battle of Peking (1900) at Zhengyang Gate against the Eight Nation Alliance. [59] [60] [61] Ma Fulu and 100 of his fellow Hui Muslim and Dongxiang Muslim soldiers from his home village died in that battle. [62] [63] Ma Fulu's brother Ma Fuxiang took over his posts. The Muslim Gansu Braves escorted the imperial family to Xi'an when they decided to flee. The Muslim General Ma Anliang was part of the escort. Ma Fuxiang was rewarded by the Emperor, being appointed governor of Altay for his service. [64] Ma Fuxing also served under Ma Fulu to guard the Qing Imperial court during the fighting. [65] The future Muslim General Ma Biao , who became famous for fighting the Japanese in the Second Sino-Japanese War , served under the Muslim General Ma Haiyan while fighting in the Boxer Rebellion and guarding the Imperial Court. [66] General Ma Haiyan died of exhaustion after the Imperial Court reach their destination, and his son Ma Qi took over his posts.
Russian invasion of Manchuria
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Russian officers in Manchuria during the Boxer Rebellion
The Russian Empire and the Qing Empire had maintained a long peace, starting with the Treaty of Nerchinsk in 1689, but Tsarist forces took advantage of Chinese defeats to impose the Aigun Treaty of 1858 and the Treaty of Peking of 1860 which ceded territory in Manchuria much of which is held by Russia to the present day ( Primorye ). The Russians aimed for control over Amur River for navigation, and the all weather ports of Dairen and Port Arthur in the Liaodong peninsula. The rise of Japan as an Asian power provoked Russia's anxiety, especially in light of expanding Japanese influence in Korea. Following Japan's victory in the First Sino-Japanese War of 1895, the Triple Intervention of Russia, Germany and France forced Japan to return the territory won in Liaodong, leading to a de facto Sino-Russian alliance.
Local Chinese in Manchuria were incensed at these Russian advances and began to harass Russians and Russian institutions, such as the Chinese Eastern Railway . In June 1900, the Chinese bombarded the town of Blagoveshchensk on the Russian side of the Amur. The Czar's government used the pretext of Boxer activity to move some 200,000 troops into the area to crush the Boxers . The Chinese used arson to destroy a bridge carrying a railway and a barracks in 27 July. The Boxers destroyed railways and cut lines for telegraphs and burned the Yantai mines. [67]
By 21 September, Russian troops took Jilin and Liaodong, and by the end of the month completely occupied Manchuria, where their presence was a major factor leading to the Russo-Japanese War .
The Chinese Honghuzi bandits of Manchuria, who had fought alongside the Boxers in the war, did not stop when the Boxer rebellion was over, and continued guerilla warfare against the Russian occupation up to the Russo-Japanese war when the Russians were defeated by Japan.
Massacre of missionaries and Chinese Christians
The Holy Chinese Martyrs of the Orthodox Church as depicted in an icon commissioned in 1990
Protestant and Catholic missionaries and their Chinese parishioners were massacred throughout northern China, some by Boxers and others by government troops and authorities. After the declaration of war on Western powers in June 1900, Yuxian, who had been named governor of Shanxi in March of that year, implemented a brutal anti-foreign and anti-Christian policy. On 9 July, reports circulated that he had executed forty-four foreigners (including women and children) from missionary families whom he had invited to the provincial capital Taiyuan under the promise to protect them. Template:Sfnb Template:Sfnb Although the purported eye witness accounts have recently been questioned as improbable,[ by whom? ] this event became a notorious symbol of Chinese anger, known as the Taiyuan Massacre . [68] By the summer's end, more foreigners and as many as 2,000 Chinese Christians had been put to death in the province. Journalist and historical writer Nat Brandt has called the massacre of Christians in Shanxi "the greatest single tragedy in the history of Christian evangelicalism." [69]
During the Boxer Rebellion as a whole, a total of 136 Protestant missionaries and 53 children were killed, and 47 Catholic priests and nuns. Thirty thousand Chinese Catholics, 2,000 Chinese Protestants, and 200 to 400 of the 700 Russian Orthodox Christians in Beijing were estimated to have been killed. Collectively, the Protestant dead were called the China Martyrs of 1900 . [70] The Boxers went on to murder Christians across 26 prefectures. [71]
Aftermath
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The occupation of Beijing. British sector in yellow, French in blue, US in green and ivory, German in red, and Japanese in light green.
Beijing, Tianjin, and other cities in northern China were occupied for more than one year by the international expeditionary force under the command of German General Alfred Graf von Waldersee . The German force arrived too late to take part in the fighting, but undertook several punitive expeditions to the countryside against the Boxers. Although atrocities by foreign troops were common, German troops in particular were criticized for their enthusiasm in carrying out Kaiser Wilhelm II's words. On 27 July 1900, when Wilhelm II spoke during departure ceremonies for the German contingent to the relief force in China, an impromptu, but intemperate reference to the Hun invaders of continental Europe would later be resurrected by British propaganda to mock Germany during World War I and World War II.
"Should you encounter the enemy, he will be defeated! No quarter will be given! Prisoners will not be taken! Whoever falls into your hands is forfeited. Just as a thousand years ago the Huns under their King Attila made a name for themselves, one that even today makes them seem mighty in history and legend, may the name German be affirmed by you in such a way in China that no Chinese will ever again dare to look cross-eyed at a German." [72]
The Germans were not the only offenders. On behalf of Chinese Catholics, French troops ravaged the countryside around Beijing to collect indemnities—and on one occasion arresting American missionary William Scott Ament who beat them to the punch in gathering wealth from some villages. [73] Nor were the soldiers of other nationalities any better behaved. "The Russian soldiers are ravishing the women and committing horrible atrocities" in the sector of Beijing they occupied. The Japanese were noted for their skill in beheading Boxers or people suspected of being Boxers. The American General Chaffee commented, "It is safe to say that where one real Boxer has been killed... fifty harmless coolies or laborers on the farms, including not a few women and children, have been slain." [74]
The intermediate aftermath of the siege in Beijing was what one newspaper called a "carnival of loot," and others called "an orgy of looting" by soldiers, civilians, and missionaries. These characterizations called to mind the sacking of the Summer Palace in 1860 . [75] All of the nationalities in the expeditionary force engaged in looting, Template:Sfnb but each nationality accused the others of being the worst looters. An American diplomat, Herbert G. Squiers , filled several railroad cars with loot. The British Legation held loot auctions every afternoon and proclaimed, "looting on the part of British troops was carried out in the most orderly manner." However, one British officer noted, "that it is one of the unwritten laws of war that a city which does not surrender at the last and is taken by storm is looted." For the rest of 1900-1901, the British held loot auctions everyday except Sunday in front of the main-gate to the British Legation at Peking . Many foreigners, including Sir Claude Maxwell MacDonald and Lady Ethel MacDonald, George Ernest Morrison of The Times , were active bidders among the crowd. Many of the things stolen from China by British and foreign forces ended up winding to Europe. Template:Sfnb The Catholic Beitang or North Cathedral was a "salesroom for stolen property." [76] The American commander General Adna Chaffee banned looting by American soldiers, but the ban was ineffectual. [77]
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Execution of Boxers after the rebellion.
The missionaries were the most condemned. Mark Twain reflected American outrage against looting and imperialism in his essay, "To the Person Sitting in Darkness" . American Board Missionary Ament was his target. [78] To provide restitution to missionaries and Chinese Christian families whose property had been destroyed, Ament guided American troops through villages to punish Boxers and confiscate their property. When Mark Twain read of this expedition, he wrote a scathing attack on the "Reverend bandits of the American Board." Ament was one of the most respected and courageous missionaries in China and the controversy between him and Mark Twain was front page news during much of 1901. Ament's counterpart on the distaff side was doughty British missionary Georgina Smith who presided over a neighborhood in Beijing as judge and jury. [79]
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Japanese troops during the boxer rebellion
One witness recalled that "[t]he conduct of the Russian soldiers is atrocious, the French are not much better, and the Japanese are looting and burning without mercy." Template:Sfnb It was reported that Japanese troops were astonished by other Alliance troops raping civilians. [80] Roger Keyes, who commanded the British destroyer Fame and accompanied the Gaselee Expedition, noted that the Japanese had brought their own "regimental wives" (prostitutes) to the front to keep their soldiers from raping Chinese civilians. Template:Sfnb Thousands of Chinese women committed suicide; The Daily Telegraph journalist E. J. Dillon stated it was to avoid rape by Alliance forces, and he witnessed the mutilated corpses of Chinese women who were raped and killed by the Alliance troops. The French commander dismissed the rapes, attributing them to "gallantry of the French soldier." A foreign journalist, George Lynch, said "there are things that I must not write, and that may not be printed in England, which would seem to show that this Western civilization of ours is merely a veneer over savagery." Template:Sfnb
The Americans and British had also paid General Yuan Shikai and his army (the Right Division ) to help the Eight Nation Alliance suppress the Boxers. Yuan Shikai's forces killed tens of thousands of people in their anti Boxer campaign in Zhili Province and Shandong after the Alliance captured Beijing. [81] Yuan operated out of Baoding during the campaign, which ended in 1902. [82]
Many Manchu Bannermen in Beijing supported the Boxers in the Boxer Rebellion and shared their anti-foreign sentiment. [83] The Manchu Bannermen were devastated by the fighting during the First Sino-Japanese War and the Boxer Rebellion, their properties were destroyed and a large number were killed and, in the words of historian Pamela Crossley , their living conditions went "from desperate poverty to true misery." [84] Much of the fighting in the Boxer Rebellion against the foreigners in defense of Beijing and Manchuria was done by Manchu Banner armies which were destroyed while resisting the invasion, the German Minister Clemens von Ketteler was assassinated by a Manchu. [85] Thousands of Manchus fled south from Aigun during the fighting in the Boxer Rebellion in 1900, their cattles and horses were then stolen by Russian Cossacks who then burned their villages and homes until only ashes were left. [86] The clan system of the Manchus in Aigun was obliterated by the despoliation of the area at the hands of the Russian invaders. [87]
Reparations
After the capture of Peking by the foreign armies, some of the Dowager Empress's advisers advocated that the war be carried on, arguing that China could have defeated the foreigners as it was disloyal and traitorous people within China who allowed Beijing and Tianjin to be captured by the Allies, and that the interior of China was impenetrable. They also recommended that Dong Fuxiang continue fighting. The Dowager was practical, however, and decided that the terms were generous enough for her to acquiesce when she was assured of her continued reign after the war and that China would not be forced to cede any territory. [88]
On 7 September 1901, the Qing court agreed to sign the " Boxer Protocol " also known as Peace Agreement between the Eight-Nation Alliance and China. The protocol ordered the execution of 10 high-ranking officials linked to the outbreak and other officials who were found guilty for the slaughter of foreigners in China. Alfons Mumm (Freiherr von Schwarzenstein), Ernest Satow and Komura Jutaro signed on behalf of Germany, Britain and Japan respectively.
China was fined war reparations of 450,000,000 taels of fine silver (≈Script error: No such module "convert". @ 1.2 ozt/tael) for the loss that it caused. The reparation was to be paid within 39 years, and would be 982,238,150 taels with interest (4 percent per year) included. To help meet the payment it was agreed to increase the existing tariff from an actual 3.18 percent to 5 percent, and to tax hitherto duty-free merchandise. The sum of reparation was estimated by the Chinese population (roughly 450 million in 1900), to let each Chinese pay one tael. Chinese custom income and salt tax were enlisted as guarantee of the reparation. China paid 668,661,220 taels of silver from 1901 to 1939, equivalent in 2010 to ≈US$61 billion on a purchasing power parity basis. [89]
A large portion of the reparations paid to the United States was diverted to pay for the education of Chinese students in U.S. universities under the Boxer Indemnity Scholarship Program . To prepare the students chosen for this program an institute was established to teach the English language and to serve as a preparatory school. When the first of these students returned to China they undertook the teaching of subsequent students; from this institute was born Tsinghua University . Some of the reparation due to Britain was later earmarked for a similar program.
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American troops during the Boxer Rebellion.
The China Inland Mission lost more members than any other missionary agency: [90] 58 adults and 21 children were killed. However, in 1901, when the allied nations were demanding compensation from the Chinese government, Hudson Taylor refused to accept payment for loss of property or life in order to demonstrate the meekness and gentleness of Christ to the Chinese. [91]
The French Catholic vicar apostolic, Msgr. Alfons Bermyn wanted foreign troops garrisoned in inner Mongolia, but the Governor refused. Bermyn petitioned the Manchu Enming to send troops to Hetao where Prince Duan's Mongol troops and General Dong Fuxiang's Muslim troops allegedly threatened Catholics. It turned out that Bermyn had created the incident as a hoax. [92] [93]
The Qing did not capitulate to all the foreign demands. The Manchu Bannerman Governor Yuxian ( simplified Chinese : 毓贤; traditional Chinese : 毓賢; pinyin : Yùxián; Wade–Giles : Yü-hsien), was executed, but the Imperial court refused to execute the Han Chinese General Dong Fuxiang, although he had also encouraged the killing of foreigners during the rebellion. [94] The Empress Dowager intervened when the Alliance demanded him executed and Dong was only cashiered and sent back home. [62] Instead, Dong Fuxiang lived a life of luxury and power in "exile" in his home province of Gansu. [95] Upon Dong's death in 1908, all honors which had been stripped from him were restored and he was given a full military burial. [95]
In addition to sparing Dong Fuxiang, the Qing also refused to exile the Boxer supporter Prince Duan to Xinjiang, as the Allies demanded. Instead, he moved to Alashan, west of Ningxia , and lived in Wangyeh Fu, where the local Mongol Prince lived. He then moved to Ningxia during the Xinhai Revolution when the Muslims took control of Ningxia, and finally, moved to Xinjiang with Sheng Yun. [96]
Long-term consequences
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The European great powers finally ceased their ambitions of colonizing China having learned from the Boxer rebellions that the best way to deal with China was through the ruling dynasty, rather than directly with the Chinese people (a sentiment embodied in the adage: "The people are afraid of officials, the officials are afraid of foreigners, and the foreigners are afraid of the people"(老百姓怕官，官怕洋鬼子，洋鬼子怕老百姓)), and even briefly assisted the Qing in their war against the Japanese to prevent a Japanese domination in the region.
Concurrently, this period marks the ceding of European great power interference in Chinese affairs, with the Japanese replacing the Europeans as the dominant power for their lopsided involvement in the war against the Boxers as well as their victory in the First Sino-Japanese War . With the toppling of the Qing that followed and the rise of the Nationalist Kuomintang , European sway within China was reduced to symbolic status. After taking Manchuria in 1905, Japan came to dominate Asian affairs both militarily and culturally with many of the Chinese scholars also educated in Japan with the most prominent example being Sun Yat-Sen who would later found the Nationalist movement of the Kuomintang in China.
French 1901 China expedition commemorative medal . Musée de la Légion d'Honneur .
In October 1900, Russia occupied the provinces of Manchuria, [97] a move which threatened Anglo-American hopes of maintaining what remained of China's territorial integrity and the country's openness to commerce under the Open Door Policy .
Japan's clash with Russia over Liaodong and other provinces in eastern Manchuria, due to the Russian refusal to honor the terms of the Boxer protocol which called for their withdrawal, led to the Russo-Japanese War when two years of negotiations broke down in February 1904. The Russian Lease of the Liaodong (1898) was confirmed. Russia was ultimately defeated by an increasingly confident Japan.
Besides the compensation, Empress Dowager Cixi reluctantly started some reforms despite her previous views. Under her reforms known as the New Policies started in 1901, the imperial examination system for government service was eliminated and as a result the system of education through Chinese classics was replaced with a European liberal system that led to a university degree. Along with the formation of new military and police organisations, the reforms also simplified central bureaucracy and made a start on revamping taxation policies. [98] After the deaths of Cixi and the Guangxu Emperor in 1908, the regent (brother of the Guangxu Emperor) launched further reforms.
The effect on China was a weakening of the dynasty and its national defense capabilities. The government structure was temporarily sustained by the Europeans. Behind the international conflict, it further deepened internal ideological differences between northern-Chinese anti-foreign royalists and southern-Chinese anti-Qing revolutionists. This scenario in the last years of the Qing dynasty gradually escalated into a chaotic warlord era in which the most powerful northern warlords were hostile towards the revolutionaries in the south who overthrew the Qing monarchy in 1911. The rivalry was not fully resolved until the northern warlords were defeated by the Kuomintang 's 1926–28 Northern Expedition . Prior to the final defeat of the Boxer Rebellion, all anti-Qing movements in the previous century, such as the Taiping Rebellion , had been successfully suppressed by the Qing.
Historian Walter LaFeber has argued that President William McKinley 's decision to send 5,000 American troops to quell the rebellion marks "the origins of modern presidential war powers": [99]
McKinley took a historic step in creating a new, 20th-century presidential power. He dispatched the five thousand troops without consulting Congress, let alone obtaining a declaration of war, to fight the Boxers who were supported by the Chinese government ... Presidents had previously used such force against non-governmental groups that threatened U.S. interests and citizens. It was now used, however, against recognized governments, and without obeying the Constitution's provisions about who was to declare war .
Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. concurred, writing that: [100]
The intervention in China marked the start of a crucial shift in the presidential employment of armed force overseas. In the 19th century, military force committed without congressional authorization had been typically used against nongovernmental organizations. Now it was beginning to be used against sovereign states, and, in the case of Theodore Roosevelt , with less consultation than ever.
In the Second Sino-Japanese War , when the Japanese asked the Muslim General Ma Hongkui to defect and become head of a Muslim puppet state under the Japanese, Ma responded through Zhou Baihuang, the Ningxia Secretary of the Nationalist Party to remind the Japanese military chief of staff Itagaki Seishiro that many of his relatives fought and died in battle against Eight Nation Alliance forces during the Battle of Peking, including his uncle Ma Fulu , and that Japanese troops made up the majority of the Alliance forces so there would be no cooperation with the Japanese. [101]
Controversies and changing views of the Boxers
File:Boxer Prisoners Captured By 6th US Cavalry, Tientsin, China (1901) Underwood & Co (RESTORED) (4072872709).jpg
Boxers captured by the U.S. Army near Tianjin in 1901.
From the beginning, views differed as to whether the Boxers were better seen as anti-imperialist, patriotic, and proto-nationalist or as "uncivilized," irrational, and futile opponents of inevitable change. The historian Joseph Esherick comments that "confusion about the Boxer Uprising is not simply a matter of popular misconceptions," for "there is no major incident in China's modern history on which the range of professional interpretation is as great." Template:Sfnb
Foreign educated Chinese liberals like Hu Shi often condemned the Boxers for their irrationality and barbarity. [102] Chinese nationalists initially disdained them for their superstition and xenophobia. Dr. Sun Yat-sen , the founding father of the Republic of China and of the Nationalist Party at first believed that the Boxer Movement was stirred up by the Qing government's rumors, which "caused confusion among the populace," and delivered "scathing criticism" of the Boxers' "anti-foreignism and obscurantism." Sun praised the Boxers for their "spirit of resistance" but called them "bandits." Students shared an ambivalent attitude to the Boxers, stating that while the uprising originated from the "ignorant and stubborn people of the interior areas," their beliefs were "brave and righteous," and could "be transformed into a moving force for independence." [103] After the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1911, nationalist Chinese became more sympathetic to the Boxers. In 1918 Sun praised their fighting spirit and said the Boxers were courageous and fearless, fighting to the death against the Alliance armies, specifically the Battle of Yangcun . [104] The leader of the New Culture Movement , Chen Duxiu , forgave the "barbarism of the Boxer... given the crime foreigners committed in China," and contended that it was those "subservient to the foreigners" that truly "deserved our resentment." [105]
File:Chinese soldiers 1899 1901.jpg
Qing forces of Chinese soldiers in 1899–1901.
Left: two infantrymen of the New Imperial Army . Front: drum major of the regular army. Seated on the trunk: field artilleryman. Right: Boxers.
In other countries, views of the Boxers were complex and contentious. Mark Twain said that "the Boxer is a patriot. He loves his country better than he does the countries of other people. I wish him success." [106] The Russian writer Leo Tolstoy also praised the Boxers. He accused Nicholas II of Russia and Wilhelm II of Germany of being chiefly responsible for the lootings, rapes, and murders in what he saw as Christian brutality of the Russians and other western troops. [107] The Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin mocked the Russian government's claim that it was protecting Christian civilization: "Poor Imperial Government! So Christianly unselfish, and yet so unjustly maligned! Several years ago it unselfishly seized Port Arthur, and now it is unselfishly seizing Manchuria; it has unselfishly flooded the frontier provinces of China with hordes of contractors, engineers, and officers, who, by their conduct, have roused to indignation even the Chinese, known for their docility." [108]
The events also left a longer impact. The historian Robert Bickers found that for the British in China the Boxer rising served as the "equivalent of the Indian 'mutiny'" and came to represent the Yellow Peril . Later events, he adds, such as the Chinese Nationalist Revolution of the 1920s and even the Red Guards of the 1960s, were perceived as being in the shadow of the Boxers. [109]
In Taiwan (Republic of China) and Hong Kong , history textbooks often show the Boxer as uncivilized, irrational and xenophobic. But in the People's Republic of China , government textbooks presented the Boxer movement as an anti-imperialist, patriotic peasant movement whose failure was due to the lack of leadership from the modern working class, and described the international army as an invading force. In recent decades, however, large-scale projects of village interviews and explorations of archival sources have led historians in China to take a more nuanced view. Some non-Chinese scholars, such as Joseph Esherick, have seen the movement as anti-imperialist; while others hold that the concept "nationalistic" is anachronistic because the Chinese nation had not been formed and the Boxers were more concerned with regional issues. Paul Cohen's recent study includes a survey of "the Boxers as myth," showing how their memory was used in changing ways in 20th-century China from the New Culture Movement to the Cultural Revolution . [110]
In recent years the Boxer question has been debated in the People's Republic of China. In 1998, the critical scholar Wang Yi argued that the Boxers had features in common with the extremism of the Cultural Revolution . Both events had the external goal of "liquidating all harmful pests" and the domestic goal of "eliminating bad elements of all descriptions" and this relation was rooted in "cultural obscurantism." Wang explained to his readers the changes in attitudes towards the Boxers from the condemnation of the May Fourth Movement to the approval expressed by Mao Zedong during the Cultural Revolution. [111] In 2006 Yuan Weishi , a professor of philosophy at Zhongshan University in Guangzhou, wrote that the Boxers by their "criminal actions brought unspeakable suffering to the nation and its people! These are all facts that everybody knows, and it is a national shame that the Chinese people cannot forget." [112] Yuan charged that history text books had been lacking in neutrality in presenting the Boxer Uprising as a "magnificent feat of patriotism," and not presenting the view that the majority of the Boxer rebels were both violent and xenophobic. [113] In response, some labeled Yuan Weishi a "traitor" ( Hanjian ). [114]
Terminology of the Boxers: "rebellion" or "uprising"?
The first reports coming from China in 1898 referred to the village activists as "Yihequan," (Wade–Giles: I Ho Ch'uan). The first known use of the term "Boxer" was September 1899 in a letter from missionary Grace Newton in Shandong. It appears from context that "Boxer" was a known term by that time, possibly coined by the Shandong missionaries Arthur H. Smith and Henry Porter. [115] Smith says in his book of 1902 that the name
I Ho Ch'uan... literally denotes the 'Fists' (Ch'uan) of Righteousness (or Public) (I) Harmony (Ho), in apparent allusion to the strength of united force which was to be put forth. As the Chinese phrase 'fists and feet' signifies boxing and wrestling, there appeared to be no more suitable term for the adherents of the sect than 'Boxers,' a designation first used by one or two missionary correspondents of foreign journals in China, and later universally accepted on account of the difficulty of coining a better one. [116]
On 6 June 1900 the Times of London used the term "rebellion" in quotation marks, presumably to indicate their view that the rising was in fact instigated by the Empress Dowager. [117] The historian Lanxin Xiang refers to the "so called 'Boxer Rebellion,'" and explains that "while peasant rebellion was nothing new in Chinese history, a war against the world's most powerful states was." [118] The name "Boxer Rebellion," concludes Joseph Esherick, another recent historian, is truly a "misnomer," for the Boxers "never rebelled against the Manchu rulers of China and their Qing dynasty" and the "most common Boxer slogan, throughout the history of the movement, was "support the Qing, destroy the Foreign." He adds that only after the movement was suppressed by the Allied Intervention did both the foreign powers and influential Chinese officials realize that the Qing would have to remain as government of China in order to maintain order and collect taxes to pay the indemnity. Therefore in order to save face for the Empress Dowager and the Manchu court, the argument was made that the Boxers were rebels and that support from the court came only from a few Manchu princes. Esherick concludes that the origin of the term "rebellion" was "purely political and opportunistic," but it has shown a remarkable staying power, particularly in popular accounts. [119]
Other recent Western works refer to the "Boxer Movement," "Boxer War," or Yihetuan Movement, while Chinese studies use 义和团运动 (Yihetuan yundong), that is, "Yihetuan Movement." In his discussion of the general and legal implications of the terminology involved, the German scholar Thoralf Klein notes that all of the terms, including the Chinese ones, are "posthumous interpretations of the conflict." He argues that each term, whether it be "uprising," "rebellion," or "movement" implies a different definition of the conflict. Even the term "Boxer War," which has become widely used by recent scholars in the West, raises questions, as war was never declared, and Allied troops behaved as a punitive expedition in colonial style, not in a declared war with legal constraints. The Allies took advantage of the fact that China had not signed "The Laws and Customs of War on Land," a key document at the 1899 Hague Peace Conference . They argued that China had violated its provisions but themselves ignored them. Template:Sfnb
Later representations
By 1900, many new forms of media had matured, including illustrated newspapers and magazines, postcards, broadsides, and advertisements, all of which presented images of the Boxers and of the invading armies. [120] The rebellion was covered in the foreign illustrated press by artists and photographers. Paintings and prints were also published including Japanese wood-blocks. [121] In the following decades, the Boxers were a constant subject for comment. A sampling includes:
In the Polish play The Wedding by Stanisław Wyspiański , first published on 16 March 1901, even before the rebellion was finally crushed, the character of Czepiec asks the Journalist (Dziennikarz) one of the best-known questions in the history of Polish literature: "Cóz tam, panie, w polityce? Chińczyki trzymają się mocno!? ("How are things in politics, Mister? Are the Chinese holding out firmly!?"). [122]
Liu E , Lao Can Yuji [123] sympathetically shows an honest official trying to carry out reforms and depicts the Boxers as sectarian rebels.
G. A. Henty , With the Allies to Pekin, a Tale of the Relief of the Legations (New York: Scribners, 1903; London: Blackie, 1904). Juvenile fiction by a widely read author, depicts the Boxers as "a mob of ruffians."
A false or forged diary, Diary of his Excellency Ching-Shan: Being a Chinese Account of the Boxer Troubles , including text written by Edmund Backhouse , who claimed he recovered the document from a burnt building. It is suspected that Backhouse falsified the document, as well as other stories, because he was prone to tell tales dubious in nature, including claims of nightly visits to the Empress Dowager Cixi . [124]
In Hergé 's The Adventures of Tintin comic The Blue Lotus , Tintin's Chinese friend Chang Chong-Chen when they first meet, after Tintin saves the boy from drowning, the boy asks Tintin why he saved him from drowning as, according to Chang's uncle who fought in the Rebellion, all white people were wicked.
The novel Moment In Peking (1939), by Lin Yutang , opens during the Boxer Rebellion, and provides a child's-eye view of the turmoil through the eyes of the protagonist.
Tulku , a 1979 children's novel by Peter Dickinson , includes the effects of the Boxer Rebellion on a remote part of China.
The Diamond Age or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer (New York, 1996), by Neal Stephenson , includes a quasi-historical re-telling of the Boxer Rebellion as an integral component of the novel
The novel The Palace of Heavenly Pleasure (2003), by Adam Williams, describes the experiences of a small group of foreign missionaries, traders and railway engineers in a fictional town in northern China shortly before and during the Boxer Rebellion.
Illusionist William Ellsworth Robinson a.k.a. Chung Ling Soo had a bullet catch trick entitled "Condemned to Death by the Boxers," which famously resulted in his onstage death.
The 1963 film 55 Days at Peking starring Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner and David Niven. [125]
In 1975 Hong Kong's Shaw Brothers studio produced the film Boxer Rebellion ( Chinese : 八國聯軍; pinyin : bāguó liánjūn; Wade–Giles : Pa kuo lien chun; literally: "Eight-Nation Allied Army") under director Chang Cheh with one of the highest budgets to tell a sweeping story of disillusionment and revenge. [126]
Hong Kong's Shaw Brothers Legendary Weapons of China (1981), director Lau Kar Leung . A comedy starring Hsiao Ho (Hsiao Hou) as a disillusioned boxer of the Magic Clan who is sent to assassinate the former leader of a powerful boxer clan who refuses to dupe his students into believing they are impervious to firearms.
There are several flashbacks to the Boxer Rebellion in the television shows Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel . During the conflict, Spike kills his first slayer to impress Drusilla , and Angel decisively splits from Darla .
The 2003 movie, Shanghai Knights , starring Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson , shows that the Boxers still exist, working for Lord Rathbone, who wants to assassinate many members of the British Royal Family.
The Last Empress (Boston, 2007), by Anchee Min , describes the long reign of the Empress Dowager Cixi in which the siege of the legations is one of the climactic events in the novel.
Mo, Yan . Sandalwood Death. Viewpoint of villagers during Boxer Uprising. [127]
The pair of graphic novels by Gene Luen Yang , with color by Lark Pien, Boxers and Saints , describes the "bands of foreign missionaries and soldiers" who "roam the countryside bullying and robbing Chinese peasants." Little Bao, "harnessing the powers of ancient Chinese gods," recruits an army of Boxers, "commoners trained in kung fu who fight to free China from 'foreign devils.'" [128]
The 2013 video game Bioshock Infinite featured the Boxer Rebellion as a major historical moment for the floating city of Columbia. Columbia, in an effort to rescue American hostages during the rebellion, opened fire upon the city of Peking and burned it to the ground. These actions resulted in The United States recalling Columbia, which led to its secession from The Union.
The Boxer Rebellion is the historical backdrop for the episode titled "Kung Fu Crabtree" (Season 7, Episode 16, aired March 24, 2014) of the television series Murdoch Mysteries , when Chinese officials visit Toronto in 1900 in search of Boxers who have fled from China.
See also
^ Singer, Joel David, The Wages of War, 1816–1965 (1972)
^ Hammond Atlas of the 20th century (1996)
^ Rummel, Rudolph J.: China's Bloody Century : Genocide and Mass Murder Since 1900 (1991)
^ Summary accounts can be found in Spence, In Search of Modern China, pp. 230–235; Keith Schoppa, Revolution and Its Past, pp. 118–123; and Immanuel Hsu, Ch 16, "The Boxer Uprising," The Rise of Modern China (1990).
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Shanghai Facts - Get A General Information about Shanghai
Shanghai Facts
Home >> Shanghai Facts
Shanghai Facts
Shanghai, Hu for short, also known as Shen, is a multi-cultural metropolis with both modern and traditional chinese features. The city has a status equivalent to a province, and reports directly to the central government. Serving as the largest base of Chinese industrial technology, one of the most important seaports and China's largest commercial and financial center, Shanghai draws the attention of the whole world.
Location
Shanghai is situated at 31°41' north latitude and 121°29' east longitude. The city, whose name literally means "on the sea", is located on the east China coast just to the south of the mouth of the Yangtze river. Bordering on Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces on the west, Shanghai is washed by the east China sea on the east and Hangzhou Bay on the south. It also occupies a central location along China's coastline. Thanks to its advantageous geographic location, Shanghai is an excellent sea and river port, boasting easy access to the vast hinterland. See More >>
Shanghai Geographical Features
Except for a few hills lying in the southwest corner, most parts of the Shanghai area are flat and belong to the alluvial plain of the Yangtze River delta. The average sea level elevation is about 4 meters.
Shanghai Water Resources
Dotted with many rivers and lakes, the Shanghai area is known for its rich water resources. Most of the rivers are tributaries of the Huangpu River . Originated from the Taihu lake, the 113-kilometre-long Huangpu River winds through the downtown area of the city. The river is about 300 to 770 meters wide with an average width standing at 360 meters. The ice-free Huangpu River is the main waterway in the Shanghai area.
Shanghai Area
The city covers an area of 6,340.5 square kilometers, which extends about 120 kilometers in north and south and nearly 100 kilometers in east and west. Shanghai has an urban area of 2,643 square kilometers, land area of 6,219 square kilometers and water area of 122 square kilometers. The city's Chongming Island is the third largest island in China, covering an area of 1,041 square kilometers.
Shanghai Population
Shanghai is one of the most populated cities in China. It has a permanent resident population of 23,019,200, of which 12.21 million live in the urban areas. Shanghai population accounts for 1.1% of the Chinese population, with the average density of 2059 inhabitants per square kilometers (3854 in the urban areas). There is a huge floating population of itinerant workers, probably numbering two million.
According to the report of the fifth census in the year 2000, the population of the ethnic minority groups in Shanghai has reached 103,639. People of different minority nationalities are scattering all over Shanghai. Getting along well with people of Han nationality during the hundreds of years of developing process of Shanghai, they have made their lives better and better by the sweat of their brow, and with the help of these respectable people’s profound intelligence and wisdom, Shanghai has been made one of the most developed district of China, a merry land with rich history and culture and an oriental bright pearl standing erectly in eastern Asia.
The permanent residents of Shanghai come from china's 44 ethnic groups. The Han nationality accounts for 99.53% of the total. the rest of them are mainly from Hui, Man, Mongolian nationalities and Zhuang. Among these who believe in religion, most are Islam. As far as the statistics of 1990 is concerned, among the eight ethnic groups (Hui, Uighur, Kazakh, Tartar etc.) out of 44 in Shanghai, some 50965 people (81.98% of the population of minority nationalities in Shanghai) practice Islam. Besides Islam, many ethnic groups in Shanghai have also believed in Buddhism after it was introduced from Tibet long ago. People draw strength from their religious faith and live a colorful life, from which many special customs are formed.
Shanghai Administrative Divisions
Shanghai is divided into 16 districts and 3 counties. There are 205 towns, 9 townships, 99 subdistrict committees, 3,278 neighborhood committees and 2,935 villagers' committees in the city. The 16 districts are Hangpu, Luwan, Changning, Putuo, Hongkou, Minhang, Jiading, Jinshan, Songjiang, Qingpu, Nanshi, Xuhui, Jing'an, Zhabei, Yangpu, Baoshan, and Pudong New Area . The 3 counties are Fengxian, Nanhui and Chongming.
Shanghai City Emblem
Design of the city emblem of Shanghai was approved by the standing committee of the Shanghai Municipal People's Congress in 1990. The triangle emblem consists of a white magnolia flower, a large junk and a propeller. The propeller symbolizes the continuous advancement of the city; the large junk, one of the oldest vessels plying Shanghai's harbor, represents the long history and bright future of the port; and the large junk is set against a white magnolia flower blossoming in the early spring.
Shanghai City Flower - the White Magnolia
In 1986, the standing committee of the Shanghai Municipal People's Congress passed a resolution adopting the white magnolia as the city flower. The white magnolia is among the few spring flowers in the Shanghai area. it is in full blossom in early spring and before the clear and bright festival, which usually falls on April 5. The flower has large, white petals and its eye always looks towards the sky. Therefore, the flower symbolizes the pioneering and enterprising spirit of the city.
Shanghai Culture
Shanghai is an international city that melts with different cultures from all over the world; we call it Shanghai Regional Culture. Shanghai Culture is original from Traditional Chinese Culture and melted with the Wu and Yue Dynasty Culture, and with a deep affected by Western Culture. Shanghai created a new regional culture, with its unique characteristic, it feather in absorb culture from all over the world, good at abandon and pursuit excellent and innovation. The basic characteristic of this culture are more opening, creative and diversity.
Shanghai Industry
Banking on the large industrial centers and large projects, the city’s industries achieved continued growth rate. In 2005, Shanghai realized an industrial added value of 415.523 billion Yuan, 1.4 times from 2000 base on the statistic; it is representing an average annual growth rate up to 17%. totally, the heavy industrial sector made up for 291.293 billion Yuan while light industrial sector accounted for 108.175 billion Yuan. The city's total industrial output value is reached to 1,687.678 billion Yuan, up 1.4 times from 2000 base on the statistic history; it means an average annual growth of 19.2%.
Shanghai has further enhanced of the functions of the financial and insurance services. By the end of 2005, the added value in this sector totaled 68.987 billion Yuan, base on 7.5% of the city's GDP. In 2005, the People’s Bank of China founded its Shanghai headquarters, pushing the city a solid step forward toward becoming one of the world’s financial centers. AS of the end of 2005, the balance of deposit accounts of all financial institutions in the city is totally of 2,332.086 billion Yuan, and the balance of loans was 1,679.812 billion Yuan. The quality of their assets further improved.
By the end of the year, the bad loan rate of the Chinese-owned financial institutions stood at 3.39%, representing a decrease of 0.58 percentage points from the beginning of the year. The insurance market enjoyed healthy growth. By the end of 2005, there were 70 insurance companies and 157 insurance brokerages in the city. They reported total premium revenue of 33.362 billion Yuan, up 8.8% from the previous year.
In 2008, the city’s IT industry reported a total added value of 167.052 billion Yuan, up 14.2% from the previous year. The added value of the IT manufacturing sector reached 94.461 billion Yuan, representing a year-on-year growth of 11.2%. The added value of IT products sales reached 3.527 billion Yuan, up 21% and that of IT service businesses 69.064 billion Yuan, up 18.4%.
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Why Shanghai's Zhabei district is a 'residence of terrific joy' for expats - Telegraph
Expat Property
Why Shanghai's Zhabei district is a 'residence of terrific joy' for expats
It might be on the wrong side of the river, but Shanghai's Zhabei district is an excellent place for young foreign professionals to live.
The "up and coming" Zhabei district is perfect for young professionals.
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Many foreign workers have settled in Zhabei, which offers good value for money compared to other areas nearby.
Josephine McDermott
Comments
The north of Suzhou Creek in Zhabei district , close to Shanghai Railway Station, is the type of place that people refer to as “up and coming”, as they once said of places like Clapham and Vauxhall. And yes, Zhabei too is the "wrong" side, north in this case, of the river. Its location to the west of Shanghai’s main water route, the Huangpu River, does, however mean it is still firmly on the more happening side of town as opposed to the east, Pudong, which is full of soulless malls.
In the same way I needed convincing to move from Chelsea to Earlsfield a few years ago, it took persuasion to lever me from Jingan Temple district in the heart of the city, south of Suzhou Creek, to Zhabei, over the bridge, and to some, beyond the pale. But Zhabei like Earlsfield offered value for money. The cost of rental properties is 25 per cent lower. A housing complex near Hanzhong Lu, called Le Loft in English or Zhuo Yue Ju, literally "Residence of Terrific Joy" has, indeed, offered terrific joy to many expats.
People started moving into the newly built complex of four buildings, each with 32 floors, in 2008. Local estate agent, Ben Wei Wei from Big Panda agency reckons 40 per cent of occupants are foreigners. His company has rented about 130 apartments to foreigners in the last six months. They like the fact it is 10 minutes from the commercial area of Nanjing Road complete with its own Marks & Spencer, and two metro stops away from People’s Square, a shopping, business and nightlife hub. The district also has what the Zhabei local government claims to be the biggest park in Shanghai, Daning Lingshi Park, providing some relief from the city’s smog.
The complex itself has 24-hour security (not that you even need it in Shanghai) and its own gym. A modern, 90-square-metre, two-bedroom apartment costs between 5,500 (£535) and 6,000RMB (£583) to rent per month, or from 3,500,000 (£343,087) to 3,600,000RMB (£352,890) to buy. With Shanghai’s property bubble, it is four times more expensive to buy a flat now than it was two years ago.
The district government is investing in the area north of Suzhou Creek to create a “mini CBD” covering about 750,000 square metres. Historically full of factories and a centre for the commercial printing press, it was a good candidate for modernisation. The government plans to develop cultural projects along the creek in the next five years. Many commercial and office buildings are currently under construction and a Shangri-La hotel is being built behind the Le Loft complex.
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Default or not default? That is the (Argentine) question...
https://www.opendemocracy.net/celia-szusterman/default-or-not-default-that-is-argentine-question
<div class="field field-summary"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <p>Argentina's president, Cristina Kirchner, refuses to accept that the country has defaulted on its debts. But her denial can only make things worse. </p> </div> </div> </div> <p>D-Day in Argentina, 30 July 2014, came and went. And nothing has changed. The president, Cristina Kirchner, and her economy minister Axel Kicillof are not tired of repeating that life goes on. Indeed. Yet, is it true that nothing has changed - default or not default? </p><p>On 31 July, the day after entering (or not) into default, Mrs Kirchner broadcast to the nation: “They will have to invent another name. Because we have paid.” Once again, she seems to be in a state of denial. Instead of <a href="http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1716040-de-la-vuelta-de-obligado-a-los-buitres">recognising</a> reality, having a good analysis and devising a strategy to reach a solution, she offers - amid the usual sea of white-and-blue flags - an epic narrative.</p><p>This time the <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/celia-szusterman/argentine-fable-cristina-kirchners-tall-stories">enemies</a> are not the farmers nor <em>Clarín</em>, the multimedia group, but the “vulture funds” (the ubiquitous name for the hated hedge funds). Buenos Aires had woken on the morning of 29 July with hoardings offering a stark option: “<em>Patria o Buitres</em>” (<em>Motherland or Vultures</em>). The chief of cabinet, Jorge Capitanich, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-28587653">blamed</a> not just the hedge funds but the United States, and threatened to <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/latin-american-business/argentina-skeptical-about-debt-default-court-hearing/article19886575/">take</a> the case to the International Court of Justice in The Hague. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/27/world/americas/the-influential-minister-behind-argentinas-economic-shift.html">Axel Kicillof</a> himself accused Judge Griesa of being at the service of the “vultures”, then accused the judge-appointed mediator, Dan Pollack, of incompetence. Even Joseph Stiglitz, the Nobel economics laureate, <a href="http://www.telam.com.ar/english/notas/201407/2857-stiglitz-griesas-ruling-in-favor-of-the-vulture-funds-is-like-throwing-a-bomb-into-the-global-economic-system.html">reportedly</a> said that Griesa’s decision was paramount to throwing a bomb not just at Argentina but at the whole global financial system. </p><p>Amidst so much hyperbole, one fact remains. On 31 July, Argentina fell into a default - variously described in the rest of the world as “selective”, “partial” or “technical” (see, for example, the reaction of the rating agencies Standard & Poor’s, Fitch, or China's <a href="http://en.dagongcredit.com/about/development.html">Dagong</a> Global Credit Rating, as well as the <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/216175818/Argentina-Debt-Restructuring-Prospectus-2010">advice</a> of Russ Dallen: “In this game, it is best to refer to the rulebook, which in this case is the <em>Prospectus for the 2005 and/or 2010 Restructured Bonds</em>). Until somebody comes up with a new word (“neo-defaultism”?) this is the reality. Yet for Kicillof, the use of the word default is an “atomic nonsense”. </p><p><strong>A medley of failure</strong></p><p>The sooner the situation is reversed, the sooner the default label will be removed. But if the Argentine government does not recognise the severity of the situation, what are the chances that it will be in a rush to negotiate a solution to a problem it regards as non-existent? Yet until it does, the reputational damage will continue unabated. The consequences will be grave: among them a lack of investment, a drop in economic activity, a rise in unemployment, inflation, and pressures on foreign-exchange reserves. </p><p>On 27 June, the economic analyst <a href="http://www.szewachnomics.com.ar/">Enrique Szewach</a> wrote that Argentina (or “the Republic” as it is referred to in Griesa’s judgment) had two alternatives: either to negotiate a long-term payment for “holdouts” and all other bondholders under litigation, or “blame Griesa, the US government, [and others] for ‘preventing us from paying’. It would then engage in a new epic battle in The Hague, and go into default”. Szewach concluded: “clearly, this second option is mere fantasy, since the consequences of a default would deepen the existing recession”. Guess which option Mrs Kirchner and her “genius” (her words) economy minister have chosen?</p><p>The explanations are to be found in a medley of words starting with “i”. They start with <em>incompetence</em>. Mrs Kirchner has known for at least two years - since Judge Griesa’s first verdict in favour of the “holdouts”and against the Republic - that there was a need for a "Plan B". At that point <em>ideology</em>, and the destructive capacity of populism, led her to choose the nationalist option. The “vultures” were “coming after our resources” - a repetition of the <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/celia-szusterman/argentina-y-las-malvinas-in-search-of-reality">argument</a> against the UK in the case of the Falklands/Malvinas. In various assemblies, she tried to regionalise the latter conflict, saying that the UK was coming not just after Argentina’s resources, but those of the whole region. When the assets of the local subsidiary of the Spanish energy giant Repsol were <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/celia-szusterman/argentina%E2%80%99s-energy-politics-context-of-crisis">confiscated</a>, there was much talk of “recovering our natural resources”. Vladimir Putin, during his <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-28261746">visit</a> to Argentina in mid-July, expressed an interest in the shale <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/18/business/energy-environment/shale-investments-could-reshape-global-market.html">deposits</a> of Vaca Muerta. It is not clear why the country’s natural resources should be so much worse off in Spanish hands than in Russian.</p><p>Perhaps Mrs Kirchner was impressed by the adoration in which some Venezuelans still hold the late Hugo Chávez, proclaimed by his successor Nicol<span>á</span>s Maduro as the country's “eternal leader”. If the destruction of the Venezuelan economy has failed to dent the love of (some) Venezuelans, this may give Argentina's president hope for a similar <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/celia-szusterman/argentina-democracy-by-default-0">reward</a> after 2015 - in a battle framed as one of populism vs. the hedge funds (and vs. belief in the rule of law, free markets, and free societies). Of course these funds are “motivated by a desire to make money”. Surely only those who think making money is despicable can be surprised by this. </p><p>What Mrs Kirchner and Kicillof ignore is that the debt (“incurred by other governments, not ours”) is the result of excessive public spending. This <em>irresponsibility</em> has led her government since 2009 to “borrow” $40 billion from central-bank reserves, filling its vaults with “bits of paper”. The fiscal deficit has prevented the government from buying back from the central bank about $3-3.5 billion per year to restore its finances. The result is that the foreign debt, both old and new, is unpayable: it would mean allocating $10 billion per year to service the debt. Madness. Even without the default Argentina’s economy was facing meltdown (see <a href="http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1715079-un-discurso-delirante-que-nos-llevo-a-otra-crisis">Roberto Cachanosky</a> in <em>La Nación</em> [29 July 2014] and <em><a href="http://www.szewachnomics.com.ar/">Szewachnomics</a> </em>[31 July 2014]).</p><p>This explains the need to borrow from financial markets. To do so without being charged usury levels of interest, it was necessary to settle all outstanding debt: with Repsol (Kicillof said at the moment of confiscation that Repsol would have to pay billions to Argentina), with the <a href="http://www.clubdeparis.org/en/">Paris Club</a> (Argentina did not even try to negotiate a reduction in punitive back-interest payments), with the verdicts of the World Bank’s International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (<a href="http://www.internationalarbitrationlaw.com/arbitral-institutions/icsid/">ICSID</a>), and with the “holdouts” which had refused the terms of the 2005 and 2010 restructurings. </p><p><strong>A president, alone</strong></p><p>Is there a way out of this (in Mrs Kirchner's <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/celia-szusterman/argentine-fable-cristina-kirchners-tall-stories">view</a>) victorious decade, which in fact can only be described - and that generously - as a wasted one? In contrast with other Latin American countries, Argentina since 2003 has <a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/848c58ac-1ae9-11e4-a633-00144feabdc0.html">returned</a> to high levels of inflation, unsustainable debt, growing poverty and recession. Yet there is hope. A new government will be <a href="http://www.americasquarterly.org/content/argentinas-economy-and-2015-presidential-elections">elected</a> in October 2015. Mrs Kirchner is not allowed to run for a third term. Thus by 2016, if another “model” is put in place, fiscal equilibrium is achieved, the central bank is excused from financing the public deficit and trust is restored, a reasonable long-term agreement with creditors would mean that the debt, in the long run (and yes, when we are all dead) is payable. Lessons to be learned? Szewach has it right: the best way of coming out of default is…never to go into one.</p><p>As <a href="http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=318362&CategoryId=13282">Russ Dallen</a> has written: “In the end, the worst thing about all of this is it could have been easily avoided”. If Argentina's private-banks' association ADEBA had just stepped up and<a href="http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/166157/banco-ciudad-backs-adeba%E2%80%99s-failed-plan-to-buy-%E2%80%98vultures%E2%80%99-bonds"> bought </a>the bonds, paying the $1.6 billion to NML and Aurelius, the problem could have dissolved and Argentina begun re-accessing international capital markets. A <a href="http://online.wsj.com/articles/argentina-banks-preparing-bid-to-help-argentina-avoid-default-1406692665?mod=mktw">deal</a> around those parameters is still being talked about and may even yet happen. (The first time Argentina defaulted, in 1828, it took the country twenty-nine years to start to <a href="http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=2345115&CategoryId=14093">cure</a> the default.)</p><p>The sad thing is that the last decade, which saw the recovery of economic activity after the 2001-02 crisis, produced unprecedented levels of fiscal income. Yet since 2007 the fiscal deficit has kept expanding. <em>Ignorance</em> of Economics 1.01? <em>Irresponsibility</em>? <em>Incompetence</em> of a president and an economy minister with little knowledge and less experience? <em>Ideology</em>? There is a further explanatory element. <em>Isolation</em> - mental, physical and geographical. Every weekend Mrs Kirchner flies 2,500 kilometres to Santa Cruz, where she is in the almost exclusive company of her son. When she is in Government House - usually four days a week, and never starting the day before noon - she does not <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/article/argentinas-broken-polity">hold</a> cabinet meetings (there have been none since 2003). She listens to no one, other than Kicillof. Her isolation is complete. When someone told one of her collaborators what the consequences of falling into default would be and asked that she be told, the reply was: “There is no way I can tell her that”.</p><p>Kicillof’s atomic nonsense may <a href="http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1716040-de-la-vuelta-de-obligado-a-los-buitres">turn out</a> to be an atomic irresponsibility. Default - technical, partial or selective - is default. In 2005 and 2010, first Néstor Kirchner and <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/article/argentina_s_new_president_kirchner_after_kirchner">then</a> Cristina chose New York as the jurisdiction overseeing the new bonds in order to persuade bondholders to accept the new terms. Not to have anticipated the consequences of the whatever-you-want-to-call-it may well turn out to be an atomic idiocy.</p><fieldset class="fieldgroup group-sideboxs"><legend>Sideboxes</legend><div class="field field-read-on"> <div class="field-label"> 'Read On' Sidebox: </div> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <p><a href="http://www.argentinaindependent.com/"><em><span><span>Argentina Independent</span></span></em></a></p><p>Luis Alberto Romero, "<a href="http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1716040-de-la-vuelta-de-obligado-a-los-buitres">Entre la Vuelta de Obligado y los buitres</a>" (<em>La Nacion</em>, 6 August 2014) </p><p>Michael Goebel, <a href="http://www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/index.php?option=com_wrapper&view=wrapper&Itemid=11&AS1=argentina%27s+partisan+past"><em>Argentina’s Partisan Past: Nationalism and the Politics of History</em></a> (Liverpool University Press, 2011)</p><p>Luis Alberto Romero, <a href="http://www.psupress.psu.edu/books/titles/0-271-02191-8.html"><em><span><span>A History of Argentina in the Twentieth Century</span></span></em></a> (Penn State University Press, 2002)</p> <p>Javier Auyero<em>, </em><a href="http://www.cambridge.org/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521694117"><em><span><span>Routine Politics and Violence in Argentina: The Gray Zone of State Power</span></span></em></a> (Cambridge University Press, 2007)</p> <p><a href="http://www.buenosairesherald.com/"><em><span><span>Buenos Aires Herald</span></span></em></a></p> <div> <div>David Rock, <a href="http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/6014.php"><em><span><span>Authoritarian Argentina: The Nationalist Movement, Its History and Its Impact</span></span></em></a> (California University Press, 1993)</div> <div> <p><a href="http://www.as-coa.org/"><span><span>Council of the Americas </span></span></a></p> <p><a href="http://lanic.utexas.edu/la/argentina/"><span><span>Lanic - Argentina resources</span></span></a></p></div></div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-related-stories"> <div class="field-label">Related stories: </div> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <a href="/celia-szusterman/argentine-fable-cristina-kirchners-tall-stories">An Argentine fable: Cristina Kirchner's tall stories</a> </div> <div class="field-item even"> <a href="/celia-szusterman/argentina%E2%80%99s-energy-politics-context-of-crisis">Argentina’s energy politics: context of crisis</a> </div> <div class="field-item odd"> <a href="/celia-szusterman/argentina-democracy-by-default-0">Argentina: democracy by default</a> </div> <div class="field-item even"> <a href="/celia-szusterman/argentina-y-las-malvinas-in-search-of-reality">Argentina y las Malvinas: in search of reality </a> </div> <div class="field-item odd"> <a href="/article/argentinas-broken-polity">Argentina's broken polity</a> </div> <div class="field-item even"> <a href="/article/kirchner_model_king_queen_penguin">The Kirchner model: king and queen penguin</a> </div> <div class="field-item odd"> <a href="/article/argentina-celebrating-democracy">Argentina: celebrating democracy</a> </div> </div> </div> </fieldset> <div class="field field-country"> <div class="field-label"> Country or region: </div> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> Argentina </div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-topics"> <div class="field-label">Topics: </div> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> Democracy and government </div> <div class="field-item even"> Economics </div> <div class="field-item odd"> International politics </div> </div> </div>
Argentina
An Argentine fable: Cristina Kirchner's tall stories
https://www.opendemocracy.net/celia-szusterman/argentine-fable-cristina-kirchners-tall-stories
<div class="field field-summary"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <p>The successive presidencies of the Kirchner couple, Néstor and now his widow Cristina, have led Argentina since the country survived near-collapse in the early 2000s. Now, Mrs Kirchner's ideological ambition and uncertain grasp of reality are taking her political experiment in worrying directions, says Celia Szusterman.</p> </div> </div> </div> <p>"Take care of freedom and truth will take care of itself" - Richard Rorty </p> <p>When Néstor Kirchner died in October 2010, many in Argentina wondered how his widow would cope. Even after Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner had succeeded him as the country's president in December 2007, it was no secret that her husband was continuing to wield political and economic power behind the scenes. Just after her inauguration, Néstor told her ministers "not to go with problems to Cristina". He would be the one who solved the problems. </p> <p>Cristina herself, re-elected for a second term in October 2011 with 54% of the vote, reinforced this view of their relationship when she confessed: "He looked after me…sometimes, I had to tell him not to treat me as a little girl"…he told others to 'look after her', and I promised him [when I was elected president] that I would not let him down". It will never be known if Néstor Kirchner felt "let down"; but what can be said with certainty is that the "project" or "model" that Mrs Kirchner insisted until very recently had begun in 2003 with her husband's election as president, has changed substantially since his term in office (2003-07). </p> <p>The change has been not just in the policies but in what Mrs Kirchner was fond of calling the "narrative" - the fashionable notion, drawn inter alia from Howard Gardner's <em>Leading Minds: An Anatomy of Leadership</em> (1996), that political leaders must also be storytellers, capable of delivering a plausible account of "where we are coming from, where we are now, and where we are going". In this perspective, her every act and announcement, however insignificant, was to become a landmark in the epic "refoundation" of Argentina following years of decline and (in 2000-02) economic near-collapse. Néstor Kirchner's election as president is the originating moment of this process.</p> <p>Two years after his death, Néstor continues to play the lead role in the story his widow tells. Her loss is so great that she continues to dress in black; she hardly ever mentions her husband by name, but refers - with a suggestion of god-like attributes - to "Him". When she was inaugurated for the second time, she received the sash from her daughter with the formula: "[should I not obey the Constitution] let God, the people and Him, hold me to account". </p> <p><strong><em>Vamos por todo</em></strong></p> <p>Néstor Kirchner liked to repeat that in 2003 he had found Argentina in hell. Years later, he said it was now out of hell, but not yet in paradise. Mrs Kirchner talks as if she believes that she has actually led Argentina into paradise, and that any residual problems are the consequence of "the world [crisis] falling on Argentina". In contrast, she never acknowledged the benign role played by the favourable world conditions of 2003-07. </p> <p>Since her husband's death, Mrs Kirchner has become more intolerant, more ideological, more imperial in her style and comportment. She uses the national broadcasting network to question the integrity of journalists who publish critical articles. The tone of her speeches varies between aggression and euphoria. Her speeches contrast her "joy and optimism" with the "despair and despondency" spread by (usually unnamed) opponents who question her version of reality. The latter, especially when they accuse her of authoritarianism, tend to be labelled "neoliberals" who are intent on "destabilising the national and popular government" ("nac & pop" as it is known colloquially). </p> <p>The broadcasts themselves appear to breach Article 75 of the media law of 2009 - which allows them to take place on "exceptional and serious situations" or during an "institutional transcendence". This does not trouble the president, who has to date spoken to the nation fifteen times in 2012 on topics ranging from the inauguration of the Tecnopolis theme-park to the opening of a motorway and of Argentina's pavilion at the Venice Biennale.</p> <p>When Mrs Kirchner was re-elected in October 2011 she declared: "We are now going for everything" ("vamos por todo"). The meaning is now becoming clear in the cultural battle, waged in workshops for the "strengthening of democracy". The prize remains total control of the media. Many regional and international media associations have warned of a climate of fear installed among journalists, and the use of government publicity placed only in friendly media. In the first half of 2012, the International Association of Journalists Without Frontiers. the International Association of Radio Broadcasting, Human Rights Watch and the Interamerican Press Association - as well as the Argentine Forum of Journalists and the Association of Argentine News Media - have all raised concerns about the worrying context in which Argentina's journalists are working. </p> <p><strong>The success story </strong></p> <p>Mrs Kirchner's story describes Argentina's growth successes as not only "the best in 200 years of history" but the best in Latin America in the last decade. The Kirchnerista "model", based on a "productive base, distribution of income and social inclusion" is thus somehow portrayed as better and more successful than other countries in the region. This account ignores inconvenient facts such as that Argentina's growth (of 3%, taking a long view), is no better than Brazil's or Chile's, that inflation at an estimated 25% (though official figures are in single digits) far exceeds several neighbours' rates, and that relentless capital flight and a fall in foreign direct investment point towards the stagflation scenarios of the 1960s-1980s. </p> <p>The lack of fit between her story and the evidence may explain why more recently, Mrs Kirchner has stopped referring to the alleged continuity of the model since 2003. Alberto Fernandez, who as cabinet secretary from 2003-08 was Néstor Kirchner's closest collaborator and friend, charges Mrs Kirchner with departing from her husband's policies - including on the relative autonomy of the central bank, an institution the president dismissed as "anti-popular". </p> <p>In the same remarkable speech, she referred to the global league table of central bankers published by <em>Global Finance</em> magazine, in which Argentina's Mercedes Marcó del Pont - in a distinction shared only with his counterpart in Ecuador - was awarded a "D". Mrs Kirchner's riposte was sarcastic: since one of the criteria for assessment was the relevant central-banker's determination to confront political interference, had "Mercedes" been awarded an "A", "she would have found herself in a serious problem with me". </p> <p><strong>The real trends</strong></p> <p>But stories have consequences, especially when they are self-serving - and often simply untrue. In 2003, Argentina's national economic context was one of a default on public debt, very low salaries, high unemployment, unused capacity, and a very high exchange-rate; while the global context was highly favourable as a result of the financial extravagance of rich countries and the emergence of China and India into the global circuits of production and consumption. Here, Argentina's vernacular populism omits some key elements of the government story that then started to erode its relative price advantage in favour of an embrace of tradeables and import-substitution:</p> <p>* The energy market was subject to strong intervention, which disincentivised investment and supply via artificially low prices </p> <p>* Public services were subsidised, first with higher taxes and later via printing money and inflation </p> <p>* The agricultural market was destroyed via state intervention in the beef, corn and wheat markets (including export prohibition and quotas). This led to an extension of soya cultivation and soil degradation (Argentina cultivates nine million hectares of maize, wheat and rapeseed, and eighteen million hectares of soya)</p> <p>* Real wages were artificially increased, well above productivity gains (according to doctored figures from the Institute of Official Statistics [Indec], real wages rose by 292% between 2006-11, while prices are supposed to have risen only by 67% during the same period (see Alieto Guadagni, TN, 24 August 2012). Why then hasn't Argentina become the greatest "pull factor" in international migration trends; why aren't queues forming outside Argentine consulates the world over with people anxious to emigrate to such a paradise? </p> <p>* Pensions were raised, leading to the funding crisis of the nationalised state-pension system </p> <p>* Public employment increased: 300 people enter the public administration (national, provincial, municipal or state enterprises) every day </p> <p>* The Institute of Official Statistics was undermined, leaving the country without reliable statistics for over sixty-seven months (Szewachnomics, 16 July 2012) </p> <p>Argentina in autumn 2012 is experiencing rising inflation, falling employment and economic activity, and an escalation on the value of the black-market US dollar (popularly known as el azul, the "blue" dollar) and with monetary expansion at an annual rate of 35%. In its annual report on the economic situation of Latin America, published on 2 October 2012, the Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLAC) states that the weakness of the world economy will affect growth in the region, with an average GDP growth in 2012 of 3.2%. Yet Argentina (2.0%) and Brazil (1.6%) will have the lowest growth (Panama's 9.5% is followed by Perú's 5.9%, Bolivia, Chile, Nicaragua, Venezuela with 5% and México with 4%). Perspectives for both Argentina and Brazil are better for 2013, raising growth estimates for the region as a whole to 4%. The disastrous drought in the US is driving up the price of maize and soya, Argentina's two main exports, which will add sufficient funds to the treasury chest for the kind of populist spending that the government hopes will help it win the mid-term legislative elections of October 2013 - and the two-thirds majority needed to appoint a constitutional assembly that would draft a new constitution. </p> <p><strong>The next ambition</strong></p> <p>This is a core part of Mrs Kirchner's current political motivation. A group of intellectuals close to the government have started a "Movement for a New Emancipating Constitution". The intellectuals of Carta Abierta have rejected the constitution being turned into an untouchable fetish. In their twelfth "open letter" they ask: "Is it not urgent to set aside, by means of a new constitution, the brutal limitations imposed on us in times of submission and impunity, of exclusion and abdication of rights?" [see an excellent analysis of the obscure language of Carta Abierta in Ricardo Gil Lavedra's article in <em>Escenarios Alternativos</em>, 2 October 2012].</p> <p>The "imposition" referred to occurred in 1994, when Mr and Mrs Kirchner were part of a constituent assembly that approved the then reformed constitution. On that occasion, it was no secret that behind the "need" for change was President Carlos Menem's wish to be re-elected a second time. </p> <p>Argentina's original constitution of 1853 was modelled on that of the United States - the best model of a republican constitution then available. To meet the Jeffersonian objective of preventing dictatorship via an over-powerful executive, it included a division of powers as the mechanism to introduce checks and balances. The Argentine constitution of 1994 also contains provisions on the separation of powers as well as extensive freedoms (including property rights). </p> <p>It is, then, far from clear what "emancipation" and "brutal limitations" the intellectuals' "open letter" refers to, until the following: </p> <p>"The current constitution […] was thought for the neoliberal project of submission of the Nation, of selling out of the economy, of looting our natural resources and of the exclusion of millions of Argentines who were left without food nor work, notwithstanding the brave resistance of wide sectors of the popular camp […] and it was Néstor Kirchner who began to write its epitaph". </p> <p>(It seems that in the span of a decade, Néstor Kirchner had moved from signing an instrument for the submission of the Argentine people to starting the process of reverting it. Yet a poll published by <em>Poliarquía</em> on 2 September 2012 indicates that 66% of the population oppose constitutional reform, and 40% of those who voted for Mrs Kirchner in October 2011 oppose her standing for a second re-election.) </p> <p>The urgency to amend the constitution to allow for Mrs Kirchner's re-election once more highlights the permanent dilemma at the heart of Peronism: succession. Mexico's PRI got round this for over seventy years by establishing a mechanism whereby each president chosen by the party hierarchy could serve only one six-year period. </p> <p>Argentina's experience is more personalised. The attempt to have Eva Perón elected vice-president was thwarted in 1952; soon after, she died. Juan Perón himself was ousted by a civil-military coup in 1955. When he was again elected president in 1973 following his return from exile, Perón chose his third (and eminently unsuitable) wife to run as vice-president. His death in July 1974 opened the doors to her disastrous presidency and in turn, to the bloody military dictatorship of March 1976 (which lasted until 1983). </p> <p>Néstor Kirchner devised a mechanism to evade the principle encoded in the constitution of 1994, which allowed just one re-election. At the end of his first period in office (2003-07), he chose his wife to run as his successor. If he had lived, in theory an alternation of Kirchners could rule indefinitely in the government house. Now, however, there is a problem. Mrs Kirchner has no successor. Her son is wholly unprepared, her sister-in-law (blessed with the Kirchner surname) has no chance, and the vice-president Mrs Kirchner chose in 2011 has proved unsuitable, inept and corrupt. But she will not get rid of him, because it would be an admission of fault; and in Mrs Kirchner's narrative, she can neither do harm nor make bad decisions.</p> <p><strong>The anti-politics country</strong></p> <p>The late Brazilian sociologist Helio Jaguaribe once conjectured that the difference between Brazil and Argentina was that Brazil's historical narrative was lyrical, while Argentina's was epic: the gentleness of the former contrasted with the virulence of the latter. Cristina Kirchner's peculiar twist on the epic theme includes (in August 2012) the delivery of eulogies to such disparate figures as Gaucho Rivero, a rebel against the Argentine - not the British - authorities on the Malvinas/Falklands islands in 1833; Envar El Khadri, a guerrilla leader who took up arms against Argentina's democratic government in 1963; and a Peronist group that hijacked an <em>Aerolineas Argentinas</em> flight in 1966 and forced it to land on the Malvinas/Falklands (in this case ignoring the fact that they had been supported and supplied by the military- intelligence services). </p> <p>In respect of the 1963 incident, the president said that she wouldn't be able to do "any of the things I do" were it not for the fact that she is "interpreting a collective feeling that comes from the depths of history" and is created by "men and women who gave their lives for the happiness of the people and the greatness of the nation". </p> <p>Alexis de Tocqueville, in <em>Democracy in America</em>, wrote that two of the essential components of the "democratic soul" were compassion (democracy makes us gentler to one another) and restiveness, or a constant questioning. Mrs Kirchner's combination of rhetorical indulgence, a cavalier attitude to the facts, and abuse of power is more reminiscent of the hatred and confrontation that de Tocqueville saw as features of the ancien regime. </p> <p>Bernard Crick, in <em>In Defence of Politics</em>, understood politics as a distinctive type of human activity carried out according to rules guiding decisions about conflicts of interest. If the latter are reduced to a binary logic of friend vs enemy, then there can only be one "legitimate" interest: that of the people, as interpreted by the leader as embodiment of the people's will. Argentina is in this light turning into a political experiment which smacks of anti-politics. </p><fieldset class="fieldgroup group-sideboxs"><legend>Sideboxes</legend><div class="field field-read-on"> <div class="field-label"> 'Read On' Sidebox: </div> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <p><a href="http://www.argentinaindependent.com/"><em><span><span>Argentina Independent</span></span></em></a></p> <p>Javier Auyero<em>, </em><a href="http://www.cambridge.org/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521694117"><em><span><span>Routine Politics and Violence in Argentina: The Gray Zone of State Power</span></span></em></a> (Cambridge University Press, 2007)</p> <p><a href="http://www.buenosairesherald.com/"><em><span><span>Buenos Aires Herald</span></span></em></a></p> <div>Luis Alberto Romero, <a href="http://www.psupress.psu.edu/books/titles/0-271-02191-8.html"><em><span><span>A History of Argentina in the Twentieth Century</span></span></em></a> (Penn State University Press, 2002)</div><div></div> <div> <div>David Rock, <a href="http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/6014.php"><em><span><span>Authoritarian Argentina: The Nationalist Movement, Its History and Its Impact</span></span></em></a> (California University Press, 1993)</div> <div> <p><a href="http://www.as-coa.org/"><span><span>Council of the Americas </span></span></a></p> <p><a href="http://lanic.utexas.edu/la/argentina/"><span><span>Lanic - Argentina resources</span></span></a></p></div></div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-sidebox"> <div class="field-label"> Sidebox: </div> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <p>Celia Szusterman is the director of the Latin America Programme at the Institute for Statecraft. She was principal <a href="http://www.westminster.ac.uk/schools/humanities/modern-and-applied-languages/people/szusterman,-celia" target="_blank"><span><span>lecturer</span></span></a> in Spanish and Latin American studies at the University of Westminster; is a senior member of St Antony's College, Oxford; associate fellow of the <a href="http://americas.sas.ac.uk/"><span><span>Institute for the Study of the Americas</span></span></a>, University of London; and a trustee of the UK board of <a href="https://promujer.org/"><span><span>Pro-Mujer</span></span></a>. Her publications include <em>Frondizi and the Politics of Developmentalism in Argentina, 1955-62</em> (Macmillan/University of Pittsburgh Press, 1993), revised as <em>Frondizi o la política del desconcierto</em> (Emecé Argentina, 1996); and “‘Que se Vayan Todos!’ The Struggle for Democratic Party Politics in Contemporary Argentina”, in Paul Webb & Stephen White, eds.,<em> <a href="http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/product/9780199289653.do" target="_blank"><span><span>Party Politics in New Democracies</span></span></a> </em>[Oxford University Press, 2007])</p> </div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-related-stories"> <div class="field-label">Related stories: </div> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <a href="/article/argentina-celebrating-democracy">Argentina: celebrating democracy</a> </div> <div class="field-item even"> <a href="/celia-szusterman/argentina-democracy-by-default-0">Argentina: democracy by default</a> </div> <div class="field-item odd"> <a href="/article/argentinas-broken-polity">Argentina's broken polity</a> </div> <div class="field-item even"> <a href="/conflict-falklands_malvinas/causa_malvinas_4501.jsp">Argentina's mirror: the causa Malvinas</a> </div> <div class="field-item odd"> <a href="/democracy-protest/argentinapolitics_2538.jsp">Néstor Kirchner's Argentina: a journey from hell</a> </div> <div class="field-item even"> <a href="/democracy-institutions_government/article_1465.jsp">Argentina and the IMF: will they benefit from hindsight?</a> </div> <div class="field-item odd"> <a href="/article/argentina-a-crisis-of-riches">Argentina: a crisis of riches </a> </div> <div class="field-item even"> <a href="/article/globalisation/cristina_kirchners_moment">Cristina Kirchner's moment</a> </div> <div class="field-item odd"> <a href="/celia-szusterman/argentina-y-las-malvinas-in-search-of-reality">Argentina y las Malvinas: in search of reality </a> </div> <div class="field-item even"> <a href="/celia-szusterman/argentina%E2%80%99s-energy-politics-context-of-crisis">Argentina’s energy politics: context of crisis</a> </div> <div class="field-item odd"> <a href="/people-multiculturalism/article_2342.jsp">The many cities of Buenos Aires</a> </div> <div class="field-item even"> <a href="/democracy-protest/catholicchurch_2709.jsp">Breaking the silence: the Catholic Church in Argentina and the 'dirty war'</a> </div> <div class="field-item odd"> <a href="/article/kirchner_model_king_queen_penguin">The Kirchner model: king and queen penguin</a> </div> <div class="field-item even"> <a href="/article/globalisation/the_great_divide_the_argentina_uruguay_pulp_mill_conflict">Pulp friction: the Argentina-Uruguay conflict</a> </div> </div> </div> </fieldset> <div class="field field-country"> <div class="field-label"> Country or region: </div> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> Argentina </div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-topics"> <div class="field-label">Topics: </div> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> Democracy and government </div> <div class="field-item even"> International politics </div> </div> </div>
Argentina
Argentina’s energy politics: context of crisis
https://www.opendemocracy.net/celia-szusterman/argentina%E2%80%99s-energy-politics-context-of-crisis
<div class="field field-summary"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <P> </p><P> </p><P>The decision of Argentina’s president to take a controlling stake in the country’s main oil company by outright expropriation is an act of political and economic populism that will do nothing to solve the country’s mounting economic problems, says Celia Szusterman.</p> <P></p> <P></p> </div> </div> </div> <P>An abrupt announcement was made by Argentina’s president, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, on 16 April 2012: namely, that her government intended to expropriate a bare majority of the shares held by the Spanish oil company Repsol in the already partly nationalised state oil company, <EM>Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales</em> (<A href="http://www.ypf.com/Paginas/Home.aspx">YPF</a>). The move was announced via a bill sent to congress entitled "On Argentina’s Hydrocarbon Sovereignty", which assigns 26% of the confiscated shares to the federal government in Buenos Aires and 25% to Argentina’s provinces. It was approved by an overwhelming majority of Argentina’s senate on 26 April and its passage into law is assured following a <A href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304746604577382753975654734.html">vote</a> in the chamber of deputies on 3 May.</p> <P>Argentina’s president explained the <A href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/27/world/americas/ypf-nationalization-draws-praise-in-argentina.html?pagewanted=all">decision</a> by saying that Repsol had broken its commitment to invest in the country’s oil sector (where its subsidiary YPF is responsible for 34% of oil production, as well as 24% of Argentina’s gas) and that the Spanish company had transferred its profits abroad via dividend payments instead of reinvesting them. As a result, and in order to prevent an energy crunch, in 2012 the bill for energy imports would amount to approximately $12 billion. </p> <P>Aided by a formidable communications team that immediately plastered the walls of Buenos Aires with slogans depicting the president as the champion of resource nationalism, huge rallies have been organised to express enthusiastic popular <A href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hl0tUwQu1szGHqAGhebQFZJE1T0Q?docId=CNG.ee85d12e96c8d0fef3111bf61b8cadd3.121">support</a> for the expropriation. Outside the country - in parts of Latin America as well as Spain and the rest of the European Union - there has been severe criticism. This article seeks to put the decision in the context of the country’s twists and turns, in a series of <EM>corsi e ricorsi </em>that makes this story yet another "chronicle of a crisis foretold...".</p> <P><STRONG>An economic crunch</strong></p> <P>Arturo Frondizi became president of Argentina in April 1958, the first elected head of state since Juan Perón’s overthrow in 1955. He had campaigned on an anti-imperialist platform in which state control of <EM>Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales</em> (which had been created in the 1922) played a key symbolic role. <A href="http://www.nytimes.com/1995/04/19/obituaries/arturo-frondizi-argentine-chief-in-time-of-austerity-dies-at-86.html">Frondizi</a> had written a nationalist polemic (<EM>Petróleo y Política</em>) that condemned Perón for his decision in April 1955 to start negotiations with Standard Oil of California with a view to injecting much-needed foreign capital and expertise into the then creaking YPF. The negotiations had come to nothing, but the secrecy surrounding them were used as the main justification behind the civilian-military coup that overthrew Perón five months later. </p> <P>Yet in July 1958, three months after becoming president, Frondizi launched <EM>La Batalla del Petróleo</em> ("the battle for oil") [see Celia Szusterman, <EM>Frondizi and the Politics of Developmentalism, 1955-62</em> (Macmillan 1993)]. Couched in nationalist terminology, the "battle" in fact <A href="http://www.argentina-rree.com/11/11-027.htm">amounted</a> to concessions made to foreign oil firms. Frondizi’s reversal of the resource nationalism that had been his trademark, caught even the British ambassador by surprise. Sir John Ward sent a report to London lamenting that "Frondizi’s rhetorical support of that rickety organisation [YPF] belied earlier rumours that he would lay bare the long history of incompetence and sloth which has marked its fifty years" (see the Public Record Office file, PRO FO371/131979, 25 July 1958). </p> <P>Sir John was among the few pleasantly surprised when in an announcement couched in epic terms, Frondizi made an emotional address to the nation declaring that YPF would resort to "the co-operation of private capital", a necessary step since to continue to import oil "threatened the self-determination and sovereignty" of the country. The president added that "powerful interests had in the past hindered YPF’s efficiency", thereby undermining YPF’s contribution to "the formation of an emancipating national conscience" (see George Philip, <EM><A href="http://ebooks.cambridge.org/ebook.jsf?bid=CBO9780511528149">Oil and Politics in Latin America. Nationalist Movements and State Companies</a></em> [Cambridge University Press, 1982]). </p> <P>Almost exactly fifty-four years later, the atmosphere around the YPF-Repsol affair has strong resemblances with that earlier episode. Cristina Fernández de Kirchner’s performance in launching her initiative had its own strong elements of histrionics: in an emotional tone, she held a test-tube containing a cloudy yellowish liquid allegedly of the first oil extracted in 1907 (and wrapped in a ribbon in the colours of the Argentine flag). Once again, the announcement was made in the name of "national sovereignty". After a passionate media campaign weeks earlier when the thirtieth <A href="http://www.argentinaindependent.com/currentaffairs/newsfromargentina/president-gives-commemorative-speech-for-malvinasfalklands-30-year-anniversary/">anniversary</a> of the Malvinas / Falklands war of 1982 was marked by a reaffirmation of Argentina’s irredentist claim ("las Malvinas son argentinas"), but little was achieved, Mrs Kirchner embraced that other sacred cow of Argentine nationalism: oil.</p> <P>Cristina Kirchner, first <A href="http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/globalisation/cristina_kirchners_moment">elected</a> president in October 2007, was re-elected by a landslide (54% against a divided opposition) in November 2011, a year after the death of her husband and predecessor in the office Néstor Kirchner. The nine-year story of <EM>kirchnerismo</em> since the inauguration of this model of rule by Néstor following Argentina’s economic and social <A href="http://www.opendemocracy.net/democracy-protest/article_1167.jsp">implosion</a> in 2001-02 seems, then, one of continuous political <A href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/americas/argentine-president-cristina-fernandez-de-kirchner-is-reelected/2011/10/23/gIQAAaFUAM_story.html">success</a>. But at a deeper level the use of Las Malvinas and oil as symbols of sovereignty - now threatened by "enemies of the people", whether "old" imperialists such as Britain ("those anachronistic 21st century pirates and colonialists") or "new" ones such as Spain (paradoxically, much older and truer "colonialists" in the Argentine case) - is attempting to conceal the unsustainability of the "national and popular project".</p> <P>Indeed, the uncertainties clouding the Argentine economy - from high (and unacknowledged) inflation, to the complex network of subsidies, to capital flight and the growing fiscal deficit - are a shadow over the ostensibly bold and confident stances the government is taking on these two totemic issues. The president claim that Argentina’s growth since 2003, "at Chinese levels", has been the highest in its history has been contradicted amongst others by economic historian <A href="http://www.project-syndicate.org/contributor/pablo-gerchunoff">Pablo Gerchunoff</a>. </p> <P>He has pointed out that when the cyclical recovery after the 2001-02 catastrophe following default and devaluation is taken into account, economic growth during the kirchnerista years has averaged 3% per year (see his <A href="http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1440336-la-economia-kirchnerista-que-conocimos-ha-terminado">interview</a> in <EM>La Nación</em>, 16 January 2012). This is almost exactly the same as during the Carlos Menem years (1989-99), when the economy bounced back from an earlier hyperinflationary crisis. But the Kirchners benefited from a twin bonanza - a qualitative jump in commodity prices (50% of Argentine exports are agricultural) and the modernisation of industrial infrastructure that had taken place in the "neo-liberal" 1990s; and the ensuing growth, and accompanying drop in unemployment and poverty, were crucial in delivering Mrs Kirchner her re-election victory.</p> <P>A crucial year in Argentina’s economic policy was 2009, when economic statistics were falsified to hide rising inflation (currently the second highest in the region after Venezuela, and one of the highest in the world), the <EM>peso</em> appreciated, fiscal deficit replaced fiscal surplus, consumption was encouraged to the detriment of exports and investment, and the imposition of tariff barriers reflected increasing and arbitrary government intervention in the economy. </p> <P><STRONG>An unravelled deal</strong></p> <P>Within this overall context, the immediate reason behind the president’s decision to expropriate Repsol can be traced to the end of 2011. It was at that point when the extent of the misguided energy policies in place since 2003 became evident. A year earlier, at a public ceremony on 7 December 2010, Mrs Kirchner had praised Repsol and the Eskenazi family (low-profile lead investors in the company, having bought 14.9% in 2008 and a further 10% in 2011, and former close allies of the Kirchners) for the "transformation in energy production" that they had been responsible for; but when Mrs Kirchner was told that energy imports in 2012 would cost an unaffordable $12 billion, she had to find a <A href="http://en.mercopress.com/2012/04/26/repsol-s-numbers-are-false-and-caused-great-damage-to-the-argentine-economy">scapegoa</a>t. Repsol, first, and soon it will be the Eskenazis too. </p> <P>Her sentiments were voiced by the influential deputy economy minister Axel Kicillof, who defended the takeover in congress on 19 April by saying that when the "interests of the people" diverge from "the interests of a firm", the state must intervene. He did not bother to explain why this divergence had only recently become apparent. </p> <P>There were other factors that may have had some bearing on the decision. A series of scandals, from the train accident in Buenos Aires which exposed the lack of investment in railways, to corruption (including one that involves the vice-president) has contributed to a drop of twenty points in the president’s image. The opinion-poll boost from the expropriation is notable: the president’s positive image shot back up to 70%, while 62% of those asked <A href="http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1467219-ypf-el-62-apoya-la-estatizacion">support</a> "the recovery of sovereignty over YPF" (see Poliarquía, <EM>La Nación</em>, 22 April 2012). </p> <P>Although this poll found that 44% blamed government policies and not Repsol for the energy crunch, another poll conducted by the pro-government <EM>Página 12</em> revealed 70% support for the idea that the state should run YPF (only 3% believed the company should be in private hands, though this figure rose to 23% if the capital was Argentine; a paltry 2.6% were in favour of private foreign-owned capital). </p> <P>Yet the text of the bill sent to congress contradicts any pretension that the state will now be in control of "our" natural resources - even though this has [delete repetition of has]been endlessly repeated. For in her 16 April speech, Mrs Kirchner stated: "Let it be clear: this is not a state-controlled model, but one of recovery of sovereignty and of control over a key tool". Sovereignty had never been relinquished. Foreign companies had been given concessions to explore, drill and extract oil and gas. Moreover, the bill (Article 3 paragraph c) prescribes that the state will support "the integration of public and private capital, national and international, in strategic alliances directed to the exploration and exploitation of conventional and non-conventional hydrocarbons". </p> <P>Instead of expropriating Repsol, the government could in principle have gained effective control by buying out the 25% held by the Eskenazi family, thus avoiding the damage to relations with Spain and an international media outcry (replete with charges that the policy is "clumsy", "stupid", "feckless", and a surrender to the "siren call of populism"). </p> <P>The choice Mrs Kirchner made reflects another abrupt shift in her husband’s grand strategy that had sought to create a "national bourgeoisie" of which the Eskenazi family were a part. For as recently as 2009, Mrs Kirchner had sanctioned a peculiar arrangement to enable the Eskenazis to afford a 25% stake in YPF, whereby Repsol agreed not to invest but instead distribute all dividends; a device that had the double benefit of giving the Eskenazis a source (the dividends themselves) to buy their share, and Repsol the "protection" of the powerful president (or so the company believed). </p> <P><STRONG>An exposed narrative</strong></p> <P>In 1991, both Cristina and her husband Néstor (who became governor of the oil-producing province of Santa Cruz) had defended the privatisation of YPF decided by the then president, Carlos Menem. Kirchner described the privatisation as "a historical vindication" of national sovereignty. In September 1992, a Patagonian newspaper (<EM>La Opinión Austral</em>) reported Néstor Kirchner’s rebuke of those who said privatising YPF was a "sell- out of sovereignty"; for, he added, there can be "nothing more sovereign than attracting investment".</p> <P>In 2009, eight of Argentina’s former energy ministers publicly warned that government policies had resulted in a fall in oil-and-gas reserves that would lead to the loss of energy self-sufficiency. Among them was Alieto Guadagni, who has shown that the 2003-11 period was the only one since the 1940s in which hydrocarbon production declined (see <EM>Econométrica</em>, 146, June 2011). In 1970-2000, for example, oil production doubled and gas multiplied by six; whereas in 2001-11, oil production has fallen every month (while gas has been falling since 2006) - and 70% of the loss in reserves has taken place since 2003. </p> <P>The government’s energy policies did nothing to protect reserves, and instead favoured c<A href="http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/argentina-s-energy-dilemma/french">oncessions</a> to people who had "neither geological experience nor productive vocation" (see Alieto Guadagni, <EM>La Nación</em>, 2 March 2012). In 2006, for example, more than seven million hectares were given to friends of the government who had promised to invest $1.7 billion. But nothing was invested. The people favoured were waiting for prices to rise even more in order to transfer their concessions to others with both the capital and the technical capacity to invest. </p> <P>The result was that two decades of abundant, exported and cheap energy were to be replaced by a period of scarce, imported and expensive energy - part of a situation where the "national bourgeoisie" turned out to be a select <A href="http://www.lanacion.com.ar/919770-empresarios-k-negocios-de-la-mano-del-poder">group</a> of cronies, such as Cristóbal López, Rudy Ulloa, Lázaro Báez (and initially the Eskenazis), that piece by piece bought businesses ranging from casinos to media to construction and oil. As Guadagni said referring to the energy crunch, "the problem is not one of geology, but of politics".</p> <P>The official <EM>kirchnerista</em> "narrative" holds the oil companies responsible for the fall in energy production, the outcome of their failure to make sufficient investment for domestic production to satisfy demand. The economist Fernando Navajas highlights the flaws in this account, which ignores the fact that the older wells are near exhaustion and the new sources (including shale-gas <A href="http://www.iol.co.za/business/features/argentina-pins-hope-on-shale-haul-1.1285672">deposits</a> in <EM>Vaca Muerta</em> [Dead Cow] - according to some estimates the third largest in the world) - require new, high-cost technologies; investments of $25 billion may be needed to access deposits equivalent to $250 billion. It is, argues Navajas, the government’s energy subsidies and refusal to allow energy companies to charge market prices that has led to lack of investment. </p> <P>To compound the situation, Repsol had (as per the 2004 agreement, and with the acquiescence of state-appointed directors) been remitting abroad more than 90% of its profits; on average, oil companies distribute 30% of profits, whereas Repsol in 2011 distributed 90% of its - in part to allow the Eskenazis to repay their debt to Repsol and to the group of banks that lent them the money to buy their share in the company (for a detailed factual account, see <A href="http://www.consejo.org.ar/Cv05/guadagni_alieto.htm">Alieto Guadagni</a> in <EM>Clarín</em> [9 April 2012] and in <EM>Econométrica</em> [June 2011]).</p> <P><STRONG>A history repeated</strong></p> <P>What is apparent in the expropriation is less "resource nationalism" (which presupposes an element of coherent strategy) than economic and political populism. The style of the decision, noted by many observers, is revealing here: the humiliating manner in which Repsol executives were evicted from their offices, and the amateurish policy-making of new presidential <A href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e80b71b2-88b3-11e1-9b8d-00144feab49a.html">favourite</a> Axel Kicillof (whose articulate anti-capitalist rhetoric reflects someone with years of experience in leftwing student activism). </p> <P>True, the substance of the decision will take longer to unravel. But some things are already obvious. This move will not retrieve in the near future the lost energy self-sufficiency: so much for "sovereignty". It has reinforced the reputation Argentina has for a cavalier attitude towards the rule of law (concerns with which are but a "neo-liberal concept", according to Kicillof). And in this instance, Article 17 of the 1994 <A href="http://pdba.georgetown.edu/constitutions/argentina/argentina.html">constitution</a> - which establishes the need for agreed compensation and a deposit of the relevant amount prior to expropriation - has been violated. It is unlikely Repsol will see any money at all.</p> <P>Mario Vargas Llosa has <A href="http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1467371-borrachera-de-patrioterismo-nacionalista">described</a> the expropriation of YPF as "<EM>una pasajera borrachera de patrioterismo nacionalista</em>" ("a fleeting inebriation of nationalist hooliganism" (see the Nobel laureate's <A href="http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1467371-borrachera-de-patrioterismo-nacionalista">article</a> in <EM>La Nación</em>, 23 April 2012). Yet many in Argentina celebrate the so-called "recovery of national control over natural resources": overlooking that control had never been relinquished, that government directors on the board of YPF-Repsol signed without comment the firm’s balance-sheets, and that the government is actively seeking deals with anybody, including French, American and Brazilian oil companies to hand over the running of the country’s oil business. It will be interesting to see if they are prepared to risk in such an uncertain business climate, the billions required.</p> <P>The Repsol-YPF affair is the latest <A href="http://www.dw.de/dw/article/0,,15927137,00.html">example</a> of a way of conducting politics that augurs badly both for the institutions of liberal <A href="http://www.opendemocracy.net/celia-szusterman/argentina-democracy-by-default-0">democracy</a> in Argentina and the well-being of her population. The government has acted as an arsonist who dresses up in the guise of a heroic firefighter. </p> <P>Back in 1962, <A href="http://www.elhistoriador.com.ar/biografias/f/frondizi.php">Arturo Frondizi</a> found himself unable to foster the support of the population, and amid a divided society and armed forces believing themselves to be "the last moral resort of the nation", the president was deposed in another coup. When restricted elections were held in 1963 (Peronists were banned from participating), the anti-Frondizi faction of the Radical Party won - and the first decision of the new congress was to annul the contracts Frondizi had signed with private foreign companies in order to achieve self-sufficiency in oil production. This decision cost Argentina dearly, for it delayed energy self-sufficiency for another thirty years. </p> <P>Moisés Naim’s comment in a trenchant <A href="http://www.moisesnaim.com/in_the_media/ignoring-critics-argentina-nationalize-oil-firm">analysis</a>, that Argentina seems to suffer a case of "systemic learning disability", is relevant here (see "<A href="http://www.moisesnaim.com/writings/siren-call-populism-seduces-again">YPF will soon be the least of Argentina’s problems</a>", <EM>Financial Times</em>, 18 April 2012). The losers, as usual, will be the Argentine people. But until opposition politicians rise to the occasion, opt for rationality over passion, and persuade their fellow-citizens that there is a better way, the disability is unlikely to be repaired.</p><fieldset class="fieldgroup group-sideboxs"><legend>Sideboxes</legend><div class="field field-read-on"> <div class="field-label"> 'Read On' Sidebox: </div> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <P><A href="http://www.argentinaindependent.com/"><EM><SPAN><SPAN>Argentina Independent</span></span></em></a></p> <P>Javier Auyero<EM>, </em><A href="http://www.cambridge.org/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521694117"><EM><SPAN><SPAN>Routine Politics and Violence in Argentina: The Gray Zone of State Power</span></span></em></a> (Cambridge University Press, 2007)</p> <P><A href="http://www.buenosairesherald.com/"><EM><SPAN><SPAN>Buenos Aires Herald</span></span></em></a></p> <DIV>Luis Alberto Romero, <A href="http://www.psupress.psu.edu/books/titles/0-271-02191-8.html"><EM><SPAN><SPAN>A History of Argentina in the Twentieth Century</span></span></em></a> (Penn State University Press, 2002)</div> <DIV> </div> <DIV>David Rock, <A href="http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/6014.php"><EM><SPAN><SPAN>Authoritarian Argentina: The Nationalist Movement, Its History and Its Impact</span></span></em></a> (California University Press, 1993)</div> <DIV> <P><A href="http://www.as-coa.org/"><SPAN><SPAN>Council of the Americas </span></span></a></p> <P><A href="http://lanic.utexas.edu/la/argentina/"><SPAN><SPAN>Lanic - Argentina resources</span></span></a></p></div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-sidebox"> <div class="field-label"> Sidebox: </div> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <P>Celia Szusterman is the director of the Latin America Programme at the Institute for Statecraft. She was principal <A href="http://www.westminster.ac.uk/schools/humanities/modern-and-applied-languages/people/szusterman,-celia" target="_blank"><SPAN><SPAN>lecturer</span></span></a><A id="link3" title="archive de lecturer" href="http://archive.wikiwix.com/opendemocracy/?url=http://www.westminster.ac.uk/schools/humanities/modern-and-applied-languages/people/szusterman,-celia&title=lecturer" rel="nofollow"><SPAN><SPAN>↑</span></span></a> in Spanish and Latin American studies at the University of Westminster; is a senior member of St Antony's College, Oxford; associate fellow of the <A href="http://americas.sas.ac.uk/"><SPAN><SPAN>Institute for the Study of the Americas</span></span></a><A id="link5" title="archive de Institute for the Study of the Americas" href="http://archive.wikiwix.com/opendemocracy/?url=http://americas.sas.ac.uk/&title=Institute%20for%20the%20Study%20of%20the%20Americas" rel="nofollow"><SPAN><SPAN>↑</span></span></a> , University of London; and a trustee of the UK board of <A href="https://promujer.org/"><SPAN><SPAN>Pro-Mujer</span></span></a>. Her publications include <EM>Frondizi and the Politics of Developmentalism in Argentina, 1955-62</em> (Macmillan/University of Pittsburgh Press, 1993), revised as <EM>Frondizi o la política del desconcierto</em> (Emecé Argentina, 1996); and “‘Que se Vayan Todos!’ The Struggle for Democratic Party Politics in Contemporary Argentina”, in Paul Webb & Stephen White, eds.,<EM> <A href="http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/product/9780199289653.do" target="_blank"><SPAN><SPAN>Party Politics in New Democracies</span></span></a><A id="link8" title="archive de Party Politics in New Democracies" href="http://archive.wikiwix.com/opendemocracy/?url=http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/product/9780199289653.do&title=Party%20Politics%20in%20New%20Democracies" rel="nofollow"><SPAN><SPAN>↑</span></span></a> </em>[Oxford University Press, 2007])</p> </div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-related-stories"> <div class="field-label">Related stories: </div> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <a href="/celia-szusterman/argentina-democracy-by-default-0">Argentina: democracy by default</a> </div> <div class="field-item even"> <a href="/people-multiculturalism/article_2342.jsp">The many cities of Buenos Aires</a> </div> <div class="field-item odd"> <a href="/democracy-protest/catholicchurch_2709.jsp">Breaking the silence: the Catholic Church in Argentina and the 'dirty war'</a> </div> <div class="field-item even"> <a href="/conflict-falklands_malvinas/lessons_vogler_4495.jsp">Argentina and Britain: the lessons of war</a> </div> <div class="field-item odd"> <a href="/article/kirchner_model_king_queen_penguin">The Kirchner model: king and queen penguin</a> </div> <div class="field-item even"> <a href="/article/globalisation/cristina_kirchners_moment">Cristina Kirchner's moment</a> </div> <div class="field-item odd"> <a href="/democracy-protest/argentinapolitics_2538.jsp">Néstor Kirchner's Argentina: a journey from hell</a> </div> <div class="field-item even"> <a href="/article/argentina-a-crisis-of-riches">Argentina: a crisis of riches </a> </div> <div class="field-item odd"> <a href="/ivan-briscoe/ypf-in-world">YPF in the world</a> </div> <div class="field-item even"> <a href="/article/argentinas-broken-polity">Argentina's broken polity</a> </div> <div class="field-item odd"> <a href="/democracy-institutions_government/article_1465.jsp">Argentina and the IMF: will they benefit from hindsight?</a> </div> <div class="field-item even"> <a href="/article/globalisation/the_great_divide_the_argentina_uruguay_pulp_mill_conflict">Pulp friction: the Argentina-Uruguay conflict</a> </div> <div class="field-item odd"> <a href="/conflict-falklands_malvinas/causa_malvinas_4501.jsp">Argentina's mirror: the causa Malvinas</a> </div> </div> </div> </fieldset> <div class="field field-country"> <div class="field-label"> Country or region: </div> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> Argentina </div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-topics"> <div class="field-label">Topics: </div> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> Democracy and government </div> <div class="field-item even"> International politics </div> </div> </div>
Argentina
Argentina: democracy by default
https://www.opendemocracy.net/celia-szusterman/argentina-democracy-by-default-0
<div class="field field-summary"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> The successive presidencies of Néstor and Cristina Kirchner are marked by a determined effort to put the state and its capacity for co-option and patronage at the centre of Argentina’s political landscape. The fate of the human-rights group the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo casts light on how this ambition is being realised, says Celia Szusterman </div> </div> </div> <p>Argentina’s president, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, announced on 23 June 2011 her intention to run for a second term in the elections due at the end of October. If she is successful, this would ensure thirteen years of continuous rule by the Kirchner couple, since Cristina <a href="http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/democracy_power/argentina_kirchner_after_kirchner">assumed</a> the position in December 2007 from her husband Néstor. It is an apposite moment to look at the condition of politics in Argentina, and of a project that has sought to put the state and its authority at the centre of its transformative ambitions. </p><p>After Argentina’s economic implosion and social breakdown of 2001-02, Néstor Kirchner was elected president in 2003. At the time he was practically unknown outside the Patagonian province of Santa Cruz, whence he had fled after the military coup of 1976 and then quietly worked as a lawyer executing defaulted mortgages and in the process building up a considerable property portfolio. In serving Santa Cruz as mayor of Rio Gallegos and then governor for more than a decade, he built a reputation in this, the remotest part of Argentina (endowed with 200,000 inhabitants, oil and penguins) as “a good administrator”; though also known for his authoritarian streak, his control over the provincial judiciary and press, and ruthlessness towards any kind of opposition, Peronist (his own party) or otherwise.</p><p>Kirchner reached the <a href="http://www.presidencia.gov.ar/">summit</a> of national office by default, in that he achieved only 22% of the vote but benefited from the withdrawal of Carlos Menem (also a Peronist, though of a rival stripe, and president from 1989-99) from the second round, even after he had obtained 23%. Moreover, the little-known Kirchner had no “narrative”, heroic or otherwise, on which to build a popular appeal. But he did have one outstanding quality, which indeed had helped him to get so far: as a Peronist, he knew and understood power. </p><p>Thus, once elected, he set about placing his friends and associates (mostly from the province of Santa Cruz, thus the <a href="http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/kirchner_model_king_queen_penguin">moniker</a> “penguins”) in key posts in the public administration and in commerce; chief penguin was Julio de Vido, today the all-powerful <a href="http://www.minplan.gov.ar/contenidos/home.html">minister</a> of public works. But Kirchner also had learned lessons from the (Peronist) Montoneros, the urban guerrilla movement crushed by the military in the 1970s. </p><p>The Montoneros’ assessment mainly ascribed their defeat not to the violent tactics they had employed against a democratically elected (Peronist) government in 1975 which unleashed state terrorism as a backlash, but to their failure to organise a mass popular movement in pursuit of their strategy of creating a <em>Patria Peronista</em> (whatever that might mean; for analysis of this issue, see Richard Gillespie, <em>Montoneros: Soldiers of Peron</em>; my commentary in the <em>Journal of Latin American Studies</em>, May 1984; and the excellent article by Marcos Novaro, “<em>La teoria de un solo demonio</em>”, <em>Escenarios Alternativos</em>, 28 June 2011). </p><p>Kirchner saw key protest groups of the current generation as offering a foundation of potential popular support for his project. These included the local activist and unemployed formations (<em>piqueteros</em>) which had arisen out of the chaos of the early 2000s, and even the <em>Madres de Plaza de Mayo</em> who had long conducted a silent weekly walk around the <em>Plaza de Mayo</em> to demand to know the truth of their children and grandchildren’s fate under the dictatorship of 1976-83. Kirchner’s way of securing their support was by disbursing unaccountable public funds in their direction in order to <a href="http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/argentinas-broken-polity">co-opt</a> them while embracing the mantle of defender of human rights. </p><p><strong>After chaos </strong></p><p>The deep context of the president’s ambition was the convulsive events in Argentina over the previous generation: the military dictatorship (1976-83), war in the south Atlantic over the Falklands/Malvinas islands (1982), and a hyper-inflationary crisis that resulted largely from the incompetent administration of the first post-military president, Raúl Alfonsín of the Radical Party. </p><p>The surprise victory of Carlos Menem in the 1989 presidential election proved to be a turning-point. By 1991, the appointment of Domingo Cavallo as economy minister and the inauguration of the currency board (and convertibility of the <em>peso</em> to the US dollar) was the prelude to a decade of growth, investment and modernisation of infrastructure. But towards the end of Menem’s two-term presidency in 1999, it all had begun to unravel. </p><p>The financial crises of 1998-99 spread from Indonesia and Russia, hitting Brazil as well as Argentina; but Argentina especially suffered from the fact that the very tool (the currency board) that had allowed Cavallo to reduce inflation to almost zero, was too rigid and unworkable in the new environment of a strong dollar, high interest rates, and low commodity prices. In the political field, another Radical president, Fernando de la Rúa, reconfirmed that the Radicals seemed incapable of governing. </p><p>Argentina’s exchequer ran out of money in December 2001, and - after the International Monetary Fund announced that it was halting financial support - Cavallo resigned, soon to be followed by the president. The ensuing disorder saw several presidents enter and leave office over a fortnight in 2001-02, then a default and devaluation. Three men bear the responsibility for steering the Argentine economy away from financial meltdown: a new, Peronist president, Eduardo Duhalde (vice-president under Menem, and later governor of the province of Buenos Aires), his economy minister Roberto Lavagna, and the central-bank governor Mario Blejer. </p><p>When Kirchner became president in 2003 he retained Lavagna as reassurance that the incipient recovery was not going to be put at risk. By then, too, the “China effect” was beginning to be felt in Latin America as around the globe. The “lost half-decade”, 1998-2003, was over - and not just for Argentina. The economy receded as the main concern, and Kirchner even as he denounced the “Washington consensus” embraced its chief recommendation: the need for fiscal discipline. A state vs market ideological polarity emerged, according to which “neo-liberalism” was excoriated as the agent of the state’s destruction in the earlier period; a typology that ignored the tradition where since the 1940s both Peronist and military administrations had used and abused state institutions. </p><p>The new focus remained vague about details on the role of the state and the need to make it meritocratic instead of an instrument for clientelism and patronage. A process of reification began, where the state was regarded as an all-purpose solution, the sole defender of people’s interests. In a context where tax revenues (when they were collected at all) had long been used more as a vehicle of patronage than a resource for transparent and accountable public investment that benefited the majority, this carried dangers as well as potential advantages. </p><p>These advantages included restoring governmental authority, and confronting the disenchantment with politics and politicians that had (partly because of the scale of the collapse in 2001-02) become even more virulent in Argentina than in many other countries. The potent demand to “<em>que se vayan todos</em>!” (Let’s get rid of them all) both gained many adherents and raised social fears, albeit of a different kind than existed under the military: of anarchy, of instability, of hunger. What was going to replace politics as Néstor Kirchner’s answer, and his great merit, was: the use of state power. The message was: Argentina had a president, he was in charge, and he knew what to do. </p><p><strong>A new alliance</strong> </p><p>This power was used to transform the state machinery and its personnel from within. Kirchner began by replacing the members of the supreme court, which had become a symbol of everything that had been wrong about the 1990s: politicised, packed with Menem’s cronies, devoid of respect. But neither such measures, nor his lambasting of the IMF, nor his co-option of the <em>piqueteros</em>, was enough to consolidate his authority. A president of Argentina, especially a Peronist one, needs something <a href="http://en.mercopress.com/2011/03/31/president-cristina-kirchner-promises-to-go-for-more-as-her-popularity-is-on-the-rise">more</a>: a narrative imbued with heroic symbolism, a source of moral legitimacy. </p><p>Kirchner saw the human-rights cause - and especially the plight of the <em>Madres de Plaza de Mayo</em> - as a way to achieve this. It seemed a belated conversion, as Kirchner had shown little if any interest in the matter while governor of Santa Cruz (the magazine <em>Perfil</em>, on 22 October 2010, quoted human-rights activists in Santa Cruz during Kirchner’s tenure <a href="http://www.perfil.com/contenidos/2010/09/29/noticia_0028.html%29">saying</a>: "When we had to pay for Hebe’s [<em>Madres de Plaza de Mayo</em>] and Estela Carlotto’s [<em>Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo</em>] airfares, we used to go to the legislature, but the only legislators who helped us were the Radicals and those Peronists opposed to Kirchner. We never received any support from the provincial government.”) </p><p>Nonetheless, Hebe de Bonafini, the president of one of the two <em>Madres</em>’ organisations (they had split into two: the <em>Madres de Plaza de Mayo</em> and <em>Madres de Plaza de Mayo - Línea fundadora</em>) was to become almost a permanent fixture in any and every public event, inauguration, or speech delivered by Néstor Kirchner; and the tradition continued under the presidency of his wife Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, which began on 10 December 2007. Bonafini, always wearing the white headscarf that has become such a potent symbol and reminder of state terrorism during the “dirty war”, has been vital in giving the Kirchners a legitimacy as defenders of human rights which they previously lacked. </p><p>Hebe de Bonafini is the symbol of the <em>Madres’</em> infinite pain and of the quest for justice, in that two of her children are desaparecidos (taken into the abyss by military repression). She is also a paradoxical figure. In 1983, immediately after the restoration of democracy, <a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article6017693.ece">Raúl Alfonsín</a> ordered prosecution of the military juntas responsible for the atrocities of the dirty war. At the time Bonafini opposed the decision on the grounds that she rejected “bourgeois justice”. By 1986, her intransigence had turned into intolerance, leading to the split of the <em>Madres</em>.</p><p>The demand for “justice and punishment” was on Bonafini’s side transformed into automatic defense of authoritarian regimes and even terrorist attacks throughout the world. Today, she excoriates in colourful language the Kirchners’ official enemies (media, farmers, the United States), makes no secret of her anti-semitism (she once described the left-wing journalist <a href="http://www.opendemocracy.net/democracy-protest/catholicchurch_2709.jsp">Horacio Verbitsky</a> as “not just a Jew, but a Jew friendly towards the US”), and regards <a href="www.opendemocracy.net/article/hugo-chavez-and-venezuela-a-leader-s-destiny">Hugo Chávez</a>, Iran’s regime and Cuba’s Castro brothers as beyond criticism. </p><p>In the figure of Hebe de Bonafini, the Kirchners’ use of state power and their search for moral legitimacy fused. In 2008, for example, the Kirchners were assailing the <em>Clarín</em> media group (along with <em>La Nación</em>, the country’s leading media network) for daring to support a farmers’ revolt against the attempt to raise taxes on agricultural exports; Hebe de Bonafini weighed in, accusing judges who had made a decision that favoured <em>Clarín</em> and <em>La Nación</em> of being <em>turros</em> (crooks); she threatened to use her influence to surround the building of <em>Tribunales</em> (courts of justice) to put pressure on the judges. </p><p>In 2009, she confronted a group of Bolivian immigrants who had taken to the <em>Plaza de Mayo</em> the coffin of a compatriot whom they claimed had been killed in the mistaken belief that he was a drug-trafficker. In search of justice, they tried to organise a public wake. Hebe de Bonafini, surrounded by supporters and her aide, Sergio Schoklender, demanded that they withdraw from the Plaza because “<em>la plaza es nuestra</em>” (the square is ours). A scuffle followed. A few weeks later, Schoklender was once more the protagonist of a confrontation with a group of Bolivians who had squatted on municipal lands (the <em>Parque Indoamericano</em>); it ended with three people dead. </p><p><strong>From protest to power </strong> </p><p>Hebe de Bonafini has become far <a href="http://en.mercopress.com/2011/06/19/argentina-mothers-on-the-march-again-in-argentina-into-scandal">more</a> than an activist. She is now the head of a media and economic empire with 5,000 employees, funded by $70 million of taxpayers’ money via Julio de Vido’s public-works’ ministry. The outcome of the state’s concentration under the Kirchners is apparent here, in that it now exerts pressure on municipal and provincial authorities to favour Meldorek, the <em>Madres</em>’ construction company (such as granting the company the right to build social housing - without tender, in contravention of existing regulations). </p><p>In 2009, a parliamentary deputy denounced Meldorek (run by Sergio Schoklender and his brother Pablo) to the <em>Unidad de Investigación Financiera</em> for money-laundering, overcharging on the houses they built, and embezzlement of public funds. An investigation started only when the press, provoked by Schoklender’s public behaviour, became interested in his lavish lifestyle. At first, Bonafini dismissed the allegations as “<em>pelotudeces</em> (shit) spread by the press”; by 17 June 2011 she was referring to the brothers as “the damned” and said they should go to prison “forever”.</p><p>The twist here is that the Schoklender brothers had been sentenced to life imprisonment in 1981 for the murder of their parents. Sergio was granted day-release in 1995; Hebe de Bonafini used to pick him up from prison every morning, drive him to the headquarters of the <em>Madres de Plaza de Mayo</em>, and put him in charge of the archive and all documents belonging to the <em>Madres</em>. After his early release, Sergio (who had studied law while in prison) was appointed the legal representative of the <em>Madres.</em> But if he is now exposed, there is a determined official effort to maintain the reputation of Hebe de Bonafini, in ways that reveal the logic of the Kirchners’ project to restore state power and co-opt social movements to their project.</p><p>The reality is that the Kirchners' government has corrupted the <em>Madres</em>. In a triple degradation, the government has incorporated them into its political machinery; appropriated them from their symbolic place at the pinnacle of shared values; and turned them into “mere mortals, factionalised, subservient” (a case argued by Luis Alberto Romero in <em>Escenarios Alternativos</em>, 28 June 2011)</p><p><strong>A reified politics </strong></p><p>An exemplary document here is an impassioned defense of Hebe de Bonafini, that also attacks the usual enemies of the Kirchner “model”. It is written by Daniel Rosso, chief cabinet advisor in the public-communications secretariat of the national government: </p><p>“When politics is at the centre of all decisions, there is no simple and cynical reproduction of private interest. At the centre, confronting the cynicism that has been accumulating for so many years, lies also the collective interest. And here indeed, we arrive at the conceptual vanguard of the single way of thought which imagines the realms of politics and of society as an exclusive and infinite network of market exchanges. Pure and cynical private interest and economic exchange.</p><p>Without politics. Throwing out from the analysis the most relevant product of the Kirchnerista governments: the restitution of politics at the centre of social life in Argentina [...] and of public policies that do not just seek the individual betterment of someone who accedes to a right - e.g. their own house - but also the creation of new organised actors that will widen grassroots democracy. [In this model] the house [built by the <em>Madres</em>] is an intermediate product. The final product are the new actors who will become members of the social movement: networks of social militants and activists that were disarticulated by the last dictatorship and the neo-liberal governments” (see <em>Página 12</em>, 17 June 2011). </p><p>It is difficult to argue with this reasoning, since it places itself in a sphere (“the political”) which is above the rule of law, above any considerations of state accountability and of misuse of public funds, which it considers a reflection of a “market mentality”. The difficulty too lies in the fact that this reasoning places itself in the antipodes of the principles and values of liberal democracy and market capitalism. There is no common ground. </p><p>Karl Marx, according to this view, was wrong: the revolution will come about not via the rebellion of the (co-opted) proletariat, but as a result of a new hegemony. This new hegemony is ideological (thus the struggle for the narrative, for the symbolic sphere, for control of the media); social (involving new actors in receipt of state largesse, directly or via organisations like the <em>Madres</em>); and economic (a crony capitalism that aims to place the control of resources in the hands of “penguins” old and new). </p><p><strong>The Kirchner model </strong> </p><p>The evidence is widespread that the Argentine state has fallen short of the financial duties entrusted to it. After almost four years of Cristina Kirchner’s policies (Néstor <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2010/1027/How-Nestor-Kirchner-s-passing-alters-Argentine-politics">died</a> suddenly in October 2010), public spending is again out of control and real inflation is (following the “housewife index”) at 30% far above the claimed figure. Argentina has fallen into sixth place in the region as a recipient of foreign direct investment (behind Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Colombia and Peru). Chile, with an economy a third the size of Argentina’s, received in 2010 more than double the foreign direct investment. Meanwhile, a complicated system of public subsidies ends up benefiting the better-off groups in society, even as the poverty-rate in 2010 reached 32.1% (figures from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean [ECLAC]).</p><p>Indeed, the reduction in poverty in the region has been the most remarkable effect of the unprecedented years of growth in the first decade of the 21st century. ECLAC estimates that in 2008-09 the crucial factor in the drop in numbers of poor people in five countries (Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, and Paraguay) was government’s progressive, redistributionist policies, whereas in another four (Chile, Argentina, Peru, and Uruguay) the reduction in poverty was the consequence of growth.</p><p>In current circumstances, this presents a danger to Argentina. If the price of Argentina’s export commodities (mostly soya to China) falls, there is no anti-cyclical fund nor any more pension-funds to nationalise; while printing money (as the central bank is doing) will fuel even more inflation, with risks that Argentina’s economic history exemplifies. There are also worries over the unemployment rate, which at 7% is substantially lower than the 18% at the peak of the 2002 crisis but still higher than in the 1980s (while informal employment, at 34.1% - down from 49.2% in 2002 - is the same as the average for 1990-95).</p><p><strong>The president’s gamble</strong></p><p>Cristina Kirchner <a href="http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/71182/cfk-confirms-amado-boudou-as-running-mate">announced</a> on 25 June 2011 that her economy minister, Amado Boudou, would be her vice-presidential candidate in the October 2011 election in which she will seek a second term. Boudou is a controversial figure, whose fondness for fast cars and beautiful women is matched by his loyalty to the president (with whom he shares a refusal ever to use the word “inflation”). The minister’s deputy Roberto Feletti said in May that after the election, “populism should be radicalised”.</p><p>The president also single-handedly chose the candidate-lists for those (senators, deputies, and local councillors) who would represent her <a href="http://www.frenteparalavictoria.org/plataforma.php">party</a>, <em>Frente para la Victoria</em>, in the elections to the city and province of Buenos Aires. In this urban area, where the bulk of the anti-Peronist vote is concentrated, she made a significant concession: omitting the <em>piquetero</em> leader D’Elia, and including only two trade unionists (the powerful leader Hugo Moyano had expected fifteen).</p><p>Yet these concessions to the urban voters have so far not proved enough. On 10 July 2011, <a href="http://www.argentinaindependent.com/currentaffairs/analysis/the-capital-votes-part-i-mauricio-macri-/">Mauricio Macri</a> obtained 47% of the vote in his quest for re-election as mayor of Buenos Aires, well ahead of the 27% won by Mrs Kirchner’s preferred candidate, a former education minister. Macri is now in a good position to win the <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303365804576433893613423936.html">run-off</a> vote on 31 July.</p><p>Will these manoeuvres, decisions and concessions be enough to convince a majority of voters to re-elect Cristina Kirchner in October? More than half the electorate currently say they will not <a href="http://en.mercopress.com/2011/07/25/major-electoral-setback-for-argentine-president-in-fourth-most-important-district">vote</a> for her. But the dire condition of the opposition - where no candidate offers a genuine alternative to the current model, unsustainable though it is - may incline many to change their minds.</p><p>In any event, the saga of the <em>Madres de la Plaza de Mayo</em> is a cautionary tale of what “the restitution of politics at the centre of social life in Argentina” has achieved. Those looking for a way through the current dilemmas of state and market, of rule of law and power, of democracy and populism - all raised in acute form by the Kirchners’ governance of Argentina - will have to look elsewhere. </p><fieldset class="fieldgroup group-sideboxs"><legend>Sideboxes</legend><div class="field field-read-on"> <div class="field-label"> 'Read On' Sidebox: </div> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <p><a href="http://www.argentinaindependent.com/"><em>Argentina Independent</em></a></p><p>Javier Auyero<em>, </em><a href="http://www.cambridge.org/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521694117"><em>Routine Politics and Violence in Argentina: The Gray Zone of State Power</em></a> (Cambridge University Press, 2007)</p><p><a href="http://www.buenosairesherald.com/"><em>Buenos Aires Herald</em></a></p> <p>Luis Alberto Romero, <a href="http://www.psupress.psu.edu/books/titles/0-271-02191-8.html"><em>A History of Argentina in the Twentieth Century</em></a> (Penn State University Press, 2002)</p> <p>David Rock, <a href="http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/6014.php"><em>Authoritarian Argentina: The Nationalist Movement, Its History and Its Impact</em></a> (California University Press, 1993)</p> <p><a href="http://www.as-coa.org/">Council of the Americas </a></p> <p><a href="http://lanic.utexas.edu/la/argentina/">Lanic - Argentina resources</a></p> </div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-sidebox"> <div class="field-label"> Sidebox: </div> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <p>Celia Szusterman is principal <a href="http://www.westminster.ac.uk/schools/humanities/modern-and-applied-languages/people/szusterman,-celia">lecturer</a> in Spanish and Latin American studies at the University of Westminster and chair of the university's Latin America Focus Group. Her publications include <em>Frondizi and the Politics of Developmentalism in Argentina, 1955-62</em> (Macmillan/University of Pittsburgh Press, 1993), revised as <em>Frondizi o la política del desconcierto</em> (Emecé Argentina, 1996); and “‘Que se Vayan Todos!’ The Struggle for Democratic Party Politics in Contemporary Argentina”, in Paul Webb & Stephen White, eds.,<em> <a href="http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/product/9780199289653.do">Party Politics in New Democracies</a> </em>[Oxford University Press, 2007])</p><p>Also by Celia Szusterman in <strong>openDemocracy</strong>: <br /><br />"<a href="democracy-protest/argentina_2962.jsp">Argentina: the state we're in</a>" (26 October 2005) <br /><br />"<a href="democracy-protest/argentina_erosion_3607.jsp">Latin America's eroding democracy: the view from Argentina</a>" (1 June 2006)<br /><br />"<a href="conflict-falklands_malvinas/causa_malvinas_4501.jsp">Argentina's mirror: the causa Malvinas</a>" (3 April 2007) <br /><br />"<a href="article/kirchner_model_king_queen_penguin">The Kirchner model: king and queen penguin</a>" (17 July 2007) <br /><br />"<a href="article/argentina_s_new_president_kirchner_after_kirchner">Argentina's new president: Kirchner after Kirchner</a>" (29 October 2007) <br /><br />"<a href="article/globalisation/the_great_divide_the_argentina_uruguay_pulp_mill_conflict">Pulp friction: the Argentina-Uruguay conflict</a>" (30 January 2008) <br /><br />"<a href="article/argentina-celebrating-democracy">Argentina: celebrating democracy</a>" (19 December 2008)<br /><br />“<a href="article/argentinas-broken-polity%20">Argentina's broken polity</a>” (13 July 2009)</p><p>"<a href="http://www.opendemocracy.net/celia-szusterman/argentina-y-las-malvinas-in-search-of-reality">Argentina y las Malvinas: in search of reality</a>" (24 March 2010)</p> </div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-related-stories"> <div class="field-label">Related stories: </div> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <a href="/democracy-protest/article_1167.jsp">Argentina: how politicians survive while people starve</a> </div> <div class="field-item even"> <a href="/democracy-institutions_government/article_1465.jsp">Argentina and the IMF: will they benefit from hindsight?</a> </div> <div class="field-item odd"> <a href="/people-multiculturalism/article_2342.jsp">The many cities of Buenos Aires</a> </div> <div class="field-item even"> <a href="/conflict-falklands_malvinas/argentina_briscoe_4491.jsp">Argentina and the Malvinas, twenty-five years on</a> </div> <div class="field-item odd"> <a href="/article/argentinas-broken-polity">Argentina's broken polity</a> </div> <div class="field-item even"> <a href="/conflict-falklands_malvinas/causa_malvinas_4501.jsp">Argentina's mirror: the causa Malvinas</a> </div> <div class="field-item odd"> <a href="/article/globalisation/the_great_divide_the_argentina_uruguay_pulp_mill_conflict">Pulp friction: the Argentina-Uruguay conflict</a> </div> <div class="field-item even"> <a href="/article/argentina-celebrating-democracy">Argentina: celebrating democracy</a> </div> <div class="field-item odd"> <a href="/conflict-falklands_malvinas/lessons_vogler_4495.jsp">Argentina and Britain: the lessons of war</a> </div> <div class="field-item even"> <a href="/democracy-protest/argentinapolitics_2538.jsp">Néstor Kirchner's Argentina: a journey from hell</a> </div> <div class="field-item odd"> <a href="/democracy-protest/catholicchurch_2709.jsp">Breaking the silence: the Catholic Church in Argentina and the 'dirty war'</a> </div> <div class="field-item even"> <a href="/article/argentina-a-crisis-of-riches">Argentina: a crisis of riches </a> </div> <div class="field-item odd"> <a href="/article/globalisation/cristina_kirchners_moment">Cristina Kirchner's moment</a> </div> </div> </div> </fieldset> <div class="field field-country"> <div class="field-label"> Country or region: </div> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> Argentina </div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-topics"> <div class="field-label">Topics: </div> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> Democracy and government </div> <div class="field-item even"> International politics </div> </div> </div>
Argentina
Celia Szusterman
https://www.opendemocracy.net/author-profile/celia-szusterman
<div class="field field-au-term"> <div class="field-label">Author: </div> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> Celia Szusterman </div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-au-firstname"> <div class="field-label">First name(s): </div> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> Celia </div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-au-surname"> <div class="field-label">Surname: </div> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> Szusterman </div> </div> </div> <P>Celia Szusterman is the director of the Latin America Programme at the Institute for Statecraft. She was principal <A href="http://www.westminster.ac.uk/schools/humanities/modern-and-applied-languages/people/szusterman,-celia" target="_blank">lecturer</a> in Spanish and Latin American studies at the University of Westminster; is a senior member of St Antony's College, Oxford; associate fellow of the <A href="http://americas.sas.ac.uk/">Institute for the Study of the Americas</a>, University of London; and a trustee of the UK board of <A href="https://promujer.org/">Pro-Mujer</a>. Her publications include <EM>Frondizi and the Politics of Developmentalism in Argentina, 1955-62</em> (Macmillan/University of Pittsburgh Press, 1993), revised as <EM>Frondizi o la política del desconcierto</em> (Emecé Argentina, 1996); and “‘Que se Vayan Todos!’ The Struggle for Democratic Party Politics in Contemporary Argentina”, in Paul Webb & Stephen White, eds.,<EM> <A href="http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/product/9780199289653.do" target="_blank">Party Politics in New Democracies</a> </em>[Oxford University Press, 2007])</p> <P> </p><div class="field field-au-shortbio"> <div class="field-label">One-Line Biography: </div> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> Celia Szusterman is the director of the Latin America Programme at the Institute for Statecraft. She was principal <a href=http://www.westminster.ac.uk/schools/humanities/modern-and-applied-languages/people/szusterman,-celia>lecturer</a> in Spanish and Latin American studies at the University of Westminster; is a senior member of St Antony's College, Oxford; associate fellow of the <a href=http://americas.sas.ac.uk/>Institute for the Study of the Americas</a>, University of London; and a trustee of the UK board of <a href=https://promujer.org/>Pro-Mujer</a>. Her publications include Frondizi and the Politics of Developmentalism in Argentina, 1955-62 (Macmillan/University of Pittsburgh Press, 1993), revised as Frondizi o la polÃtica del desconcierto (Emecé Argentina, 1996); and “‘Que se Vayan Todos!’ The Struggle for Democratic Party Politics in Contemporary Argentinaâ€, in Paul Webb & Stephen White, eds., Party Politics in New Democracies [Oxford University Press, 2007]) </div> </div> </div>
Celia Szusterman
Argentina y las Malvinas: in search of reality
https://www.opendemocracy.net/celia-szusterman/argentina-y-las-malvinas-in-search-of-reality
<div class="field field-summary"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> The revival of Argentina’s dispute with Britain over the south Atlantic island territory owes much to the political character of Cristina Kirchner’s government. But it also reveals the distance travelled since the war of 1982, says Celia Szusterman. </div> </div> </div> <p>A series of events has brought the usually dormant if always sensitive issue of the south Atlantic’s Falklands/Malvinas <a href="http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/cia07/argentina_sm_2007.gif">islands</a> (British territory, claimed by Argentina) back into the political spotlight. The decision to send an oil platform to the territory to explore under its waters provoked protests by the Buenos Aires government; the near-coincidence of a Latin American summit gave a number of regional leaders the opportunity to voice their rhetorical solidarity and opposition to “colonialism”, almost exactly twenty-eight years since the seventy-four-day <a href="http://www.falklandswar.org.uk/">war</a> which began on 2 April 1982; and the United States secretary of state Hillary Clinton’s cautious expression of hope of resolution of the issues, during a visit to Buenos Aires on 1 March 2010 was widely interpreted as reopening the question of the islands’ <a href="http://www.visitorfalklands.com/contents/view/137/about-falklands/history/falklands-history-culture">future</a> and thus favouring the Argentinean side.</p> <p>Indeed, the Argentinean government is still enjoying the media <a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article7045992.ece">fuss</a> (not least in Britain) about Hillary Clinton’s <a href="http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2010/03/137539.htm">statement</a>. During a brief joint press conference with Cristina Kirchner, the Argentinean <a href="http://www.presidencia.gov.ar/">president</a> summarised their conversation by saying that she had requested United States mediation in order to convince the United Kingdom to start <a href="http://en.mercopress.com/2010/03/19/falklands-taiana-certain-uk-will-understand-it-must-sit-to-negotiate">negotiations</a> on the Malvinas’ sovereignty. Hillary Clinton did not mention the topic in her own remarks, thus prompting a British journalist to ask if Washington “would be willing to mediate between the UK and Argentina”. Clinton’s guarded answer was that “the US would like to see both countries sit down and resolve the issues between them in a peaceful and productive way”. It is worth noting that she used the term “issues”, but not the word “sovereignty”. Fisheries, oil, and conservation are all “issues”.</p> <h3><strong>A legal stand</strong></h3> <p>Cristina Kirchner released a presidential decree declaring that all vessels sailing towards the Malvinas/Falklands through Argentine territorial waters would have to seek permission from the Argentine government. The Argentinean historian <a href="http://www.lainsignia.org/2007/febrero/ibe_027.htm">Vicente Palermo</a>, in an article in <em>La Nación</em>, described Decree 256, noted the replacement of any professional diplomatic effort by behind-the-scenes pressure, and described the result as “another link in the chain with which we are rolling up our legs” (see Vicente Palermo, “<a href="http://www.lanacion.com.ar/nota.asp?nota_id=1234373">Otra cadena en nuestras piernas</a>”, <em>La Nación</em>, 18 February 2010).</p> <p>A report in the Spanish press on 1 March 2010 stated that the Argentine government had sent notes of protest to the Norwegian AGR Group and to the Danish Thor Shipping A/S, Dania Marien and Moller Maersk Group. The Argentine ambassador in Australia was quoted as confirming that he had sent a similar note to the Australian government because of BHP Billiton’s <a href="http://en.mercopress.com/2010/03/01/argentina-warns-bhp-billiton-about-drilling-in-falklands-waters">involvement</a> in oil exploration around the Falklands/Malvinas (the firm has extensive investments in Argentina). </p> <p>All notes were accompanied by copies of <a href="http://www.falklands.info/history/resolution3149.html">Resolution 31/49</a> of the United Nations general assembly (1976), asking that both Britain and Argentina abstain from carrying out “unilateral modifications” to the situation of the islands as long as they are undertaking the “process recommended in UN resolutions, like the one encouraging both parts to a peaceful dialogue on the islands”.</p> <p>Here is the crux of the matter. The view of Britain and the <a href="http://www.falklands.gov.fk/assembly/">Falkland Islands legislative assembly</a> (which Argentina does not recognise) is that the 1995 agreement with Argentina over oil and other areas of cooperation allowed for <a href="http://en.mercopress.com/2010/03/19/falklands-rife-with-speculation-waiting-for-first-oil-drilling-results">drilling</a> and exploration in specified areas. Néstor Kirchner may have ceased formally to cooperate with this agreement in March 2007; but this does not preclude the islanders, with UK acquiescence, from exploring and drilling. This is what the agreement of 1995 was all about. The accusation of “acting unilaterally” goes both ways.</p> <h3><strong>A cause unwon</strong></h3> <p>Insofar as it is possible to guess at Argentina’s strategy, this is to hinder and ultimately prevent the development of the islands, and so force them, defeated and humiliated, to beg the UK to hand over (the only acceptable outcome of any negotiation from the Argentine point of view) <a href="http://www.falklandswar.org.uk/chron.htm">sovereignty</a> to their “rightful owners” (as opposed to “anachronistic colonialist usurpers”).</p> <p>This misses the reality that public opinion - on both sides - has moved on somewhat since 1982. In the case of Britain, some opinion-formers have written in favour of negotiations over sovereignty; they include Simon Jenkins (“<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/feb/25/falklands-britains-expensive-nuisance">The Falklands can no longer remain as Britain's expensive nuisance</a>”, <em>Guardian</em>, 25 February 2010) and Matthew Parris (“<a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/matthew_parris/article7043099.ece">Think of Hong Kong. Give the Falklands back</a>”, <em>Times</em>, 27 February 2010). In the case of Argentina, although there is still too much silence, the fact that Vicente Palermo’s views were published in <em>La Nacion</em> without resulting in accusations of treason against him, is a further indicator that perceptions may have shifted (see Vicente Palermo, <a href="http://www.clarin.com/suplementos/libros/2006/03/10/l-01384322.htm"><em>Sal en las heridas: Las Malvinas en la cultura argentina contemporánea</em></a><em> </em>[Sudamericana, 2007]).</p> <p>Palermo himself argues that the change in public opinion in <a href="http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/1934.php">Argentina</a> leaves three main blocks of sentiment: those who believe that the islands will never be recovered, so why bother trying; those moved by pragmatism; and those who perhaps prioritise values removed from any form of stubborn territorial <a href="http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/6014.php">nationalism</a>. These changes, Palermo argues, render Argentineans open to “innovative and original” proposals to solve the conflict (see Justin Vogler, "<a href="../../../../../../../../conflict-falklands_malvinas/lessons_vogler_4495.jsp">Argentina and Britain: the lessons of war</a>", 3 April 2007).</p> <p>Palermo outlines the self-inflicted costs to Argentina of the Kirchners’ approach, or their “nastiness offensive”, in contrast to former foreign minister <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1380688/Guido-di-Tella.html">Guido di Tella’s</a> “charm offensive”. The first and heavier cost, is the resulting antagonism of the inhabitants of the islands. Where Di Tella understood that the damage inflicted by the 1982 military occupation would require years to heal, the hostility of the Kirchners plays straight into the hands of the most curmudgeonly islanders, thus undoing all the trust-building and good-neighbourly approach of the 1990s (see Fred Halliday, “<a href="../../../../../../../../conflict/malvinas_ghosts_4591.jsp">The Malvinas and Afghanistan: unburied ghosts</a>”, 3 May 2007).</p> <p>The<strong> </strong>Kirchners thus continue to ignore the islanders, their views and their oft-repeated wish to remain British. In the process, they make the <a href="http://en.mercopress.com/2010/03/23/falklands-oil-dispute-argentina-presents-its-case-and-backgrounds-to-oas">objective</a> of “recovering the Malvinas” impossible to attain - while simultaneously using it as proof of Britain’s last and absurd colonial dream. In today’s world, to act in total disregard for the <a href="http://en.mercopress.com/2010/03/10/falklands-expose-argentine-aggressiveness-in-the-british-press">views</a> of the inhabitants of a <a href="http://www.visitorfalklands.com/contents/view/97/get-here/maps/map-of-the-falkland-islands">territory</a> - even to ignore their very existence - is something that very few governments dare do without arousing criticism from most of the world.</p> <p>It is peculiar then that during a meeting of South American and Arab presidents, Mrs Kirchner drew a parallel between the situation in Palestine and in the Malvinas/Falklands. She was referring to the fact that both Israel and the UK ignore statements of the United Nations general assembly. In fact, if the situations have got anything in common (which they don’t) it could be argue that it is Argentina that holds the most objectionable role, by behaving without any regard for the views of the inhabitants of the territory under dispute. Moreover, it may be worth recalling that all UN resolutions on the islands have been <a href="http://www.falklands.info/history/resolution2065.html">issued</a> by the general assembly, and none by the Security Council (whose resolutions are binding). </p> <p>The long-term interests of Argentina require a return to the principles on which Di Tella’s charm-offensive were based: accept that there are different viewpoints on the issue of “property” over the islands, and - as civilised, tolerant, respectful peoples - resume talks over areas of common and urgent interest (such as fisheries, tourism, air links, scientific research, conservation and oil exploration/drilling); all this while taking into account the interests and lifestyles of all the peoples concerned. Indeed, such an approach could be extended to all the countries in the Latin American and Caribbean region (see Ivan Briscoe, “<a href="../../../../../../../../conflict-falklands_malvinas/argentina_briscoe_4491.jsp">Argentina and the Malvinas, twenty-five years on</a>” (1 April 2007).</p> <p>It is a mistake to believe that Mrs Kirchner has “now” embraced the <em>causa Malvinas</em> in order to counteract her rock-bottom opinion-poll <a href="http://en.mercopress.com/2010/03/18/argentine-public-opinion-growingly-disenchanted-with-political-leadership">ratings</a>. These are not the result of a “plot” by the “oligarchy”, “the media”, the “judicial party”, the opposition - as the conspiratorial mindset of many of her acolytes suggests - but of her incompetent management of the <em>res publica</em> (see “<a href="../../../../../../../../article/argentinas-broken-polity">Argentina's broken polity</a>” (13 July 2009).</p> <p>When finally confronted with the reality of a congress in which the Kirchners no longer hold a majority as a result of the elections of 28 June 2009, their reaction was not to seek agreements with the opposition but rather to raise the level of confrontation. <a href="http://en.terra.com/latin-in-america/news/argentina_eats_less_meat_inflation_to_blame/hof8853">Inflation</a> has continued to creep (private estimates place it at around 25%), capital-flight has once again increased, and poverty has grown to the 1990s average of 35%. Yet the <em>causa Malvinas</em> remains an all-party, all-sectors issue (see "<a href="../../../../../../../../conflict-falklands_malvinas/causa_malvinas_4501.jsp">Argentina's mirror: the <em>causa</em> <em>Malvinas</em></a>", 3 April 2007). Indeed, opponents of the government still believe that the way Mrs Kirchner is tackling the current problem of oil-exploration is the correct way to proceed. If anything, there have been criticisms of Mrs Kirchner for not having done <a href="http://en.mercopress.com/2010/02/13/argentina-plans-insecurity-for-falklands-oil-exploration-and-is-tracking-the-rig">more</a> and earlier than waiting for the <em>Ocean Guardian</em> floating-platform to reach disputed waters.</p> <h3><strong>A real dialogue</strong></h3> <p>What the opposition does not seem to have realised, since the topic was never raised in congress, is that neither of the Kirchners has a foreign policy that can be described as such. In the case of Britain, this is revealed by the fact that no Argentine ambassador has been accredited to London since July 2008. Only at the end of 2009 was the name of <a href="http://en.mercopress.com/2009/11/25/distinguished-academic-next-argentine-ambassador-in-london">José Nun</a>, a former culture secretary under Néstor Kirchner, mentioned. His credentials are awaiting ratification by the senate. However, José Nun, a sociologist, is neither a career diplomat nor an expert on the Falklands/Malvinas topic. It is paradoxical to say the least, to hear Cristina Kirchner demand a dialogue with London when almost daily they show in Argentina that “dialogue”, “negotiation”, “agreement” are words that hardly figure in the Kirchners’ vocabulary (see "<a href="../../../../../../../../article/democracy_power/argentina_kirchner_after_kirchner">Argentina's new president: Kirchner after Kirchner</a>", 29 October 2007).</p> <p>In mid-March 2010 the Argentine press reported that when <a href="../../../../../../../../democracy-protest/argentinapolitics_2538.jsp">Néstor Kirchner</a> heard that the president of the senate, one of the Kirchners’ own men, had declared that “government and opposition should find a forum for a dialogue” (he was referring to the <a href="http://en.mercopress.com/2010/03/05/argentina-defiant-cristina-this-president-will-pay-debts-with-central-bank-reserves">dispute</a> over the use of central-bank reserves to finance current spending), Kirchner interpreted this as “treason” and exploded in fury.</p> <p>Néstor Kirchner’s peculiar interpretation of what constitutes a “dialogue” is obvious from the last paragraph of the 27 March 2007 note sent to the British government formally ending all cooperation on hydrocarbons. It states that the British government may regard the areas of cooperation as steps in a process aimed at maintaining good relations; but until the day arrives to talk about sovereignty, the cooperation of Argentina’s government was only meaningful if it led to “pertinent negotiations”.</p> <p>The text states:</p> <p>“Argentina is not against cooperating with the UK […] but only if such cooperation will contribute to create the necessary conditions to restart the dialogue to solve the controversy over sovereignty and in this way end, in a peaceful and lasting way, this anachronistic colonial dispute.”</p><p><a href="../../../../../../../../richard_rorty_living_in_dialogue">Richard Rorty</a> believed that “democracy is conversation”. For there to be a conversation, it is necessary to listen, not just to talk. No lasting solution will be achieved until Argentina accepts that the islanders are legitimate interlocutors in any negotiations about their own future; and until the islanders in turn lose their fear, dread and hatred of all things Argentine.</p><fieldset class="fieldgroup group-sideboxs"><legend>Sideboxes</legend><div class="field field-read-on"> <div class="field-label"> 'Read On' Sidebox: </div> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <p><a href="http://www.falklandswar.org.uk/">The Falkland Islands Conflict, 1982</a></p><p><a href="http://en.mercopress.com/">MercoPress</a></p><p>Javier Auyero<em>, </em><a href="http://www.cambridge.org/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521694117"><em>Routine Politics and Violence in Argentina: The Gray Zone of State Power</em></a> (Cambridge University Press, 2007)</p> <p>Luis Alberto Romero, <a href="http://www.psupress.psu.edu/books/titles/0-271-02191-8.html"><em>A History of Argentina in the Twentieth Century</em></a> (Penn State University Press, 2002)</p><p>Hugh Bicheno, <a href="http://www.hughbicheno.co.uk/razors.html"><em>Razor's Edge: The Unofficial History of the Falklands War</em></a> (Orion, 2006)</p><p><a href="http://www.falklands.gov.fk/Government.html">Falkland Islands government</a></p> <p>David Rock, <a href="http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/6014.php"><em>Authoritarian Argentina: The Nationalist Movement, Its History and Its Impact</em></a> (California University Press, 1993)</p> </div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-sidebox"> <div class="field-label"> Sidebox: </div> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <p>Celia Szusterman is principal <a href="http://www.westminster.ac.uk/schools/humanities/staff/modern-and-applied-languages/szusterman,-celia">lecturer</a> in Spanish and Latin American studies at the University of Westminster and an associate fellow at the Institute for the Study of the Americas, University of London <br /><br />Also by Celia Szusterman in <strong>openDemocracy</strong>: <br /><br />"<a href="http://www.opendemocracy.net/democracy-protest/argentina_2962.jsp">Argentina: the state we're in</a>" (26 October 2005) <br /><br />"<a href="http://www.opendemocracy.net/democracy-protest/argentina_erosion_3607.jsp">Latin America's eroding democracy: the view from Argentina</a>" (1 June 2006)<br /><br />"<a href="http://www.opendemocracy.net/conflict-falklands_malvinas/causa_malvinas_4501.jsp">Argentina's mirror: the causa Malvinas</a>" (3 April 2007) <br /><br />"<a href="http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/kirchner_model_king_queen_penguin">The Kirchner model: king and queen penguin</a>" (17 July 2007) <br /><br />"<a href="http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/argentina_s_new_president_kirchner_after_kirchner">Argentina's new president: Kirchner after Kirchner</a>" (29 October 2007) <br /><br />"<a href="http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/globalisation/the_great_divide_the_argentina_uruguay_pulp_mill_conflict">Pulp friction: the Argentina-Uruguay conflict</a>" (30 January 2008) <br /><br />"<a href="http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/argentina-celebrating-democracy">Argentina: celebrating democracy</a>" (19 December 2008)<br /><br />“<a href="http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/argentinas-broken-polity%20">Argentina's broken polity</a>” (13 July 2009)</p> </div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-related-stories"> <div class="field-label">Related stories: </div> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <a href="/conflict/malvinas_ghosts_4591.jsp">The Malvinas and Afghanistan: unburied ghosts</a> </div> <div class="field-item even"> <a href="/conflict-falklands_malvinas/lessons_vogler_4495.jsp">Argentina and Britain: the lessons of war</a> </div> <div class="field-item odd"> <a href="/conflict-falklands_malvinas/causa_malvinas_4501.jsp">Argentina's mirror: the causa Malvinas</a> </div> <div class="field-item even"> <a href="/conflict-falklands_malvinas/churchillism_4487.jsp">Churchillism: from Thatcher and the Falklands to Blair and Iraq</a> </div> <div class="field-item odd"> <a href="/conflict-falklands_malvinas/argentina_briscoe_4491.jsp">Argentina and the Malvinas, twenty-five years on</a> </div> <div class="field-item even"> <a href="/article/argentinas-broken-polity">Argentina's broken polity</a> </div> </div> </div> </fieldset> <div class="field field-country"> <div class="field-label"> Country or region: </div> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> Argentina </div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-topics"> <div class="field-label">Topics: </div> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> Conflict </div> <div class="field-item even"> Democracy and government </div> <div class="field-item odd"> International politics </div> </div> </div>
Argentina
Argentina's broken polity
https://www.opendemocracy.net/article/argentinas-broken-polity
<p> Argentina has now been ruled by Cristina Kirchner for nineteen months. A presidency that was launched on the promise of renewal, even if it was inherited in dynastic fashion from her <u><a href="http://english.pravda.ru/world/americas/30-04-2003/2695-kirchner-0">husband</a></u> Néstor Kirchner, has now lasted long enough for the voters to pass at least a provisional judgment. Their verdict - in the mid-term elections of <u><a href="http://www.angus-reid.com/tracker/view/33488/argentina_2009">28 June 2009</a></u> - was not pretty. What does the result say about the condition of Argentinean democracy, and the likely fate of Cristina Kirchner's remaining period in office until the next scheduled <u><a href="http://www.electionguide.org/country.php?ID=11">presidential elections</a></u> in October 2011? </p> <p> <span class="pullquote_new">Celia Szusterman is principal <u><a href="http://www.wmin.ac.uk/sshl/page-1263">lecturer</a></u> in Spanish and Latin American studies at the University of Westminster and an associate fellow at the Institute for the Study of the Americas, University of London <br /> <br /> Also by Celia Szusterman in <strong>openDemocracy</strong>: <br /> <br /> "<u><a href="/democracy-protest/argentina_2962.jsp">Argentina: the state we're in</a></u>" (26 October 2005) <br /> <br /> "<u><a href="/democracy-protest/argentina_erosion_3607.jsp">Latin America's eroding democracy: the view from Argentina</a></u>" (1 June 2006)<br /> <br /> "<u><a href="/conflict-falklands_malvinas/causa_malvinas_4501.jsp">Argentina's mirror: the <em>causa</em> <em>Malvinas</em></a></u>" (3 April 2007) <br /> <br /> "<u><a href="/article/kirchner_model_king_queen_penguin">The Kirchner model: king and queen penguin</a></u>" (17 July 2007) <br /> <br /> "<u><a href="/article/democracy_power/argentina_kirchner_after_kirchner">Argentina's new president: Kirchner after Kirchner</a></u>" (29 October 2007) <br /> <br /> "<u><a href="/article/globalisation/the_great_divide_the_argentina_uruguay_pulp_mill_conflict">Pulp friction: the Argentina-Uruguay conflict</a></u>" (30 January 2008) <br /> <br /> "<u><a href="/article/argentina-celebrating-democracy">Argentina: celebrating democracy</a></u>" (19 December 2008)</span> </p> <p> What was at stake on 28 June was the partial renewal of both chambers of congress at the national level, as well as provincial and municipal authorities. What makes these elections especially noteworthy is both the current domestic context and the possible impact of the outcome on the path of politics and democracy that lies ahead for Argentina. </p> <p> <strong>The change</strong> </p> <p> A law passed in 2004 during <u><a href="http://www.casarosada.gov.ar/index.php?option=com_content&task=galeriaPresidentes&Itemid=62">Néstor Kirchner's</a></u> presidency (2003-07) stipulated that mid-term elections would from 2009 take place on the third Sunday of October in the second year of the four-year presidency. This, he said at the time, was to remove uncertainty and manipulation, thus ensuring the transparency and predictability of the electoral process. </p> <p> In March 2009, Cristina Kirchner - who was <u><a href="http://www.angus-reid.com/tracker/view/14242/argentina20071028">elected</a></u> on 28 October 2007, and was inaugurated on <u><a href="/article/globalisation/cristina_kirchners_moment">11 December</a></u> - announced an alteration of the electoral calendar. The reasons she gave were neither unambiguous nor reassuring. Indeed, her reference to the possible impact of the unfolding global financial crisis, and the "need to get rid of the elections as an obstacle" reinforced two suspicions. The first was that the ruling couple were increasingly worried about the draining of public funds available to invest in public works, as well as about the results of unfavourable opinion polls. The second, almost a Freudian slip, was indicative of their real attitude towards the democratic process. Indeed, as one analyst pointed out - <u><a href="http://www.papelesdearte.com.ar/alma/opinion/columnista_id.html">Carlos Pagni</a></u>, in <em>La Nación</em> - the notion that crises are better and more quickly overcome if citizen participation is curtailed, has a long and sad tradition in Argentina. </p> <p> The decision to bring forward the election-date had both short and long-term implications. In the short term, the electoral process itself was affected by the change. The electoral calendar normally requires months to produce up-to-date registers, and other material such as the printing of ballots. The shortening of this process by four months raised suspicions of possible fraud, at least in some districts, and especially those in which the difference between candidates may be small or even negligible. It cut short the time the opposition needed to consolidate alliances under discussion; more crucially, it was seen as a way to put an end to deliberations within the <u><a href="http://www.casarosada.gov.ar/index.php?option=com_content&task=galeriaPresidentes&Itemid=62">Peronist</a></u> currents that are the Kirchners' political base (see "<u><a href="/article/kirchner_model_king_queen_penguin">The Kirchner model: king and queen penguin</a></u>", 17 July 2007). </p> <p> There is no longer any doubt that they are a double act: in her 29 June press conference she corrected a journalist who made a reference to her "two years in government": "our government is 6 years old". The signs were also clear in the minor <u><a href="http://en.mercopress.com/2009/07/08/kirchners-change-some-cabinet-names-but-ratify-course">reshuffle</a></u> that followed on 7 July. </p> <p> In a parliamentary system, elections tend not to have a fixed date. In a presidential system there is more fixity in the schedule, and tampering with election dates is a serious matter - even a violation of the rules. It is relevant here that at the time of the constitutional reform in 1994, the late <u><a href="http://www.clubmadrid.org/cmadrid/index.php?id=113">Raul Alfonsín</a></u> had hoped that by negotiating the introduction of two features of a semi-parliamentary system the future institutional health of the republic could be guaranteed. These were the figure of the cabinet chief and the juridical council (<em>Consejo de la Magistratura</em>). The cabinet chief, appointed by the executive, would act as an intermediary between the latter and the congress; the juridical council was intended to guarantee an independent and transparent process in the election of judges (see "<u><a href="/article/argentina-celebrating-democracy">Argentina: celebrating democracy</a></u>", 19 December 2008). </p> <p> Article 101 of the <u><a href="http://pdba.georgetown.edu/Constitutions/Argentina/argen94_e.html">Argentinean constitution</a></u> of 1994 prescribes that the cabinet chief would at least once a month visit alternately the lower and upper chambers of parliament, and be subject to various obligations. Yet not one cabinet chief since 1994 has fulfilled the constitutional requirement to attend congress; <u><a href="http://www.casarosada.gov.ar/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1450&Itemid=117">Cristina Kirchner's</a></u> own appointee has in nine months in office visited congress just once. This cavalier attitude towards the law is a reflection of the institutional deficit in Argentina, at the core of its unpredictability. </p> <p> <strong>The double-act</strong> </p> <p> The elections were to renew half the seats in the lower <u><a href="http://www.diputados.gov.ar/">chamber</a></u> and a third of the national senate, plus hundreds of provincial and municipal councillors and officials. In the end, the Kirchners were defeated. Cristina Kirchner tried to put a spin on the figures during her press conference on 29 June (her first since August 2008, and that had in turn been the first since taking over the presidency in December 2007), but the facts were clear. </p> <p> <span class="pullquote_new">Also in <strong>openDemocracy</strong> on Argentinean politics since 2001:<br /> <br /> Ivan Briscoe, "<u><a href="/node/1167">Argentina: how politicians survive while people starve</a></u>" (17 April 2003)<br /> <br /> Michele Wucker, "<u><a href="/globalization-protest/article_1465.jsp">Argentina and the IMF: will they benefit from hindsight?</a></u>" (4 September 2003)<br /> <br /> Mariano Aguirre, "<u><a href="/node/2342">The many cities of Buenos Aires</a></u>" (16 February 2005)<br /> <br /> Ivan Briscoe, "<u><a href="/democracy-protest/argentinapolitics_2538.jsp">Nèstor Kirchner's Argentina: a journey from hell</a></u>" (25 May 2005)<br /> <br /> Horacio Verbitsky, "<u><a href="/democracy-protest/catholicchurch_2709.jsp">Breaking the silence: the Catholic Church in Argentina and the 'dirty war</a></u>'" (27 July 2005)<br /> <br /> Carlos Forment, "<u><a href="/democracy-protest/argentina_football_3651.jsp">The democratic dribble: Buenos Aires's politics of football</a></u>" (15 June 2006)<br /> <br /> Ivan Briscoe, "<u><a href="/conflict-falklands_malvinas/argentina_briscoe_4491.jsp">Argentina and the Malvinas, twenty-five years on</a></u>" (2 April 2007)<br /> <br /> Ana Caistor-Arendar, "<u><a href="/article/globalisation/cristina_kirchners_moment">Cristina Kirchner's moment</a></u>" (14 December 2007)<br /> <br /> Ivan Briscoe, "<u><a href="/article/argentina-a-crisis-of-riches">Argentina: a crisis of riches</a></u>" (17 July 2008)</span> </p> <p> The former president came second in the province of Buenos Aires, the most populous district in the country (home to 37.11% of voters); the Kirchners' <em><u><a href="http://www.frenteparalavictoria.org/">Frente para la Victoria</a></u></em> (Front for Victory / FPV) gathered only 26.55% of the total votes. </p> <p> Néstor Kirchner had decided to focus all his energies (and unlimited government funds, something the electoral law does not allow) in the greater Buenos Aires area, where the largest concentration of poor people is to be found. As an illustration: infant-mortality rates for the country as a whole in 2007 were 13.3% (up from 12.7% in 2006), while in the poorest district of greater Buenos Aires (the municipality of Presidente Perón) the figure was 20.6 per 1,000 births. In May 2009, 13.9% of the population of the city of Buenos Aires lived in poverty; in greater Buenos Aires the figure was 36.8% (see <em>Empleo y Condiciones de Vida en el Area Metropolitana de Buenos Aires</em>, SEL Consultores, June 2009). </p> <p> Kirchner's FPV lost in three of the five most important districts, accounting for 66.31% of the electoral register (city of Buenos Aires, province of Buenos Aires, plus the provinces of Santa Fe, Mendoza and Cordoba). In the city of Buenos Aires his candidate came fourth with 11.7% of the votes, while Kirchner himself achieved 32.12% against the maverick centre-right businessman De Narváez who came from nowhere to get 34.57%. Even more embarrassingly, the Kirchners lost the election in their home province of Santa Cruz, for the first time in twenty years. </p> <p> <em>Peronismo</em> is divided in the whole <u><a href="http://go.hrw.com/atlas/norm_htm/argentin.htm">country</a></u>: there was not one electoral district in which there were not at least two different Peronist lists of candidates (in some cases there were three, and even four). As in the past, this meant that national elections became one huge Peronist primary election. The electoral defeat of Kirchner, the narrow victory of Carlos Reutemann in Santa Fe, and the election of the mayor of Buenos Aires's candidate in the city, has begun a process of realignment within Peronism; former <u><a href="http://rulers.org/rula2.html#argentina">president</a></u> Eduardo Duhalde is acting, once again, as kingmaker. </p> <p> Kirchner tried to avert a crisis in Peronism by immediately renouncing his position as president of the Justicialist Movement and appointing his deputy, Daniel Scioli, in his place. At the same time Kirchner announced that he asked Scioli not to take up his seat in congress. He did not say what his own intentions were. This confirmed what many observers described as the fraudulent and illegal tactic of placing people on the lists who would then not take up their seats. </p> <p> <strong>The model</strong> </p> <p> The longer-term implications of the government's defeat point in a<strong> </strong>disturbing directions. </p> <p> There is a growing awareness that the double strategy of the Kirchner's <a href="http://www.economist.com/countries/Argentina/profile.cfm?folder=Profile%2DEconomic%20Data">project</a> -economic (returning Argentina to a 1950s path of development) and political (reinforcing a populist system based on mobilisation, street-politics, and confrontational politics in order to build a "national and popular identity") may be in its last throes, if not yet dead. As in the paradigmatic case of <u><a href="/node/48333/www.opendemocracy.net/article/hugo-chavez-and-venezuela-a-leader-s-destiny">Hugo Chávez</a></u> in Venezuela, elections, and not governance, are seen as sufficient to provide legitimacy. Confrontation and obedience are the two sides of the same political style that abhors of liberal democracy and constitutionalism as "elite politics". </p> <p> <u><a href="http://kellogg.nd.edu/faculty/fellows/odonnell.shtml">Guillermo O'Donnell</a></u>, the Argentinean political scientist, prefers to talk of "delegative democracy" (DD) rather than use that catch-all concept of populism. Yet it is arguable if DD, which he describes as a phenomenon which first appeared in Latin America in the 1990s, is but a new term for an old concept and phenomenon. DD is an idea and a way of practising political power that is democratic because it emerges from reasonably free and competitive elections; it maintains, although half-heartedly at times, some basic freedoms such as of expression, association, meeting and access to media neither censored nor monopolised by the state (at risk in Venezuela and Argentina). While Delegative democracy" leaders tend to emerge from deep crises, not all crises produce DD regimes - since for this to happen, leaders are needed who believe in such a way of conducting politics, and sections of public opinion that acquiesce. </p> <p> The key factor is that in a DD or populist system, those who have been elected think they have got the right and the obligation to decide what is good for the country. This is why elections are positioned as the judge of this. In between elections, the populist (DD) leader believes that he has a mandate to do as he pleases, and all institutional control will be considered as an unjustified impediment or barrier. This is why such a leader tries to subordinate, subject, suppress or co-opt those institutions. </p> <p> The Kirchners' disregard for institutions is reflected in their view of congress as less than a rubber-stamp; in their constant attempts, often successful, to control the judiciary; and in their intimidation of the press, aided by intelligence services in the hands of a member of their inner circle who has the telephones of all politicians, prominent businessmen and journalists tapped, and also interferes with e-mails. All this is widely known, and has been reported occasionally in the press. The "penguins" - thus called because they come from the Patagonian province of Santa Cruz, just as their leader, Néstor Kirchner is known as "penguin" because of both his Patagonian origins and prominent profile - have accumulated power in their hands (see "<u><a href="/article/democracy_power/argentina_kirchner_after_kirchner">Argentina's new president: Kirchner after Kirchner</a></u>", 29 October 2007). </p> <p> In the case of congress, the contempt for its constitutional role is almost total. No sooner had congress convened for the 2009 session in March, that the president's announcement of the earlier date for elections interrupted all legislative activity. In theory, after their defeat the ruling couple will still be able to govern at their pleasure for another eight months, unencumbered by institutional checks, since the new legislators do not take their seats until 10 December 2009; and then congress enters into summer recess until 1 March 2010. </p> <p> In practice this is highly unlikely. The Kirchners are not good at taking defeat, at listening to others, not even the small circle of penguins; in any case they are convinced that they are right, and facing an hegemonic bloc which is anti-popular and right-wing. Politically, ideologically and psychologically, they will not change. This is why Kirchner, when renouncing the presidency of the Justicialist Party (PJ), added he wanted "freedom of movement". To do what, is not clear. </p> <p> The opposition leaders have reportedly started to discuss the possibility of getting through the current congress two crucial pieces of legislation if institutions are to be strengthened: the abolition of the delegated legislative powers to the executive (popularly known as "superpowers") and the law that reduced the number of independent members in the institution charged with selecting judges (<em>Consejo de la Magistratura</em>) in order to increase government control. The legislation that the Kirchners had hoped to pass to "deepen" their model (on media ownership, nationalisation of firms, restrictions on trade) now have little chance of being approved. By losing its majority, the government has effectively brought forward the crisis which they had anticipated worsening in the last quarter of 2009. </p> <p> <strong>The block</strong> </p> <p> Another peculiarity of these <u><a href="http://argentinaelections.com/">elections</a></u> was highlighted by the lawyer and constitutional expert Roberto Gargarella when analysing the role the judiciary ought to have played in preventing what have become known as "testimonial" candidates. </p> <p> Néstor Kirchner "ordering" of colleagues - <u><a href="http://www.danielscioli.com.ar/">Daniel Scioli</a></u> (governor of the province of Buenos Aires), Sergio Massa (his wife's cabinet chief), and a range of majors and provincial officials - to accept having their names put on the list of candidates for Kirchner's Front for Victory - in order to add "recognition" to the list that he himself heads - is a distortion of the representative character of Argentine democracy. For the idea is that after being elected, these people would resign their seats, return to their executive roles, and allow the "unknowns" further down the list to move up and occupy "their" seats in congress. For this reason the chosen ones were known as <em>candidatos testimoniales</em>. </p> <p> The problem with this is twofold. Article 73 of the <u><a href="http://www.servat.unibe.ch/icl/ar__indx.html">constitution of 1994</a></u> prohibits explicitly that people occupying executive positions should at the same time run for election; and it makes a mockery of the notion of representation. Néstor Kirchner came to power in 2003 by promising a "new politics", more representative, less corrupt. The fact is that candidates on the list were not only handpicked by him, they were chosen by the "recognition" value of their surnames, since the intention is that they will not take up their seats. This marks another stage in the process of disintegration of political parties in Argentina, and their substitution by the politics of populist mobilisation. </p> <p> There are doubts whether parties would have conducted primaries to select candidates. But with the elections taking place in June rather than October, any chances of such a process taking place were scuppered. This further discourages a younger generation from entering politics, for their only career path will depend on the favour of political bosses. The process has strengthened the old vices of politics in Argentina: personalism, <em>caudillismo</em>, demonisation of the opponent, nepotism, clientelism and corruption. </p> <p> <strong>The absence</strong> </p> <p> More than in any previous election since the return to civilian politics in 1983, issues were absent from the campaign. In this, the scattered, multifarious opposition has been equally guilty. Dirty tricks, personal attacks, vague references to "the model" or, from the ranks of the opposition, to "republican institutions", replaced all debate. Ideas to reverse the educational and health decline, growing <u><a href="http://hdrstats.undp.org/en/2008/countries/country_fact_sheets/cty_fs_ARG.html">poverty</a></u>, inflation running at 15% according to independent <u><a href="http://en.mercopress.com/2009/05/14/inflation-guess-game-in-argentina-anywhere-from-0.3-to-1.8">estimates</a></u>, rising crime, lack of investment - all were absent from the electoral discussion. </p> <p> This was part of Néstor Kirchner's idea to turn these unremarkable elections into a plebiscite, an "all or nothing" contest. The issue of "testimonials" gave rise to a debate in the serious press on whether judges should stop those candidates. While many analysts expressed concern about a possible "judicialisation" of politics, <u><a href="http://www.cmi.no/staff/?roberto-gargarella">Roberto Gargarella</a></u>, a lawyer and constitutional expert, argued that these restrictions on citizens' access to the political process, justify the intervention of judges (see "<em><u><a href="http://www.lanacion.com.ar/nota.asp?nota_id=1132137">La Justicia tiene algo que decir</a></u></em>", <em>La Nación</em>, 26 May 2009). </p> <p> Gargarella cites <u><a href="http://www.law.miami.edu/news.php?article=92">John Hart Ely's</a></u> "procedural rationale" to justify the interference of justice in the political process: "Ely argued that the supreme court should interpret the constitution so as to reinforce democratic processes and popular self-government, by ensuring equal representation in the political process". Judges should have intervened to guarantee "the elector's' sovereignty", preventing politics from becoming an elitist concern, and for the exclusive benefit of the ruling elite. </p> <p> Roberto Gargarella's case is that tribunals should have help prevent the actions of those who, in order to maintain power, make access and accountability difficult for ordinary citizens. For instance, judges could apply sanctions to parties trying to mislead voters by disseminating false information; or demand that all those whose names are on electoral lists publicly commit to taking their seats if elected. </p> <p> <strong>The shell</strong> </p> <p> The key factor in understanding Argentina is its lack of institutions: this is what makes her politics unpredictable and so difficult to explain, let alone understand. The question is: why are there no institutions? Why are there no parties? </p> <p> It is not enough to mention past political instability and military interference: the same could be said of Chile, Uruguay or Brazil. The difference is that the latter had a tradition to fall back on: be it parties, or a vision of the state (in the case of Brazil) that protected it from being captured by a political group. Argentina had <em>Peronismo</em> - ten years (1946-55) that had a profound impact on the political culture of the country. </p> <p> It was a new style of conducting politics, a view of the state and of society controlled by the latter, a politics of confrontation and division, that permeated culture and society. The plebiscitarian view of democracy that is embedded in the Peronist <u><a href="http://www.psupress.psu.edu/books/titles/0-271-02191-8.html">tradition</a></u> turns every election into an all-or-nothing contest, an unpredictable event that throws in the air all expectations about the day after. In such a situation, all decisions are postponed until after the election, and capital flies out more quickly than at other times. In the past year, almost as much capital left Argentina as in 2001, before the financial mega-crisis of 2002. </p> <p> The plebiscitarian view of politics considers a defeat, or a victory by less than 50%, as nothing less than a catastrophe. This means that there is no room for a change of style, policies or an acceptance of the need for debate and negotiations, the essence of democratic alternation. More importantly, a change of direction or of style of governing is unlikely because it goes against their beliefs. </p> <p> Ernesto Laclau's book <em><u><a href="http://www.versobooks.com/books/klm/l-titles/laclau_e_populist_reason.shtml">On Populist Reason</a></u></em> (2005), provides them, and other populist leaders in the region, with an intellectual justification for their hegemonic, authoritarian, "politics in the streets" view of politics. And this is why those who expect a change in the ruling couple's way of conducting politics, are mistaken (see the <em>Economist</em>, 20 June 2009). There is no need to look enviously at the two years that the United States took to choose its candidates. In neighbouring <u><a href="http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/cia07/argentina_sm_2007.gif">Uruguay</a></u> (population 3 million) at present there are 2,500 delegates discussing who the candidates will be in the elections <u><a href="http://www.electionguide.org/country.php?ID=228">due</a></u> in October 2009. </p> <p> The non-Peronist opposition is equally a victim of the lack of parties. A scattering of figures - ranging from a right-of-centre view of politics as management (<u><a href="http://www.citymayors.com/mayors/buenos-aires-mayor.html">Mauricio Macri</a></u>), to a left-of-centre moralising one, lacking in policies, individualistic (<u><a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article2042152.ece">Elisa Carrió</a></u>) - has had no time to forge meaningful, programmatic alliances. In any case, it is doubtful they would have been able to do so if the elections had been held as originally scheduled in October 2009. Personalities, not issues; street mobilisations, not debate; Mr and Mrs Kirchner, not institutions. This is where Argentina stands in 2009. </p> <p> The manipulation of the electoral process brings to mind the late <u><a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/lord-dahrendorf-philosopher-and-liberal-politician-who-became-the-first-foreign-director-of-the-lse-1714170.html">Ralf Dahrendorf's</a></u> plea: the process of democracy is not enough. Without the rule of law and freedom, democracy is but a shell. </p> <p> It may be too early to start smiling for Argentina. But in the aftermath of the 28 June 2009 results, perhaps we can begin to dream at last of stopping to cry for Argentina. </p> <table border="0" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="5" width="500" height="200" bgcolor="#e3f2f9"> <tbody> <tr> <td> <p> Also in <strong>openDemocracy</strong> in 2009 on Latin America and the Caribbean: </p> <p> John Crabtree, "<u><a href="/article/bolivia-new-constitution-new-definition%20">Bolivia: new constitution, new definition</a></u>" (22 January 2009) </p> <p> Antoni Kapcia, "<u><a href="/article/cuba-s-revolution-survival-loyalty-change%20">Cuba's revolution: survival, loyalty, change</a></u>" (15 January 2009) <a href="/article/idea/no-hay-mujeres-latin-america-women-and-gender-equality%20/%20comments_for_node"></a> </p> <p> John Crabtree, "<u><a href="/article/bolivia-after-the-vote%20">Bolivia: after the vote</a></u>" (2 February 2009) </p> <p> Sergio Aguayo Quezada, "<u><a href="/article/mexico-a-state-of-failure%20">Mexico: a state of failure</a></u>" (17 February 2009) </p> <p> George Philip, "<u><a href="/article/hugo-chavez-oil-and-venezuela%20">Hugo Chávez, oil, and Venezuela</a></u>" (20 February 2009) </p> <p> Julia Buxton, "<u><a href="/article/hugo-chavez-tides-of-victory%20">Hugo Chávez: tides of victory</a></u>" (20 February 2009) </p> <p> Fred Halliday, "<u><a href="/article/the-dominican-republic-a-time-of-ghosts%20">The Dominican Republic: a time of ghosts</a></u>" (23 April 2009) </p> <p> Arthur Ituassu, "<u><a href="/article/the-price-of-democracy-in-brazil%20">The price of democracy in Brazil</a></u>" (21 May 2009) </p> <p> Adam Isacson, "<u><a href="/article/colombias-imperilled-democracy">Colombia's imperilled democracy</a></u>" (6 March 2009) </p> <p> <a href="/article/email/fit-to-be-ended%20/%20comments_for_node"></a> </p> <p> Victor Valle, "<u><a href="/article/el-salvador-s-long-march%20">El Salvador's long march</a></u>" (20 March 2009) </p> <p> Juan Gabriel Tokatlian, "<u><a href="/article/barack-obamas-drug-policy-time-for-change%20">Barack Obama's drug policy: time for change</a></u>" (15 April 2009) </p> <p> Kelly Phenicie & Lisa J Laplante, "<u><a href="/article/peru-the-struggle-for-memory%20">Peru: the struggle for memory</a></u>" (8 April 2009) </p> <p> Ivan Briscoe , "<u><a href="/article/the-americas-and-washington-end-of-an-era">The Americas and Washington: an era ends</a></u>" (17 April 2009) </p> <p> Antoni Kapcia, "<u><a href="/article/raul-castro-and-cuba-reading-the-changes">Raúl Castro and Cuba: reading the changes</a></u>" (22 April 2009) </p> <p> Guy Hedgecoe, "<u><a href="/article/rafael-correa-an-ecuadorian-journey">Rafael Correa: an Ecuadorian journey</a></u>" (29 April 2009) </p> <p> Enrique Krause, "<u><a href="/article/hugo-chavez-and-venezuela-a-leader-s-destiny%20">Hugo Chávez and Venezuela: a leader's destiny</a></u>" (1 May 2009) </p> <p> <a href="/article/circle/recording-of-opendemocracys-latin-america-evening-14-may%20/%20comments_for_node"></a> </p> <p> Sergio Aguayo Quezada, "<u><a href="/article/mexico-living-with-insecurity%20">Mexico: living with insecurity</a></u>"<strong> </strong>(12 May 2009) </p> <p> Adam Isacson, "<u><a href="/article/alvaro-uribe-otra-vez-colombias-re-election-debate%20">Álvaro Uribe, otra vez? Colombia's re-election debate</a></u>" (29 May 2009) </p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <p> <style></style> </p>
latin america
Argentina: celebrating democracy
https://www.opendemocracy.net/article/argentina-celebrating-democracy
<p> The citizens of Argentina have not had much to celebrate in a year of economic difficulties and political tensions, but the end of 2008 brings a noble twenty-fifth anniversary: for it was on 10 December 1983 that the country returned to democratic rule (with the inauguration of a civilian president, Raúl Alfonsín) after seven years of military dictatorship marked by violent repression, torture, fear and thousands of "disappearances". </p> <p> <span class="pullquote_new">Celia Szusterman is principal lecturer in Spanish and Latin American studies at the University of Westminster and an associate fellow at the Institute for the Study of the Americas, University of London<br /> <br /> Also by Celia Szusterman in <strong>openDemocracy</strong>:<br /> <br /> "<a href="/democracy-protest/argentina_2962.jsp">Argentina: the state we're in</a>" (26 October 2005)<br /> <br /> "<a href="/democracy-protest/argentina_erosion_3607.jsp">Latin America's eroding democracy: the view from Argentina</a>" (1 June 2006)<br /> <br /> "<a href="/conflict-falklands_malvinas/causa_malvinas_4501.jsp">Argentina's mirror: the <em>causa</em> <em>Malvinas</em></a>" (3 April 2007)<br /> <br /> "<a href="/article/kirchner_model_king_queen_penguin">The Kirchner model: king and queen penguin</a>" (17 July 2007)<br /> <br /> "<u><a href="/article/democracy_power/argentina_kirchner_after_kirchner">Argentina's new president: Kirchner after Kirchner</a></u>" (29 October 2007)<br /> <br /> "<u><a href="/article/globalisation/the_great_divide_the_argentina_uruguay_pulp_mill_conflict">Pulp friction: the Argentina-Uruguay conflict</a></u>" (30 January 2008) </span>A quarter-century and <a href="http://rulers.org/rula2.html">eight</a> presidents on (albeit three of them serving for only a few days each in the chaotic 2001-02 meltdown) is an appropriate moment to reflect on this generation of democratic rule in the context of Argentina's longer and often troubled <a href="http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?ParagraphID=ntw">history</a>. </p> <p> <strong>The tempest</strong> </p> <p> Argentina's tumultuous 20th-century history makes the years of democracy from 1983-2008 look all the more remarkable. It was only in 1916 that the first government, headed by the <em>Unión Cívica Radical</em> (Radical Party / <a href="http://www.ucr.org.ar/">UCR</a>) was chosen on the basis of universal (male) suffrage. In 1930, institutional continuity was broken when a coup of figures impatient with the increasingly erratic ways of <a href="http://rulers.org/indexi.html%23irigo">Hipólito Irigoyen's</a> second term in office. </p> <p> This was the first in long <a href="http://newswww.bbc.net.uk/1/low/world/americas/country_profiles/1196005.stm">series</a> of shameful acts by groupings who justified their interventions as attempts to "rescue" the motherland. At various times they included representatives of Argentina's powerful landowning sectors; conservatives and liberals dismayed at the increasing corporatist tendencies of that vernacular version of fascism known in Argentina as Peronism after its creator, <a href="http://rulers.org/indexp2.html%23peronj">Juan Perón</a>; and (in 1966), elements of the Peronist trade unions themselves. </p> <p> In this sense the 1930 coup was a formative event in the <a href="http://go.hrw.com/atlas/norm_htm/argentin.htm">country's</a> political evolution. It prefigured the coup of 1943 that paved the way for Perón's rise to power - from positions as minister of labour and social welfare, and vice-president to his installation as <a href="http://lanic.utexas.edu/project/arl/pm/sample2/argentin/peron/index.html">president</a> in June 1946. After winning successive elections in 1946 and 1952, Perón himself was deposed in September 1955. </p> <p> The next coup would be against the Radical president Arturo Frondizi, who took office democratically in May 1958 only to be deposed in March 1962. Frondizi's successor-but-one Arturo Umberto Illia was himself overthrown in June 1966. After seven years of military government there was a brief period of democratically elected Peronist government led by an ailing Juan Perón - returning from eighteen years of exile in Franco's Spain - from October 1973 until succeeded a few days before his <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6060388.stm">death</a> in July 1974 by his third wife (former cabaret dancer <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/29/newsid_2857000/2857121.stm">Isabel Martínez</a>, "Isabelita"), herself overthrown by a military <em>junta </em>in March 1976. </p> <p> <strong>The chill</strong> </p> <p> As ever when the <a href="http://lanic.utexas.edu/project/arl/pm/sample2/argentin/index.html">rule</a> of law was ruptured by a military coup, the 1976 takeover was legitimised by many beyond the immediate circle of perpetrators. The fear of the actions of urban terrorists, <a href="http://www.start.umd.edu/data/tops/terrorist_organization_profile.asp?id=236">some</a> of whom called themselves "Peronists" (they were also known as the <a href="http://www.marxistsfr.org/history/argentina/montoneros/index.htm"><em>Montoneros</em></a>), was itself a potent force driving people towards endorsement or passive acceptance of the <em>junta</em>. </p> <p> The militant Peronists, acting alongside other self-described Trotskyist armed groups, had had no qualms about taking up <a href="http://www.greenwood.com/catalog/C7359.aspx">arms</a> against a democratically elected government - and a Peronist one. In part consequence, Argentina from 1976 to 1983 underwent the most horrific period of state <a href="http://www.yendor.com/vanished/">terror</a> in its own history, and arguably in that of Latin America as a whole. The military led a "<a href="/democracy-protest/catholicchurch_2709.jsp">dirty war</a>" against their own compatriots, then blundered into a <a href="http://www.yendor.com/vanished/falklands-war.html">conflict</a> with Britain in April-June 1982 over the Malvinas/Falkland islands under the illusion that a <a href="/conflict-falklands_malvinas/causa_malvinas_4501.jsp">patriotic diversion</a> would help erase memories of that other, illegitimate and cruel, war.<span class="pullquote_new">Also in <strong>openDemocracy</strong> on Argentinean politics since 2001:<br /> <br /> Ivan Briscoe, "<a href="/node/1167"><u>Argentina: how politicians survive while people starve</u></a>" (17 April 2003)<br /> <br /> Michele Wucker, "<a href="/globalization-protest/article_1465.jsp">Argentina and the IMF: will they benefit from hindsight?</a>" (4 September 2003)<br /> <br /> Mariano Aguirre, "<a href="/node/2342">The many cities of Buenos Aires</a>" (16 February 2005)<br /> <br /> Ivan Briscoe, "<a href="/democracy-protest/argentinapolitics_2538.jsp"><u>Nèstor Kirchner's Argentina: a journey from hell</u></a>" (25 May 2005)<br /> <br /> Horacio Verbitsky, "<a href="/democracy-protest/catholicchurch_2709.jsp">Breaking the silence: the Catholic Church in Argentina and the 'dirty war</a>'" (27 July 2005)<br /> <br /> Carlos Forment,<u> "</u><a href="/democracy-protest/argentina_football_3651.jsp">The democratic dribble: Buenos Aires's politics of football</a><u>" </u>(15 June 2006)<br /> <br /> Ivan Briscoe, "<a href="/conflict-falklands_malvinas/argentina_briscoe_4491.jsp"><u>Argentina and the Malvinas, twenty-five years on</u></a>" (2 April 2007)<br /> <br /> Ana Caistor-Arendar, "<a href="/article/globalisation/cristina_kirchners_moment">Cristina Kirchner's moment</a>" (14 December 2007)<br /> <br /> Ivan Briscoe, "<a href="/article/argentina-a-crisis-of-riches">Argentina: a crisis of riches</a>" (17 July 2008)</span> </p> <p> The ignominy of defeat in the windswept south Atlantic was followed by the end of the junta's rule and the gradual exposure of the dirty war's unspeakable horrors. The opening to a new epoch compounded the enthusiasm with which the return of political <a href="http://www.economist.com/countries/Argentina/profile.cfm?folder=Profile-Political%2520Forces">parties</a> and of democracy itself were welcomed in the elections of October 1983. For the first time in many years, Argentinean society experienced the euphoria and joy that democratic elections bring: the thrill of hope, of the expectation of change. </p> <p> The sense of national euphoria was enhanced by an extraordinary development. For the first time since Peronism's triumph in 1946, what had seemed impossible since then was shown to be possible: Peronism was defeated in demonstrably fair and competitive elections. The <em>Unión Cívica Radical</em>, tainted by previous electoral victories on account of the proscription of Peron's <em>Partido Justicialista</em> (<a href="http://www.pj.org.ar/index.php">PJ</a>), received 51.75% of the vote and thus saw its democratic credentials vindicated. </p> <p> The return of politics; the end of decades of <a href="http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/6014.php">authoritarianism</a> and corporatist control of Argentinean <a href="http://www.latinamericabureau.org/?lid=2595">affairs</a>; the replacement of the military, trade unions, protected businesses and the Catholic church by political parties as the true representatives of societal interests - all this marked the beginning of a new political era in Argentina. Bliss it was in that democratic dawn to be alive! </p> <p> <strong>The return</strong> </p> <p> In the course of his presidential election campaign in 1982-83, UCR leader <a href="http://www.fundacionprincipedeasturias.org/ing/04/premiados/trayectorias/trayectoria717.html">Raúl Alfonsín</a> repeatedly denounced the existence of <em>el pacto militar-sindical - </em>an agreement among military and union leaders that he saw as symbolising all that had been wrong with Argentinean politics until that moment. The focus on this theme - in the context of the previous seven years of unaccountable rule - helps explain why, in the first post-dictatorship election, an overriding concern with the rule of law and public ethics eclipsed the issues of redistribution and social justice that could normally be expected to dominate the public agenda. </p> <p> It was all very understandable. But there was a worm in the apple of liberty, indicated in a phrase used by Alfonsín; carried away by the passion of the times, he declared that with democracy "we shall eat, we shall educate, we shall heal". Such nice words, such lousy politics. </p> <p> The affirmation was the seed of a retreat and failure. Post-military politics in Argentina became a statement of hope and principles, rather than delivery - and this became a problem far more more for consistent democrats than for those whose ideas were impregnated with authoritarianism. </p> <p> Peronism, consistent in its populism, had never felt the need to debate what it was convinced it <a href="http://www.sup.org/book.cgi?id=2238">embodied</a> and represented: the "popular will", the "people's interest", all that was "national and popular". The implication was to eliminate from the idea of governing everything that makes democratic politics relevant and meaningful to citizens' lives (the law, economic policy, poverty, social exclusion, competing views of the best policies to attain the "good society") and to import into it a messianic and polarising populist discourse (where any problems are the result of "anti-popular" decisions taken by a state deprived of its "popular" content, perhaps "utilised" by "obscure forces" both national and international). </p> <p> The anti-political logic was insistent: once "the people" (i.e. Peronists) were in power, only "popular" decisions could result. The Peronist majority, mystical rather than statistical in its presumptive ownership of Argentinean interests and wishes, would take all and consign the loser to be an outcast or fellow-traveller. </p> <p> <a href="http://www.clubmadrid.org/cmadrid/index.php?id=113">Raúl Alfonsín</a> led an incomplete transition. He was the figurehead of a political class that had spent too long in the wilderness, and was too preoccupied about its own survival to have the time or the energy to debate policies. Alfonsín campaigned in 1982-83 without a manifesto; he was content to recite the preamble to Argentina's <a href="http://www.servat.unibe.ch/icl/ar00000_.html">constitution of 1853</a> to underline the principle that the country's government from now on would be identified with the rule of law. </p> <p> Behind the declaration of principles and good intentions, Alfonsín showed little understanding of how the economy worked; and a period of difficult adjustment led in the late 1980s to Argentina's first hyperinflationary <a href="http://www.theshortrun.com/articles/Ricky%2520Carew/argentina11302.htm">crisis</a>, and subsequent chaos and looting. In July 1989, the eve of a springtime of nations elsewhere, a pioneer of the return to democracy was replaced by his democratically elected successor, albeit six months before the due date of December. </p> <p> <strong>The twilight</strong> </p> <p> <a href="http://www.infobadger.com/articles/Carlos_Menem">Carlos Menem</a>, to the dismay of those who had voted for Alfonsín in 1983, was elected president. Peronism was back. The style of celebration was very different: instead of the reciting of the constitution, the monotonous thumping of the Peronist <em>bombos</em> (drums) and the slogan <em>Siganme</em> (follow me). </p> <p> The hope now was that the "incorrigible" Peronists - those who had organised thirteen general strikes against the hapless Alfonsín, and who clearly did not understand what the role of the opposition in a democracy should be - would have to deal with the mess. Who, after all, could be better suited to prevent a fire than an arsonist? </p> <p> In the event, Menem surprised everyone: followers and opponents alike. Those who had dismissed him as "<em>un tarambana de provincias</em>" (a scoundrel from the provinces) - as did one who became a long-serving minister under him - were impressed by his quick understanding of the seriousness of Argentina's situation. A <a href="http://rulers.org/indexm3.html%23menem">president</a> aware of his own limitations surrounded himself with those who knew more (though his choices were not always happy ones). </p> <p> Menem grasped the predicament of an economy where around 70% was under state ownership (and every company effectively bankrupt) and pulverised by hyperinflation. A strategy of privatisation, deregulation, and stabilisation of the currency (guided by <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/shared/minitextlo/int_domingocavallo.html">Domingo Cavallo</a>, the economy minister) took Argentina out of its deep hole. It was a sovereign decision, derived from the internal situation, and not any "imposition" by the International Monetary Fund (<a href="/globalization-protest/article_1465.jsp">IMF</a>) or anybody else. </p> <p> The problem was that Menem lacked a statesman's true stature. He could not fully "own" the <a href="http://www.latinamericabureau.org/?lid=2567">"neo-liberal" policies</a> for which he was later blamed, in part because he could not grasp or articulate them. The Peronist party meanwhile, continued its tradition of following the leader without itself understanding what was going on. Peronists, as has been said, are for rent rather than sale. So while Menem ("neo-liberal") was president, Peronists were <em>Menemistas</em>; just as under Néstor Kirchner and now <a href="http://www.casarosada.gov.ar/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1450&Itemid=117">Cristina Kirchner</a> ("leftwing") they are <em>Kirchneristas</em>. </p> <p> <strong>The glimmer</strong> </p> <p> After Carlos Menem's replacement in December 1999 by Fernando de la Rúa came an extraordinary period of turmoil and <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/argentina/1366007/Argentina-on-the-brink-of-collapse.html">implosion</a> in Argentina. The election of <a href="/democracy-protest/argentinapolitics_2538.jsp">Néstor Kirchner</a>, another Peronist, in May 2003 put an end to this, in what has become (after the election of his wife and <a href="/article/globalisation/cristina_kirchners_moment">successor</a> Cristina Kirchner in December 2007) a long duopoly. </p> <p> An end, but not a beginning. For the Kirchners' personalised and capricious rule has exposed the flaws that still <a href="/globalization-protest/article_1167.jsp">haunt</a> Argentinean democracy after this twenty-five-year journey. It is partly a matter of the concentration of power in individuals; partly a lack of talent and of the will to delegate; partly the institutional search for obedience rather than competence in ministers; partly the lack of strong parties, and the preference for "movements"; partly the <a href="/article/argentina-a-crisis-of-riches">arbitrary</a> and arrogant manner in which policy decisions affecting people's lives are taken; partly the opacity and the lack of accountability; partly the lack of debate and intolerance of opposition. </p> <p> All this remains a serious <a href="http://www.economist.com/displayStory.cfm?story_id=12725187">deficit</a> in the democratic politics of Argentina. But the years from 1983 to 2008 have also represented constitutional continuity - a notable achievement in light of Argentina's often painful modern history. The road ahead may be longer than it need have been thanks to the wrong turnings and bad decisions of the country's rulers in the last quarter-century. Yet Argentinean democracy is still standing. The moment may no longer be one of bliss or dawn, but it is something to celebrate. </p>
latin america
Pulp friction: the Argentina-Uruguay conflict
https://www.opendemocracy.net/article/globalisation/the_great_divide_the_argentina_uruguay_pulp_mill_conflict
<p> Cristina Fern<font size="2">á</font>ndez de Kirchner's honeymoon as Argentina's new president ended almost as soon as she received the sash from her husband and predecessor Néstor Kirchner at her <a href="http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hrz__mX0c1nULOnAZ02TRPJ0WAZA">inauguration</a> on 10 December 2007. Her first seven weeks in office have been marked by criticism of the government's economic management, particularly the country's double-digit (but often-denied in official circles) inflation rate; by charges that the new president was the intended beneficiary of efforts to covertly fund her election campaign; and by questions over her decision to put the <a href="http://www.economist.com/world/la/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10566820">clocks forward</a> by an hour for a limited period (30 December 2007 - 16 March 2008) in an effort to alleviate the interruptions in energy supply that have caused electricity blackouts in Buenos Aires, when the problem has been one of underinvestment as a result of seven years of frozen tariffs. </p> <p> <span class="pullquote_new">Celia Szusterman is principal lecturer in Spanish and Latin American studies at the University of Westminster and an associate fellow at the Institute for the Study of the Americas, University of London <br /> <br /> Also by Celia Szusterman in <strong>openDemocracy</strong>:<br /> <br /> "<a href="/democracy-protest/argentina_2962.jsp">Argentina: the state we're in</a>" (26 October 2005)<br /> <br /> "<a href="/democracy-protest/argentina_erosion_3607.jsp">Latin America's eroding democracy: the view from Argentina</a>" (1 June 2006 ) <br /> <br /> "<a href="/article/kirchner_model_king_queen_penguin">The Kirchner model: king and queen penguin</a>" (17 July 2007) <br /> <br /> "<a href="/article/democracy_power/argentina_kirchner_after_kirchner">Argentina's new president: Kirchner after Kirchner</a>" (29 October 2007)</span>But the most damaging indicator of her troubles has come in the very area where there were expectations of a different, more open and better mannered, style: foreign policy. In particular, Cristina Kirchner's early mishandling of the long-running dispute with Argentina's neighbour Uruguay over the operation of pulp-mills across the river dividing the two countries highlights the doubts already gathering around her. Moreover, this national, cross-border, regional and indeed global controversy reflects far wider issues about Argentina's modern governance. The fate of Argentina's new president is in this respect only part of a larger argument about the country's political inheritance and direction. </p> <p> <strong>A chilly welcome</strong> </p> <p> <a href="http://www.casarosada.gov.ar/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1450&Itemid=117">Cristina Kirchner's</a> difficulties began as early as her inaugural speech, with an impromptu remark: after referring to the fraternal relations between Argentina and Uruguay, she immediately added that the latter had "violated" the Treaty of the River Uruguay (1975) and that the <a href="http://www.icj-cij.org/court/index.php?p1=1">International Court of Justice</a> (ICJ) in The Hague would have the last word in the conflict over the Uruguayan pulp-mills affair. </p> <p> At best, the comment revealed a lack of diplomatic skills; not least as <a href="http://www.presidencia.gub.uy/_web/pages/vazquez02.htm">Tabaré Vázquez</a>, the Uruguayan president, was standing among the invited dignitaries in a chaotic ceremony. </p> <p> At worst, it meant pre-empting the decision of the <a href="http://www.icj-cij.org/homepage/index.php?lang=en">ICJ</a>. But there was more to come: three days later, Mrs Kirchner accused the United States (albeit without naming it) of staging a "garbage operation" against Argentina, and treating countries like "employees" rather than equals. </p> <p> This was an elliptical reference to a <a href="http://www.economist.com/world/la/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10438525">scandal</a> that had featured in Argentina's election campaign without quite gaining the critical mass to derail Cristina's rise to office: in particular, to news that federal prosecutors in Miami were holding Venezuelan citizens accused of illegally acting in the US as "agents of a foreign government". The allegation concerned pressure on a man called Guido Antonini Wilson, a holder of joint US-Venezuelan citizenship, not to reveal the background of his effort illegally to smuggle into Argentina a sum of $800,000 via a private flight from Caracas to Buenos Aires hired by an Argentine state firm (Enarsa) - money, it is alleged, meant as a contribution from the Venezuelan president, Hugo Chávez, for Mrs Kirchner's presidential campaign. One of those alleged to havesought to prevent Antonini Wilson revealing information on the affair, Moses Maionica, pleaded <a href="http://mwcnews.net/content/view/19725/51/">guilty</a> in a Florida court on 25 January 2008 and will be sentenced on 4 April.<br /> <br /> The new president continued to lash out at these two adversaries - the United States and Uruguay. Days later, she mobilised both chambers of Argentina's congress to "repudiate the offence" of the US government to the Argentine nation and her president; and announced that she would not attend a dinner organised in Montevideo by Tabaré Vázquez to welcome all heads of state of the Mercosur countries (the last such event before Uruguay ceded the <em>pro tempore</em> presidency of the regional trade bloc to Argentina). </p> <p> In the event, the Uruguayan president announced the cancellation of the dinner. The Uruguayans' frustration with Argentina and the emasculated Mercosur now goes deeper than a diplomatic spat: it is expected that they will request their status in the organisation be downgraded to that of "associate" (rather than "full") member, in order to be able to negotiate a free-trade deal directly with the US. This would be a double-whammy: a slap in the face of Mercosur, and a poke in the eye of Argentina and Venezuela, which helped ensure the failure of such a deal at the <a href="/globalization-institutions_government/americas_summit_2994.jsp">Summit of the Americas</a> in Mar del Plata in November 2005. </p> <p> For the second President Kirchner, alienating both Montevideo and Washington so early in her term of office is some achievement. But it hasn't even started yet. </p> <p> <strong>The river overflows</strong><br /> <br /> The conflict over Uruguay's decision to allow the construction of two pulp-mills on its territory, by the side of the Río Uruguay that acts as a frontier with Argentina, has been a source of apparently inexorable - and certainly unnecessarily - confrontation between the two countries. <br /> <br /> So what is all the fuss about? How has a foreign-investment decision by two pulp-mill companies - one Finnish and one Spanish - been allowed to escalate for two years to the extent that it has led to the closure of frontiers and hearings in the International Court of Justice? <br /> <br /> Towards the end of the 1980s, Uruguay established a national forestation plan that set aside 700,000 hectares for the planting of eucalyptus and pine trees with the long-term aim of producing cellulose paste. In 2002, then president <a href="http://www.cip.cu/webcip/eventos/cumbre-ibero/mandatarios/c-0142.html">Jorge Batlle</a> made known his government's decision to allow the construction of pulp-mills by the Río Uruguay. The result, it was hoped, would be a qualitative leap in Uruguayan exports, adding value to its traditional export of wood chips. Uruguayan environmental groups, worried about the contaminating consequences of the mills, sought allies on the Argentinean side of the river. They then submitted a claim to the <a href="/Comisión%20Administradora%20del%20Río%20Uruguay"><em>Comisio</em><em>n Administradora del Rio Uruguay</em></a> (Administrative Commission of the River Uruguay / Caru); this had been set up in 1975 as part of the bilateral Treaty of the River Uruguay signed by both countries to ensure joint responsibility for their common frontier. <br /> <br /> In July 2003, the <a href="http://www.noalapapelera.com.ar/portal/"><em>Asamblea Ciudadana Ambiental de Gualeguaychú</em></a> (Acag) in the Argentine province of Entre Ríos was established to promote environmental awareness and try to prevent the construction of the pulp-mills. In October of that year the Spanish group Ence was authorised to start construction; and negotiations were started with the Finnish company Oy Mets<span class="pro95">ä</span>-Botnia Ab (Botnia) over permission to build a second mill, a few kilometres from the first in the Uruguayan town of Fray Bentos. In March 2004, foreign ministers of both countries met to discuss a plan that would require Uruguay to inform Caru of the development of the construction process; they agreed to share responsibility for monitoring any contamination impact. </p> <p> The official "annual memory of the Argentine national state" for 2004 notes these developments without mentioning any disagreements; it states, moreover, "the agreement respects the national character of the Uruguayan project, which was never in dispute". In fact, if the Uruguayan government had informed Caru rather than seeking a joint assessment according to the requirements of the 1975 treaty, this was not questioned at the time by the Argentine government. Thus both governments apparently accepted the strict adherence to the procedures recommended in the treaty. <br /> <br /> But an issue that at the outset was clearly framed within the scope of bilateral technical and diplomatic channels suddenly acquired an unmanageable political dimension. A multiplicity of <a href="http://www.asil.org/insights/2006/05/insights060516.html">actors</a> became involved: neighbours on both sides of the river; local, provincial and national governments; business sectors in both countries; regional and international organisations. </p> <p> The swift development of polarisation between Argentina and Uruguay over the paper-mill issue as quickly began to reveal the huge chasm between the real interests at stake and the perceptions of the actors. In fact, this suggests precisely one of the difficulties of explaining an already multi-faceted issue in straightforward terms: for the methods of collective action adopted on the Argentinean side must be read (or so I would argue) in the context of the country's ongoing crisis of political representation which reached its lowest point in the effective collapse of the government in 2001-02. Only in a context of weak institutionalisation is it possible to comprehend how direct action - mostly illegal according to the Argentinean constitution and international treaties - became the accepted method of protest in a dispute over the anticipated environmental impact of pulp-mills not yet even constructed. </p> <p> <strong>A bridge to nowhere</strong><br /> <br /> The turning-point occurred in February 2005, when the outgoing Batlle government authorised the construction of Botnia's proposed second (and much larger) "Orion" pulp-mill, which aimed to produce one million tons of air-dried pulp per year. The $1.2 billion investment was going to be the largest in Uruguay's history; it was also consistent with the aims of the national forestation plan of two decades earlier, as well as offering the prospect of an estimated 8,000 jobs in a poor area with high levels of unemployment. </p> <p> Botnia's website listed its considerations in choosing the Uruguayan side of the river rather than the Argentinean. These included the political stability of the country, the low level of corruption, the certainty of land-based property rights, a free-port area, the high level of education of the Uruguayan workforce, and (the only factor not exclusive to Uruguay) the abundance of raw materials and climatic conditions that allow the quick growth of eucalyptus trees. All this, needless to say, is a coded if unmistakeable criticism of Argentina's governance.<br /> <br /> In April 2005, the opposition party <em>Frente Amplio</em>, led by Tabaré Vázquez, entered government in Uruguay and immediately announced its support for the pulp mills. At that point the Acag organised a demonstration behind the slogan: "Yes to life. No to the pulp mills". It gathered 40,000 participants, almost all of them Argentineans, to occupy one of the three bridges over the Río Uruguay that connect the two countries. The huge and passionate march, with its cries of "ecocide" and accusations of "eco-terrorism" by the governments of Spain and Finland against the 73,000 citizens of Gualeguaychú, shifted the position first of Argentina's provincial government and then of the national authorities. <br /> <br /> The governor of Entre Ríos immediately backed the <em>asambleístas</em>, as the demonstrators became known in the national media. Then, in July, Argentina's foreign minister Rafael Bielsa and finally President Néstor Kirchner himself came out on their side. At that point the conflict intensified and the possibility of an amicable solution all but vanished. </p> <p> The Argentine government for the first time declared its intention to seek the judgment of international tribunals. Meanwhile the conflict was fought out in the media, reaching an almost farcical point when the Argentinean embassy in Montevideo denied that troops had been ordered to deploy in the province of Entre Ríos. Rafael Bielsa, who was a candidate for deputy in the neighbouring province of Santa Fe in the forthcoming legislative elections, visited Entre Ríos to state his and his president's support for the <em>asambleístas</em>. </p> <p> The latter were increasingly emboldened, and announced a plan of <a href="http://mwcnews.net/content/view/12009/194/">disruption</a> of the international trade between both countries by closing down the international bridges (a clear violation of Argentinean and Mercosur legislation; the Treaty of Asunción guarantees the free movement of goods and people among the member-states of the bloc). This did not prevent Néstor Kirchner receiving representatives of the <em>asambleístas</em> in the Casa Rosada. </p> <p> <strong>The great divide </strong> </p> <p> As the ground-level atmosphere was becoming sharper, so there were attempts to resolve matters at a diplomatic level. In May 2005, sections of the Argentine national press emphasised the links of friendship between the two countries since the early 19th century, and were optimistic that the conflict could easily be solved. </p> <p> It was not to be. When the two presidents, Néstor Kirchner and Tabaré Vázquez, announced the formation of a "high level technical group" to assess the likely environmental effects of the pulp-mills, the <em>asambleístas</em> denounced a "sell-out" by the Argentine government. The picketing of the bridges continued; the movement of goods and people between the two countries was seriously affected. </p> <p> The World Bank joined the fray with an environmental-impact assessment, which had been demanded by the provincial governor of Entre Ríos. The Hatfield report was in two parts, an environmental and a social assessment; it outlined the expected impacts that "two bleached kraft pulp mills" would have, and the "mitigation and enhancement measures" to manage them. The report concluded that "these mills will probably perform to a standard of the top five in the world if operated to design specifications, discharging lower quantities of pollutants than most of the older, smaller mills in Latin America, the US and Canada". </p> <p> <span class="pullquote_new">Among <strong>openDemocracy's</strong> articles on Argentina's politics:<br /> <br /> Ivan Briscoe, "<a href="/node/1167"><u>Argentina: how politicians survive while people starve</u></a>"<a href="/1167" target="_blank"> </a>(16 April 2003)<br /> <br /> Ivan Briscoe, "<a href="/node/2538"><u>Néstor Kirchner's Argentina: a journey from hell</u></a>" (24 May 2005)<br /> <br /> Horacio Verbitsky, "<a href="/democracy-protest/catholicchurch_2709.jsp"><u>Breaking the silence: the Catholic Church in Argentina and the 'dirty war'</u>" </a><a href="/democracy-protest/catholicchurch_2709.jsp" target="_blank"></a>(27 July 2005)<br /> <br /> Carlos Forment, "<a href="/democracy-protest/argentina_football_3651.jsp"><u>The democratic dribble: Buenos Aires's politics of football</u></a>" (15 June 2006)<br /> <br /> Ana Caistor-Arendar, "<a href="/article/globalisation/cristina_kirchners_moment">Cristina Kirchner's moment</a>" (14 December 2007)</span>The prospect of Argentina's legislative elections in October 2005 - in which Bielsa was a candidate - did nothing to allay political mobilisation over the environmental (and by now national) cause. When Argentine customs prevented the export of crucial parts for the construction of the Botnia (<a href="http://www.ifc.org/ifcext/media.nsf/content/SelectedPressRelease?OpenDocument&UNID=F76F15A5FE7735918525722D0058F472">Orion</a>) pulp-mill, it was clear that the Buenos Aires government shared the position of the <em>asambleístas</em>. From that moment the conflict became a zero-sum game, with each side adopting an immovable stance and with <a href="http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Mets%C3%A4-Botnia+continues+construction+of+Uruguay+pulp+mill+despite+appeal+by+two+presidents/1135219124992">little</a> prospect of a bilateral negotiated solution. </p> <p> It became indeed a national cause on <em>both</em> sides of the river. Yet this was truer in Uruguay than in Argentina, where the opposition was critical of the government's unnecessary politicisation of a <a href="http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Pulp+mill+dispute+between+Argentina+and+Uruguay+intensifies/1135219507760">controversy</a> that should have had a technical, negotiated, solution; and in which both countries would have monitored the impact of the pulp-mills once they started to operate (for a detailed analysis of the nationalist capture of the dispute, see Vicente Palermo & Carlos Reboratti, eds., <em>Del otro lado del río: ambientalismo y política entre uruguayos y argentinos </em>[Buenos Aires, Editorial Edhasa, 2007]). </p> <p> From the beginning, the <em>Asamblea Ciudadana Ambiental de Gualeguaychú</em> had adopted a catastrophist position; this helped to push a government which itself utterly lacked an environmental policy - of the 225 bills submitted by the Argentinean executive to the legislature in 2003-07, only two referred to environmental matters - into accepting uncritically an extreme view of the situation. The aim was to stop the construction of the mills, instead of focusing on the possible contaminating consequences. Thus, the approach of the Acag became a dogma: inflexible and unquestionable. </p> <p> To a genuine Uruguayan national interest, Argentina opposed a mean political opportunism: this was a government that did not even have a policy towards the (at least) five pulp-mills located in Argentina which use old, highly polluting technologies. The now retired Canadian expert Wayne Dwernychuk - a co-author of the Hatfield report - sent a letter published to the Argentinean daily <em>La Nación</em> (published on 9 June 2007) in which he denounced President Kirchner's "monumental hypocrisy" in opposing the Uruguayan mills, given the appalling conditions in the Río Matanza-Riachuelo and the Río Paraná. Other environmental concerns that Argentina continues to evade could be cited - for example, massive deforestation, soil erosion and over-fishing. Until 2006, these issues had no impact on politics or public opinion. </p> <p> <strong>The</strong> <strong>regional stream</strong><br /> <br /> From January 2006, the sporadic picketing of the international bridges - during which all traffic between the two countries was halted - became a permanent blockade. This began at the peak of Uruguay's tourist season, one of the country's main economic activities; the Uruguayan government estimated that damage to the country's economy amounted to $400 million. Its appeals to the Argentine government to guarantee the rule of law by allowing the free circulation of people and goods between both countries were ignored.<br /> <br /> In its stance, the Argentine government was failing both to distinguish between the right to freedom of expression and the law of the land, and to recognise that national interests must have precedence over sectoral ones when the two conflict. The government was now backing the <em>asambleístas</em> in two ways: politically (and in doing so, endorsing methods that were in clear violation of the Argentine constitution and international treaties) and financially. In 2005 the people of Gualeguaychú had formed a citizens' environmental assembly; this had a monthly income of approximately $12,000 to pay for picketing Route 136, travel to meet officials and organise demonstrations, and fuel for transportation and leasing vehicles. The local NGO also received help in kind from the culture department of the municipality: the use of free offices and telephones, plus expenses for travel to Buenos Aires. In addition, the provincial government has since July 2006 paid $30,000 to the Acag; and professional organisations, assemblies from other parts of the country and several trade unions have also made financial contributions. <br /> <br /> But international <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/5175420.stm">judgments</a> continued to reveal the weakness of Argentina's case. In November 2006, the boards of directors of two of the World Bank Group's component bodies - the <a href="http://www.ifc.org/lac">International Finance Corporation</a> (IFC) and the <a href="http://www.miga.org/">Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency</a> (Miga) - approved a $170 million investment (by the IFC) and a guarantee of up to $350 million (from Miga) for the Botnia pulp-mill project. The organisations stated that after a thorough <a href="http://www.ifc.org/ifcext/lac.nsf/Content/Uruguay_Pulp_Mills_CIS">review</a> (including consideration of the Hatfield report) their conviction was "that the mill will generate significant economic benefits for Uruguay and cause no environmental harm". These <a href="http://www.ifc.org/ifcext/lac.nsf/Content/Uruguay_Pulp_Mills">conclusions</a> coincided with <a href="http://www.metsabotnia.com/en/default.asp?path=204,1490">Botnia's </a>own assessment.<br /> <br /> At the regional level too, the dispute continued to exert a capacity to highlight Argentina's vulnerability. In September 2006, Mercosur's <em>ad hoc</em> arbitration tribunal concluded in Uruguay's favour, saying that the Argentine government had allowed the closure of international bridges in violation of the Treaty of Asunción. This body had no power of enforcement; but in any case Argentina decided to raise the stakes by presenting its case to the International Court of Justice - on the grounds that the pulp-mills would cause "irreversible damage" and that in allowing them to be built Uruguay had violated the Treaty of the River Uruguay. </p> <p> It may take the ICJ at least until 2010 to reach a decision. As this further legal process has unfolded, Ence decided to relocate its mill further up the river; but in November 2007 - coinciding with the Iberoamerican summit meeting in Santiago de Chile - Botnia became fully <a href="http://www.cedha.org.ar/en/initiatives/paper_pulp_mills/">operational</a>. Uruguay's <a href="http://www.uruwashi.org/Pulp%20Mills%20on%20the%20River%20Uruguay.htm">position</a> is that it has consistently respected the 1975 treaty, that it acted according to international law, that the pulp mills pose no environmental risk to the region, and that it is the Uruguayan government's sovereign decision to allow this investment and permit the plant to function. <br /> <br /> In 2006, Néstor Kirchner had suggested that the king of Spain might act as "facilitator" between the two countries. The announcement in Santiago of the start of Botnia's operation effectively put an end to this possibility. The failure to reach an agreement between Uruguay and Argentina may have contributed to the irritiation King Juan Carlos <a href="/article/globalisation/juan_caros_vs_president_hugo">displayed</a> in the face of the persistent interruption of Kirchner's ally, Venezuela's Hugo Chávez. </p> <p> <strong>A triple lesson</strong><br /> <br /> This kaleidoscopic - and unfinished - dispute has three especially notable aspects. First, it reveals troubling aspects of Argentine political culture: since there are no effective political parties to act as intermediaries between citizens and the state, "direct action" - almost invariably illegal and frequently violent - has become "normal". The remarkable feature of the <em>asambleístas</em> action is its ambiguous political character: it champions a form of egalitarian, participatory and leaderless "direct democracy", yet embraces methods that walk or cross the borderline of legality. </p> <p> Second, domestic political considerations persistently compromise foreign-policy decisions that are not founded on a clear overall political agenda. In the case of the pulp-mills, the then president Néstor Kirchner - who had no environmental agenda, and whose candidate had lost the 2003 gubernatorial elections in Entre Ríos province to then presidential candidate Carlos Menem - saw the chance of embracing a popular campaign in the town of Gualeguaychú and turning it into a "national cause". The lack of a state policy on environmental issues also favoured the over-politicisation of the conflict. </p> <p> Third, the evolution of international jurisdiction and governance is having an increasing and profound impact at local and regional as well as inter-state levels of political authority. But this not does not absolve actors at these "lower" tiers of authority from responsibility for managing and settling disputes in a reasoned, principled and democratic way. In this light, the pulp-mills affair reveals how a lack of political will and leadership can compound rather than resolve a conflict. Will Cristina Kirchner learn from the follies of her <a href="http://www.economist.com/world/la/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10286016">predecessor</a> and his government in this and other fields? These first seven weeks make it hard to be optimistic. </p>
latin america
Argentina’s new president: Kirchner after Kirchner
https://www.opendemocracy.net/article/argentina_s_new_president_kirchner_after_kirchner
<p> It was widely expected that Senator Cristina Fernández de Kirchner would become the first woman to be elected president of Argentina in the election of <a href="http://www.angus-reid.com/tracker/view/14242/argentina20071028">28 October 2007</a>. What was less anticipated was that she would achieve this in the first round by far exceeding the required 10% margin of victory over her nearest rival. In the event, her 45% share put Kirchner - wife and political ally of the current president, Néstor Kirchner - more than twenty points ahead of the second-placed candidate in a field of fourteen, and another woman: Elisa Carrió, the ex-Radical Party figure now representing a recently formed electoral alliance, the <a href="http://www.coalicioncivica.org.ar/opina.php"><em>Coalición Civica</em></a>. </p> <p class="pullquote_new"> Celia Szusterman is senior lecturer in Spanish and Latin American studies at the University of Westminster and an <a href="http://www.chathamhouse.org.uk/about/directory/view/-/id/92/">associate fellow</a> at Chatham House<br /> <br /> Also by Celia Szusterman in <strong>openDemocracy</strong>:<br /> <br /> "<a href="/debates/article.jsp?id=3&debateId=33&articleId=2962%29">Argentina: the state we're in</a>" (<u>26 October 2005</u>)<br /> <br /> "<a href="/democracy-protest/argentina_erosion_3607.jsp">Latin America's eroding democracy: the view from Argentina</a>" (<u>1 June 2006</u> )<br /> <br /> "<a href="/conflict-falklands_malvinas/causa_malvinas_4501.jsp">Argentina's mirror: the causa Malvinas</a>" (4 April 2007)<br /> <br /> "<a href="/article/kirchner_model_king_queen_penguin">The Kirchner model: king and queen penguin</a>" (17 July 2007) </p> <p> A decisive victory, then. What does it tell us about the new president, and about Argentina in 2007? </p> <p> The question may be approached by noting how the reality differs from the inevitable myths that assemble themselves around any combination of words that includes "Argentina", "woman" and "politics". Cristina Fernández de Kirchner has been misguidedly compared to Eva Perón, though "Evita" was no politician but rather an instinctive populist who knew what poverty was all about and was <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/26/newsid_3660000/3660875.stm">adored</a> by those she called her <em>descamisados</em> (shirtless ones). True, had it not been for the macho culture of the Argentine military she could have accompanied her husband on the presidential ticket in 1951; instead, it was the woman Juan Perón married after Eva's death - Isabel Martínez - who was chosen by her then ailing husband as his vice-presidential candidate in <a href="http://www.keesings.com/search?kssp_a_id=26621n01arg&kssp_selected_tab=article">1974</a>, following his triumphal homecoming from exile. He duly died and she succeeded him, to head arguably the most incompetent administration in a country which has known many such. </p> <p> Se<font size="-1">ñ</font>ora Kirchner has also been <a href="http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-10-29-voa3.cfm">compared</a>, only slightly less misleadingly, to Senator Hillary Clinton. True, Cristina was anointed presidential candidate by her husband and the incumbent president, Néstor Kirchner. But while Hillary Clinton has spent the best part of the last two years traversing the United States to explain her views and her future policies on every domestic as well as international issue (and still has not been nominated), Cristina Kirchner did not even take the trouble to campaign after her husband announced (in April 2007) that he would not be standing for a second term, and that he wished Cristina to succeed him. Until three weeks before election-day, she spent much of her time travelling abroad; her ostensible purpose was to "place Argentina in the world", but an agenda-less itinerary that took her to Spain, Austria, Germany, Mexico and New York revealed nothing of her intended foreign policy and enabled her to avoid scrutiny and difficult <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15673527">questions </a>at home. </p> <p> A caveat is necessary here: none of the other thirteen candidates running against Se<font size="-1">ñ</font>ora Kirchner went through a selection <a href="http://www.argentinaelections.com/2007/10/argentina_elections_101.php">process</a> or internal party election. This is where the real problem with Argentine politics today lies: the crisis of political representation that erupted at the end of 2001 and which wiped out the established political parties has not been solved. For the past half century, two parties - the <em>Partido Justicialista</em> (Justicialists, known as Peronists) and the <em>Unión Civica Radical</em><font size="-1"><strong> (</strong></font>Radical Civic Union, known as <a href="http://www.ucr.org.ar/">Radicals</a>) - would get over 86% of the votes between them. Today, the Radicals remain a party in name, but lack all political power; Peronists have all the power, but no party. Indeed, alhough there were three "Peronist" candidates in this election, no candidate ran on the Justicialist ticket. </p> <p> <strong>The geography of victory</strong> </p> <p> Although the result means that there is no need for a second round, and the twenty-point-plus difference with Carrió is impressive, a closer look at the results at electoral-district level presents a <a href="http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1677374,00.html">far from triumphalist</a> picture. There are <a href="http://www.mininterior.gov.ar/elecciones/2007/inicio.asp">twenty-four</a> such districts, corresponding to Argentina's twenty-three provinces plus the capital city, Buenos Aires. Se<font size="-1">ñ</font>ora Kirchner lost in all the major urban conglomerates where the urban, educated middle classes as well as huge numbers of urban poor and unemployed people live: Buenos Aires (the most populous district in the country, containing 37% of the electorate), Rosario, Santa Fe, Bahia Blanca, Córdoba. This outcome reinforces the results of <a href="http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/view/28750/argentina_2007_cristina_47_elisa_16">opinion polls</a> revealing that voting intentions towards Cristina were indirectly proportional to educational attainment. This must have shocked a woman who likes to think of herself as an intellectual (even, as she recently characterised herself to a congress of bemused philosophers, as a "Hegelian"). </p> <p> The urban areas are precisely where her husband's image has fallen markedly in the past six months, as a result of a succession of problems: unsolved <a href="http://www.economist.com/displayStory.cfm?story_id=9466393">corruption</a> scandals; growing insecurity in a country that used to be considered one of the safest in Latin America; a reluctance to enforce the law, translating into tolerance of blockades of roads and international bridges by <em><a href="http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/NGPA/Research_projects/dinersteinB.htm">piqueteros;</a> </em>authoritarianism, including a tendency to dismiss the press as part of a plot to "destabilise" his government; and a refusal to recognise that inflation is a problem, even to the extent of sacking the heads of the National Institute of Statistics to ensure a more "acceptable" inflation figure (9%, as opposed to the 15-20% estimated by independent analysts). </p> <p> Se<font size="-1">ñ</font>ora Kirchner will not be happy either that she owes her victory to the current vice-president, Daniel Scioli, who was elected governor of Buenos Aires. Scioli received more votes for the governorship than Cristina did for the presidency. Scioli has been an almost invisible vice-president, shunned by the Kirchners - even at one point denounced by Cristina (during a meeting in the senate chamber which he, as vice-president, was <a href="http://www.senado.gov.ar/web/presidencia/curriculum.php/">chairing</a>) as having orchestrated a press campaign against her. Yet when Kirchner was looking around for an unbeatable candidate for the crucial province of Buenos Aires, the instantly recognisable former speedboat-racing champion (who lost his right arm in a sporting accident, and is married to a former model and celebrity in her own right), was the only available choice. The manner of the quiet, soft-smiling Scioli, who was persuaded in 1997 by then-president Carlos Menem to become a congressman, came to form a welcome contrast to the bombastic rudeness and bullying of Néstor Kirchner. </p> <p> If Cristina lost the cities, she <a href="http://www.mercopress.com/vernoticia.do?id=11734&formato=HTML">won</a> in the traditional bastions of Peronism: remote provinces, often with under half a million inhabitants each, where Peronist governors of various hues unashamedly use state resources to instal clientelistic networks that have long proven entrenched and unbreakable. </p> <p> <strong>The couple in power</strong> </p> <p> So what can be expected from a "cristinista" government? There will be clearly a change in <a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6ce49482-8575-11dc-8170-0000779fd2ac.html">style</a>: Senora Kirchner likes to travel, her husband loathed travelling; she enjoys the occasional company of other human beings, something her husband does not. She even gave a subdued victory speech on election-night addressed to "all Argentineans", something her husband notoriously failed to do. Yet likeness as well as opposition can attract: and in this case Néstor's authoritarianism, arrogance and intolerance of different opinions are as much Cristina's personality traits as his. </p> <p> If this implies a bumpy ride, there is an institutional factor working in Se<font size="-1">ñora Kirchner's favour</font>: the two-thirds majority of the couple's <em>Frente para la Victoria</em> in both chambers of congress means the president can effectively govern without the need for any opposition legislator being present. More worryingly, many judicial posts await filling, and the government will now be able to appoint them all. Cristina's treatment of members of the legislature like "the domestic servants in her kitchen" (as a disgruntled fellow senator described it) is closer to becoming routine. </p> <p> The economic outlook is <a href="http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=39806">cloudy</a>. Argentina has emerged from its deepest crisis in eighty years in 2001-02, thanks to a combination of a favourable international context (low dollar, low interest rates, high prices for commodities) and policies that have stimulated demand. Now the investment that took place in the 1990s has reached capacity and has not been reproduced or modernised. <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=anFhIhkqsG3o&refer=latin_america">Inflation</a> is a real threat, not just in overheating the economy, but because each point in inflation means that a half million people fall below the poverty line. Will Cristina encourage the business-friendly climate needed to attract foreign investment; will she settle the outstanding debt with the <a href="http://www.mercopress.com/vernoticia.do?id=11513&formato=HTML">Paris Club</a> in order to make that investment possible? There are indications that she wants to proceed in this direction. But she agrees with her husband that inflation is not a problem, and has said she wants to put in place a "social pact" (prices and incomes policy) of the kind that has failed in the past. </p> <p> Se<font size="-1">ñ</font>ora Kirchner refused to take part in any debate during the campaign, relying instead on the government's overt support, including the use of the presidential plane and state funds. This is all against the law, and several violations may yet reach the courts. She shares her husband's hatred of the press, which far exceeds a "normal" politician's reluctance to face those with uncomfortable questions. Her husband has ruled by decree, riding roughshod over congress and exhibiting ignorance of the checks-and-balances guaranteed by the constitution. Cristina too may now rely on a subservient congress, to push legislation through steamroller-like. There is little hope that she will encourage congress to pass the access to information law which she enthusiastically championed while in opposition (1999-2001) yet kept firmly in her drawer as chair of the senate's constitutional-affairs commission. </p> <p> Buenos Aires on inauguration-day, 10 December 2007, will offer a unique sight: a husband passing the blue-and-white presidential sash of Argentina to his wife. Néstor may be passing many other less obvious legacies and more difficult ones to Cristina to handle. Whether "Queen Cristina" will have the necessary skills to continue the rule of the "<a href="/article/kirchner_model_king_queen_penguin">penguins</a>" beyond 2011, it is too early to say. </p>
democracy & power
The Kirchner model: king and queen penguin
https://www.opendemocracy.net/article/kirchner_model_king_queen_penguin
<p>Argentina's president, Nèstor Kirchner, likes to refer to himself as a penguin: both because of his prominent nose as because of his roots in the penguin-rich Patagonian province of Santa Cruz. Yet there are further features that make the comparison apposite: the male king Penguin (<em>Aptenodytes patagonicus</em>) incubates the egg while the female goes to the open sea to seek food; they do not build nests, and the chick is cared for by both parents. <a href="http://www.presidencia.gov.ar/" target="_blank">President Kirchner</a> has been saying for a long time that "the next president will be a he-penguin or a she-penguin". It seems it is now the turn to pass the egg back to the female of the species, or perhaps they feel the chick has already been hatched and they need to take turns caring for it.</p> <p><a href="http://kirchner.senado.gov.ar/web/senadores/biografia.php?id_sena=212&iOrden=0&iSen=ASC" target="_blank">Mrs Kirchner</a> (or the "first lady", Senator Cristina E Fernàndez de Kirchner) will be the ruling Peronist Party candidate in the 28 October 2007 presidential elections; after confirming her intention to run on 2 July, she launches her <a href="http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/index.cfm/fuseaction/viewItem/itemID/16479" target="_blank">campaign</a> at a rally in La Plata on 19 July. Her husband could have stood for another four-year term, so much speculation on his reasons to step aside in favour of his wife has focused on his motivations. </p> <p>The most plausible starting-point may also be the most simple: the truism that no ambitious political leader relinquishes power voluntarily, but that it is easier to do when you know you are still going to be in control. Since he <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/05/26/wkirch26.xml" target="_blank">took office</a> on 20 August 2003, Nèstor Kirchner has governed Argentina almost exclusively alone, while relying on three trusted allies: his wife, the legal and technical secretary to the presidency, and the head of the cabinet. This "quartet" can without doubt be held responsible for every aspect of policy in <a href="http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/cia07/argentina_sm_2007.gif" target="_blank">Argentina</a> today. Kirchner has made a calculation that he can rule from behind the scenes even after he formally relinquishes his position.<br /><strong> <br /> </strong><span class="pullquote_new">Celia Szusterman is principal lecturer in Spanish and Latin American studies at the University of Westminster and an associate fellow at <a href="http://www.riia.org/index.php?id=20&eid=153" target="_blank">Chatham House</a> <strong><br /> <br /> </strong>Also by Celia Szusterman in <strong>openDemocracy</strong>:<strong><br /> <br /> "</strong><a href="/debates/article.jsp?id=3&debateId=33&articleId=2962">Argentina: the state we're in</a>" <br />(26 October 2005)<strong><br /> <br /> </strong>"<a href="/democracy-protest/argentina_erosion_3607.jsp">Latin America's eroding democracy: the view from Argentina</a>" <br />(1 June 2006)<br /><br /> "<a href="/conflict-falklands_malvinas/causa_malvinas_4501.jsp">Argentina's mirror: the <em>causa Malvinas</em></a>" (4 April 2007)</span><strong>An economy in trouble </strong></p> <p>Among the several reasons President Kirchner may have for stepping aside, two stand out. The first is his deep knowledge of his fellow Peronists. He knows that if he offered himself for re-election and won, he would become the day after the elections not just a lame-duck president, but a hated lame-duck. His personal style - referred to proudly by his acolytes as "the style K" - can be better described as arrogant, rude, intolerant, bullying and confrontational, and it has made him many enemies. A certain "social fatigue" with a presidential approach routinely based on the launch of raucous, extensive diatribes against undefined "enemies" of his "model" is one of the factors influencing the election on <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6230522.stm" target="_blank">24 June 2007</a> of the quiet, composed, right-of-centre businessman (and owner of Boca Juniors football club) Mauricio Macri as mayor of Buenos Aires. </p> <p>The second reason for Kirchner's departure is his awareness that until now, no Latin American president was able successfully to finish a second term. Most who overcame the hurdle of re-election were either ejected in violent demonstrations, vilified as a result of misdemeanour (like Argentina's Carlos Menem), and/or harried by rivals, the media and popular mobilisation. The setbacks faced by Kirchner's favoured candidates in a series of provincial <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=aW3k2PK80UME&refer=latin_america" target="_blank">elections</a> in recent months (including in Tierra del Fuego on 24 June) has confirmed a freefall in the president's opinion-poll ratings. </p> <p>Much of this is owed to a damaging set of <a href="http://www.ftd.de/karriere_management/business_english/:Business%20English%20The%20Argentina/225829.html" target="_blank">economic indices</a> that has reminded Argentineans of the dark days of the 1980s: rising inflation (independent economists predict a rate of 30% for 2007,while the official rate is estimated at 15%), an energy crisis which experts have been anticipating since the 2002 devaluation, the freezing of tariffs and a fall in productive, high-quality investment. A number of corruption scandals affecting close collaborators of the president - among them, the finance minister Felisa Miceli, who <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=a8F._gVVPtro&refer=latin_america" target="_blank">resigned</a> on 16 July - have only intensified the spreading sense of insecurity in the great conurbation of Buenos Aires. </p> <p>The discontent is intensified by the realisation that the government has been dilatory if not downright neglectful in doing anything about these difficulties. Instead, Kirchner says the energy "problem"' has resulted from the spectacular growth of the economy and ensuing rising demand, as well as the "whimsical" refusal of utility companies to make the necessary investments.</p> <p>Thus, Kirchner's political dilemma is also a far-too-belated acknowledgment of a <a href="http://www.nuevamayoria.com/EN/ANALISIS/?id=fraga/arg&file=070702.html" target="_blank">reality</a> that contradicts the president's plans or perceptions (after banning the use of the word "crisis" in reference to the energy situation, the president and his coterie announced a "total energy" <a href="http://www.mercopress.com/vernoticia.do?id=10905&formato=HTML" target="_blank">emergency plan</a> on 13 July). But the people can see what is in front of the penguin's nose: many businesses have had to alter their work shifts since they are not allowed to consume energy during the day, in order to keep the <a href="http://www.latinbusinesschronicle.com/app/article.aspx?id=1434" target="_blank">supplies running</a> to residential users just months before the presidential elections. Yet power-cuts affect everybody, and diesel fuel and gas are now scarce (this in a country that until recently was both self-reliant and exporting gas to Chile and Uruguay) as well as electricity. </p> <p>In the larger economy, the agricultural sector and manufacturing are suffering. This is worrying, since the buoyancy of agribusiness has fuelled both Argentina's unprecedented rates of growth from 2003 (itself largely a result of the China-effect on demand and the price of commodities) and the fiscal surplus at the heart of Kirchner's economic "model". </p> <p>In this light, Cristina Kirchner's campaign will be presented as (<a href="http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/Page12037.asp" target="_blank">Gordon Brown</a> -style, it might be said) "continuity with change". Kirchner himself has said that "Cristina will continue with our successful model for the country, introducing the necessary changes of a new stage". What those changes will be, and what the "new stage" is, nobody quite knows. Those who wish for a more enlightened, realistic and stable Argentina read into his words the hope that the president has realised that his "model" is threatened by inflation, uncontrolled public spending eroding the fiscal surplus, and the lack of investment; and that in consequence Cristina will set a more explicitly pro-market direction that leads Argentina further away from ideological or rhetorical association with <a href="/democracy-protest/deepening_revolution_4592.jsp">Hugo Chávez's "21st-century socialism"</a>. </p> <p>In truth, Kirchner's true Peronism means that his dalliance with any "Bolivarian-style revolution" was always little more than a political convenience, making it easier to ask Chávez for help than the hated International Monetary Fund - one of the president's many <a href="/debates/article.jsp?id=6&debateId=33&articleId=1465">enemies</a>, targeted as the standard-bearer of "neo-liberalism", blamed for what he has described as "the hell we are still in".<strong><br /> <br /></strong><span class="pullquote_new"> openDemocracy authors analyse Argentinean politics: <br /><br /> Ivan Briscoe, "<a href="/globalization-protest/article_1167.jsp">Argentina: how politicians survive while people starve</a>" (17 April 2003)<br /><br /> Michele Wucker, "<a href="/debates/article.jsp?id=6&debateId=33&articleId=1465">Argentina and the IMF: will they benefit from hindsight?</a>"<br />(4 September 2003)<br /><br /> Mariano Aguirre, "<a href="/arts-multiculturalism/article_2342.jsp">The many cities of Buenos Aires</a>" <br />(16 February 2005)<br /><br /> Ivan Briscoe, "<a href="/democracy-protest/argentinapolitics_2538.jsp" target="_blank">Nèstor Kirchner's Argentina: a journey from hell</a>" (25 May 2005)<br /><br /> Horacio Verbitsky, "<a href="/democracy-protest/catholicchurch_2709.jsp">Breaking the silence: the Catholic Church in Argentina and the dirty war'</a>" (28 July 2005)<br /><br /> Carlos Forment, "<a href="/democracy-protest/argentina_football_3651.jsp">The democratic dribble: Buenos Aires's politics of football</a>" (16 June 2006)<br /><br /> Ivan Briscoe, "<a href="/conflict-falklands_malvinas/argentina_briscoe_4491.jsp">Argentina and the Malvinas, twenty-five years on</a>" <br />(2 April 2007)</span> <strong>Populist vs progressive</strong></p> <p>But why, leaving the rhetoric aside, is Cristina prepared at all to <a href="http://www.economist.com/agenda/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9430954" target="_blank">inherit</a> an economic poisoned chalice from her husband? It may be that shared ambition and lust for power play a part. The couple's political calculation is that she will take care of the "penguin chick" (Argentina) until the next election in 2011, when she would return it to the "father". A Kirchner-penguin dynasty would be born, to join so many other provincial dynasties (in Salta, Santiago del Estero, Neuquén, San Luis...) that have blighted Argentina. But to make that happen, the October 2007 election will first have to be negotiated; and Cristina will be forced to signal what innovations of style or substance she is prepared to offer. </p> <p>As far as style is concerned, she can hardly fail to be more glamorous than her husband, whose lack of charm, charisma and even manners and common courtesy are renowned. Nèstor Kirchner likes to present himself as an "ordinary man". Cristina would hate such a description: her shopping trips to New York, Madrid and Paris are frequent, and she is almost diva-like in the care she takes about her clothes and presentation. In contrast to her husband, who dislikes foreign travel (before 2003, the couple's only foreign trip had been to Miami) she has taken to it as a penguin to the high seas. </p> <p>Cristina Kirchner is no <a href="http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1639509,00.html" target="_blank">Evita</a>: she lacks the charisma, the touchy-feely approach and empathy with the poor and downtrodden. Nor do her political skills match those of Hillary Clinton (though her capacity to generate intense dislike is comparable). However, she is just as authoritarian as both Evita and her husband: as intolerant of criticism, let alone opposition. Her arrogance led to her isolation from her fellow parliamentarians in the Peronist bloc in the 1990s; now she has taken her revenge, and controls the senate as any old-style caudillo controls his <em>estancia</em>. </p> <p>One word certain to provoke a fit of fury in the president is "populist"; both Kirchners prefer to describe themselves as "progressive". Their incessant denunciation of the neo-liberal policies of the 1990s apart, there is only one area where they can stake a claim on the term: the centrality that human rights have taken since they came to power. Much of this emphasis, however, is a matter of rhetoric and presentation. </p> <p>It is difficult to measure the effect of congress's annulment of the so-called <a href="http://www.mercopress.com/vernoticia.do?id=10903&formato=HTML" target="_blank">amnesty laws</a> passed in the 1980s, and by many of the same legislators who were obliged in a new vote to declare their own decisions null and void, as few cases have come to court. In any case, less kind critics have argued that the Kirchners are motivated by a sense of guilt over their own past to "overact" in this area. The fact is that the Kirchners have portrayed their experience under the dictatorship of 1976-83 far different from the prosaic reality: in 1976, when the military took over, they did not go underground or join any "resistance" but instead decamped to <a href="http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/americas/argentina_rel96.jpg" target="_blank">remote</a> Patagonia, Nèstor Kirchner's birthplace, where they eventually set up a legal practice and started amassing a fortune based on property. When democracy was re-established in 1983, they embarked on <a href="http://english.pravda.ru/world/americas/30-04-2003/2695-kirchner-0" target="_blank">political careers</a> that saw Nèstor become first mayor of Rio Gallegos and then governor of Santa Cruz, while Cristina became a provincial legislator before becoming a national legislator and then senator.</p> <p>Cristina is indeed populist in what matters: she needs to be adored (irrespective of her ability to inspire such sentiments), seeks an unmediated link with the people, and <a href="http://www.hacer.org/current/ARG241.php" target="_blank">disdains</a> institutions, parties, congress, and the press (which are seen either as impediments to the populist project to "refound the nation" or, in the case of the press, competitors for public opinion). </p> <p>The hostility to the media runs in the family. In his four years as president, Kirchner has not given one press conference, nor any interviews to foreign journalists. During her 2005 campaign for the senate, Cristina Kirchner refused to debate with her rivals or to meet the press. In 2006, she also delivered to the state TV channel a two-hour speech in the senate in favour of delegating legislative powers to the executive (i.e. her husband) - when in opposition, she had been equally passionate in opposing such delegation. Congress, dominated by Kirchner's Peronists (there are non-Kirchner Peronists) voted in favour of a law that effectively undercut its own power: the "decrees of need and urgency" were among the "superpowers" delegated to the executive during a supposed continuing state of economic emergency. </p> <p>Cristina Kirchner's "pragmatism" is a conveniently evasive description of her inconsistencies as a legislator. As senator for the oil-rich province of Santa Cruz in the 1990s, for example, she wholeheartedly supported the privatisation of YPF, the state oil company - but is now in favour of its "Argentinisation". In that period, she also became the champion of a bill on access to information - but has now introduced amendments which have effectively killed it. As chair of the senate committee on <a href="http://pdba.georgetown.edu/Constitutions/Argentina/argen94_e.html" target="_blank">constitutional</a> affairs, she persuaded the government to change the membership of the body charged with the appointment and removal of judges in a way that could <a href="http://www.hacer.org/current/ARG143.php" target="_blank">compromise</a> judicial independence. </p> <p>More disturbingly, this important committee which she presides over has met only once since December 2006. Among the many matters awaiting its attention is political reform, which (as governor) Nèstor Kirchner voted in favour of in February 2002 (in the middle of the <a href="http://www.latinamericabureau.org/?lid=2567" target="_blank">crisis</a> that had seen five presidents in fifteen days). Nothing has been done since, and the issues considered for reform are still as necessary today as they were then: how electoral campaigns are run, how political parties are funded, how the electoral system should work, how access to information should be guaranteed.</p> <p><strong>A model couple</strong></p> <p>The Kirchner "model" in Argentina looks unsustainable, based as it is on deepening state involvement in the economy, extending price controls, juggling the exchange rate, and expanding public spending. Nèstor Kirchner himself could not reverse such policies without appearing to be making a u-turn. Perhaps then optimists will be proved right, and if elected Cristina Kirchner will be able to change it. Yet she is unlikely to give up the hegemonic tendencies of her husband, continuing with the concentration of power, which inexorably leads to the devaluation of democracy.</p> <p>Politics in Argentina thus seems set to continue to oscillate between the hegemonic will of whoever occupies the Casa Rosada, and, when the going gets tough, social groups who <a href="http://www.cambridge.org/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521694117" target="_blank">mobilise</a> on the streets to satisfy grievances rather than seek a political solution (roadblocks by <em>piqueteros</em> are a case in point). Some believe that with Cristina Kirchner as candidate, the divided opposition may still be able to force a second round in October. Cristina needs to get more than 45% in the first round to win outright, or at least 40% as long as she leads with at least a 10% advantage. The current <a href="http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/index.cfm/fuseaction/viewItem/itemID/16417" target="_blank">opinion polls</a> show the support for the three opposition candidates - Roberto Lavagna, <a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article2042152.ece">Elisa Carrió</a> and Ricardo López Murphy - as trailing far behind the first lady. </p> <p>The ignorance of or (worse still) the disdain for republican values that Cristina Kirchner showed when her husband became president in 2003, does not bode well for the consolidation of a liberal democracy in Argentina. At the time, and apparently unaware of the Robespierran resonances of the phrase, Cristina Kirchner said she wished to be known as "first citizen" rather than "first lady". If the Kirchners have their way, a new political dynasty is in the making. Will the Argentinean chick flourish under its parents? The king and queen penguin give few grounds for hope. </p>
latin america
Argentina's mirror: the causa Malvinas
https://www.opendemocracy.net/conflict-falklands_malvinas/causa_malvinas_4501.jsp
<p>2 April 2007 marked the twenty-fifth anniversary of the beginning of the Falklands/Malvinas conflict. With the exception of 3,000 Falkland Islanders, 40 million Argentines and some thousands of Britons, arguably the rest of the world continues to be bemused by the whole issue. What is it exactly that we are remembering this week and for the duration of the <a href="http://www.falklands25.com/abouttheconflict.html" target="_blank">seventy-four-day war</a>: a tragic and unnecessary conflict, the justified redemption of national territory, a violation of international law by an illegitimate government, the cleansing of a "dirty war" by a "just war"? </p><p>The answer clearly depends on who the "we" refers to. In its official guise, Britain is <a href="http://www.falklandswar.org.uk/" target="_blank">commemorating</a> the invasion of one of its overseas dependent territories by an Argentine military junta led by <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/03/13/wfalk213.xml" target="_blank">General Leopoldo Galtieri</a>, and the decision by Margaret Thatcher to send a task force to uphold its rights and the entrenched principles of international law that disputes should not be settled by force.</p><p>For <a href="http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/cia07/argentina_sm_2007.gif" target="_blank">Argentina</a> - officials, people and the wider society - what is being commemorated is far less clear. Indeed, for many years after the return to civilian and democratic rule in the aftermath of the war in 1983, 2 April 1982 was quietly ignored; governments preferred to mark 10 June - "Malvinas Day" - the anniversary of the date in 1833 when the British announced their intention to remain on the windswept islands evermore by peremptorily returning the few score Argentineans who had settled there to the mainland. </p><p>It was striking then, that in 2002, on the twentieth anniversary of the conflict - at the deepest point of Argentina's <a href="/globalization-protest/article_1167.jsp">economic collapse</a> - provisional president Eduardo Duhalde decided to declare 2 April a national holiday. It seemed then that Argentina's ambiguity vis-à-vis the junta's decision to invade was no more. The military may have been irresponsible, incompetent, and acting illegally, but the installation of the holiday suggested that the "cause" remained a just one; that the deeper meaning of the "recovery" of the islands should not be lost. </p><p>Argentina, after all, had not been the aggressor. The occupation of the <a href="https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/fk.html" target="_blank">islands</a> by military force had been in fact a perfectly defensive act, after 149 years of "usurpation" by Britain. A young, vigorous nation showed the world that it was moved by honour, in contrast to the decadent, anachronistic former colonial power which was only moved by material interests. In this way, the just "cause" was separated from the incompetent "war".</p><div><div class="pull_quote_article"><p>Celia Szusterman is senior lecturer in Spanish and Latin American studies at the University of Westminster and an associate fellow at <a href="http://www.riia.org/index.php?id=20&eid=153" target="_blank">Chatham House</a></p> <p>Also by Celia Szusterman in openDemocracy: </p> <p>"<a href="/debates/article.jsp?id=3&debateId=33&articleId=2962">Argentina: the state we're in</a>"<br /> (26 October 2005) </p> <p>"<a href="/democracy-protest/argentina_erosion_3607.jsp">Latin America's eroding democracy: the view from Argentina</a>"<br /> (1 June 2006) </p></div><p><strong>The national trinity</strong></p><p>A new book by the Argentinean political scientist Vicente Palermo - <em><a href="http://www.clarin.com/suplementos/libros/2006/03/10/l-01384322.htm" target="_blank">Sal en las heridas: Las Malvinas en la cultura argentina contemporánea</a> </em>(Sudamericana, 2007) - directly addresses this potent act of historical reclamation. Palermo sets himself the unrewarding task of disentangling the Malvinas "war" from the Malvinas "cause". In order to do this, he embarks on a voyage of exploration and diagnosis of the constituent parts of Argentine <a href="http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/6014.html" target="_blank">nationalism</a>. His normative aim is to propose an alternative approach and set of policies which could help resolve the outstanding dispute. </p><p>At least one part of Palermo's brave attempt is already doomed. The announcement by Argentina's government on 28 March 2007 that it was formally severing the 1995 agreement with Britain to share oil exploration in the seas surrounding the islands confirms what was already known, that the agreement has been effectively dead since 2001. More broadly, the fact that Argentina's foreign minister <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/03/29/warg29.xml" target="_blank">Jorge Taiana</a> chose to make the decision public only days ahead of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the illegal occupation signals the return of the "<em>causa</em> Malvinas" as a source of point-scoring in domestic politics. </p><p>The rest of the world may shrug its shoulders and wonder what all the fuss is about. For the more curious, Vicente Palermo offers a persuasive account of the resonance of the <em>causa</em>. In this he follows the groundbreaking article on the twentieth anniversary in 2002 by <a href="http://www.unsam.edu.ar/escuelas/politica/centro_historia_politica/romero.asp?m=1&s=4&s1=74&s2=112&s3=75" target="_blank">historian Luis Alberto Romero</a> (<em>Malvinas, 20 años después</em> [<em>La Nación</em>]), which traced the roots of the "cause" to the hopeless attempts of several versions of Argentine nationalism to articulate an "Argentine identity". </p><p><a href="http://www.lainsignia.org/2007/febrero/ibe_027.htm" target="_blank">Palermo</a> presents a detailed and extensively supported account of the ways in which the Malvinas issue was transformed into a cause by the different versions of Argentine nationalism: liberal, revisionist, populist, elitist, democratic, Catholic, reactionary, Marxist and anti-imperialist. The main components are <em>unanimismo</em> (unanimity), <em>decadentismo </em>(decadentism), and territorialism. </p><p>The transformation works like this. The quest for unanimity, which should crystallise in a "national project", leads in turn to intolerance. The historical view of Argentina's decadence - summed up in the phrase "we are a great nation, with a brilliant future behind us" - leads to the sense of victimhood. Somehow, our decadence is the result either of domination by foreign interests (i.e. Britain in the 1880-1930 period), or of the adoption of policies alien to us (i.e. neo-liberalism in the 1990s, as expressed by President Kirchner to the United Nations general assembly in <a href="http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/58/statements/argeeng030925.htm" target="_blank">September 2003</a>). </p><p><a href="http://www.psupress.psu.edu/books/titles/0-271-02191-8.html" target="_blank">Luis Alberto Romero</a> argued that none of the available components of a national identity as defined in the western world were able to provide a satisfactory definition in the Argentine case: there was no homogeneous race or ethnicity in a country peopled by European immigrants; the Spanish language did not distinguish us from our neighbours; Catholicism, the official religion, left too many people out; while competing versions of our history - especially over the significance of post-independence 19th-century events - divided people into camps ("liberals" vs "revisionists") as far apart as ethnicities at war. </p></div><div><div class="pull_quote_article"><p>openDemocracy authors analyse the layers of the Argentinean onion: </p> <p>Ivan Briscoe, "<a href="/globalization-protest/article_1167.jsp">Argentina: how politicians survive while people starve</a>"<br /> (17 April 2003) </p> <p>Michele Wucker, "<a href="/debates/article.jsp?id=6&debateId=33&articleId=1465">Argentina and the IMF: will they benefit from hindsight? </a>"<br /> (4 September 2003) </p> <p>Mariano Aguirre, "<a href="/arts-multiculturalism/article_2342.jsp">The many cities of Buenos Aires</a>"<br /> (16 February 2005) </p> <p>Ivan Briscoe, "<a href="/democracy-protest/argentinapolitics_2538.jsp">Nèstor Kirchner's Argentina: a journey from hell</a>"<br /> (25 May 2005) </p> <p>Horacio Verbitsky, "<a href="/democracy-protest/catholicchurch_2709.jsp">Breaking the silence: the Catholic Church in Argentina and the dirty war</a>" (28 July 2005) </p> <p>Carlos Forment, "<a href="/democracy-protest/argentina_football_3651.jsp">The democratic dribble: Buenos Aires's politics of football</a>"<br /> (16 June 2006)</p> </div><p>In this situation, the only feature that could unite such diversity was the third feature of the above trinity: territory, and a "national cause" around which to mobilise "territorialist" sentiment. Thus the belief took root that land - all of it, every single piece that had made up the Spanish Viceroyalty of the River Plate - was "Argentine". The loss of any fraction of that land (as had happened when Bolivia and Uruguay followed an independent path) meant the impossibility of having a full identity. Both Romero and Vicente Palermo make this point: the territorial dimension is at the heart of Argentina's spurious nationalism.</p><p>The <em>causa Malvinas</em> represents these feelings almost to perfection: once we recover what has been <a href="http://www.falklands.info/history/narra.html" target="_blank">taken from us</a> illegally, we shall be able to recover our lost greatness, lift our heads proudly, confront the powerful - and with the islands, regain our lost dignity. <em>Las Malvinas son Argentinas</em> is, in this mindset, the rallying-cry that defines "Argentine-ness".</p><p>Palermo traces the intricate yet surprisingly linear route followed by these <a href="http://www.economist.com/countries/Argentina/profile.cfm?folder=History%20in%20brief" target="_blank">historical </a>obsessions: from the original protests back in 1833, through Perón's decision in 1946 to extend by decree the territory of Argentina to cover an extra one million square kilometres (which incorporated overnight the Falklands archipelago, but also South Georgia and the Sandwich Islands, as well as a huge chunk of the Antarctic in which both Chile and Britain had, and still have, scientific outposts). After that, nothing much happened until 16 December 1965 when the government of Argentina succeeded in convincing the UN general assembly to pass <a href="http://www.falklands.info/history/resolution2065.html" target="_blank">Resolution 2065</a> (XX) asking Argentina and Britain to start negotiations over the Falkland/Malvinas islands. The vote was ninety-four in favour, with fourteen abstentions; not even Britain voted against. </p></div><p><strong>The other side of the cause</strong></p><p>What next? One of the more deeply rooted myths surrounding <em>la causa</em> is that "nothing happened between 1965 and 1982", leading to a quite "reasonable" deepening of Argentina's grievance and a sense of frustration at such flagrant unfairness. All the while, the narrative goes, Argentina was patiently enduring (again the sense of victimhood) the arrogance of the last vestiges of colonialism; while in a contemptible show of imperial hauteur, Britain consistently refused to discuss the dispute. </p><p>Yet Palermo reviews in detail the work of Peter Beck and Lawrence Freedman, which traces successive attempts from within the foreign office - in 1967-68 (led by foreign ministers Michael Stewart and Lord Chalfont), 1971, 1974, 1977 (David Owen), 1979-80 (the hapless Nicholas Ridley), as well as the Shackleton report of 1977 - to trigger a debate in cabinet, in parliament, and in the foreign office itself on the Falkland Islands' future. Many possible solutions to the islands' <a href="http://www.falklands.info/history/history6.html" target="_blank">contested sovereignty</a> were explored and aired: condominium, shared sovereignty, leaseback... </p><p>Indeed, as a consequence of Resolution 2065, Britain had started work on a conditioned transfer of sovereignty. One of the conditions was that the interests of the islanders should be guaranteed, a message transmitted to Argentina in 1967. As soon as the "Falklands lobby" hears of it, parliament is informed, and opposition to the proposal is mobilised. Argentina interprets this as the actions of "a small group of people defending an anachronistic colonial situation".</p><p>What this long process reveals is that at the centre of British governments of varying political colours in the 1960s and 1970s there existed different viewpoints, contradictory preferences, and even differences in the appraisal of the importance given to the issue. The "irreducible colonialism" misleadingly attributed to Britain by Argentina is notable by its absence. </p><div><div class="pull_quote_article"><p>Also in openDemocracy:</p> <p>Anthony Barnett, "<a href="/conflict-falklands_malvinas/churchillism_4487.jsp">Churchillism: from Thatcher and the Falklands to Blair and Iraq</a>" (30 March 2007)</p> <p>Ivan Briscoe, "<a href="/conflict-falklands_malvinas/argentina_briscoe_4491.jsp">Argentina and the Malvinas, twenty-five years on</a>" <br />(2 April 2007)</p> <p>Justin Vogler, "<a href="/conflict-falklands_malvinas/lessons_vogler_4495.jsp">Argentina and Britain: the lessons of war</a>" (3 April 2007)</p> </div><p><strong>The reward of failure</strong></p><p>By 1982, the military government that had ousted the government of Isabel Perón in March 1976 was led by Leopoldo Galtieri. It was a regime desperate to stop its runaway decline, fragmentation and deterioration. What better way than to revive the <em>causa Malvinas </em>with a daring move that decadent Britain would be forced impotently to swallow? This was the <em>causa</em> in all its "redemptive" and "regenerational" force, with the additional benefit after years of ferocious military repression and torture of "redeeming" a "dirty war" with a "just" one. </p><p>Yet, even with all this in mind, Palermo argues that there was nothing <em>inevitable</em> about the decision to invade. He explains the trap in which the <em>causa</em> had placed Argentina's foreign policy and the country's insertion into the world. Once the decision had been made to pursue the issue in the United Nations, Argentina was held hostage to the inclinations of the non-aligned movement, which effectively controlled the general assembly at the time. about the decision to invade. He explains the trap in which the </p><p>The military regime's immediate reasons to invade are not difficult to understand: a combination of short-term political needs and the strength of the <em>causa</em>. So far, so obvious. More interesting are Palermo's attempts at disentangling the reasons why popular support for the occupation, and the subsequent war, was so undivided. His explanation is difficult to prove, but convincing to anyone who witnessed those times in Argentina. </p><p>The decline of the <a href="http://www.yendor.com/vanished/junta.html" target="_blank">junta</a> reflected arguably the lowest point in the trajectory of a society that had seemed to be losing its compass throughout the 20th century. Palermo quotes from a letter by one of the thousands of exiles from the junta's state terrorism, which reflects the devastating power of the <em>causa</em>: "this people [Argentines] so ill-treated, which has grown amidst discord and resentment, this people which has known nothing but frustration and aggression, today feels summoned, has accepted with ease the call of the Motherland... it has been taken out of its Purgatory and has become generous, ready to give everything for the sovereignty over some far away rocks...".</p><p>The junta crashed to defeat and humiliation within two and a half months. The result was to unleash a tide of recrimination against the incompetence, ineptitude, and irresponsible adventurism that had soiled a <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2047981,00.html" target="_blank">noble cause</a> (in fact, what the military did, so Palermo argues, was tragically <em>consistent</em> with the cause). The press led the attack on the "betrayal" of the cause, and did so by the unearthing of matters until then not only taboo, but the subject of widespread denial by society: the repression, the tortures, the "disappeared". The <a href="http://www.orionbooks.co.uk/HB-32083/Razor%27s-Edge.htm" target="_blank">outcome</a> was what the timid opposition had had little chance of achieving: the collapse of the military regime. </p><p>Luis Alberto Romero responds to the rhetorical question - how many people would have justified the junta's crimes had there been a military victory in the 1982 war? (<em>La Nación</em>, 2 April 2004) - with a dispiriting answer: "I'm afraid very many". Those who had demonstrated against the human-rights commission of the Organisation of American States (proclaiming "Argentines are human, and they are right") suddenly discovered a new civic religion, liberal and tolerant.</p></div><p><strong>Beyond the imaginary prison</strong></p><p>Today the question remains: what is the meaning of <a href="http://www.mercopress.com/vernoticia.do?id=10127&formato=HTML" target="_blank">commemorating</a> 2 April 1982? The <em>remalvinización </em>of Argentine foreign policy still impedes the country's ability to come to terms with the fact that Argentina went to war, that she invaded a territory against the rules of international law, and that we embraced a military dictatorship on 3 April of that same year because it had acted "in defence of the national interest".</p><p>The problem, according to Argentina's contemporary political leadership, is that after the war, we accepted a submissive role, controlled by "outside interests", i.e. policy dictated from the United States. Until <a href="http://www.presidencia.gov.ar/" target="_blank">Néstor Kirchner</a> became president in 2003, Argentina had been unable to defend what she had done, looking tall and proud. Guido Di Tella's awkwardly described "charm offensive" to recognise not just the existence of the Falkland islanders, but their wishes to remain British, was part of that ignominious <em>desmalvinización</em> of Argentina's foreign policy which President Kirchner hopes to set straight.</p><p>From 1983 to 2007, Argentina has been experiencing the longest period of <a href="http://www.psupress.psu.edu/books/titles/0-271-02715-0.html" target="_blank">democratic rule</a> since independence. Military intervention in the political arena - which for most of the 20th century had become "normal" - is now inconceivable. The most courageous suggestion in Palermo's book is his plea for the construction of an alternative set of policies and narratives to the authoritarian and populist nationalism embodied in the "imaginary prison" of the <em>causa Malvinas</em>, this time based on what he describes as "republican patriotism": love of rights, rule of law and institutions of a liberal republic. </p><p>But for this to evolve, an enlightened political leadership is required. Palermo reproduces opinion polls that reveal how the perception of the Malvinas issue changes according to the policies being pursued. In 1984, only 25% of those asked were in favour of shared sovereignty; in the 1990s, when President <a href="http://www.carlosmenem.com/bio_ingles.asp" target="_blank">Carlos Menem</a> and his foreign minister Guido Di Tella tried to alter Argentina's foreign policy by "aligning" them with the west (and thus away from the non-aligned movement and the constraints of the Malvinas issue), 54% expressed that view. </p><p>More recent polls have found that Argentines, asked to list the "main problems confronting the country", reply by ranking unemployment (62%) and security and crime (38%) far above the Malvinas - twenty-fourth on the list, at 1%. Palermo's conclusion gives hope for the future: there clearly exist no homogeneous preferences among the population that constitute an insurmountable wall to diplomatic progress, and this lack of entrenchment offers considerable leeway for wise political leadership.</p><p>Alas, President Kirchner appears determined to revive the <em>causa</em> in all its strength, appealing again to its redemptive attributes. While this persists, while the Malvinas continues to be <a href="http://www.mercopress.com/vernoticia.do?id=10182&formato=HTML" target="_blank">used</a> to score domestic political points - and we must remember that 2007 is an <a href="http://www.angus-reid.com/tracker/index.cfm/fuseaction/viewItem/itemID/14242" target="_blank">electoral year</a> in Argentina - there is little hope that an alternative set of policies towards the islands and to Britain will emerge. Until that time, some of us between 2 April and 14 June will quietly remember those Argentine and British soldiers who died in a conflict that should never have happened.</p>
Conflict
Latin America's eroding democracy: the view from Argentina
https://www.opendemocracy.net/democracy-protest/argentina_erosion_3607.jsp
<p>The fashionable current narrative of a "swing to the left" in Latin America, espoused by commentators of left and right alike, appears to have a lot of evidence to commend it: the election of centre-left governments in Brazil and Chile, of more radical figures in <a href="/articles/View.jsp?id=3255">Venezuela</a> and Bolivia, and the wave of social protests and convulsions in countries as different as Argentina, Ecuador and <a href="/articles/View.jsp?id=3548">Mexico</a> in the first years of the 21st century. </p> <p>The narrative, however, is only skin-deep. It overlooks a key factor: the populist, nationalist and authoritarian currents that have <a href="/articles/View.jsp?id=3517">resurfaced</a> in many places. A full account of this factor reveals that the deeper Latin America story is not a renascent left but a populist resurgence that is further eroding already damaged political institutions. <div><div class="pull_quote_article"><p><b>Celia Szusterman is senior lecturer in Spanish and Latin American studies at the University of Westminster and an associate fellow at <a href=http://www.riia.org/index.php?id=20&eid=153 target=_blank>Chatham House</a></b></p> <hr color=#3399cc size=1 width=50px /> <p>Also by Celia Szusterman in openDemocracy: </p> <p>"<a href="/articles/View.jsp?id=2962">Argentina: the state we’re in</a>" <br />(October 2005)</p> <p>An extract from this article: </p> <p>"After twenty-two years of democratic rule, the quality of democracy and of citizens’ rights in Argentina shows worrying deficits. The Peronist political culture and its exercise of power has exacerbated the worst characteristics of a hyper-presidentialist system. The president's own mode of rule – labelled "style K" – has not contributed to strengthening Argentina’s weak institutions. </p> <p>"Style K" is not pretty. Kirchner prefers confrontation over negotiation; employs bully-boy tactics when dealing with the opposition, his own minsters, the press or foreign businessmen; refuses to hold cabinet meetings or give press interviews or conferences; and rules by decree rather than with congress. All this can be interpreted as revealing an ignorance of civic culture at best, or a lurking authoritarianism at worst. After all, both were key features of Peronism at its inception. </p> <p>The result is the insidious propagation of a culture of fear."</p> </div><p><b>A democracy in trouble</b></p> <p>A clear indication of this more fundamental trend is apparent in a comparison of the qualitative performance of institutions of governance across the region. Chile and Uruguay have historically been top of this particular league, followed (at some distance) by Brazil; at the bottom are Venezuela and Bolivia, perhaps soon to be followed by Peru; somewhere in the middle, but with strong indications of a downward movement, is <a href=http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ar.html target=_blank>Argentina</a>. </p> <p>The governments of Chile and Uruguay (and a Brazil moving in their direction) can be readily understood as social-democratic polities, administering to a society at least aspiring to some of the classic features of a democratic order: a shared political culture where the rule of law, and established institutions and freedoms are respected, and a society where equality of citizenship and inclusion is guaranteed. </p> <p>It is more difficult to define the societies, political cultures and institutions of the countries at the bottom of the league. A historical perspective helps to identify the roots of such divergence: longstanding democratic traditions (albeit interrupted by military intervention) in the countries at the top, enduring populist and nationalist traditions in those at the bottom.</p> <p>In this context, Argentina is doubly unfortunate: both populist and Peronist. It must be recalled that the periods of a truly liberal and democratic republic in Argentina lasted not more than a total of twelve years until the restoration of democracy in 1983 after seven years of military dictatorship. However, since 2002, the regression and involution has been relentless. </p> <p>Why is Argentina's democracy in trouble? Part of the problem is that the fate of "democracy" (whether in its social, liberal and republican definition) is in the hands of those who neither care for nor understand the importance of the <a href="/articles/View.jsp?id=3187">core institutions</a> of democracy: the rule of law, separation of powers (including, crucially, an independent judiciary), accountability of government, freedom of the press, and a culture of compromise and tolerance. These are dismissed by Peronists and populists alike (the categories of course overlap) as "rightwing concerns": not what "the people" need or demand, but what "the enemies of the people" use to conceal their evil intentions.</p> <p>The impressive economic growth which has enabled Argentina to recover from its virtual <a href=http://www.latinamericabureau.org/?lid=83 target=_blank>collapse in December 2001</a> cannot disguise that a sort of "decadent" or "low-intensity" democracy has taken hold under its president, <a href=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/25/AR2006052501665.html target=_blank>Néstor Kirchner</a>. </p> <p>Kirchner celebrated three years in power on 25 May 2006 at a mass rally in Buenos Aires which was widely seen as a marker for his re-election campaign in 2007. True to the definition of the post-1945 populist leader Juan Perón himself, Kirchner conceives politics as "the art of leading men". Yet this "art" is conceived in military and authoritarian rather than democratic or relational terms: it is all about the personification of power, strict <a href="/articles/View.jsp?id=3467">discipline</a> and obedience to the "leader", accumulation of power and hegemonic dominance. </p> <p>Ricardo Lagos, the predecessor of <a href="/articles/View.jsp?id=3183">Michelle Bachelet</a> as Chile's president, said that "populism cannot survive without a fiscal surplus". The proliferation of funds distributed by executive fiat as a means of patronage – bypassing legislative accountability – is just one instance of the lack of transparency of Kirchner's administration. There are others: from the breach of campaign-funding rules to the appointment of <em>piquetero</em> leaders who burned down a police station to government positions. </p> <p>The co-optation of the radical, strike-leading, factory-occupying <em>piqueteros</em> into the government might be rationalised as part of a strategy to involve them in non-violent democratic politics. In practice it is rather a surrender to intimidation. The same mentality is seen in the politicisation of judicial appointments, which erodes the principle of pluralism and effective checks and balances in the public realm (<a href=http://hrw.org/doc?t=americas&c=argent target=_blank>Human Rights Watch</a> sent a letter to President Kirchner in February 2006 expressing its concern at his "reforms" in this area).</p> <p>Meanwhile, Argentina's congress is virtually inactive, and where it does meet it pays remarkable inattention to the country's <a href=http://pdba.georgetown.edu/Constitutions/Argentina/argen94_e.html target=_blank>1994 constitution</a>. This document stipulates that the chief of cabinet should report to congress at least once a month; he has done so on only seven occasions since May 2003, and just once in the whole of 2005. Legislators frequently invoke the phrase "awaiting presidential orders" before attempting even to initiate a debate. </p> <p>The congressional revision of more than 1,000 laws and executive decrees, overdue since 1999, has not started. The body's committee for constitutional affairs – chaired by <a href=http://www.hacer.org/current/ARG143.php target=_blank>Cristina Kirchner</a>, the president's spouse and a considerable, ambitious figure in her own right – has taken no steps to begin the process. These laws will lapse in August 2006, throwing the country into legal chaos – unless the revision is postponed yet again.</p> <p>Argentina's public life is subject to an array of <a href=http://www.nuevamayoria.com/EN/ANALISIS/fraga/arg/060119.html target=_blank>authoritarian</a> measures. The respected, independent Association for Civil Rights highlights attempts at press manipulation and intimidation; these include indirect as well as direct pressures, such as the efforts of public officials close to Kirchner to persuade private companies to withdraw advertising from critical and independent media. </p> <p><b>A region against itself</b></p> <p>Political culture is difficult to define: yet much of what is going on in Argentina can only be understood against a <a href="/articles/View.jsp?id=2538">background</a> of violent, fractious confrontation between groups divided not by ideological or programmatic identities but by a ruthless pursuit of the apparatus – and financial resources – of the state.</p> <p>In its misplaced focus on radical parties and policies rather than <a href="/articles/View.jsp?id=3575">institutions of governance</a>, the narrative of leftist revival – in Argentina, as elsewhere in Latin America – fails utterly to capture such realities. So when populist leaders rant against the "market" and praise the "state", they are not really trying to understand what the role of the state should be. Rather, they are defining a chosen "enemy of the people" (businessmen, foreign and domestic – but especially foreign; the pantomime-devils of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank; several hues of ill-defined, and in some cases non-existent, oligarchies). </p> <p>The logical conclusion of their imaginings is a "state" in the hands of "the people" (i.e. the ruling party, its clienteles and friends), spending public funds when they are available (for the lack of funds, <em>pace</em> Lagos, spells the end of populism), but without feeling the need to account for such spending. After all, the new controllers of the state <em>are</em> "the people"; they <a href=http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/index.cfm/fuseaction/viewItem/itemID/11932 target=_blank>represent</a> the "good", and those who question their spending are the "neo-liberal" enemies and their lackeys in the press.</p> <p>This type of politics is very familiar in Latin America – albeit in other guises. It has led to economic chaos, social hatred, poverty, rampant corruption, lawlessness and hyperinflation. It is far from clear that this path is not again being followed. </p> <p>Those who would like to see what is going on in Latin America as the dawn of a "fraternal" leftwing politics based on ideological affinities and solidarity of "the people" might benefit from registering the difference between the much-reviled "neo-liberal" 1990s and today. Today's period of instability and confrontation contrasts with the last decade's markedly stable period in intra-regional relations. </p> <p>The resurgence of the politics of <a href="/articles/View.jsp?id=3210">nationalist populism</a> comes hand-in-hand with the search for enemies rather than allies. As the independent institutions that can guarantee a healthy public order are left to corrode, Latin America's populists are plunging the region into a new era of suspicion, embitterment, accusation and xenophobia. For whom is this progress? </p> </div></p>
democracy & power
Argentina: the state we're in
https://www.opendemocracy.net/democracy-protest/argentina_2962.jsp
<p> At the end of 2001 Argentina suffered the most dramatic of the recurrent crises that have plagued the last sixty years. The difference was that this time it was a <a href="http://www.latinamericabureau.org/?lid=83" target="_blank">triple crisis</a>: fiscal, monetary and of political representation. The fiscal crisis was partly solved earlier this year with the unilateral renegotiation of the largest sovereign default in history. A solution to the 25% of “hold-outs” that did not accept the government’s offer is still awaited. </p> <p> The monetary crisis was solved through a devaluation that left 50% of the population under the poverty line, and salaries at their lowest in over thirty years. That figure is now down to 40%, but more than a million families are kept just above that line via cash subsidies handed out by the state and used as one means of sustaining a formidable clientelist political machine. </p> <p> Did the mid-term elections of 23 October in Argentina begin to solve the crisis of political representation and of the political system as a whole? Has democratic governance been strengthened as a result? What is indisputable is that the 40% of the votes obtained by President <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C3%A9stor_Kirchner" target="_blank">Néstor Kirchner</a> offer him the legitimacy that the May 2003 elections had not. At that time, and as a result of a cunning ploy by then acting president, <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/1738175.stm" target="_blank">Eduardo Duhalde</a>, in order to stop his arch rival Carlos Menem (president from 1989-99) from becoming president for a third time, Kirchner came second with 22% of the vote. Menem’s decision to withdraw from the second round required by the electoral law meant that Kirchner became the “22% president”. </p> <p> Kirchner has been <a href="/articles/View.jsp?id=2538">driven</a> by three obsessions since then: </p> <ul> <li>to consolidate the largest and most prolonged fiscal surplus Argentina has ever experienced</li> <li>to abolish the legislation that pardoned the military accused and found guilty of gross human-rights violations during the 1976-83 dictatorship</li> <li>to rid himself of his mentor and predecessor, Eduardo Duhalde</li> </ul> <p> The results of the elections indicate that Kirchner has now <a href="http://www.eitb24.com/noticia_en.php?id=99586" target="_blank">obtained</a> his third aim. The president nominated his wife, Cristina, until now senator for their home province of Santa Cruz, to run for a senate seat for the province of Buenos Aires, the largest (with 38% of the population), richest (though also with the highest concentration of poor people), and indisputable fiefdom of the most powerful Peronist boss: Eduardo Duhalde. </p> <p> Her chief rival in the election was none other than Duhalde’s wife, Hilda. Kirchner’s wife (replaced as senator for Santa Cruz by her sister) obtained 45% of the vote to Hilda Duhalde’s 20%. This, the pivotal <a href="http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/10/24/news/argentina.php" target="_blank">outcome</a> in these elections, reveals far more than these bare statistics suggest. </p> <p> <strong>A question of Peronism</strong> </p> <p> Néstor Kirchner has emerged as the undisputed boss (the word is not used lightly) of the formidable Peronist, clientelist machine of the province of Buenos Aires. The achievement can be understood by recalling the very identity of Peronism in Argentina and the political culture it represents. The need for such a perspective is reflected in the fact that a day after the elections, many <em>duhaldistas</em> were quoted in the press saying that perhaps it had been a mistake to oppose the president, and that the time had come to join the winner. </p> <p> This is what <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peronism" target="_blank">Peronism</a> is about. It was born in and from power in 1946, in opposition to other parties that struggled to reach power. Peronism exercises power by using state resources to buy support: provincial governors in federal Argentina are totally dependent on central government transfers. The <a href="http://www.oefre.unibe.ch/law/icl/ar__indx.html" target="_blank">1994 constitution</a> stated that within a year a mechanism for transparent and accountable transfers had to be established by congress.This has still not happened more than a decade later; nor will it happen since it is the key tool to maintain power and reward or punish loyalists and “traitors”. </p> <p> The predominance of Peronism since the return to democracy in 1983 after more than twenty-five years of political instability and successive military coups is at the core of Argentina’s fragile democracy. This fragility no longer generates the risk of military intervention (the ability of the military to operate as political actors was crushed by a combination of popular revulsion at its illegitimate and abhorrent tactics in the “<a href="http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/argentina.htm" target="_blank">dirty war</a>” era, and its ignominious defeat in the Falklands/Malvinas war of 1982). Rather, it is revealed by a political culture dismissive of institutions, of the separation of powers, of the rule of law – and led by politicians careless of the law. </p> <p> This systemic fragility is topped by a president who – in quintessential populist style, demonises the <a href="http://www.latinamericabureau.org/?lid=2567" target="_blank">opposition</a> – by branding it as enemies of the nation and of the people, engaged in a permanent state of conspiracy aimed at “destabilisation”. </p> <p> <strong>A crisis of opposition</strong> </p> <p> Meanwhile, the collapse of the Radical party since its disastrous administration in 1999-2001 has meant an end to the two-party system. Its decadence had started in 1994, when former president Raul Alfonsín relinquished any oppositional role by entering into a secret pact with then president, Carlos Menem, to amend the constitution. </p> <p> Menem wanted a re-election clause introduced. In exchange, Alfonsín obtained an increase of senate seats from two to three per province. The constitution indicated that the first two seats would go to the winner, and the third to the opposition. But Alfonsín underestimated the ability of Peronism to manipulate the rules. By inventing new names to fight elections (Kirchner’s own is Front for Victory) there were, by 2003, three Peronist candidates for the presidency, and in 2005 Peronists running under different names will capture the designated three seats in several provinces. </p> <p> Much has been said about the fragmentation of the opposition. On a national level, Kirchner’s Front for Victory obtained 40% of the vote, non-Kirchner Peronists’ 11%, the Radical Party almost 14%, centre-right parties almost 8%, and different shades of left-wing parties (totally irreconcilable amongst themselves) 27%. </p> <p> Is there a possibility of the non-Peronist “half” of Argentina finding a single voice to offer an alternative to Peronism? It seems highly unlikely on the basis of existing <a href="http://news.ft.com/cms/s/a4b95844-44a3-11da-a5f0-00000e2511c8.html" target="_blank">voting patterns</a>. A look at the electoral campaign will help to explain not just this weakness, but that of the system of representation and the wider political culture. </p> <p> <strong>A problem of democracy</strong> </p> <p> This electoral campaign was marked by a double violation: of the main aspects of the electoral law and of the spirit of the constitution. </p> <p> The president, although not himself a candidate, mobilised all the resources of the state to fund the campaign of his party and his allies. He travelled 50,000 miles in the last two months to attend public events state-managed by his supporters (including the busing of people, payments of cash and food); he made funds available to provide free washing machines and DVD players to the poorest dwellers of Buenos Aires province; and he constantly denounced the opposition as enemies of “the new Argentina” (while never defining properly his own “project” for the country). </p> <p> Kirchner’s approach indicates the most striking aspect of this campaign: it was one bereft of ideas or proposals. There was nothing other than <a href="http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=30631" target="_blank">individual people</a>, political figures, to identify with. When voices were raised to criticise government policies – their lack of transparency or lack of policies (as in areas of education or law and order) – the government ignored them. It was extraordinary to observe that in a country with 40% of its population living below the poverty line, not once was the issue of poverty discussed. </p> <p> After twenty-two years of democratic rule, the quality of democracy and of citizens’ rights in Argentina shows worrying deficits. The Peronist political culture and its exercise of power has exacerbated the worst characteristics of a hyper-presidentialist system. The president’s own mode of rule – labelled “style K” – has not contributed to strengthening Argentina’s weak institutions. </p> <p> “Style K” is not pretty. Kirchner prefers confrontation over negotiation; employs bully-boy tactics when dealing with the opposition, his own minsters, the press or foreign businessmen; refuses to hold cabinet meetings or give press interviews or conferences; and rules by decree rather than with congress. All this can be interpreted as revealing an ignorance of civic culture at best, or a lurking authoritarianism at worst. After all, both were key features of Peronism at its inception. </p> <p> The result is the insidious propagation of a culture of fear. The hegemonic reflexes of Peronism – armoured by clientelism, nepotism and disregard (if not open violation) of the electoral law – are gathering pace. This situation creates fear that Peronism will turn into an hegemonic party along the lines of Mexico’s PRI. </p> <p> Already there are signs that Kirchner will use his victory not to implement public policies to sustain the recovery of the last two years, but to start plotting his re-election in 2007. He may even decide to propose that his wife replaces him until 2011, so that he could in principle then return for two more four-year terms. This would mean rule by the Kirchner couple until 2019. </p> <p> The hegemonic risks are real. But paradoxically the antidote lies in Peronism itself. Being government <em>and</em> opposition, held together by the largesse of the state in the rising phase of an economic cycle, many of those who today are thinking of joining the <em>kirchnerista</em> bandwagon will be the first to abandon it once the going turns tough. To win a presidential election outright, a candidate needs more than 45% of the vote, or, at least 40% with a ten-point difference over the runner-up. Argentina’s presidential elections have never gone to a second round, and it is conceivable that Kirchner will continue to use money to build his personal coalition. </p> <p> Meanwhile, an opposition gathered behind democracy’s “big ideas” – guaranteeing an open society, alternation in government, a free press, the strengthening of institutions to guarantee the separation of powers, the emergence of a proper system of political parties – has a long struggle ahead. Until then, Argentina’s “low-intensity” democracy in Argentina will remain the arena in which populism thrives. </p>
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Argentina Chemicals 2016 Pre release | Argentina | Petrochemical
Argentina Chemicals 2016 Pre release
Presentación preliminar de la industria química Argentina en el 2016 - APLA -
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About Us - Voyages-sncf.com
Voyages-sncf.com: About us
About Voyages-sncf
Voyages-sncf.com is the official European distribution channel of the French railways (SNCF) for online sales of high-speed and conventional rail travel throughout France and Europe: plan your journeys, book your train tickets and get inspired by our travel guides!
Voyages-sncf, the digital distributor of SNCF products and services in Europe
Voyages-sncf has 8 websites in 12 languages, all with mobile versions. Seven countries have their own dedicated site: Germany, Belgium (in French, Dutch and English), Spain, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands and Switzerland (in French, German and English). The 8th website is in English and is aimed at all other European customers, using the Euro as its sole currency.
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The Voyages-sncf.com group aims to be Europe's nº 1 rail operator and a major international group.
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Penne Arrabbiata (Pasta cooked in Red Chili flakes and Olive Oil) - Honey, Whats Cooking
Honey, Whats Cooking
A food, travel & lifestyle blog.
Main navigation
Penne Arrabbiata (Pasta cooked in Red Chili flakes and Olive Oil)
December 3, 2009
9 Comments
Today I made, Penne Arrabbiata, which literally means, “Angry Penne”. This dish is cooked with red chili flakes, so it is hot and spicy, hence the term, ‘angry.’ I’ve had many variations of this dish in the US, but nothing beats eating Italian food in Italy. On our honeymoon, my husband kept ordering Penne Arrabbiata (a veggie option), since many dishes in Italy contain red meat. He must have ordered this dish like 7 times total, and he never seem to get sick of it. What’s not to love? Pasta, olive oil, garlic, tomatoes, topped off with parmesan cheese and parsley/basil!
Traditionally, this dish is topped off with parsley, I used basil instead. There is something about basil that goes so so well with Italian food. Normally, this dish does not use onions and crushed tomatoes, I used both, what can I say, I love hearty dishes. So I bring you my version of this simple, and truly amazing dish… I feel like I’m in Italy again. Try this, you will not be dissapointed!
NUTRITION: I used whole grain penne pasta, so this dish contains fiber. The cheese adds protein and calcium to this dish. Tomato sauce is a good source of Vitamin A and C.
INGREDIENTS:
Parmesan Cheese – 1/2 cup (finely grated)
DIRECTIONS:
1. Set aside water to boil.
2. Chop garlic, onions, and tomatoes.
3. Heat a pan on medium heat. Add extra virgin olive oil. Add red pepper flakes.
4. Add onions and garlic. Saute until onions are golden.
5. Add the tomatoes and salt.
6. This is what you should have after 5 minutes.
7. Add crushed tomatoes. Season with black pepper and salt.
8. Cover and simmer for 10-12 minutes.
9. Now cook the pasta for 10 minutes, or until Al Dente.
10. In the meantime, chop the basil and grate the parmesan cheese.
11. The pasta should be done. The sauce will cook down a little bit. At this time add all the pasta to the sauce. Turn off the gas.
12. Add basil.
13. Add parmesan cheese.
14. All I can say is, why wasn’t I born Italian? 🙁 SOOOOOOOO GOOD! I would really appreciate your feedback!
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Arrabbiata sauce
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Penne Arrabbiata (Pasta cooked in Red Chili flakes and Olive Oil) - Honey, Whats Cooking
Honey, Whats Cooking
A food, travel & lifestyle blog.
Main navigation
Penne Arrabbiata (Pasta cooked in Red Chili flakes and Olive Oil)
December 3, 2009
9 Comments
Today I made, Penne Arrabbiata, which literally means, “Angry Penne”. This dish is cooked with red chili flakes, so it is hot and spicy, hence the term, ‘angry.’ I’ve had many variations of this dish in the US, but nothing beats eating Italian food in Italy. On our honeymoon, my husband kept ordering Penne Arrabbiata (a veggie option), since many dishes in Italy contain red meat. He must have ordered this dish like 7 times total, and he never seem to get sick of it. What’s not to love? Pasta, olive oil, garlic, tomatoes, topped off with parmesan cheese and parsley/basil!
Traditionally, this dish is topped off with parsley, I used basil instead. There is something about basil that goes so so well with Italian food. Normally, this dish does not use onions and crushed tomatoes, I used both, what can I say, I love hearty dishes. So I bring you my version of this simple, and truly amazing dish… I feel like I’m in Italy again. Try this, you will not be dissapointed!
NUTRITION: I used whole grain penne pasta, so this dish contains fiber. The cheese adds protein and calcium to this dish. Tomato sauce is a good source of Vitamin A and C.
INGREDIENTS:
Parmesan Cheese – 1/2 cup (finely grated)
DIRECTIONS:
1. Set aside water to boil.
2. Chop garlic, onions, and tomatoes.
3. Heat a pan on medium heat. Add extra virgin olive oil. Add red pepper flakes.
4. Add onions and garlic. Saute until onions are golden.
5. Add the tomatoes and salt.
6. This is what you should have after 5 minutes.
7. Add crushed tomatoes. Season with black pepper and salt.
8. Cover and simmer for 10-12 minutes.
9. Now cook the pasta for 10 minutes, or until Al Dente.
10. In the meantime, chop the basil and grate the parmesan cheese.
11. The pasta should be done. The sauce will cook down a little bit. At this time add all the pasta to the sauce. Turn off the gas.
12. Add basil.
13. Add parmesan cheese.
14. All I can say is, why wasn’t I born Italian? 🙁 SOOOOOOOO GOOD! I would really appreciate your feedback!
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A 'silk' is an informal term for what prestigious grade of profession?
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Wear - definition of wear by The Free Dictionary
Wear - definition of wear by The Free Dictionary
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/wear
v. wore (wôr), worn (wôrn), wear·ing, wears
v.tr.
1. To carry or have on one's person as covering, adornment, or protection: wearing a jacket; must wear a seat belt.
2. To carry or have habitually on one's person, especially as an aid: wears glasses.
3. To display in one's appearance: always wears a smile.
4. To bear, carry, or maintain in a particular manner: wears her hair long.
5. To fly or display (colors). Used of a ship, jockey, or knight.
6. To damage, diminish, erode, or consume by long or hard use, attrition, or exposure. Often used with away, down, or off: rocks worn away by the sea; shoes worn down at the heels.
7. To produce by constant use, attrition, or exposure: eventually wore hollows in the stone steps.
8. To bring to a specified condition by long use or attrition: wore the clothes to rags; pebbles worn smooth.
9. To fatigue, weary, or exhaust: Your incessant criticism has worn my patience.
10. Nautical To make (a sailing ship) come about with the wind aft.
v.intr.
a. To last under continual or hard use: a fabric that will wear.
b. To last through the passage of time: a friendship that wears well.
2. To break down or diminish through use or attrition: The rear tires began to wear.
3. To pass gradually or tediously: The hours wore on.
4. Nautical To come about with stern to windward.
n.
1. The act of wearing or the state of being worn; use: This shirt is ideal for wear in sultry climates.
2. Clothing, especially of a particular kind or for a particular use. Often used in combination: rainwear; footwear.
3. Damage resulting from use or age: The rug shows plenty of wear.
4. The ability to withstand impairment from use or attrition: The engine has plenty of wear left.
Phrasal Verbs:
wear down
To break down or exhaust by relentless pressure or resistance: The child's pleading finally wore her parents down.
wear off
To diminish gradually in effect: The drug wore off.
wear out
1. To make or become unusable through long or heavy use: wore out a pair of hockey skates; a vacuum that finally wore out.
2. To exhaust; tire: Raking the leaves wore me out.
3. To use up or consume gradually: His complaining finally wore out my patience.
Idioms:
To exercise controlling authority in a household.
wear thin
1. To be weakened or eroded gradually: Her patience is wearing thin.
2. To become less convincing, acceptable, or popular, as through repeated use: excuses that are wearing thin.
[Middle English weren, from Old English werian; see wes-2 in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]
wear′er n.
(wɛə)
vb, wears, wearing, wore or worn
1. (Clothing & Fashion) (tr) to carry or have (a garment, etc) on one's person as clothing, ornament, etc
2. (tr) to carry or have on one's person habitually: she wears a lot of red.
3. (tr) to have in one's aspect: to wear a smile.
4. (tr) to display, show, or fly: a ship wears its colours.
5. to deteriorate or cause to deteriorate by constant use or action
6. to produce or be produced by constant rubbing, scraping, etc: to wear a hole in one's trousers.
7. to bring or be brought to a specified condition by constant use or action: to wear a tyre to shreds.
8. (intr) to submit to constant use or action in a specified way: his suit wears well.
9. (tr) to harass or weaken
10. (when: intr, often foll by on) (of time) to pass or be passed slowly
11. (tr) slang Brit to accept: Larry won't wear that argument.
12. (Nautical Terms) wear ship to change the tack of a sailing vessel, esp a square-rigger, by coming about so that the wind passes astern
n
13. the act of wearing or state of being worn
14. (Clothing & Fashion)
a. anything designed to be worn: leisure wear.
b. (in combination): nightwear.
15. deterioration from constant or normal use or action
16. the quality of resisting the effects of constant use
[Old English werian; related to Old High German werien, Old Norse verja, Gothic vasjan]
ˈwearer n
vb, wears, wearing, wore or worn
(Nautical Terms) nautical to tack by gybing instead of by going through stays
[C17: from earlier weare, of unknown origin]
Wear
(wɪə)
n
(Placename) a river in NE England, rising in NW Durham and flowing southeast then northeast to the North Sea at Sunderland. Length: 105 km (65 miles)
wear
v. wore, worn, wear•ing,
n. v.t.
1. to carry or have on the body or about the person as a covering, support, ornament, or the like: to wear a coat; to wear a wig.
2. to bear or have in one's aspect or appearance: to wear a smile.
3. to cause to deteriorate, diminish, or waste by some constant or repetitive action: The waves have worn these rocks.
4. to make (a hole, channel, way, etc.) by such action.
5. to consume gradually by use or any continued process: Illness had worn the bloom from her cheeks.
6. to weary; fatigue; exhaust.
7. to pass (time) gradually or tediously (usu. fol. by away or out).
8. Naut. to bring (a vessel) on another tack by turning until the wind is on the stern.
v.i.
9. to undergo gradual impairment, diminution, reduction, etc., from use, attrition, or other causes.
10. to retain shape, color, firmness, etc., under continued use or strain: a strong fabric that will wear.
11. (of time) to pass, esp. slowly or tediously (often fol. by on or away): As the day wore on, we grew more discouraged.
12. wear down,
a. to make or become shabbier, smaller, or more aged by wearing: to wear down the heels of one's shoes.
b. to make or become weary; tire.
c. to prevail upon or over by persistence; overcome: to wear down the opposition.
13. wear off, to diminish slowly or gradually or to diminish in effect; disappear: The drug began to wear off.
14. wear out,
a. to make or become unfit or useless through hard or extended use: to wear out clothes.
b. to expend, consume, or remove, esp. slowly or gradually.
c. to exhaust, as by continued strain; weary.
n.
15. the act of wearing; use, as of a garment: articles for winter wear.
16. the state of being worn, as on the person.
17. clothing or other articles for wearing, esp. for a particular function, fashion, or type of person (often used in combination): sleepwear; sportswear.
18. gradual impairment, wasting, diminution, etc., as from use.
19. the quality of resisting deterioration with use; durability.
Idioms:
a. to diminish; weaken: My patience is wearing thin.
b. to become less appealing, interesting, tolerable, etc.
[before 900; Middle English weren to have (clothes) on, waste, damage, Old English werian, c. Old Saxon werian, Old High German werien, Old Norse verja, Gothic wasjan to clothe; akin to Latin vestis clothing (see vest )]
wear′er, n.
wear
1. 'wear'
When you wear something, you have it on your body. You can wear clothes, shoes, a hat, gloves, jewellery, make-up, or a pair of glasses. The past tense of wear is wore. The -ed participle is worn.
She was small and wore glasses.
I've worn this dress so many times.
2. 'dressed in'
You can also say that someone is dressed in particular clothes.
All the men were dressed in grey suits.
However, don't say that someone is 'dressed in' a hat, shoes, gloves, jewellery, make-up, or glasses.
See dress
3. 'in'
You can use in to mention the clothes, shoes, hat, or gloves someone is wearing. In usually goes immediately after a noun phrase.
With her was a small girl in a blue T-shirt.
The bar was full of men in baseball caps.
You can use in as part of an adverbial phrase.
I saw you walking along in your old jeans.
She stood at the top of the stairs in her pyjamas.
In is sometimes used to mean 'wearing only'. For example, 'George was in his underpants' means 'George was wearing only his underpants'.
He was standing in the hall in his swimming shorts.
She opened the door in her dressing gown.
wear
I will have been wearing
you will have been wearing
he/she/it will have been wearing
we will have been wearing
you will have been wearing
they will have been wearing
Past Perfect Continuous
wear - impairment resulting from long use; "the tires showed uneven wear"
deterioration , impairment - a symptom of reduced quality or strength
2.
article of clothing , clothing , habiliment , wearable , vesture
accessory , accouterment , accoutrement - clothing that is worn or carried, but not part of your main clothing
apparel , clothes , wearing apparel , dress - clothing in general; "she was refined in her choice of apparel"; "he always bought his clothes at the same store"; "fastidious about his dress"
raiment , regalia , array - especially fine or decorative clothing
attire , garb , dress - clothing of a distinctive style or for a particular occasion; "formal attire"; "battle dress"
beachwear - clothing to be worn at a beach
black - black clothing (worn as a sign of mourning); "the widow wore black"
blue - blue clothing; "she was wearing blue"
change - a different or fresh set of clothes; "she brought a change in her overnight bag"
civilian clothing , civilian dress , civilian garb , plain clothes - ordinary clothing as distinguished from uniforms, work clothes, clerical garb, etc.
consumer goods - goods (as food or clothing) intended for direct use or consumption
covering - an artifact that covers something else (usually to protect or shelter or conceal it)
drag - clothing that is conventionally worn by the opposite sex (especially women's clothing when worn by a man); "he went to the party dressed in drag"; "the waitresses looked like missionaries in drag"
footwear - clothing worn on a person's feet
garment - an article of clothing; "garments of the finest silk"
gray , grey - clothing that is a grey color; "he was dressed in grey"
leisure wear - informal clothing designed to be worn when you are relaxing
loungewear - clothing suitable for relaxation
man's clothing - clothing that is designed for men to wear
neckpiece - an article of apparel worn about the neck
nightclothes , nightwear , sleepwear - garments designed to be worn in bed
outerwear , overclothes - clothing for use outdoors
protective garment - clothing that is intended to protect the wearer from injury
ready-to-wear - ready-made clothing; "she couldn't find anything in ready-to-wear that she liked"
slip-on - an article of clothing (garment or shoe) that is easily slipped on or off
slops - cheap clothing (as formerly issued to sailors in Britain)
street clothes - ordinary clothing suitable for public appearances (as opposed to costumes or sports apparel or work clothes etc.)
duds , threads , togs - informal terms for clothing
uniform - clothing of distinctive design worn by members of a particular group as a means of identification
vestiture - an archaic term for clothing
wardrobe - collection of clothing belonging to one person
woman's clothing - clothing that is designed for women to wear
work-clothes , work-clothing - clothing worn for doing manual labor
3.
wear - the act of having on your person as a covering or adornment; "she bought it for everyday wear"
human action , human activity , act , deed - something that people do or cause to happen
Verb
feature , have - have as a feature; "This restaurant features the most famous chefs in France"
3.
wear - have in one's aspect; wear an expression of one's attitude or personality; "He always wears a smile"
feature , have - have as a feature; "This restaurant features the most famous chefs in France"
4.
deteriorate - become worse or disintegrate; "His mind deteriorated"
ablate - wear away through erosion or vaporization
scuff - get or become scuffed; "These patent leather shoes scuffed"
5.
wear - have or show an appearance of; "wear one's hair in a certain way"
feature , have - have as a feature; "This restaurant features the most famous chefs in France"
6.
last , endure - persist for a specified period of time; "The bad weather lasted for three days"
7.
wear - go to pieces; "The lawn mower finally broke"; "The gears wore out"; "The old chair finally fell apart completely"
decay , dilapidate , crumble - fall into decay or ruin; "The unoccupied house started to decay"
fray , frazzle - wear away by rubbing; "The friction frayed the sleeve"
bust , break - ruin completely; "He busted my radio!"
wear away , wear off - diminish, as by friction; "Erosion wore away the surface"
wear away , whittle away , whittle down - cut away in small pieces
8.
wear - exhaust or get tired through overuse or great strain or stress; "We wore ourselves out on this hike"
fag out , tire out , wear down , wear out , wear upon , weary , fatigue , jade , outwear , tire , fag
indispose - cause to feel unwell; "She was indisposed"
exhaust , tucker , tucker out , wash up , beat - wear out completely; "This kind of work exhausts me"; "I'm beat"; "He was all washed up after the exam"
overfatigue , overtire , overweary - tire excessively
9.
wear - put clothing on one's body; "What should I wear today?"; "He put on his best suit for the wedding"; "The princess donned a long blue dress"; "The queen assumed the stately robes"; "He got into his jeans"
dress , get dressed - put on clothes; "we had to dress quickly"; "dress the patient"; "Can the child dress by herself?"
hat - put on or wear a hat; "He was unsuitably hatted"
try on , try - put on a garment in order to see whether it fits and looks nice; "Try on this sweater to see how it looks"
scarf - wrap in or adorn with a scarf
slip on - put on with ease or speed; "slip into something more comfortable after work"; "slip on one's shoes"
wear
verb
1. be dressed in, have on , dress in, be clothed in, carry , sport (informal), bear , put on , clothe yourself in He was wearing a dark green uniform.
2. show , present , bear , display , assume , put on , exhibit Millson's face wore a smug expression.
3. deteriorate , fray , wear thin , become threadbare The living room carpet is beginning to wear.
4. last , survive , endure , hold up , bear up , prove durable, resist wear, stand up to wear Casual shoes need to wear well.
5. accept (Brit. informal) take , allow , permit , stomach , swallow (informal), brook , stand for , fall for , put up with (informal), countenance I asked if I could work part-time, but the company wouldn't wear it.
noun
1. clothes , things , dress , gear (informal), attire , habit , outfit , costume , threads (slang), garments , apparel , garb , raiments The shops stock an extensive range of beach wear.
2. usefulness , use , service , employment , utility , mileage (informal) You'll get more wear out of a car if you look after it properly.
wear down be eroded, erode , be consumed , wear away Eventually the parts start to wear down.
wear off
1. subside , disappear , fade , weaken , diminish , decrease , dwindle , wane , ebb , abate , peter out , lose strength , lose effect Her initial excitement soon began to wear off.
2. rub away , disappear , fade , abrade The paint is discoloured and little bits have worn off.
wear on pass , progress , proceed , go by or past, lapse , elapse As the days wore on Brad became increasingly depressed.
wear out deteriorate , become worn, become useless, wear through , fray Eventually the artificial joint wears out and has to be replaced.
wear someone down undermine , reduce , chip away at (informal), fight a war of attrition against, overcome gradually his sheer persistence in wearing down the opposition
wear something down erode , grind down , consume , impair , corrode , grind down , rub away , abrade Rabbits wear down their teeth with constant gnawing.
wear something out erode , go through , consume , use up , wear holes in, make worn He wore his shoes out wandering around the streets.
wear well last , stand up , endure , hold up , bear up , be durable These shoes haven't worn very well.
wear
Idioms: run ragged , take it out of.
2. To diminish the strength and energy of:
البِلى بالإسْتِعْمال العاديقُدْرَةٌ على إحْتِمال الإسْتِعْماللِباسيَبْدو عَلَيْه، يَظْهَرُ عَلَيْهِيَبْلى، يَتَآكَل
nosit
giymek giysi incel mek kesmek oluşturmak
mặc
[wɛəʳ] (wore (vb: pt) (worn (pp)))
A. N
1. (= use) → uso m
this material will stand up to a lot of wear → este tejido resistirá mucho uso
I've had a lot of wear out of this jacket → le he dado mucho uso a esta chaqueta , esta chaqueta ha aguantado mucho trote
there is still some wear left in it → todavía le queda vida
clothes for evening wear → ropa f para la noche
clothes for everyday wear → ropa f para todos los días , ropa f para uso diario
2. (= deterioration through use) → desgaste m
wear and tear → desgaste natural
one has to allow for wear and tear → hay que tener en cuenta el desgaste natural
the worse for wear his suit looked decidedly the worse for wear → el traje se le veía muy deslucido
she looks the worse for wear → se la ve algo desmejorada
he returned from the pub rather the worse for wear → volvió del bar algo ajumado
3. (= dress, clothing) → ropa f
what is the correct wear for these occasions? → ¿qué es lo que se debe poner uno en tal ocasión ? → ¿qué ropa es la apropiada para tal ocasión ?
children's wear → ropa f de niños
evening wear → ropa f para la noche
ladies' or womens' wear → ropa f de señora
summer wear → ropa f de verano
B. VT
1. (= have on) [+ clothing, jewellery] → llevar , llevar puesto ; [+ spectacles, hairstyle, perfume] → llevar ; [+ beard] → tener ; [+ smile] → lucir ; (= put on) [+ clothes, shoes, perfume] → ponerse
she was wearing high-heeled shoes → llevaba (puestos) zapatos de tacón alto
can you describe what he was wearing? → ¿puede describir lo que llevaba (puesto)?
what shall I wear? → ¿qué me pongo?
I have nothing to wear to the dinner → no tengo qué ponerme para ir a la cena
I haven't worn that for ages → hace siglos que no me pongo eso
why don't you wear your black dress? → ¿por qué no te pones el vestido negro ?
hats are rarely worn nowadays → hoy día apenas se llevan los sombreros
I never wear perfume/make-up → nunca llevo or me pongo perfume /maquillaje
what size do you wear? (clothes) → ¿qué talla usa ?
what size shoes do you wear? → ¿qué número calza ?
does she wear glasses/a wig? → ¿ usa gafas /peluca?
to wear the crown → ceñir la corona
to wear one's hair long/short → llevar el pelo largo/ corto
she wears her age or her years well → se conserva muy bien
she's the one who wears the trousers or > pants in that house > (US) → en esa casa los pantalones los lleva ella
see also heart A2
the carpet had been worn threadbare → la alfombra estaba muy desgastada del uso
to wear o.s. to death → matarse (trabajando etc)
to wear a hole in sth → hacer un agujero en algo
he had worn holes in his socks → les había hecho agujeros a los calcetines
the flagstones had been worn smooth by centuries of use → tantos siglos de uso habían alisado las losas
your father won't wear it → tu padre no lo va a permitir or consentir
C. VI
1. (= last) → durar , aguantar
that dress/carpet has worn well → ese vestido /esa alfombra ha durado or aguantado mucho
she's worn well → se ha conservado muy bien
2. (= become worn) → desgastarse
the trousers have worn at the knees → los pantalones se han desgastado por la rodillas
the rock has worn smooth → la roca se ha alisado por el desgaste
to wear thin [material] → desgastarse
that excuse is wearing a bit thin → esa excusa está ya muy pasada
my patience is wearing thin → se me está agotando la paciencia → estoy perdiendo la paciencia
3. [day, year, sb's life] to wear to its end or a close → acercarse a su fin
wear away
A. VT + ADV [+ rock] → erosionar ; [+ pattern] → desgastar , borrar
B. VI + ADV [wood, metal] → desgastarse , gastarse ; [cliffs] → erosionarse; [inscription, design] → borrarse
wear down
2. (fig) [+ opposition, resistance, patience] → agotar ; [+ person] (physically) → agotar , cansar ; (mentally) → cansar
B. VI + ADV [heels, tyre tread] → desgastarse , gastarse
wear off
A. VI + ADV [excitement, novelty] → pasar ; [anaesthetic, effects, pain] → pasarse ; [colour, design, inscription] → borrarse
when the novelty wears off → cuando pase la novedad
the pain is wearing off → se me está pasando el dolor
B. VT + ADV [+ design, inscription] → quitar , borrar
wear on VI + ADV [year, war] → transcurrir , pasar
as the evening wore on → a medida que transcurría la noche
wear out
A. VT + ADV
1. (= ruin) [+ clothes, battery, engine, clutch] → gastar , desgastar
you'll wear your eyes out doing that → como hagas eso te vas a cansar la vista
you'll wear me out! → ¡me vas a agotar !, ¡me vas a matar !
I'm worn out → estoy agotado or rendido
to wear o.s. out → agotarse , matarse
B. VI + ADV [clothes, shoes, battery, engine, clutch] → gastarse , desgastarse ; [knee, elbow of garment] → gastarse
wear through
it has worn through at the elbows → con el uso se ha roto or agujereado por los codos
WEAR
• Don't translate the a in sentences like was she wearing a hat?, he wasn't wearing a coat if the number of such items is not significant since people normally only wear one at a time:
Was he wearing a hat? ¿Llevaba sombrero? He wasn't wearing a coat No llevaba abrigo
• Do translate the a if the garment, item of jewellery etc is qualified:
Queen Sofía is wearing a long dress Doña Sofía lleva un vestido largo
wear
(= use) → usage m
to have a lot of wear out of sth
You've had a lot of wear out of those shoes → Ces chaussures t'ont fait beaucoup d'usage.
You'll get a lot of wear out of that coat → Ce manteau vous fera beaucoup d'usage.
(= deterioration through use) → usure f
to show signs of wear → montrer des signes d'usure
beach wear → les vêtements de plage
to be the worse for wear [person] → être dans un sale état
vb [wore] (pt) [worn] (pp)
vt
[+ clothes] → porter ; [+ glasses] → porter ; [+ beard] → porter
She was wearing a hat → Elle portait un chapeau .
She was wearing black
BUT Elle était en noir.
I can't decide what to wear
BUT Je ne sais pas quoi mettre.
to wear make-up → se maquiller
She was wearing make-up → Elle était maquillée .
to wear one's hair up → relever ses cheveux
She wore her hair up in a bun → Elle avait relevé ses cheveux en chignon .
to wear one's hair down → laisser retomber ses cheveux
He wore his hair too long → Il avait les cheveux trop longs .
I've worn a hole in the knee of my jeans → J'ai fait un trou au genou de mon jean à force de le porter .
to wear the trousers (British) to wear the pants (US) [woman] → porter la culotte
vi
to wear thin [material] → s'user ; [patience] → être a bout ; [joke] → commencer à être éculé (e)
wear away
as time wears on → avec le temps
wear out
vb: pret <wore>, ptp <worn>
n
(= use) I’ve had a lot of/I haven’t had much wear out of or from this jacket (= worn it often/not often) → ich habe diese Jacke viel/wenig getragen ; (= it wore well/badly) → ich habe diese Jacke lange /nur kurz getragen ; he got four years’ wear out of these trousers/that carpet → diese Hose /dieser Teppich hat vier Jahre lang gehalten ; there isn’t much wear/there is still a lot of wear left in this coat/carpet → dieser Mantel / Teppich hält nicht mehr lange / hält noch lange ; this coat will stand any amount of hard wear → dieser Mantel ist sehr strapazierfähig ; for casual/evening/everyday wear → für die Freizeit /den Abend /jeden Tag
(= clothing) → Kleidung f
(= damage through use) → Abnutzung f, → Verschleiß m; wear and tear → Abnutzung f, → Verschleiß m; fair wear and tear → normale Abnutzungs- or Verschleißerscheinungen ; to show signs of wear (lit) → anfangen , alt auszusehen ; (fig) → angegriffen aussehen ; to look the worse for wear (lit) (curtains, carpets etc) → verschlissen aussehen ; (shoes, clothes) → abgetragen aussehen ; (furniture etc) → abgenutzt aussehen ; (fig) → verbraucht aussehen ; I felt a bit the worse for wear (inf) → ich fühlte mich etwas angeknackst (inf) → or angegriffen
vt
clothing, jewellery, spectacles, beard etc → tragen ; what shall I wear? → was soll ich anziehen ?; I haven’t a thing to wear! → ich habe nichts zum Anziehen or nichts anzuziehen ; I haven’t worn that for ages → das habe ich schon seit Ewigkeiten nicht mehr angezogen or angehabt (inf) → or getragen ; to wear white/rags etc → Weiß/Lumpen etc tragen , in Weiß / Lumpen etc gehen ; he wore an air of triumph → er trug eine triumphierende Miene zur Schau ; he wore a big smile → er strahlte über das ganze Gesicht
(= reduce to a worn condition) → abnutzen ; clothes → abtragen ; sleeve, knee etc → durchwetzen ; velvet etc → blank wetzen ; leather articles → abwetzen ; steps → austreten ; tyres → abfahren ; engine → kaputt machen ; to wear holes in something → etw durchwetzen ; in shoes → etw durchlaufen ; the carpet has been worn threadbare → der Teppich ist abgewetzt or ganz abgelaufen ; to wear smooth (by handling) → abgreifen ; (by walking) → austreten ; pattern → angreifen ; sharp edges → glatt machen ; centuries of storms had worn the inscription smooth → die Inschrift war durch die Stürme im Laufe der Jahrhunderte verwittert ; the sea had worn the rocks smooth → die See hatte die Felsen glatt gewaschen ; you’ll wear a track in the carpet (hum) → du machst noch mal eine richtige Bahn or einen Trampelpfad (inf) → in den Teppich ? also worn
(Brit inf: = accept, tolerate) → schlucken (inf)
vi
(= last) → halten ; she has worn well (inf) → sie hat sich gut gehalten (inf); the theory has worn well → die Theorie hat sich bewährt
(= become worn) → kaputtgehen ; (engine, material) → sich abnutzen ; to wear smooth (by water) → glatt gewaschen sein; (by weather) → verwittern ; (pattern) → abgegriffen sein; the sharp edges will wear smooth in time/with use → die scharfen Kanten werden sich mit der Zeit/im Gebrauch abschleifen ; to wear thin (lit) → dünn werden , durchgehen (inf); my patience is wearing thin → meine Geduld ist langsam erschöpft or geht langsam zu Ende ; that excuse/joke is wearing thin → diese Ausrede /dieser Witz ist (doch) schon etwas alt
(= proceed gradually) the party etc is wearing to a close → die Party etc geht dem Ende zu
wear
[wɛəʳ] (wore (vb: pt) (worn (pp)))
1. n
shoes for everyday wear → scarpe da mettere tutti i giorni
there's still a lot of wear in these (shoes, carpets, tyres) → sono ancora in buono stato
I've had a lot of wear out of this jacket → porto questa giacca da anni
to stand up to a lot of wear → durare a lungo
b. (deterioration through use) → logoramento, logorio
wear and tear → usura
fair wear and tear (Comm) → normale usura
the wear on the engine → l'usura del motore
she looks the worse for wear (old, exhausted) → sembra sciupata (hung-over) → ha l'aria distrutta
evening wear → abiti npl da sera
2. vt
a. (spectacles, necklace, beard) → portare ; (clothes) → portare , indossare ; (look, smile) → avere
to wear make-up → truccarsi
she wore her blue dress → portava il vestito blu
I have nothing to wear to the dinner → non ho niente da mettermi per la cena
to wear one's hair long → portare i capelli lunghi
I always manage to wear my jumpers at the elbow → i miei maglioni sono sempre consumati nei gomiti
they have worn a path across the lawn → hanno formato un sentiero nel prato a forza di camminarci sopra
to wear a hole in sth → bucare qc a furia di usarlo/ a
the rocks had been worn smooth → le rocce erano state levigate dal tempo
c. (fam) (believe, tolerate) → bere
he won't wear that → questa non la beve
3. vi
she has worn well → porta bene i suoi anni
that theory has worn well → quella teoria è ancora valida
b. (become worn, shoes, inscription) → consumarsi ; (rocks) → levigarsi
the edges have worn smooth → gli spigoli si sono smussati
that excuse is wearing a bit thin → quella scusa non regge più
wear away
1. vt + adv (rock, pattern) → consumare
2. vi + adv → consumarsi
1. vt + adv (heel, tyre tread) → consumare (fig) (opposition) → fiaccare ; (strength) → esaurire
to wear down sb's patience → far perdere la pazienza a qn
2. vi + adv (heels, tyre tread) → consumarsi
wear off vi + adv (plating, paint) → consumarsi ; (pain, excitement) → diminuire ; (anaesthetic) → perdere efficacia
after a while the novelty wore off → dopo un po' non era più una novità
wear on vi + adv → avanzare , passare
as the evening wore on → nel corso della serata
wear out
1. vt + adv → consumare , logorare (fig) (exhaust) → stancare ; (patience) → far perdere
to be worn out → essere consumato / a (fig) (person) → essere estenuato / a or distrutto/a
2. vi + adv (shoes, carpet) → consumarsi
his strength wore out → era spossato
her patience wore out → ha perso la pazienza
wear through
wear
(weə) – past tense wore (woː) ; past participle worn (woːn) – verb
1. to be dressed in or carry on (a part of) the body. She wore a white dress; Does she usually wear spectacles? dra يَلْبِس، يَرْتَدي нося usar nosit tragen bære; have på φορώ llevar ; usar kandma (rõivaid, prille) پوشيدن pitää yllään, käyttää porter לִלבּוֹש पहनना nositi hord, visel memakai klæðast, vera í indossare ; portare 身につけている ...을 입고 있다 dėvėti, nešioti valkāt; nēsāt memakai dragen nosić , ubierać się w پاييدل، دوام لرل، زرنه زړيدل (لكه د كالى)، سوليدال، موښلى كيدل، پاى ته رسيدل، شو كيدل: د باد دجريان دسمت نه د بيړۍ اوښتل usar a purta быть одетым; носить nosiť nositi nositi vara klädd i, ha på sig, bära สวมใส่ giymek , takmak 穿戴 бути вдягненим у щось; носити پہننا mặc; mang; đeo 穿着
2. to arrange (one's hair) in a particular way. She wears her hair in a pony-tail. dra يُرَتِّبُ شَعْرَه сресвам се usar nosit tragen sætte έχω , φτιάχνω llevar kandma (soengut) آرايش كردن pitää porter לִלבּוֹש संवारना nositi visel menata vera með, greiða í portare 髪型が～である (수염, 머리 따위를) 기르고 있다 nešioti nēsāt (matu sakārtojumu) mengenakan dragen ha håret (i) ... nosić سینګارول usar a aranja într‑un anume fel носить nosiť, mať nositi nositi ha ไว้ผม yapmak , kesmek 梳理成特定髮型 робити зачіску بالوں کو خاص طرح سے ترتیب دینا để râu, tóc 蓄留着（发型）
3. to have or show (a particular expression). She wore an angry expression. het يَبْدو عَلَيْه، يَظْهَرُ عَلَيْهِ нося изразжение apresentar mít zeigen have έχω έκφραση tener , mostrar ilmega olema داشتن olla avoir לְהַעֲלוֹת הַבָּעָה प्रदर्शित करना imati, pokazati mutat memperlihatkan bera, vera með avere 示す (표정을) 띠다 turėti izskatīties; izrādīt (kādu izteiksmi) menunjukkan ekspresi atau air muka er uitzien ha et ... uttrykk, se ... ut mieć لرل apresentar a avea иметь вид mať imeti imati ha, se ut มี หรือแสดง takınmak 有或露出(特定表情) мати کسی خاص لہجے کا اظہار کرنا tỏ thái độ 露出...表情
4. to (cause to) become thinner etc because of use, rubbing etc. This carpet has worn in several places; This sweater is wearing thin at the elbows. verweer يَبْلى، يَتَآكَل износвам gastar(-se) opotřebovat se abnutzen være slidt; blive slidt λιώνω , φθείρω , φθείρομαι , τρίβω , τρίβομαι desgastar kulu(ta)ma فرسوده كردن kulua user לְהִישָׁחֵק हल्का पड़ना iznositi se (el)koptat; kopik menipis slitna consumarsi , logorarsi すり減る 마모되다 nu(si)dėvėti, su(si)nešioti izvalkāt; nonēsāt; izvalkāties; nonēsāties menjadi haus atau lusuh slijten slites , bli slitt wycierać się فرسوده کول gastar(-se) a (se) uza изнашивать opotrebovať sa oguliti istanjiti se nöta[s], bli sliten สึกกร่อน incel(t)mek, aşın(dır)mak 因使用或磨擦等(使)變薄 зношувати(ся); стирати(ся) فرسودہ ہو جانا dùng mòn 变薄，变旧
5. to make (a bare patch, a hole etc) by rubbing, use etc. I've worn a hole in the elbow of my jacket. verweer يثْقُب، يَحِتُّ поротривам fazer prodřít reißen slide ανοίγω με το τρίψιμο hacer kulutama ساييده شدن kuluttaa faire לִיצוֹר ע”י חִיכּוּך घिसना iznositi (el)koptat membuat aus slíta (út) fare すり減らして～にする (마찰 따위로) 구멍, 홈, 길 따위를 내다, 파다, 뚫다 pratrinti izvalkāt; iztīrīt melubangkan uitslijten slite hull i/på wytrzeć نښليزل شوي fazer a face протирать predrať, zodrať narediti probušiti nöta, slita ขาด açmak , oluşturmak 因使用或磨損等產生(破洞)或磨出一塊 протирати گھس جانا làm rách 穿破，磨损
6. to stand up to use. This material doesn't wear very well. dra, lyk, vlei يَصْمُد، يَحْتَمِل كَثْرَة الإسْتِعْمال стоя durar vydržet halten holde sig; være slidstærkt αντέχω durar , ser resistente vastu pidama دوام داشتن kestää résister לְהִתבַּלוֹת iznositi, ponositi tartós tahan endast durare , 長持ちする 닳다 nešiotis valkāties tetap elok walaupun telah lama digunakan tegen slijtage bestand zijn holde seg, vare , være slitesterk nosić się ادامه در لودل durar a rezista (la uzură) носиться vydržať biti trpežen upotrebljavati hålla bra, vara slitstark ทนต่อการสึกหรอ dayanmak 耐用 носитися قابل استعمال ہونا bền 耐用，耐穿
noun
1. use as clothes etc. I use this suit for everyday wear; Those shoes won't stand much wear. drag يَلْبِس الثِّياب، يَرْتَدي употреба uso nošení das Tragen brug; -brug χρήση uso , kandmine لباس käyttö vêtement לבוש पहनना nošenje, odijevanje használat pemakaian fatnaður, föt uso 着用 착용, 사용 dėvėjimas, nešiojimas valkāšana; nēsāšana pakaian gebruik , slijtage klær , tøy noszenie اغوستنه، اغوشستنه، كال، جامه، پوښاك: شوكيدنه، وموښلتيا، پاييدنه، دوام، زړښت uso îmbrăcăminte носка nosenie nošenje nošenje bruk, användning การสวมใส่ giy(in)me 特定場合穿的衣服，耐穿 носіння پہننے کے لیے استعمال کرنا quần áo mặc 服装，常穿的衣服
2. articles for use as clothes. casual wear; sportswear; leisure wear. drag لِباس облекло roupa oblečení die Kleidung -tøj ρούχα ropa rõivastus پوشش vaatteet vêtements בגד पहनावा odjeća, odjevni predmeti viselet pakaian (íþrótta)fatnaður vestiti , abbigliamento ～着 의류 rūbai apģērbs; drēbes; tērps pakaian kleding -klær , –tøy odzież پوښاك roupa haine одежда odev, šatstvo oblačila odeća kläder เส้อผ้าที่ไม่เป็นทางการ giysi , giyim 特定用途的衣服 одяг مختلف مواقع پر پہنی جانے والی چیزیں những thứ để mặc 特定用途的衣服
3. (sometimes wear and tear) damage due to use. The hall carpet is showing signs of wear. verweer البِلى بالإسْتِعْمال العادي износване desgaste opotřebení die Abnutzung slid; slitage φθο desgaste , deterioro kulumine فرسودگي kuluma usure בלוי कमजोरी iznošenost elhasználódás keausan slit usura すり切れ 마손, 마멸 nusidėvėjimas nodilums; nolietojums lusuh slijtage slitasje zużycie فرسوده شوي desgaste uzură износ opotrebovanie obraba istrošenosti nötning, slitage เสียหาย; ชำรุด ทรุดโทรม; เสียหายเนื่องจากใช้มาเป็นเวลานาน yıpranma, eskime 磨損 зношування ٹوٹ پھوٹ mòn 磨损
4. ability to withstand use. There's plenty of wear left in it yet. gebruik, bruiksduur قُدْرَةٌ على إحْتِمال الإسْتِعْمال износване uso trvanlivost die Haltbarkeit slidstyrke αντοχή uso kulumisvaru دوام kestää kulutusta usage עֲדָיִין שָׁמִיש टिकाउपन korištenje kopásállóság ketahanan ending uso もち 내구력 patvarumas izturība kebolehan untuk digunakan sterkte slitestyrke ; noe å slite på odporność, wytrzymałość دوام uso durată de folosire носкость trvanlivosť trpežnost nošenja hållbarhet, slitstyrka, [den] håller att slita på [än ett bra tag] ทนต่อการใช้ dayanma 耐用性 носіння کپڑوں کا قابل استعمال ہونا bền 耐用性
ˈwearable adjective
(negative unwearable) fit to be worn. My only wearable coat is at the cleaners. goeie, geskikte مُمْكِن لِباسُه годен за носене em bom estado vhodný k nošení tragbar anvendelig που μπορεί να φορεθεί que se puede llevar/poner kantav قابل پوشيدن käyttökelpoinen mettable לָבִיש पहनने योग्य nosiv hordható layak dipakai sem hægt er að ganga í portabile 着用できる 입을 수 있는 tinkamas dėvėti valkājams; piemērots valkāšanai dapat dipakai toonbaar som en kan gå med nadający się do noszenia د اغوستلو وړ em bom estado purtabil пригодный для носки vhodný na nosenie ki se lahko nosi nosiv användbar, som går att ha på sig สวมใส่ได้ giyilebilir 可以穿的 придатний для носіння پہنے جانے کے قابل có thể mặc được 适穿的
ˈwearer noun
a dress that makes the wearer feel elegant. draer لابِس، مُرْتَدٍ (pessoa) que veste nositel, -ka der/die Bekleidete den, der har det på αυτός που φοράει κτ. persona que lleva/viste... kandja پوشيده käyttäjä personne qui porte (...) לוֹבֵש पहनने वाला onaj koji nosi viselő pakaian sá sem klæðist tiltekinni flík (chi indossa) 着用者 착용자 dëvëtojas valkātājs; nesātājs pemakai drager bærer osoba mająca na sobie ... اغوستنى، هغه څوك چې كالى يى په غاړه وى (pessoa) que veste persoană care poartă владелец nositeľ, -ka nositelj elegantna odeća bärare ผู้สวมใส่ giyen, takan 穿戴者 власник одягу زیب تن کرنے والا người mặc 穿戴者
ˈwearing adjective
exhausting. I've had rather a wearing day. uitmergelende مُرْهِق، مُتْعِب изтощителен cansativo únavný ermüdend trættende εξαντλητικός agotador , cansado , pesado kurnav خسته كننده kuluttava épuisant מְעֲיֵיף थकाने वाला iscrpljujuć fárasztó melelahkan þreytandi faticoso , stressante 疲れさせる 소모시키는 varginantis nogurdinošs rasa penat slopend slitsom wyczerpujący سټره کوونکی cansativo epuizant утомительный únavný naporen isrcpljujući tröttsam, påfrestande น่าเบื่อหน่าย yorucu , bıktırıcı 累人的 стомливий تھکا دینے والا یا پریشان کرنے والا làm cho mệt mỏi 疲乏的
worn (woːn) adjective
damaged as a result of use. a badly-worn carpet. verweerde بالٍ износен gasto / desgastado opotřebovaný abgenutzt slidt τριμμένος desgastado , deteriorado kulunud فرسوده kulunut usé בלוי घिसा iznošen, oštećen elnyűtt aus snjáður, slitinn logoro すり切れた 닳아서 해진 nusidėvėjęs nodilis; izvalkājies rosak kerana digunakan afgesleten slitt znoszony, wytarty فرسوده gasto uzat изношенный, потёртый opotrebovaný obrabljen pohaban nött, sliten ซึ่งใช้จนเก่า yıpranmış 被磨損的 зношений استعمال سے گھسا ہوا cũ 磨损的，穿旧的
wear away
to make or become damaged, thinner, smoother etc through use, rubbing etc. The steps have (been) worn away in places. verweer يَفْنى، يَذوب، يَبْلى изтърквам gastar(-se) / desgastar(-se) opotřebovat abnutzen slide λιώνω , τρώγω , σβήνω desgastar kuluma ساييدن kulua user לְהִשתַחֵק घिस जाना pohabati se elkoptat aus slíta consumarsi すり減らす 닳아 없어지다 nu(si)trinti, nusidėvėti nodilt menjadi rosak uitslijten slite bort zetrzeć/wytrzeć się gastar(-se) a (se) uza стирать opotrebovať obrabiti se pohabati se nöta[s] bort ค่อย ๆ สึกหรอ yıpran(dır)mak, aşın(dır)mak (被)磨損 стиратися گھس جانا mòn đi 磨损
wear off
to become less. The pain is wearing off. verminder, verweer يَزول، يَخِف، يَقِل намалявам abrandar ztrácet se sich verlieren fortage sig εξασθενώ , υποχωρώ disminuir ; desaparecer vähenema زايل شدن hellittää disparaître לְהֵיעַלֵם धीरे-धीरे खत्म होना smanjivati se, ublažavati elenyészik berkurang afmást, minnka passare なくなる 차츰 없어지다 silpti, slūgti noberzties semakin berkurang afnemen minke , bli mindre mijać , ścierać abrandar a dispărea проходить stratiť sa, pominúť izginevati smanjiti se gå över, minska, släppa, upphöra att verka ค่อย ๆ หมดไป yavaş yavaş azalmak/geçmek 減輕 стиратися بتدریج کم ہونا یا ختم ہونا nhạt đi 消逝
wear out
to (cause to) become unfit for further use. My socks have worn out; I've worn out my socks. verweer يَبْلى، يَصْبِحُ غَيْر مُلائِم للإرتِداء износвам gastar(-se) / desgastar(-se) obnosit (se) abtragen slide op λιώνω , φθείρομαι desgastar , romper con el uso ära kulu(ta)ma فرسوده شدن kuluttaa loppuun user לְהִישַחֵק छिजाना iznositi, ponositi elkopik menjadi aus gatslíta consumare , consumarsi 使い古す 닳아서 못쓰게 되다 nu(si)dėvėti, nu(si)nešioti izvalkāt cauru; galīgi novalkāt menjadi lusuh verslijten slite ut znosić gastar(-se) a (se) uza изнашивать obnosiť (sa) ponositi istrošiti se slita ut, bli utsliten ใช้จนเก่า eskimek, yıpranmak 不堪使用，使不堪使用 зношуватися ناقابل استعمال ہونا không vừa （使）不堪使用
worn out
1. so damaged by use as to be unfit for further use. These shoes are worn out; a worn-out sweater. verweerde بالٍ، مُهْتَرئ، غَيْر صالِح للإسْتِعْمال износен gasto opotřebovaný abgetragen udslidt τριμμένος , υπερβολικά φθαρμένος gastado , estropeado ära kulunud فرسوده loppuun kulunut usé jusqu'à la corde בלוי घिस कर खत्म हो जाना iznošen agyonhasznált rusak gatslitinn consumato , logoro すり切れた 닳아 해진 nusidėvėjęs, nusinešiojęs galīgi novalkāts sudah lusuh versleten utslitt znoszony gasto foarte uzat изношенный opotrebovaný ponošen iznošen utnött, utsliten ซึ่งใช้จนเก่า eskimiş , yıpranmış 不堪使用 зношений استعمال سے گھس جانا rất mòn 磨穿
2. very tired. His wife is worn out after looking after the children. moeg, tam مُرْهَق، تَعبان جِدا уморен exausto vyčerpaný völlig erschöpft udmattet εξαντλημένος agotado , hecho polvo puruväsinud خسته näännyksissä épuisé עייף थकना iscrpljen halálosan kimerült kelelahan uppgefinn sfinito 疲れ切った 매우 지친 nusivaręs pārguris terlalu letih uitgeput utslitt , utmattet , utkjørt zmordowany exausto epuizat измотанный vyčerpaný izčrpan iscrpljen utsliten ซึ่งเหน็ดเหนื่อยมาก çok yorulmuş, bitmiş 累壞了 знесилений بہت تھک جانا mệt lử 疲乏的
wear
→ يَرْتَدِي nosit have på tragen φορώ llevar puesto pitää yllään porter nositi indossare 身に着けている (옷을) 입다 dragen ha på (seg) nosić vestir носить ha på sig สวมใส่ giymek mặc 穿
wear
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Queen's Counsel
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Rib, stretcher, runner, ferrule, crook-handle and tube are parts of which common protective device?
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Wear - definition of wear by The Free Dictionary
Wear - definition of wear by The Free Dictionary
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/wear
v. wore (wôr), worn (wôrn), wear·ing, wears
v.tr.
1. To carry or have on one's person as covering, adornment, or protection: wearing a jacket; must wear a seat belt.
2. To carry or have habitually on one's person, especially as an aid: wears glasses.
3. To display in one's appearance: always wears a smile.
4. To bear, carry, or maintain in a particular manner: wears her hair long.
5. To fly or display (colors). Used of a ship, jockey, or knight.
6. To damage, diminish, erode, or consume by long or hard use, attrition, or exposure. Often used with away, down, or off: rocks worn away by the sea; shoes worn down at the heels.
7. To produce by constant use, attrition, or exposure: eventually wore hollows in the stone steps.
8. To bring to a specified condition by long use or attrition: wore the clothes to rags; pebbles worn smooth.
9. To fatigue, weary, or exhaust: Your incessant criticism has worn my patience.
10. Nautical To make (a sailing ship) come about with the wind aft.
v.intr.
a. To last under continual or hard use: a fabric that will wear.
b. To last through the passage of time: a friendship that wears well.
2. To break down or diminish through use or attrition: The rear tires began to wear.
3. To pass gradually or tediously: The hours wore on.
4. Nautical To come about with stern to windward.
n.
1. The act of wearing or the state of being worn; use: This shirt is ideal for wear in sultry climates.
2. Clothing, especially of a particular kind or for a particular use. Often used in combination: rainwear; footwear.
3. Damage resulting from use or age: The rug shows plenty of wear.
4. The ability to withstand impairment from use or attrition: The engine has plenty of wear left.
Phrasal Verbs:
wear down
To break down or exhaust by relentless pressure or resistance: The child's pleading finally wore her parents down.
wear off
To diminish gradually in effect: The drug wore off.
wear out
1. To make or become unusable through long or heavy use: wore out a pair of hockey skates; a vacuum that finally wore out.
2. To exhaust; tire: Raking the leaves wore me out.
3. To use up or consume gradually: His complaining finally wore out my patience.
Idioms:
To exercise controlling authority in a household.
wear thin
1. To be weakened or eroded gradually: Her patience is wearing thin.
2. To become less convincing, acceptable, or popular, as through repeated use: excuses that are wearing thin.
[Middle English weren, from Old English werian; see wes-2 in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]
wear′er n.
(wɛə)
vb, wears, wearing, wore or worn
1. (Clothing & Fashion) (tr) to carry or have (a garment, etc) on one's person as clothing, ornament, etc
2. (tr) to carry or have on one's person habitually: she wears a lot of red.
3. (tr) to have in one's aspect: to wear a smile.
4. (tr) to display, show, or fly: a ship wears its colours.
5. to deteriorate or cause to deteriorate by constant use or action
6. to produce or be produced by constant rubbing, scraping, etc: to wear a hole in one's trousers.
7. to bring or be brought to a specified condition by constant use or action: to wear a tyre to shreds.
8. (intr) to submit to constant use or action in a specified way: his suit wears well.
9. (tr) to harass or weaken
10. (when: intr, often foll by on) (of time) to pass or be passed slowly
11. (tr) slang Brit to accept: Larry won't wear that argument.
12. (Nautical Terms) wear ship to change the tack of a sailing vessel, esp a square-rigger, by coming about so that the wind passes astern
n
13. the act of wearing or state of being worn
14. (Clothing & Fashion)
a. anything designed to be worn: leisure wear.
b. (in combination): nightwear.
15. deterioration from constant or normal use or action
16. the quality of resisting the effects of constant use
[Old English werian; related to Old High German werien, Old Norse verja, Gothic vasjan]
ˈwearer n
vb, wears, wearing, wore or worn
(Nautical Terms) nautical to tack by gybing instead of by going through stays
[C17: from earlier weare, of unknown origin]
Wear
(wɪə)
n
(Placename) a river in NE England, rising in NW Durham and flowing southeast then northeast to the North Sea at Sunderland. Length: 105 km (65 miles)
wear
v. wore, worn, wear•ing,
n. v.t.
1. to carry or have on the body or about the person as a covering, support, ornament, or the like: to wear a coat; to wear a wig.
2. to bear or have in one's aspect or appearance: to wear a smile.
3. to cause to deteriorate, diminish, or waste by some constant or repetitive action: The waves have worn these rocks.
4. to make (a hole, channel, way, etc.) by such action.
5. to consume gradually by use or any continued process: Illness had worn the bloom from her cheeks.
6. to weary; fatigue; exhaust.
7. to pass (time) gradually or tediously (usu. fol. by away or out).
8. Naut. to bring (a vessel) on another tack by turning until the wind is on the stern.
v.i.
9. to undergo gradual impairment, diminution, reduction, etc., from use, attrition, or other causes.
10. to retain shape, color, firmness, etc., under continued use or strain: a strong fabric that will wear.
11. (of time) to pass, esp. slowly or tediously (often fol. by on or away): As the day wore on, we grew more discouraged.
12. wear down,
a. to make or become shabbier, smaller, or more aged by wearing: to wear down the heels of one's shoes.
b. to make or become weary; tire.
c. to prevail upon or over by persistence; overcome: to wear down the opposition.
13. wear off, to diminish slowly or gradually or to diminish in effect; disappear: The drug began to wear off.
14. wear out,
a. to make or become unfit or useless through hard or extended use: to wear out clothes.
b. to expend, consume, or remove, esp. slowly or gradually.
c. to exhaust, as by continued strain; weary.
n.
15. the act of wearing; use, as of a garment: articles for winter wear.
16. the state of being worn, as on the person.
17. clothing or other articles for wearing, esp. for a particular function, fashion, or type of person (often used in combination): sleepwear; sportswear.
18. gradual impairment, wasting, diminution, etc., as from use.
19. the quality of resisting deterioration with use; durability.
Idioms:
a. to diminish; weaken: My patience is wearing thin.
b. to become less appealing, interesting, tolerable, etc.
[before 900; Middle English weren to have (clothes) on, waste, damage, Old English werian, c. Old Saxon werian, Old High German werien, Old Norse verja, Gothic wasjan to clothe; akin to Latin vestis clothing (see vest )]
wear′er, n.
wear
1. 'wear'
When you wear something, you have it on your body. You can wear clothes, shoes, a hat, gloves, jewellery, make-up, or a pair of glasses. The past tense of wear is wore. The -ed participle is worn.
She was small and wore glasses.
I've worn this dress so many times.
2. 'dressed in'
You can also say that someone is dressed in particular clothes.
All the men were dressed in grey suits.
However, don't say that someone is 'dressed in' a hat, shoes, gloves, jewellery, make-up, or glasses.
See dress
3. 'in'
You can use in to mention the clothes, shoes, hat, or gloves someone is wearing. In usually goes immediately after a noun phrase.
With her was a small girl in a blue T-shirt.
The bar was full of men in baseball caps.
You can use in as part of an adverbial phrase.
I saw you walking along in your old jeans.
She stood at the top of the stairs in her pyjamas.
In is sometimes used to mean 'wearing only'. For example, 'George was in his underpants' means 'George was wearing only his underpants'.
He was standing in the hall in his swimming shorts.
She opened the door in her dressing gown.
wear
I will have been wearing
you will have been wearing
he/she/it will have been wearing
we will have been wearing
you will have been wearing
they will have been wearing
Past Perfect Continuous
wear - impairment resulting from long use; "the tires showed uneven wear"
deterioration , impairment - a symptom of reduced quality or strength
2.
article of clothing , clothing , habiliment , wearable , vesture
accessory , accouterment , accoutrement - clothing that is worn or carried, but not part of your main clothing
apparel , clothes , wearing apparel , dress - clothing in general; "she was refined in her choice of apparel"; "he always bought his clothes at the same store"; "fastidious about his dress"
raiment , regalia , array - especially fine or decorative clothing
attire , garb , dress - clothing of a distinctive style or for a particular occasion; "formal attire"; "battle dress"
beachwear - clothing to be worn at a beach
black - black clothing (worn as a sign of mourning); "the widow wore black"
blue - blue clothing; "she was wearing blue"
change - a different or fresh set of clothes; "she brought a change in her overnight bag"
civilian clothing , civilian dress , civilian garb , plain clothes - ordinary clothing as distinguished from uniforms, work clothes, clerical garb, etc.
consumer goods - goods (as food or clothing) intended for direct use or consumption
covering - an artifact that covers something else (usually to protect or shelter or conceal it)
drag - clothing that is conventionally worn by the opposite sex (especially women's clothing when worn by a man); "he went to the party dressed in drag"; "the waitresses looked like missionaries in drag"
footwear - clothing worn on a person's feet
garment - an article of clothing; "garments of the finest silk"
gray , grey - clothing that is a grey color; "he was dressed in grey"
leisure wear - informal clothing designed to be worn when you are relaxing
loungewear - clothing suitable for relaxation
man's clothing - clothing that is designed for men to wear
neckpiece - an article of apparel worn about the neck
nightclothes , nightwear , sleepwear - garments designed to be worn in bed
outerwear , overclothes - clothing for use outdoors
protective garment - clothing that is intended to protect the wearer from injury
ready-to-wear - ready-made clothing; "she couldn't find anything in ready-to-wear that she liked"
slip-on - an article of clothing (garment or shoe) that is easily slipped on or off
slops - cheap clothing (as formerly issued to sailors in Britain)
street clothes - ordinary clothing suitable for public appearances (as opposed to costumes or sports apparel or work clothes etc.)
duds , threads , togs - informal terms for clothing
uniform - clothing of distinctive design worn by members of a particular group as a means of identification
vestiture - an archaic term for clothing
wardrobe - collection of clothing belonging to one person
woman's clothing - clothing that is designed for women to wear
work-clothes , work-clothing - clothing worn for doing manual labor
3.
wear - the act of having on your person as a covering or adornment; "she bought it for everyday wear"
human action , human activity , act , deed - something that people do or cause to happen
Verb
feature , have - have as a feature; "This restaurant features the most famous chefs in France"
3.
wear - have in one's aspect; wear an expression of one's attitude or personality; "He always wears a smile"
feature , have - have as a feature; "This restaurant features the most famous chefs in France"
4.
deteriorate - become worse or disintegrate; "His mind deteriorated"
ablate - wear away through erosion or vaporization
scuff - get or become scuffed; "These patent leather shoes scuffed"
5.
wear - have or show an appearance of; "wear one's hair in a certain way"
feature , have - have as a feature; "This restaurant features the most famous chefs in France"
6.
last , endure - persist for a specified period of time; "The bad weather lasted for three days"
7.
wear - go to pieces; "The lawn mower finally broke"; "The gears wore out"; "The old chair finally fell apart completely"
decay , dilapidate , crumble - fall into decay or ruin; "The unoccupied house started to decay"
fray , frazzle - wear away by rubbing; "The friction frayed the sleeve"
bust , break - ruin completely; "He busted my radio!"
wear away , wear off - diminish, as by friction; "Erosion wore away the surface"
wear away , whittle away , whittle down - cut away in small pieces
8.
wear - exhaust or get tired through overuse or great strain or stress; "We wore ourselves out on this hike"
fag out , tire out , wear down , wear out , wear upon , weary , fatigue , jade , outwear , tire , fag
indispose - cause to feel unwell; "She was indisposed"
exhaust , tucker , tucker out , wash up , beat - wear out completely; "This kind of work exhausts me"; "I'm beat"; "He was all washed up after the exam"
overfatigue , overtire , overweary - tire excessively
9.
wear - put clothing on one's body; "What should I wear today?"; "He put on his best suit for the wedding"; "The princess donned a long blue dress"; "The queen assumed the stately robes"; "He got into his jeans"
dress , get dressed - put on clothes; "we had to dress quickly"; "dress the patient"; "Can the child dress by herself?"
hat - put on or wear a hat; "He was unsuitably hatted"
try on , try - put on a garment in order to see whether it fits and looks nice; "Try on this sweater to see how it looks"
scarf - wrap in or adorn with a scarf
slip on - put on with ease or speed; "slip into something more comfortable after work"; "slip on one's shoes"
wear
verb
1. be dressed in, have on , dress in, be clothed in, carry , sport (informal), bear , put on , clothe yourself in He was wearing a dark green uniform.
2. show , present , bear , display , assume , put on , exhibit Millson's face wore a smug expression.
3. deteriorate , fray , wear thin , become threadbare The living room carpet is beginning to wear.
4. last , survive , endure , hold up , bear up , prove durable, resist wear, stand up to wear Casual shoes need to wear well.
5. accept (Brit. informal) take , allow , permit , stomach , swallow (informal), brook , stand for , fall for , put up with (informal), countenance I asked if I could work part-time, but the company wouldn't wear it.
noun
1. clothes , things , dress , gear (informal), attire , habit , outfit , costume , threads (slang), garments , apparel , garb , raiments The shops stock an extensive range of beach wear.
2. usefulness , use , service , employment , utility , mileage (informal) You'll get more wear out of a car if you look after it properly.
wear down be eroded, erode , be consumed , wear away Eventually the parts start to wear down.
wear off
1. subside , disappear , fade , weaken , diminish , decrease , dwindle , wane , ebb , abate , peter out , lose strength , lose effect Her initial excitement soon began to wear off.
2. rub away , disappear , fade , abrade The paint is discoloured and little bits have worn off.
wear on pass , progress , proceed , go by or past, lapse , elapse As the days wore on Brad became increasingly depressed.
wear out deteriorate , become worn, become useless, wear through , fray Eventually the artificial joint wears out and has to be replaced.
wear someone down undermine , reduce , chip away at (informal), fight a war of attrition against, overcome gradually his sheer persistence in wearing down the opposition
wear something down erode , grind down , consume , impair , corrode , grind down , rub away , abrade Rabbits wear down their teeth with constant gnawing.
wear something out erode , go through , consume , use up , wear holes in, make worn He wore his shoes out wandering around the streets.
wear well last , stand up , endure , hold up , bear up , be durable These shoes haven't worn very well.
wear
Idioms: run ragged , take it out of.
2. To diminish the strength and energy of:
البِلى بالإسْتِعْمال العاديقُدْرَةٌ على إحْتِمال الإسْتِعْماللِباسيَبْدو عَلَيْه، يَظْهَرُ عَلَيْهِيَبْلى، يَتَآكَل
nosit
giymek giysi incel mek kesmek oluşturmak
mặc
[wɛəʳ] (wore (vb: pt) (worn (pp)))
A. N
1. (= use) → uso m
this material will stand up to a lot of wear → este tejido resistirá mucho uso
I've had a lot of wear out of this jacket → le he dado mucho uso a esta chaqueta , esta chaqueta ha aguantado mucho trote
there is still some wear left in it → todavía le queda vida
clothes for evening wear → ropa f para la noche
clothes for everyday wear → ropa f para todos los días , ropa f para uso diario
2. (= deterioration through use) → desgaste m
wear and tear → desgaste natural
one has to allow for wear and tear → hay que tener en cuenta el desgaste natural
the worse for wear his suit looked decidedly the worse for wear → el traje se le veía muy deslucido
she looks the worse for wear → se la ve algo desmejorada
he returned from the pub rather the worse for wear → volvió del bar algo ajumado
3. (= dress, clothing) → ropa f
what is the correct wear for these occasions? → ¿qué es lo que se debe poner uno en tal ocasión ? → ¿qué ropa es la apropiada para tal ocasión ?
children's wear → ropa f de niños
evening wear → ropa f para la noche
ladies' or womens' wear → ropa f de señora
summer wear → ropa f de verano
B. VT
1. (= have on) [+ clothing, jewellery] → llevar , llevar puesto ; [+ spectacles, hairstyle, perfume] → llevar ; [+ beard] → tener ; [+ smile] → lucir ; (= put on) [+ clothes, shoes, perfume] → ponerse
she was wearing high-heeled shoes → llevaba (puestos) zapatos de tacón alto
can you describe what he was wearing? → ¿puede describir lo que llevaba (puesto)?
what shall I wear? → ¿qué me pongo?
I have nothing to wear to the dinner → no tengo qué ponerme para ir a la cena
I haven't worn that for ages → hace siglos que no me pongo eso
why don't you wear your black dress? → ¿por qué no te pones el vestido negro ?
hats are rarely worn nowadays → hoy día apenas se llevan los sombreros
I never wear perfume/make-up → nunca llevo or me pongo perfume /maquillaje
what size do you wear? (clothes) → ¿qué talla usa ?
what size shoes do you wear? → ¿qué número calza ?
does she wear glasses/a wig? → ¿ usa gafas /peluca?
to wear the crown → ceñir la corona
to wear one's hair long/short → llevar el pelo largo/ corto
she wears her age or her years well → se conserva muy bien
she's the one who wears the trousers or > pants in that house > (US) → en esa casa los pantalones los lleva ella
see also heart A2
the carpet had been worn threadbare → la alfombra estaba muy desgastada del uso
to wear o.s. to death → matarse (trabajando etc)
to wear a hole in sth → hacer un agujero en algo
he had worn holes in his socks → les había hecho agujeros a los calcetines
the flagstones had been worn smooth by centuries of use → tantos siglos de uso habían alisado las losas
your father won't wear it → tu padre no lo va a permitir or consentir
C. VI
1. (= last) → durar , aguantar
that dress/carpet has worn well → ese vestido /esa alfombra ha durado or aguantado mucho
she's worn well → se ha conservado muy bien
2. (= become worn) → desgastarse
the trousers have worn at the knees → los pantalones se han desgastado por la rodillas
the rock has worn smooth → la roca se ha alisado por el desgaste
to wear thin [material] → desgastarse
that excuse is wearing a bit thin → esa excusa está ya muy pasada
my patience is wearing thin → se me está agotando la paciencia → estoy perdiendo la paciencia
3. [day, year, sb's life] to wear to its end or a close → acercarse a su fin
wear away
A. VT + ADV [+ rock] → erosionar ; [+ pattern] → desgastar , borrar
B. VI + ADV [wood, metal] → desgastarse , gastarse ; [cliffs] → erosionarse; [inscription, design] → borrarse
wear down
2. (fig) [+ opposition, resistance, patience] → agotar ; [+ person] (physically) → agotar , cansar ; (mentally) → cansar
B. VI + ADV [heels, tyre tread] → desgastarse , gastarse
wear off
A. VI + ADV [excitement, novelty] → pasar ; [anaesthetic, effects, pain] → pasarse ; [colour, design, inscription] → borrarse
when the novelty wears off → cuando pase la novedad
the pain is wearing off → se me está pasando el dolor
B. VT + ADV [+ design, inscription] → quitar , borrar
wear on VI + ADV [year, war] → transcurrir , pasar
as the evening wore on → a medida que transcurría la noche
wear out
A. VT + ADV
1. (= ruin) [+ clothes, battery, engine, clutch] → gastar , desgastar
you'll wear your eyes out doing that → como hagas eso te vas a cansar la vista
you'll wear me out! → ¡me vas a agotar !, ¡me vas a matar !
I'm worn out → estoy agotado or rendido
to wear o.s. out → agotarse , matarse
B. VI + ADV [clothes, shoes, battery, engine, clutch] → gastarse , desgastarse ; [knee, elbow of garment] → gastarse
wear through
it has worn through at the elbows → con el uso se ha roto or agujereado por los codos
WEAR
• Don't translate the a in sentences like was she wearing a hat?, he wasn't wearing a coat if the number of such items is not significant since people normally only wear one at a time:
Was he wearing a hat? ¿Llevaba sombrero? He wasn't wearing a coat No llevaba abrigo
• Do translate the a if the garment, item of jewellery etc is qualified:
Queen Sofía is wearing a long dress Doña Sofía lleva un vestido largo
wear
(= use) → usage m
to have a lot of wear out of sth
You've had a lot of wear out of those shoes → Ces chaussures t'ont fait beaucoup d'usage.
You'll get a lot of wear out of that coat → Ce manteau vous fera beaucoup d'usage.
(= deterioration through use) → usure f
to show signs of wear → montrer des signes d'usure
beach wear → les vêtements de plage
to be the worse for wear [person] → être dans un sale état
vb [wore] (pt) [worn] (pp)
vt
[+ clothes] → porter ; [+ glasses] → porter ; [+ beard] → porter
She was wearing a hat → Elle portait un chapeau .
She was wearing black
BUT Elle était en noir.
I can't decide what to wear
BUT Je ne sais pas quoi mettre.
to wear make-up → se maquiller
She was wearing make-up → Elle était maquillée .
to wear one's hair up → relever ses cheveux
She wore her hair up in a bun → Elle avait relevé ses cheveux en chignon .
to wear one's hair down → laisser retomber ses cheveux
He wore his hair too long → Il avait les cheveux trop longs .
I've worn a hole in the knee of my jeans → J'ai fait un trou au genou de mon jean à force de le porter .
to wear the trousers (British) to wear the pants (US) [woman] → porter la culotte
vi
to wear thin [material] → s'user ; [patience] → être a bout ; [joke] → commencer à être éculé (e)
wear away
as time wears on → avec le temps
wear out
vb: pret <wore>, ptp <worn>
n
(= use) I’ve had a lot of/I haven’t had much wear out of or from this jacket (= worn it often/not often) → ich habe diese Jacke viel/wenig getragen ; (= it wore well/badly) → ich habe diese Jacke lange /nur kurz getragen ; he got four years’ wear out of these trousers/that carpet → diese Hose /dieser Teppich hat vier Jahre lang gehalten ; there isn’t much wear/there is still a lot of wear left in this coat/carpet → dieser Mantel / Teppich hält nicht mehr lange / hält noch lange ; this coat will stand any amount of hard wear → dieser Mantel ist sehr strapazierfähig ; for casual/evening/everyday wear → für die Freizeit /den Abend /jeden Tag
(= clothing) → Kleidung f
(= damage through use) → Abnutzung f, → Verschleiß m; wear and tear → Abnutzung f, → Verschleiß m; fair wear and tear → normale Abnutzungs- or Verschleißerscheinungen ; to show signs of wear (lit) → anfangen , alt auszusehen ; (fig) → angegriffen aussehen ; to look the worse for wear (lit) (curtains, carpets etc) → verschlissen aussehen ; (shoes, clothes) → abgetragen aussehen ; (furniture etc) → abgenutzt aussehen ; (fig) → verbraucht aussehen ; I felt a bit the worse for wear (inf) → ich fühlte mich etwas angeknackst (inf) → or angegriffen
vt
clothing, jewellery, spectacles, beard etc → tragen ; what shall I wear? → was soll ich anziehen ?; I haven’t a thing to wear! → ich habe nichts zum Anziehen or nichts anzuziehen ; I haven’t worn that for ages → das habe ich schon seit Ewigkeiten nicht mehr angezogen or angehabt (inf) → or getragen ; to wear white/rags etc → Weiß/Lumpen etc tragen , in Weiß / Lumpen etc gehen ; he wore an air of triumph → er trug eine triumphierende Miene zur Schau ; he wore a big smile → er strahlte über das ganze Gesicht
(= reduce to a worn condition) → abnutzen ; clothes → abtragen ; sleeve, knee etc → durchwetzen ; velvet etc → blank wetzen ; leather articles → abwetzen ; steps → austreten ; tyres → abfahren ; engine → kaputt machen ; to wear holes in something → etw durchwetzen ; in shoes → etw durchlaufen ; the carpet has been worn threadbare → der Teppich ist abgewetzt or ganz abgelaufen ; to wear smooth (by handling) → abgreifen ; (by walking) → austreten ; pattern → angreifen ; sharp edges → glatt machen ; centuries of storms had worn the inscription smooth → die Inschrift war durch die Stürme im Laufe der Jahrhunderte verwittert ; the sea had worn the rocks smooth → die See hatte die Felsen glatt gewaschen ; you’ll wear a track in the carpet (hum) → du machst noch mal eine richtige Bahn or einen Trampelpfad (inf) → in den Teppich ? also worn
(Brit inf: = accept, tolerate) → schlucken (inf)
vi
(= last) → halten ; she has worn well (inf) → sie hat sich gut gehalten (inf); the theory has worn well → die Theorie hat sich bewährt
(= become worn) → kaputtgehen ; (engine, material) → sich abnutzen ; to wear smooth (by water) → glatt gewaschen sein; (by weather) → verwittern ; (pattern) → abgegriffen sein; the sharp edges will wear smooth in time/with use → die scharfen Kanten werden sich mit der Zeit/im Gebrauch abschleifen ; to wear thin (lit) → dünn werden , durchgehen (inf); my patience is wearing thin → meine Geduld ist langsam erschöpft or geht langsam zu Ende ; that excuse/joke is wearing thin → diese Ausrede /dieser Witz ist (doch) schon etwas alt
(= proceed gradually) the party etc is wearing to a close → die Party etc geht dem Ende zu
wear
[wɛəʳ] (wore (vb: pt) (worn (pp)))
1. n
shoes for everyday wear → scarpe da mettere tutti i giorni
there's still a lot of wear in these (shoes, carpets, tyres) → sono ancora in buono stato
I've had a lot of wear out of this jacket → porto questa giacca da anni
to stand up to a lot of wear → durare a lungo
b. (deterioration through use) → logoramento, logorio
wear and tear → usura
fair wear and tear (Comm) → normale usura
the wear on the engine → l'usura del motore
she looks the worse for wear (old, exhausted) → sembra sciupata (hung-over) → ha l'aria distrutta
evening wear → abiti npl da sera
2. vt
a. (spectacles, necklace, beard) → portare ; (clothes) → portare , indossare ; (look, smile) → avere
to wear make-up → truccarsi
she wore her blue dress → portava il vestito blu
I have nothing to wear to the dinner → non ho niente da mettermi per la cena
to wear one's hair long → portare i capelli lunghi
I always manage to wear my jumpers at the elbow → i miei maglioni sono sempre consumati nei gomiti
they have worn a path across the lawn → hanno formato un sentiero nel prato a forza di camminarci sopra
to wear a hole in sth → bucare qc a furia di usarlo/ a
the rocks had been worn smooth → le rocce erano state levigate dal tempo
c. (fam) (believe, tolerate) → bere
he won't wear that → questa non la beve
3. vi
she has worn well → porta bene i suoi anni
that theory has worn well → quella teoria è ancora valida
b. (become worn, shoes, inscription) → consumarsi ; (rocks) → levigarsi
the edges have worn smooth → gli spigoli si sono smussati
that excuse is wearing a bit thin → quella scusa non regge più
wear away
1. vt + adv (rock, pattern) → consumare
2. vi + adv → consumarsi
1. vt + adv (heel, tyre tread) → consumare (fig) (opposition) → fiaccare ; (strength) → esaurire
to wear down sb's patience → far perdere la pazienza a qn
2. vi + adv (heels, tyre tread) → consumarsi
wear off vi + adv (plating, paint) → consumarsi ; (pain, excitement) → diminuire ; (anaesthetic) → perdere efficacia
after a while the novelty wore off → dopo un po' non era più una novità
wear on vi + adv → avanzare , passare
as the evening wore on → nel corso della serata
wear out
1. vt + adv → consumare , logorare (fig) (exhaust) → stancare ; (patience) → far perdere
to be worn out → essere consumato / a (fig) (person) → essere estenuato / a or distrutto/a
2. vi + adv (shoes, carpet) → consumarsi
his strength wore out → era spossato
her patience wore out → ha perso la pazienza
wear through
wear
(weə) – past tense wore (woː) ; past participle worn (woːn) – verb
1. to be dressed in or carry on (a part of) the body. She wore a white dress; Does she usually wear spectacles? dra يَلْبِس، يَرْتَدي нося usar nosit tragen bære; have på φορώ llevar ; usar kandma (rõivaid, prille) پوشيدن pitää yllään, käyttää porter לִלבּוֹש पहनना nositi hord, visel memakai klæðast, vera í indossare ; portare 身につけている ...을 입고 있다 dėvėti, nešioti valkāt; nēsāt memakai dragen nosić , ubierać się w پاييدل، دوام لرل، زرنه زړيدل (لكه د كالى)، سوليدال، موښلى كيدل، پاى ته رسيدل، شو كيدل: د باد دجريان دسمت نه د بيړۍ اوښتل usar a purta быть одетым; носить nosiť nositi nositi vara klädd i, ha på sig, bära สวมใส่ giymek , takmak 穿戴 бути вдягненим у щось; носити پہننا mặc; mang; đeo 穿着
2. to arrange (one's hair) in a particular way. She wears her hair in a pony-tail. dra يُرَتِّبُ شَعْرَه сресвам се usar nosit tragen sætte έχω , φτιάχνω llevar kandma (soengut) آرايش كردن pitää porter לִלבּוֹש संवारना nositi visel menata vera með, greiða í portare 髪型が～である (수염, 머리 따위를) 기르고 있다 nešioti nēsāt (matu sakārtojumu) mengenakan dragen ha håret (i) ... nosić سینګارول usar a aranja într‑un anume fel носить nosiť, mať nositi nositi ha ไว้ผม yapmak , kesmek 梳理成特定髮型 робити зачіску بالوں کو خاص طرح سے ترتیب دینا để râu, tóc 蓄留着（发型）
3. to have or show (a particular expression). She wore an angry expression. het يَبْدو عَلَيْه، يَظْهَرُ عَلَيْهِ нося изразжение apresentar mít zeigen have έχω έκφραση tener , mostrar ilmega olema داشتن olla avoir לְהַעֲלוֹת הַבָּעָה प्रदर्शित करना imati, pokazati mutat memperlihatkan bera, vera með avere 示す (표정을) 띠다 turėti izskatīties; izrādīt (kādu izteiksmi) menunjukkan ekspresi atau air muka er uitzien ha et ... uttrykk, se ... ut mieć لرل apresentar a avea иметь вид mať imeti imati ha, se ut มี หรือแสดง takınmak 有或露出(特定表情) мати کسی خاص لہجے کا اظہار کرنا tỏ thái độ 露出...表情
4. to (cause to) become thinner etc because of use, rubbing etc. This carpet has worn in several places; This sweater is wearing thin at the elbows. verweer يَبْلى، يَتَآكَل износвам gastar(-se) opotřebovat se abnutzen være slidt; blive slidt λιώνω , φθείρω , φθείρομαι , τρίβω , τρίβομαι desgastar kulu(ta)ma فرسوده كردن kulua user לְהִישָׁחֵק हल्का पड़ना iznositi se (el)koptat; kopik menipis slitna consumarsi , logorarsi すり減る 마모되다 nu(si)dėvėti, su(si)nešioti izvalkāt; nonēsāt; izvalkāties; nonēsāties menjadi haus atau lusuh slijten slites , bli slitt wycierać się فرسوده کول gastar(-se) a (se) uza изнашивать opotrebovať sa oguliti istanjiti se nöta[s], bli sliten สึกกร่อน incel(t)mek, aşın(dır)mak 因使用或磨擦等(使)變薄 зношувати(ся); стирати(ся) فرسودہ ہو جانا dùng mòn 变薄，变旧
5. to make (a bare patch, a hole etc) by rubbing, use etc. I've worn a hole in the elbow of my jacket. verweer يثْقُب، يَحِتُّ поротривам fazer prodřít reißen slide ανοίγω με το τρίψιμο hacer kulutama ساييده شدن kuluttaa faire לִיצוֹר ע”י חִיכּוּך घिसना iznositi (el)koptat membuat aus slíta (út) fare すり減らして～にする (마찰 따위로) 구멍, 홈, 길 따위를 내다, 파다, 뚫다 pratrinti izvalkāt; iztīrīt melubangkan uitslijten slite hull i/på wytrzeć نښليزل شوي fazer a face протирать predrať, zodrať narediti probušiti nöta, slita ขาด açmak , oluşturmak 因使用或磨損等產生(破洞)或磨出一塊 протирати گھس جانا làm rách 穿破，磨损
6. to stand up to use. This material doesn't wear very well. dra, lyk, vlei يَصْمُد، يَحْتَمِل كَثْرَة الإسْتِعْمال стоя durar vydržet halten holde sig; være slidstærkt αντέχω durar , ser resistente vastu pidama دوام داشتن kestää résister לְהִתבַּלוֹת iznositi, ponositi tartós tahan endast durare , 長持ちする 닳다 nešiotis valkāties tetap elok walaupun telah lama digunakan tegen slijtage bestand zijn holde seg, vare , være slitesterk nosić się ادامه در لودل durar a rezista (la uzură) носиться vydržať biti trpežen upotrebljavati hålla bra, vara slitstark ทนต่อการสึกหรอ dayanmak 耐用 носитися قابل استعمال ہونا bền 耐用，耐穿
noun
1. use as clothes etc. I use this suit for everyday wear; Those shoes won't stand much wear. drag يَلْبِس الثِّياب، يَرْتَدي употреба uso nošení das Tragen brug; -brug χρήση uso , kandmine لباس käyttö vêtement לבוש पहनना nošenje, odijevanje használat pemakaian fatnaður, föt uso 着用 착용, 사용 dėvėjimas, nešiojimas valkāšana; nēsāšana pakaian gebruik , slijtage klær , tøy noszenie اغوستنه، اغوشستنه، كال، جامه، پوښاك: شوكيدنه، وموښلتيا، پاييدنه، دوام، زړښت uso îmbrăcăminte носка nosenie nošenje nošenje bruk, användning การสวมใส่ giy(in)me 特定場合穿的衣服，耐穿 носіння پہننے کے لیے استعمال کرنا quần áo mặc 服装，常穿的衣服
2. articles for use as clothes. casual wear; sportswear; leisure wear. drag لِباس облекло roupa oblečení die Kleidung -tøj ρούχα ropa rõivastus پوشش vaatteet vêtements בגד पहनावा odjeća, odjevni predmeti viselet pakaian (íþrótta)fatnaður vestiti , abbigliamento ～着 의류 rūbai apģērbs; drēbes; tērps pakaian kleding -klær , –tøy odzież پوښاك roupa haine одежда odev, šatstvo oblačila odeća kläder เส้อผ้าที่ไม่เป็นทางการ giysi , giyim 特定用途的衣服 одяг مختلف مواقع پر پہنی جانے والی چیزیں những thứ để mặc 特定用途的衣服
3. (sometimes wear and tear) damage due to use. The hall carpet is showing signs of wear. verweer البِلى بالإسْتِعْمال العادي износване desgaste opotřebení die Abnutzung slid; slitage φθο desgaste , deterioro kulumine فرسودگي kuluma usure בלוי कमजोरी iznošenost elhasználódás keausan slit usura すり切れ 마손, 마멸 nusidėvėjimas nodilums; nolietojums lusuh slijtage slitasje zużycie فرسوده شوي desgaste uzură износ opotrebovanie obraba istrošenosti nötning, slitage เสียหาย; ชำรุด ทรุดโทรม; เสียหายเนื่องจากใช้มาเป็นเวลานาน yıpranma, eskime 磨損 зношування ٹوٹ پھوٹ mòn 磨损
4. ability to withstand use. There's plenty of wear left in it yet. gebruik, bruiksduur قُدْرَةٌ على إحْتِمال الإسْتِعْمال износване uso trvanlivost die Haltbarkeit slidstyrke αντοχή uso kulumisvaru دوام kestää kulutusta usage עֲדָיִין שָׁמִיש टिकाउपन korištenje kopásállóság ketahanan ending uso もち 내구력 patvarumas izturība kebolehan untuk digunakan sterkte slitestyrke ; noe å slite på odporność, wytrzymałość دوام uso durată de folosire носкость trvanlivosť trpežnost nošenja hållbarhet, slitstyrka, [den] håller att slita på [än ett bra tag] ทนต่อการใช้ dayanma 耐用性 носіння کپڑوں کا قابل استعمال ہونا bền 耐用性
ˈwearable adjective
(negative unwearable) fit to be worn. My only wearable coat is at the cleaners. goeie, geskikte مُمْكِن لِباسُه годен за носене em bom estado vhodný k nošení tragbar anvendelig που μπορεί να φορεθεί que se puede llevar/poner kantav قابل پوشيدن käyttökelpoinen mettable לָבִיש पहनने योग्य nosiv hordható layak dipakai sem hægt er að ganga í portabile 着用できる 입을 수 있는 tinkamas dėvėti valkājams; piemērots valkāšanai dapat dipakai toonbaar som en kan gå med nadający się do noszenia د اغوستلو وړ em bom estado purtabil пригодный для носки vhodný na nosenie ki se lahko nosi nosiv användbar, som går att ha på sig สวมใส่ได้ giyilebilir 可以穿的 придатний для носіння پہنے جانے کے قابل có thể mặc được 适穿的
ˈwearer noun
a dress that makes the wearer feel elegant. draer لابِس، مُرْتَدٍ (pessoa) que veste nositel, -ka der/die Bekleidete den, der har det på αυτός που φοράει κτ. persona que lleva/viste... kandja پوشيده käyttäjä personne qui porte (...) לוֹבֵש पहनने वाला onaj koji nosi viselő pakaian sá sem klæðist tiltekinni flík (chi indossa) 着用者 착용자 dëvëtojas valkātājs; nesātājs pemakai drager bærer osoba mająca na sobie ... اغوستنى، هغه څوك چې كالى يى په غاړه وى (pessoa) que veste persoană care poartă владелец nositeľ, -ka nositelj elegantna odeća bärare ผู้สวมใส่ giyen, takan 穿戴者 власник одягу زیب تن کرنے والا người mặc 穿戴者
ˈwearing adjective
exhausting. I've had rather a wearing day. uitmergelende مُرْهِق، مُتْعِب изтощителен cansativo únavný ermüdend trættende εξαντλητικός agotador , cansado , pesado kurnav خسته كننده kuluttava épuisant מְעֲיֵיף थकाने वाला iscrpljujuć fárasztó melelahkan þreytandi faticoso , stressante 疲れさせる 소모시키는 varginantis nogurdinošs rasa penat slopend slitsom wyczerpujący سټره کوونکی cansativo epuizant утомительный únavný naporen isrcpljujući tröttsam, påfrestande น่าเบื่อหน่าย yorucu , bıktırıcı 累人的 стомливий تھکا دینے والا یا پریشان کرنے والا làm cho mệt mỏi 疲乏的
worn (woːn) adjective
damaged as a result of use. a badly-worn carpet. verweerde بالٍ износен gasto / desgastado opotřebovaný abgenutzt slidt τριμμένος desgastado , deteriorado kulunud فرسوده kulunut usé בלוי घिसा iznošen, oštećen elnyűtt aus snjáður, slitinn logoro すり切れた 닳아서 해진 nusidėvėjęs nodilis; izvalkājies rosak kerana digunakan afgesleten slitt znoszony, wytarty فرسوده gasto uzat изношенный, потёртый opotrebovaný obrabljen pohaban nött, sliten ซึ่งใช้จนเก่า yıpranmış 被磨損的 зношений استعمال سے گھسا ہوا cũ 磨损的，穿旧的
wear away
to make or become damaged, thinner, smoother etc through use, rubbing etc. The steps have (been) worn away in places. verweer يَفْنى، يَذوب، يَبْلى изтърквам gastar(-se) / desgastar(-se) opotřebovat abnutzen slide λιώνω , τρώγω , σβήνω desgastar kuluma ساييدن kulua user לְהִשתַחֵק घिस जाना pohabati se elkoptat aus slíta consumarsi すり減らす 닳아 없어지다 nu(si)trinti, nusidėvėti nodilt menjadi rosak uitslijten slite bort zetrzeć/wytrzeć się gastar(-se) a (se) uza стирать opotrebovať obrabiti se pohabati se nöta[s] bort ค่อย ๆ สึกหรอ yıpran(dır)mak, aşın(dır)mak (被)磨損 стиратися گھس جانا mòn đi 磨损
wear off
to become less. The pain is wearing off. verminder, verweer يَزول، يَخِف، يَقِل намалявам abrandar ztrácet se sich verlieren fortage sig εξασθενώ , υποχωρώ disminuir ; desaparecer vähenema زايل شدن hellittää disparaître לְהֵיעַלֵם धीरे-धीरे खत्म होना smanjivati se, ublažavati elenyészik berkurang afmást, minnka passare なくなる 차츰 없어지다 silpti, slūgti noberzties semakin berkurang afnemen minke , bli mindre mijać , ścierać abrandar a dispărea проходить stratiť sa, pominúť izginevati smanjiti se gå över, minska, släppa, upphöra att verka ค่อย ๆ หมดไป yavaş yavaş azalmak/geçmek 減輕 стиратися بتدریج کم ہونا یا ختم ہونا nhạt đi 消逝
wear out
to (cause to) become unfit for further use. My socks have worn out; I've worn out my socks. verweer يَبْلى، يَصْبِحُ غَيْر مُلائِم للإرتِداء износвам gastar(-se) / desgastar(-se) obnosit (se) abtragen slide op λιώνω , φθείρομαι desgastar , romper con el uso ära kulu(ta)ma فرسوده شدن kuluttaa loppuun user לְהִישַחֵק छिजाना iznositi, ponositi elkopik menjadi aus gatslíta consumare , consumarsi 使い古す 닳아서 못쓰게 되다 nu(si)dėvėti, nu(si)nešioti izvalkāt cauru; galīgi novalkāt menjadi lusuh verslijten slite ut znosić gastar(-se) a (se) uza изнашивать obnosiť (sa) ponositi istrošiti se slita ut, bli utsliten ใช้จนเก่า eskimek, yıpranmak 不堪使用，使不堪使用 зношуватися ناقابل استعمال ہونا không vừa （使）不堪使用
worn out
1. so damaged by use as to be unfit for further use. These shoes are worn out; a worn-out sweater. verweerde بالٍ، مُهْتَرئ، غَيْر صالِح للإسْتِعْمال износен gasto opotřebovaný abgetragen udslidt τριμμένος , υπερβολικά φθαρμένος gastado , estropeado ära kulunud فرسوده loppuun kulunut usé jusqu'à la corde בלוי घिस कर खत्म हो जाना iznošen agyonhasznált rusak gatslitinn consumato , logoro すり切れた 닳아 해진 nusidėvėjęs, nusinešiojęs galīgi novalkāts sudah lusuh versleten utslitt znoszony gasto foarte uzat изношенный opotrebovaný ponošen iznošen utnött, utsliten ซึ่งใช้จนเก่า eskimiş , yıpranmış 不堪使用 зношений استعمال سے گھس جانا rất mòn 磨穿
2. very tired. His wife is worn out after looking after the children. moeg, tam مُرْهَق، تَعبان جِدا уморен exausto vyčerpaný völlig erschöpft udmattet εξαντλημένος agotado , hecho polvo puruväsinud خسته näännyksissä épuisé עייף थकना iscrpljen halálosan kimerült kelelahan uppgefinn sfinito 疲れ切った 매우 지친 nusivaręs pārguris terlalu letih uitgeput utslitt , utmattet , utkjørt zmordowany exausto epuizat измотанный vyčerpaný izčrpan iscrpljen utsliten ซึ่งเหน็ดเหนื่อยมาก çok yorulmuş, bitmiş 累壞了 знесилений بہت تھک جانا mệt lử 疲乏的
wear
→ يَرْتَدِي nosit have på tragen φορώ llevar puesto pitää yllään porter nositi indossare 身に着けている (옷을) 입다 dragen ha på (seg) nosić vestir носить ha på sig สวมใส่ giymek mặc 穿
wear
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i don't know
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As at 2012 which newspaper has the most popular website?
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Will Oremus
Will Oremus is Slate’s senior technology writer. Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter .
When online traffic counter comScore announced last week that the lower-middlebrow British tabloid had surpassed the NYT in traffic , drawing 45.3 million unique visitors to the Gray Lady’s 44.8 million, reactions ranged from gleeful to apocalyptic. The Times, rather ungraciously, questioned the metrics. The Daily Mail is first only if you count the traffic to its subsidiary personal finance site, ThisIsMoney , a Times spokeswoman pointed out. Since the Times’ figures don’t include traffic to subsidiaries such as the Boston Globe, the comparison is apples to apples-plus-oranges. “We remain the No. 1 individual newspaper site in the world,” the spokeswoman told Buzzfeed .
Console yourself with that if you must, Times honchos, but you’re missing the bigger picture. In the sentence, “The Daily Mail is now the most popular online newspaper,” the “most popular” claim is the least of the misnomers. The most important thing to know about the Daily Mail’s website (more properly called the Mail Online) is that it’s not really an online newspaper. That’s exactly why it’s so successful.
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Unlike traditional online newspapers, the Mail Online bears little resemblance to the British tabloid that spawned it. Consider the differences between the two on Thursday. The Daily Mail’s top story in print that morning was a tale of “valiant villagers” from an obscure British Midlands town who were ordered by the government to tear down a protest camp they had built to “protect” their village from an “illegal gipsy invasion.” The Gypsies, the article noted bitterly, were allowed to stay.
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In its xenophobia and parochialism, the piece was typical of the paper, which skews conservative, populist, and suburban. In tone, it stakes out the ground between establishment Tory broadsheets like the the Daily Telegraph and hysterical, barely literate “red top” tabloids like the Sun . If David Brent, Ricky Gervais’ chauvinist, pseudo-educated character on the British version of The Office , reads a newspaper at home, it’s probably the Daily Mail (though he might not admit it ). Also typical was the teaser that ran across the top of the paper, advertising a story in its Femail Magazine insert: “Can a marriage survive when the breadwinner is forced to become a househusband?” Aside from its political niche, the Daily Mail has long cultivated female readers with lifestyle, fashion, and home-decorating features.
The Mail Online also targets women, but in an entirely different way. On Thursday morning, the website carried no mention of Gypsies or valiant villagers. Instead, U.S. visitors were greeted with unflattering pictures of actress Cameron Diaz. The headline : “Beware if the wind changes! Cameron Diaz pulls some odd facial expressions while out and about in London.” The brief accompanying story was about, well, Cameron Diaz making some odd facial expressions while out and about in London on a windy day—the unwritten implication being that she just had some type of cosmetic surgery. Another top story Thursday was headlined, “ Graffiti artist who painted Facebook’s HQ set for $200 million payday as staff celebrate social network’s $5bn IPO. ” It was essentially a shorter, rewritten version of a New York Times story, which mentioned but did not link to the original . It showed no original reporting, but efficiently distilled the more nuanced Times piece into a handful of paragraphs and pictures, leaving out the boring context and philosophizing.
A third headline blared, “ Threat from new virus-infected emails which take over your PC even if you DON’T open their attachments. ” How could you not click on that? Several others dealt with celebrities, pets, and especially, celebrities’ pets. One was about Lady Gaga and Elton John taking a “pampered pooch” to dinner in Los Angeles. Another had Courtney Love’s daughter alleging that the boozy rock star had, through negligence, killed two family pets .
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This is not news, really. It’s click bait, the stuff pageviews are made of. There’s no parochialism, no xenophobia, no mock outrage, and almost no politics—nothing that could limit the potential audience for these pieces, which is, in short, the entire English-speaking online world.
If this seems like the work of an entirely different publication than the print Daily Mail, that’s because it is. The Mail Online is run as a separate entity by top digital editor Martin Clarke, who divides his time between the United States and the United Kingdom. The site has 40 staffers in the U.K., 20 in New York covering U.S. and world news, and 10 in Los Angeles covering show business. Like the content, the audience is mostly separate from the Daily Mail’s: comScore reports that 36 percent of its traffic comes from the United States, compared to 27 percent from the U.K. The website’s American audience alone dwarfs the paper’s print circulation, which, at 2 million, is not shabby but certainly not among the world’s largest.
The Mail’s traffic surge shouldn’t be taken as a sign that tabloids have conquered stodgy broadsheets in the race for online market share. The New York Post is nowhere near the Times in traffic, nor are British tabloids like the Sun. For a legacy media organization, the Daily Mail is in a category of its own. Its singular success is the result of learning one lesson better than any of its competitors: To succeed on the Web, you can't just make a Web version of your print paper. You have to build a different product, geared to a different audience—one not bounded by geography or social class.
The Times has fared better than most newspapers in the Web age because its focus was national, even global, to begin with. Rather than seeking out an entirely new audience online, it has simply expanded the one it already had. And while it has mostly given up on the idea of a separate digital staff, it still differentiates its Web product by devoting plenty of resources to online-only content such as videos, interactive features, and blogs like FiveThirtyEight and Motherlode . That it remains so popular despite putting up a pay barrier last year is a testament to the site’s value.
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On the other hand, newspapers and magazines that have replicated their print product online have fared poorly. “Most legacy news organisations have just assumed that the web would automatically lap up their existing output,” the Mail Online’s Clarke told me via email. “We chose from the outset not to integrate our print and online teams.” The online team, he said, branched out in two directions: “both upmarket, in the sense that we do much more science and foreign news, for example, and downmarket, if you like, in that we also do more show business.” Or, as he told Buzzfeed, “We just do news that people want to read.”
You can disagree with the print Daily Mail’s virulent opposition to unsanctioned Gypsy settlements, but it's still original reporting guided by genuine values. The Mail Online, by contrast, is not immoral but amoral, driven less by politics than by profit motive. Original reporting, it has apparently decided, is an inefficient way to garner clicks.
The downside to this approach is that it’s not a good way to cultivate a loyal readership. But the new dynamics of Internet news have made this problem moot. Even if more readers make the Times their homepage—which is surely the case—the Mail can make up the difference via search and social-media traffic. Many American readers who don’t think they read the Mail Online probably do—just not on purpose.
The Times’ spokeswoman got flak for saying the Mail is "not in our competitive set." Though it came across as snooty, it has the benefit of being true. Despite its print roots, the Mail Online has more in common with Web natives like TMZ, MSN, and, especially, the Huffington Post, to which its homepage bears a striking resemblance. Put it in its proper category, and the Mail Online’s astronomical traffic numbers look more down to earth. It’s more popular than TMZ, but it overtook the Huffington Post only recently and still trails MSN News by about 10 million unique visitors. Meanwhile, the Times regains its rightful place as the world’s largest online newspaper.
Shifting around those categories doesn’t change the fact that the Mail Online is on the fast track to profitability while the New York Times Co. just reported yet another disappointing quarter .* That’s not a surprise: Writing and editing original journalism requires a lot more resources than rephrasing other papers’ stories or repeating gossip without checking the facts . The question, then, is not which type of online newspaper fares best. It’s whether any genuine news site can make money online. If not, the Web will soon belong to photos of Elton John’s pampered pooch.
*Correction, Feb. 6, 2012: This article originally stated that the Mail Online is "by most reckonings, wildly profitable." While exact figures aren't available, reports indicate that revenues are growing fast but have yet to surpass expenses, due to the cost of the website's recent editorial expansion in the United States.
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The New York Times
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What significant territory did President Richard Nixon call by telephone on 20 July 1969?
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YouTube & News | Pew Research Center
See a visual discussion of the findings.
On March 11, 2011, an earthquake registering 9.0 on the Richter scale struck the coast of northeastern Japan, triggering a tsunami that would kill more than 18,000 people and leave an estimated $180 billion in damage. The news media worldwide provided extensive coverage of the disaster and its aftermath, but millions of people also turned to the web to learn about the event on the video sharing website YouTube. [1]
In the seven days following the disaster (March 11-18), the 20 most viewed news-related videos on YouTube all focused on the tragedy-and were viewed more than 96 million times.
What people saw in these videos also represented a new kind of visual journalism. Most of that footage was recorded by citizen eyewitnesses who found themselves caught in the tragedy. Some of that video was posted by the citizens themselves. Most of this citizen-footage, however, was posted by news organizations incorporating user-generated content into their news offerings. The most watched video of all was shot by what appeared to be fixed closed-circuit surveillance camera at the Sendai airport.
The disaster in Japan was hardly a unique case. Worldwide YouTube is becoming a major platform for viewing news. In 2011 and early 2012, the most searched term of the month on YouTube was a news related event five out of 15 months, according to the company’s internal data.
What is the nature of news on YouTube? What types of events “go viral” and attract the most viewers? How does this agenda differ from that of the traditional news media? Do the most popular videos on YouTube tend to be videos produced by professional news organizations, by citizens or by political interest groups or governments? How long does people’s attention seem to last?
The Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism examined 15 months’ worth of the most popular news videos on the site (January 2011 to March 2012) [2] -some 260 different videos in all-by identifying and tracking the five most-viewed videos each week located in the “ news & politics ” channel of YouTube, analyzing the nature of the video, the topics that were viewed most often, who produced them and who posted them. [3]
The data reveal that a complex, symbiotic relationship has developed between citizens and news organizations on YouTube, a relationship that comes close to the continuous journalistic “dialogue” many observers predicted would become the new journalism online. Citizens are creating their own videos about news and posting them. They are also actively sharing news videos produced by journalism professionals. And news organizations are taking advantage of citizen content and incorporating it into their journalism. Consumers, in turn, seem to be embracing the interplay in what they watch and share, creating a new kind of television news.
At the same time, clear ethical standards have not developed on how to attribute the video content moving through the synergistic sharing loop. Even though YouTube offers guidelines on how to attribute content, it’s clear that not everyone follows them, and certain scenarios fall outside those covered by the guidelines. News organizations sometimes post content that was apparently captured by citizen eyewitnesses without any clear attribution as to the original producer. Citizens are posting copyrighted material without permission. And the creator of some material cannot be identified. All this creates the potential for news to be manufactured, or even falsified, without giving audiences much ability to know who produced it or how to verify it.
Among the key findings of this study:
The most popular news videos tended to depict natural disasters or political upheaval-usually featuring intense visuals. With a majority of YouTube traffic (70%) outside the U.S., the three most popular storylines worldwide over the 15-month period were non-U.S. events. The Japanese earthquake and tsunami was No. 1 (and accounted for 5% of all the 260 videos), followed by elections in Russia (5%) and unrest in the Middle East (4%).
News events are inherently more ephemeral than other kinds of information, but at any given moment news can outpace even the biggest entertainment videos. In 2011, news events were the most searched term on YouTube four months out of 12, according to YouTube’s internal data: the Japanese Earthquake, the killing of Osama bin Laden, a fatal motorcycle accident, and news of a homeless man who spoke with what those producing the video called a “god-given gift of voice.” Yet over time certain entertainment videos can have a cumulative appeal that will give them higher viewership.
Citizens play a substantial role in supplying and producing footage. More than a third of the most watched videos (39%) were clearly identified as coming from citizens. Another 51% bore the logo of a news organization, though some of that footage, too, appeared to have been originally shot by users rather than journalists. (5% came from corporate and political groups, and the origin of another 5% was not identified.)
Citizens are also responsible for posting a good deal of the videos originally produced by news outlets. Fully 39% of the news pieces originally produced by a news organization were posted by users. (The rest of the most popular news videos of the last 15 months, 61%, were posted by the same news organizations that produced the reports.) As with other social media, this has multiple implications for news outlets. Audiences on YouTube are reshaping the news agenda, but they are also offering more exposure to the content of traditional news outlets.
The most popular news videos are a mix of edited and raw footage. Some pundits of the digital revolution predicted that the public, free to choose, would prefer to see video that was unmediated by the press. The most viewed news videos on YouTube, however, come in various forms. More than half of the most-viewed videos, 58%, involved footage that had been edited, but a sizable percentage, 42%, was raw footage. This mix of raw and edited video, moreover, held true across content coming from news organizations and that produced by citizens. Of videos produced by news organizations, 65% were edited, but so were 39% of what came from citizens.
Personalities are not a main driver of the top news videos. No one individual was featured in even 5% of the most popular videos studied here-and fully 65% did not feature any individual at all. Within the small segment of popular videos that are focused on people, President Barack Obama was the most popular figure (featured in 4% of the top videos worldwide). These ranged from speeches posted in their entirety to satirical ads produced by his political opponents.
Unlike in traditional TV news, the lengths of the most popular news videos on YouTube vary greatly. The median length of the most popular news videos was 2 minutes and 1 second, which is longer than the median length of a story package on local TV news (41 seconds) but shorter than the median length on national network evening newscasts (2 minutes and 23 seconds). But the variation in the length of the YouTube videos stands out even more. While traditional news tends to follow strict formulas for length, the most popular news videos on YouTube were fairly evenly distributed-from under a minute (29%), one to two minutes (21%), two to five minutes (33%) and longer than five (18%). [4]
The news viewership on YouTube is probably still outpaced by the audience for news on conventional television worldwide. While those top 20 tsunami videos were viewed 96 million times worldwide the week of the disaster, for instance, more people almost certainly watched on local and national television around the globe. Twenty-two million people on average watch the evening news on the three broadcast channels each night in the United States alone, and larger numbers watch local TV newscasts.
But YouTube is a place where consumers can determine the news agenda for themselves and watch the videos at their own convenience-a form of “on demand” video news. In the case of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, audience interest continued for weeks. The disaster remained among the top-viewed news subjects for three straight weeks. Based on the most viewed videos each week listed by YouTube, it was also the biggest news story on the site for 2011.
For the news industry, the growth of YouTube and other video sharing sites represent a significant opportunity and also a challenge. News producers can use the site to grow their audience, find citizen-created videos, build their brand and generate revenue. At the same time, video-sharing sites are yet another platform they must understand-and to which they must adapt. For its part, YouTube (owned by Google) is developing partnerships with news organizations, including with the news service Reuters, in which the site provides Reuters with money to produce content unique to YouTube. But Company executives say they have no intention of getting into content creation, or moving into the news business. “YouTube is acting as a catalyst for the creation of new original content, by providing funds to content producers as advances against ad revenue,” YouTube’s News Manager Olivia Ma explains. [5] By whatever description, however, YouTube is becoming an important platform by which people acquire news.
Seven years after it was developed by three former employees of PayPal, the reach of YouTube is enormous. The video sharing site is now the third most visited destination online, behind only Google (which owns YouTube) and Facebook, based on data compiled by Netcraft , a British research service. According to the company’s own statistics , more than 72 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute. The site gets over 4 billion video views a day. Slightly under a third of those, 30%, come from the United States.
YouTube has also become a part of the lives of most Americans. Fully 71% of adults have used sites like YouTube or Vimeo at some time, according to a 2011 survey by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project. That is up from 66% in 2010. And 28% visit them daily.
Bought by Google in 2006 for $1.65 billion in stock, YouTube has moved from being a repository of videos to becoming a force that is investing in content creation (if not doing the creation themselves). In 2007, the company created a Partner Program , which shares revenues with content creators in order to encourage the production of more creative content. That program now has more than 1 million partners in 27 countries, including news organizations such as CBS, the BBC and National Geographic. In addition, the company has given direct grants to a smaller group of news content producers as a further way of promoting new ideas and production models.
So far, the approach from news organizations has been a blend of participation and resistance. Many news outlets have developed their own YouTube channels and are avidly posting content. The Associated Press , for example, created its channel in 2006 and now boasts more than 250,000 followers and more than a billion views of its videos. (A user becomes a follower of a YouTube channel by hitting the ‘subscribe’ button, which places updates from that channel on the user’s homepage.) The New York Times’ news channel has more than 78,000 followers while Russia Today has more than 280,000. Some news services, such as ABC News , put on YouTube many of the same stories that appear on their television channel.
Other news organizations have chosen a more cautious approach, including taking steps to keep content off the platform. One method for this is through a service offered within YouTube’s Content ID software. Partners of this program can send any of their copyrighted material to YouTube and have it blocked if it gets posted. (The Content ID program, with more than 3,000 members, also has other features companies can take part in such as revenue sharing.) [6]
Some content producers have combined both approaches, posting their own content but also blocking it from being viewed in certain countries. They may choose to do this for copyright preferences or to prevent certain content from being viewed in countries that might consider it culturally insensitive.
Some non-news organizations, including governments, have also attempted to restrict the availability of their content on YouTube, mostly for political reasons. In March 2009, for example, the government of Bangladesh blocked access to the site entirely after a recording of a private meeting between the Prime Minister and army officers was uploaded. The incident occurred two days after an attempted mutiny by border guards left more than 70 people dead. Government officials insisted it was in the country’s “national interest” to block the site and more videos might worsen the tense situation. China , Libya , Pakistan and Iran have also all attempted at one point or another to block YouTube content.
The evolving government and media policies toward YouTube make understanding the nature of what news content is on the site and which is most popular all the more important.
Footnotes
[1] According to the Project’s News Coverage Index, which measures the news agenda of the mainstream media, 57% of the newshole on radio, television, online and in print was devoted to the event the first week it happened. The NCI measures the content of more than 50 news outlets. Newshole is the time on cable, network and radio and space on newspaper front pages and in the top five stories on news websites
[2] PEJ tracked 295 news videos on YouTube during the 15-month period. However, 35 videos were removed from the site for a variety of reasons before the examination was completed, resulting in the overall sample of 260 videos.
[3] As with many settings on YouTube and other social networks, it is up to the person posting the video to choose the categoriztion or channel where each post will appear on the site. This study examines the most popular videos in the “news & politics” category of YouTube. What one person might categorize as “news and politics” another person might label as “science and entertainment” or “tech.” YouTube does not do any reclassifying on its own. One story not categorized as news was Kony2012 , which called for action against Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony. The video was posted in March 2012 and viewed more than 76 million times on YouTube in 10 days. But since it was labeled as “nonprofits & activism” it did not appear in the YouTube News and Politics channel and therefore is not part of the analysis. ( Click here for a detailed report by the Pew Research Center about the attention surrounding the Kony2012 video.)
[4] In comparison, the vast majority (76%) of packages on national network news were between 2 and 5 minutes. Less than 1% were longer than 5 minutes and 5% were under a minute.
[5] PEJ email correspondence, 6/28/2012.
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i don't know
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What spring 2012 Formula 1 Grand Prix was held amongst violent civil unrest?
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| Middle East , Bahrain , Denmark
Anti-government protesters have held several "days of rage" in the run-up to the racing event [Reuters]
Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel has won the Grand Prix in Bahrain while rage boiled beyond the track among protesters who say the ruling family that crushed Arab Spring demonstrations last year should not have hosted the race.
High security kept trouble well away from the track on Sunday, where Red Bull's 24-year-old driver had started in pole position, before securing the twenty-second triumph of his career, in a race that passed without incident.
As the race came to an end, protesters called for afternoon protests in the capital Manama's Pearl roundabout, the site of last year's unrest targeting the ruling al-Khalifa family.
Similar protests were held outside the London offices of Formula One chief, Bernie Ecclestone, with demonstrators chanting "down, down Bernie" and "shame on you Bernie".
Inside the circuit, however, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Manama said the crowd in the stands were largely foreign expatriates.
"It seems like Bahrainis themselves are choosing to stay away from their Grand Prix" said our correspondent, who cannot be named for security reasons.
Initial reports say attendance at the 45,000 capacity track had fallen through the floor.
Protests
Online reports say 10 female activists were able to make it into the circuit area itself before being arrested by police on site.
There were also reports of arrests of foreign journalists - two Japanese journalists covering protests, Colin Freeman, chief foreign correspondent for the Sunday Telegraph, along with his fixer, and a news team from Britain's Channel 4 news.
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Freeman's fixer, Mohammed Hassan, who had been detained for the second time in as many days, took to his twitter account following his release to send a message to the nation's Interior Ministry.
"I'm offering my service for free as a way to express my refusal for @moi_Bahrain continuous abuse, tell any jorno in need of help", said Hassan using the shorthand that has become synonymous with the popular micro-blogging service.
Opposition activist, Ala'a Shehabi, who had met with Ecclestone in London prior to this weekend's race has also been detained.
Protesters have also been calling for the release of detained Abdul Hadi al-Khawaja, who is on the 74th day of a hunger strike.
At a candlelight vigil in the village of Shakhurah, demonstrators were reported to be carrying pictures of al-Khawaja with them.
Khawaja's deteriorating health has raised fears that he may die in custody, but Bahrain's interior ministry said on Sunday that he was in "good health" and would meet Denmark's ambassador later in the day. Khawaja is a dual citizen of Bahrain and Denmark.
Political problems
Kalil al-Marzooq, a spokesman for al-Wefaq, the country's main opposition bloc, told Al Jazeera that Bahrainis felt the race was "not a big question".
"We have political problems. Especially the opposition itself ... [is] neutral about this event. We have people being killed. We have demands to return the power to the people rather than concentrating it on to the hands of the rulers," he said.
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Mansoor al Jamri, editor of the independent Al Wasat newspaper in Bahrain, said Sunday's race will be a "milestone in the history of the events that we have been going through since last year", but that the problem in Bahrain is not a matter of security.
Instead, Jamri says "the problem is about political demands ... stopping the divisive policies, the discrimination" in the Gulf kingdom.
King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, who was at the race, said that he wanted "to make clear my personal commitment to reform and reconciliation in our great country. The door is always open for sincere dialogue amongst all our people".
As the race got under way, security was tight in Manama, and its surrounding areas, with reports indicating that anti-government protests overnight have resulted in fresh clashes.
Our correspondent said "the highway on the way down to the race track is absolutely covered with police", and that in the villages outside the capital, it seemed as if a curfew had been put in place, with very few people out on the streets.
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Police fired tear gas and stun grenades at protesters, who responded by throwing stones and fire bombs while chanting slogans against the monarchy, AFP news agency reported.
Protests were reported to have been held in the villages of Malkiya, Karzakan, Sadad and Damistan.
Witnesses said the Sakhir circuit, where Sunday's race took place, was under complete lockdown, though protesters were briefly able to block some roads leading to the track by setting tyres and garbage on fire.
"The atmosphere [around the Grand Prix] is tense," said Al Jazeera's special correspondent, who we cannot name for security reasons, from Manama.
In Manama, police prevented planned protests at a central market, residents and witnesses said.
Dozens of armoured vehicles and security forces in riot gear were deployed along the road to the Bahrain International Circuit and around Manama. Activists said barbed wire was installed near some parts of the main highway.
Protester killed
The latest protests come a day after al-Wefaq, the country's main opposition bloc, said that a man had been found dead after clashes with riot police in the village of Shakhoura.
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Bahrain
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What major international leader was in 2010 officially given ranked status as a Hells Angel by his nation's 'high council' of bikers, with the name 'Abaddon'?
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| Sport , Formula One , US & Canada , Latin America , Bahrain
The championship title went down to the wire in Brazil with a duel between Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso [EPA]
Formula One fans have learned to expect the unexpected and 2012, despite Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull ending up as world champions for the third year in a row , was predictably unpredictable.
While Sebastien Loeb racked up a ninth successive championship with Citroen in rallying - an outcome that surprised absolutely nobody - and Audi won Le Mans for the 11th time in 13 years, followers of grand prix racing had a nail biting ride right to the end.
This was the year of eight different winners, an unprecedented seven of them in the first seven races, from six separate teams who spent months getting to grips with the Pirelli tyres.
Unprecedented start
Vettel becoming, at 25, the sport's youngest triple champion was an easy prediction to make at the end of 2011 when the German ran away with his second title and Red Bull were dominant.
It looked less likely as the sport headed off for its summer break and, after 13 rounds of a record 20-race season, Vettel still had only one victory to his credit and was 42 points off the lead.
"People were not even mentioning us when they were talking about the championship, but I think the most important thing was that we always kept believing," the German said after being taken down to the wire in Brazil in a duel with Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.
Alonso, driving the wheels off an ugly car that had been painfully slow out of the box, was - against all expectation - comfortably clear of the rest as the championship entered its second half.
Even if Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone held up Vettel as a new benchmark for the sport, team principals voted Alonso their driver of the season and the Spaniard had no doubt about what he had done in a car he knew was not the fastest.
"It was by far the best season of my career and I will remember this 2012 like some dream season," said the man who won two titles with Renault in 2005 and 2006.
The Spaniard's win in rain-hit Malaysia, the second race of the season, was a stunning result considering how far off the pace Ferrari had been in testing and in the Australian opener.
Alonso, lucky to escape unhurt after Romain Grosjean's Lotus skimmed past his head in Belgium in an incident that got the Frenchman banned for a race, and Vettel were the main men in a field of six champions - five of them race winners in 2012.
There were few gasps of surprise when seven times world champion Michael Schumacher, three years into an unimpressive comeback with Mercedes and six years on from his last win with Ferrari, decided to call it a day for the second time at the age of 43.
There were rather more when 2008 champion Lewis Hamilton cut the umbilical cord with super-successful McLaren and signed for Mercedes , whose otherwise bleak year was illuminated only by their first win as a works team since 1955.
That bombshell was comparable to the shock in MotoGP when Australian Casey Stoner announced in May that he was calling it a day at the age of 26 because he had fallen out of love with the sport.
Spain's Jorge Lorenzo won that title with Yamaha, the second of his career.
Surprise announcements
Hamilton surprised many by announcing his move to Mercedes, where he will replace the retiring Michael Schumacher [Reuters]
Hamilton leaving McLaren for a far less successful team would have been dismissed by many at the end of 2011, and they might have scoffed also at the idea of Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado winning the Spanish Grand Prix for Williams – whose chairman Adam Parr had resigned only weeks after being lined up as founder Frank Williams' heir apparent.
How many would have expected Mercedes to dominate the Chinese Grand Prix or for Jenson Button, winning the first and last races of the year, to end up scoring more points than Hamilton over their three year McLaren partnership? But he did.
There would have been few bets on Ferrari academy youngster Sergio Perez ending the season, after the Mexican had celebrated three podium finishes for mid-table Sauber, with a McLaren contract in his pocket.
The United States returned to the calendar in Austin, the Texan capital that prides itself on being weird and showed it by taking foreign Formula One to its heart in a country more enamoured of NASCAR and oval racing.
Some locals were doubtless more interested in NASCAR's final weekend at Homestead, which clashed with the Austin race, that saw Brad Keselowski winning his first Sprint Cup title with Dodge and denying Jimmie Johnson a sixth championship.
American motorsports fans also had an emotional triple winner to acclaim when Scotland's Dario Franchitti triumphed in the Indy 500, a year on from his late friend Dan Wheldon.
Bahrain defied international condemnation and put on a race that many had expected to be cancelled due to civil unrest and violent anti-government protests.
That race, that saw the sport's ethics and values questioned on front pages around the world, ultimately troubled Ecclestone far less than a court case in Germany, increasing legal actions elsewhere and the shelving of advanced plans to float the sport in Singapore.
At 82, the British billionaire still had a spring in his step after marrying Brazilian Fabiana Flosi, his 35-year-old third wife.
Maldonado surprise
Barcelona, the most predictable race on the calendar, produced a 500-1 winner in Maldonado while Valencia and Abu Dhabi, both yawn-fests in the past, turned out to be thrillers.
The latter race even delivered one of the quotes of the championship from winner Kimi Raikkonen.
"Leave me alone. I know what I'm doing," the Finn told his Lotus team over the radio as they offered advice he felt he could do without.
The sport welcomed its first woman team principal when Monisha Kaltenborn took over the reins from Peter Sauber and shuddered at the freak testing accident that cost Marussia's female Spanish tester Maria De Villota the use of an eye as well as inflicting horrific injuries.
If at the start of the season, the smart money would have been on Vettel and Hamilton fighting for the title with Red Bull's design genius Adrian Newey likely to come out on top, next year promises to be different.
Even if Vettel again looks the man to beat in a season where the cars will be very similar - if more attractive due to 'modesty panels' allowed to cover up the broken, stepped noses - Hamilton may have to wait until 2014 before he gets a truly competitive car again.
That will give Button a real chance as McLaren's most experienced driver, while Alonso can be counted on to fight all the way and Raikkonen will be doing what he knows how to do after an impressive comeback season.
Unless, of course, the unexpected happens.
Source: Reuters
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i don't know
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Bratwurst is a greatly varying German food made mainly of?
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German Food
German Food
Well, you've come to the right place.
We're the #1 online merchant for German food, gifts, deli items, and groceries here in the USA.
By Inga Bowyer , President, GermanDeli.com
Legendary Bratwurst
Say the word "bratwurst" to an American and most picture a chubby sausage done to perfection on the grill. But add the word "Nuernberger" in front of the word "bratwurst and most Americans get a puzzled look. Germans or American who lived in Germany, however, get a gleam of sheer delight in their eyes and demand to know, Where?!
German law dictates that to carry a food label marked "Nuernberger Bratwurst" in Germany the bratwurst can't exceed a certain size (slightly larger than a breakfast sausage), must be made using a certain age-old recipe, and must be produced within the city limits of Nuernberg, Germany. No variations are tolerated in Germany.
After all, there's a legend surrounding why these delectable sausages must look and taste as they do. The legend includes dungeons, keyholes, a medieval city, and faithful friends and loved-ones To check out these authentic German bratwurst and to read more about the legend, please click here .
Cheese
European and German cheeses are sought-after for their outstanding quality and versatility. From the most firm to soft and softest and creamiest, these cheeses highlight an elaborate dinner or a humble supper.
Flavors range from mild and buttery to bold and pungent. There are texture choices for your every preference, from firm to spreadable and everything in-between. As a savory appetizer or as a sweet dessert, you’ll find a cheese to match your craving. Click here to browse our cheese selection.
German Baked Apples using an "Apfelbräter"
Germans welcome autumn with many fine traditions, not the least of which is baking apples in a special ceramic baker called an “Apfelbräter”. It’s the perfect way to cook the apples so that all the delicious flavors from the apples along with the fillings you add can be captured within the apple baker.
When there is a little nip in the air in fall or winter and even through the springtime, it’s so easy to fill your house with the smell of apples baking and topped off by the aroma of fillings that can include combinations of cinnamon, sugar, raisins, marzipan, chocolate, hazelnut spread, butter, vanilla, any variety of nuts, and/or your favorite apple brandy.
The possibilities are truly endless, but the results are all the same: a delicious treat that takes full advantage of the apple harvest. For recipes and more information click here.
Summer Salads
German families celebrate the sunshiny days of June with a vast array of cool food options. Summer salads are king on every German table. Thinly-sliced cucumbers are tossed in dressings made of oil, vinegar, dill, and spices for a savory salad that is often enhanced with sour cream or yogurt for extra tang.
Cold cuts, like German ring bologna, are often used to make salads that are protein-rich and require absolutely no cooking. Folks in the Northern half of Germany tend to favor mayonnaise-based salads and Germans closer to Bavaria, where temperatures are typically warmer, lean a bit more toward salads that get their zip from vinegar.
Try this hot weather German favorite: Spread a slice of hearty German rye bread with a little butter. Add freshly-sliced tomatoes. Sprinkled with diced onions and garnished with chopped chives. Add salt and pepper to taste. Your kitchen stays cool and your stomach will love you.
What is Wiener-Schnitzel?
Traditional Wiener-Schnitzel (Wienerschnitzel) is a thin cutlet of veal coated in flour, egg, and breading, which is then sauteed in oil and butter until crispy. However, Germans and Europeans discovered, a long time ago, the joy of occasionally substituting veal with other cuts of meat like pork, poultry (chicken or turkey breast) and even game meats.
In Austria the term "Wienerschnitzel" is protected by law and specifies "veal" as the meat to be used. So when you use any other meat for this dish it is proper to refer to it as "Vienna-style pork (chicken, venison, etc.) schnitzel". On a menu in Europe you might find it listed as: "Schweineschnitzel (Huenerschnitzel, Rehschnitzel, etc) nach Wiener art".
A squirt of fresh lemon can enhance a Wiener-Schnitzel or any type of breaded schnitzel, but also try topping the Schnitzel different ways. For Jaegerschnitzel add a rich "hunter's sauce" with mushrooms. For Rahmschnitzel use a luscious cream sauce. Add a sunny-side up egg to create Schnitzel a la Holstein.
German Sauerkraut
Any conversation about German cuisine is likely to include praise for “Sauerkraut” as a side dish to compliment many classic German meals.Savory sauerkraut is a perfect counterbalance to the richness of pork roasts, beef pot roasts, sausages, or game meats.
Sauerkraut is basically fermented white cabbage, using centuries-old techniques for preserving cabbage.Shredded cabbage is layered with salt with pressure applied to release the juices. For the popular German “wine sauerkraut” white wine is added during fermentation, adding another depth of flavor and making the sauerkraut mellow and savory.
While sauerkraut can be eaten straight from the can or jar (cold or hot), most Germans prefer to take the sauerkraut to another level. Slow cooking with one or more of the following can greatly enhance the flavor sauerkraut: Bacon bits rendered until crispy, chopped onions sautéed in bacon grease or oil, a bay leaf or two, a few juniper berries, ground black pepper, and/or caraway seeds.It’s important to note that while cooking the sauerkraut must not be allowed to dry out or scorch.Add water, white wine, or broth as needed to retain moisture. Click for purchasing information.
Schweinehaxen (pork shanks)
Succulent pork, kept moist and flavorful in a cushion of thick, crispy pork skin. There’s no doubt that this classic dish has been around since humans first discovered the fine art of roasting. In Germany, you will often see Schweinehaxen roasting in giant rotisseries at the fairgrounds or in restaurants. However, it’s also an easy dish to prepare at home.
A pork shank, placed into a roasting pan (large-side down) and roasted in an oven at 350°F for four hours is all it takes. We recommend adding at least a half inch of water or beer to the bottom of the pan. The liquid catches the fat that renders from the shank during cooking, and can be later used to create a rich sauce, if you wish.
So, how will you know when your Schweinehaxe is ready to serve? 1) The skin will be hard and deep brown. 2) The meat will have pulled away from the bone. 3) Your house will smell amazing. 4) About four hours will have passed since you put it into your oven. 5) A meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the shank will register at least 160°F. One shank can serve between one and 3 people, depending on the size of the shank and the appetite of the eater(s). Click for more info
German Gingerbread (Lebkuchen)
No Christmas (Weihnachten) season in Germany is complete without these aromatic cookie specialties made with exotic spices like ginger, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, pepper, etc. These spices are combined with varying degrees of sugar, or honey, or molasses, as well as citrus, dried fruits and a variety of nuts. Sometimes crispy or chewy, often soft and delicate, these cookies can be covered in a sugar or chocolate glaze, or left plain. They are sometimes decorated with fruits and nuts.
Germans have honed the art of Gingerbread-baking to a fine art. Soft cookie batters are often placed on edible wafers, not unlike Communion wafers to help keep the cookie from falling apart during baking.
“Lebkuchen” literally means “life cake” and variations are often unique to certain towns or regions in Germany. And every town offers versions of the classic German Gingerbread house, so beautifully described in the German fairytale of “Hansel and Gretel”.
At festivals in Germany, regardless of the time of year, vendors sell giant heart-shaped versions of a crispy Lebkuchen, each one hand-decorated in fancy icing piped onto the cookie to convey messages of endearment or seasonal sentiments. Fest-goers wear them on ribbons tied around their necks.
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Meat
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Jurisprudence is the theory/philosophy of what?
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Typical food - Switzerland Tourism
Typical food
5 Stars
Swiss cuisine combines influences from the German, French and North Italian cuisine. However, it varies greatly from region to region with the language divisions constituting a rough boundary outline. Mind you, many dishes have crossed the local borders and become firm favourites throughout Switzerland. These dishes include, among others:
Cheese fondue
Melted cheese with bread cubes. The bread cubes are picked up on the fork and swivelled in the melted cheese, which is served in a traditional ceramic fondue pot called ‘caquelon’.
Raclette
Melted cheese served with "Gschwellti" (jacket potatoes), cocktail gherkins and onions as well as pickled fruit.
Älplermagronen
A kind of gratin with potatoes, macaroni, cheese, cream and onions. And most importantly, stewed apple on the side.
Rösti
A flat, hot cake made of grated, cooked jacket or raw potatoes and fried in hot butter or fat. The dish is bound by nothing apart from the starch contained in the potatoes.
Birchermüesli
Developed around about 1900 by the Swiss doctor Maximilian Oskar Bircher-Brenner, it contains oat flakes, lemon juice, condensed milk, grated apples, hazelnuts or almonds.
Swiss chocolate
Chocolate came to Europe in the course of the 16th century, by the 17th century at the very latest it became known and was produced in Switzerland as well. In the second half of the 19th century Swiss chocolate started to gain a reputation abroad. The invention of milk chocolate by Daniel Peter as well as the development of conching (fondant chocolate) by Rodolphe Lindt were closely connected with the rise of Swiss chocolate's renown. But Switzerland not only exported chocolate, its chocolatiers went abroad as well and their names remain well-known to this day: the Josty brothers, who opened their famous chocolate shop in Berlin or Salomon Wolf and Tobias Béranger who ran the famous Café Chinois in St. Petersburg. The Cloetta brothers opened chocolate factories in Scandinavia while Karl Fazer established the first confectionary shop in Helsinki; later this developed into the Cloetta-Fazer brand. Even Belgian chocolate has Swiss roots: Jean Neuhaus opened a confectionary shop in Brussels and his son Frédéric in 1912 invented the praline chocolate. To find out more about Swiss chocolate visit Verbands Schweizerischer Schokoladefabrikanten.
Swiss cheese
One could quite easily explore Switzerland travelling from cheese dairy to cheese dairy. Each area of the country, each region has its own types of cheese – the diversity of products created from one single base ingredient – good Swiss milk – is quite astonishing! Such as, for example, the soft and melting Vacherin cheese. The aromatic Appenzeller. The full-flavoured Sbrinz. The Emmentaler, famous for its big holes. The world-famous Gruyère. Or the Tête de Moine which is shaved into decorative rosettes. All of these – and their round about 450 other cheese siblings – make a fondue, a raclette, an «afternoon snack platter» a culinary experience. By the way, the stalls of farmers and cheese merchants at the weekly markets are a true treasure trove. Many of the cheeses sold there come straight from the Alpine pastures and are cut from the wheel. The many demonstration cheese dairies and Alpine cheese cellars are also well worth a visit.
Specialities from different regions
Romandie (French-speaking Switzerland)
d Saucissons, raw pork sausages to cook at home, are popular throughout French-speaking Switzerland. These are served either poached or cooked on vegetables (Papé Vaudois). Cheese fondue, raclette and Croute au fromage - a Swiss version of cheese on toast (Valais) also come from the French-speaking part of Switzerland and these days are well known throughout Switzerland. Then there is a kind of vegetable tart called Cholera – which hails from the Valais. Apparently it owes its name to the fact that it was created as a result of the hardship during a cholera epidemic. Fish dishes are popular around lakes Geneva, Neuchâtel and Biel with powan, perch and trout being the most commonly served. On the shores of Lake Biel in particular, saucissons containing spent grain and cooked in distilling kettles feature on the menu. Dessert Gâteau du Vully (cream tart) and Moutarde de Bénichon (very sweet mustard) are popular specialities which, like the Cuchole (typical saffron bread), both originate from the canton of Fribourg as does the. The Bénichon Fete which takes place in autumn offers the perfect opportunity to enjoy the specialities of this region.
Appenzellerland
The Appenzeller „Biberli“ is a gingerbread which is pressed into a wooden mould to make it look like a picture. Other specialities the Appenzell is famous for include: Appenzeller cheese, the Appenzeller cheese tart and the Appenzeller scalded sausages. In terms of drinks, the Appenzeller Alpenbitter is famous throughout Switzerland.
St. Gallen
The OLMA bratwurst comes from St. Gallen and gets its name from the Swiss Agricultural and Food Fair St. Gall called OLMA. It is considered the nation’s favourite sausage for barbecuing or frying. True connoisseurs know that this sausage is best eaten without mustard because this allows the full aroma of the meat to unfold. In fact, people from Eastern Switzerland generally consider it an insult if the sausage is eaten with mustard. Bratwurst connoisseurs recommend picking the sausage up in the hand to eat it rather than using a knife and fork. All you need with it is some bread, ideally a traditional "Bürli" roll. The barbecue sausage is not only available during the OLMA fair but is omnipresent at other times and in other places too, such as at fairs, barbecue parties and sausage stalls. But the bratwurst takes on yet another guise when it is fried with rösti in a pan to create the highly traditional bratwurst with onion sauce dish. Experts estimate that an unbelievable 45 million bratwursts are devoured in Switzerland per year. That equals an impressive 6.5 sausages per head per year. The St. Galler Schüblig, another sausage, is also popular.
Bern
Bern is famous for its wholesome Berner Platte – a sumptuous dish containing a variety of meat and sausages such as beef, smoked pork and beef tongue, smoked belly of pork, smoked pork chops, pork shoulder, knuckle of pork, tongue sausage and pigs ears or tails which are cooked with juniper-spiced sauerkraut, pickled turnips, green and/or dried beans (shukky beans) and boiled potatoes on a large platter. The traditional Zibelechueche (onion tart) is associated with the Zibelemärit (onion market), which takes place every year in November. The Bernese Haselnusslebkuchen (hazelnut gingerbread) is in fact not really a gingerbread at all as it doesn’t contain many of the typical gingerbread ingredients. Honey, for example, is added to hazelnut gingerbread in very modest amounts, if at all, and of the many exotic spices which are normally contained in gingerbread, the Bernese speciality only features cinnamon. As a matter of fact, the Bernese Haselnusslebkuchen is created without a grain of flour or drop of water. Instead the sweet pastry consists of an aromatic dough made of ground hazelnuts, sugar and egg white. The sweet Meitschibei biscuit is also made with hazelnuts. Meringues, usually with a generous helping of whipped cream are served as a dessert throughout the canton of Bern.
Basel
Basel counts Basler flour soup which is traditionally served during the carnival (Fasnacht) with cheese and onion tart as well as suuri Lääberli (sour, liver strips) and sweet Basler Leckerli, small, relatively hard gingerbread biscuits with a delicious sugar icing among its most best-known dishes. Mässmogge are colourful thumb-length sweets filled with a brown hazelnut mixture. Mässmögge are a regional and seasonal speciality of the City of Basel. However, they are also sold at other Swiss fetes and fairs as well. The Mässmogge season reaches its climax at the Basel Autumn Fair (Basler Herbstmesse) at the end of October.
Zurich and Zug
Zürcher Geschnetzelte, a veal dish, sometimes also containing veal liver and mushrooms, served with a cream sauce and rösti is well-known throughout Switzerland. Hüppen are biscuits rolled into a tube shape and usually filled with a chocolate mixture. Hüppen are part of the wafer family, many types of which are common in Switzerland. Other wafer biscuits associated with Zurich are Offleten. They are made of an equally brittle, extremely thin pastry but are disc-shaped and consequently not filled. They are the opposite to soft waffles which are best eaten warm. At Christmas Tirggel, dry honey biscuits, baked in special picture moulds are available in Zurich. The Zuger Kirschtorte is a round, approximately five-centimetre high cake consisting of a biscuit centre which is soaked in kirsch and placed between two short japonaise layers. Inside the cake, two thin layers of butter cream contain the kirsch. Butter cream is also spread over the top and sides or the cake. In terms of taste, the Zuger Kirschtorte is delicate, creamy and crunchy with the flavour of kirsch and butter cream dominating. As the name suggests, the Zuger Kirschtorte comes from Zug. It is made in many cake shops throughout Switzerland, mainly on a commercial basis as making this speciality is very elaborate.
Central Switzerland
Well-known and popular throughout Switzerland, Älplermagronen (macaroni, potatoes, cheese, cream and roasted onions) hail from Central Switzerland as do a whole variety of cheese dishes. Also famous are Luzerner Chügelipastete (a vol-au-vent filled with sausage meat balls in a white sauce), stews such as Hafenchabis (lamb or pork stew with cabbage) and Stunggis (pork and vegetable stew). Sbrinz is an extra-hard, full fat cheese made of raw milk. A wheel of Sbrinz weighs between 25 and 45 kilograms. This cheese is „blind“, i.e. it doesn’t have any holes, and is slightly brittle which makes it particularly suitable for grating. Its flavour is a little salty and full-bodied. Sbrinz is quite simply the quintessential cheese of Central Switzerland, a fact born out by the area it is produced in which includes the cantons of Lucerne, Schwyz, Obwalden and Nidwalden as well as Zug. Sbrinz is also produced in a small number of locations in the Oberaargau and the canton of Bern. The extra hard cheese is sold in shops and at wholesalers throughout Switzerland. Frying cheese is a full fat semi-hard cheese. A wheel weights between 750 grammes to 1.1 kilograms. It has a mild flavour and typically has a slightly sour aroma. Frying cheese is common in the cantons of Obwalden and Nidwalden where it is regarded as a local speciality. Meanwhile it is almost exclusively produced in Obwalden and Nidwalden valley cheese dairies from pasteurised milk. In the Unterwalden mountains however, cheese makers use raw milk.
Ticino
Polenta, a maize puree which in this area is mixed with cheese and served as a main dish or accompaniment (typically, for example, with rabbit cut into strips) comes from the Ticino. During the winter months, Marroni (sweet chestnuts) are available throughout Switzerland. They are sold either roasted and hot at the roadside or in form of vermicelli (cooked, mixed with sugar and then forced through a press to create a spaghetti effect) as a dessert. A whole range of products made with chestnuts are available at the many chestnut fetes in the Ticino. These include bread, pasta, praline chocolates, spreads etc. The cylinder-shaped Zincarlìn is a typical fresh cheese from the Valle di Muggio. It is made from cows or cows and goats milk and seasoned with black pepper. It has to ripen for two months in a natural cellar before going on sale. Amaretti are delicious, small Italian macaroons made of whipped egg white, sugar, ground almonds and/or apricot kernels. They rise a lot during baking and turn into wonderfully airy and crunchy biscuits. Gazosa is a clear, non-alcoholic, sweetened fizzy lemonade from Italy and the canton of Ticino. From the Misox, south of the Alps, hails the Gazosa “La Fiorenzana”. It owes its name to a medieval tower in Grono. Right next to it, the Ponzio-Tonna family has been producing its fruity drinks following original recipes since 1921. The original lemonade is available in eight flavours nowadays. Gazosa is extremely popular throughout Switzerland – particularly in fashionable bars.
Grisons
Pizzoccheri (a stew made with buckwheat pasta and a variety of vegetables and cheese), Capuns (rolls made of chard or cos lettuce and filled with Spätzle dough), Maluns (grated potatoes mixed with flour and cooked slowly in butter), Churer meat tart and Birnbrot (a thin layer of bread dough filled with a mixture of fruit, nuts and dough) are all typical Grisons dishes. Then there is the Grisons barley soup(with bacon), the Plain in Pigna (a kind of rösti with bacon and sausage) and, last but not least, the Bündnerfleisch (an air-dried raw salt meat made from beef leg. It is usually rectangular, of a firm consistency and a deep red colour in the centre). A true culinary showpiece and export hit is the Bündner Nusstorte (short crust tart with a nut filling) which is not to be confused with the Engadiner Torte (layered cake with two to three thing shortcrust layers, vanilla butter cream and Florentine top).
Culinary heritage of Switzerland
The association Kulinarisches Erbe der Schweiz (Culinary Heritage of Switzerland) was founded in 2004 and from 2004 to 2009 for the first time gathered details of the production, features and historical background of traditional foods of Switzerland across cantonal and regional boundaries. To date approximately 400 products have been researched and published in an inventory.
*All prices are in Swiss Francs and correct at time of print. Prices shown in currencies other than Swiss Francs are guideline prices only and subject to exchange rate variations. All programmes and prices are subject to change without prior notice.
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Hyponatremia/hyponatraemia is an unhelpful reduction of what element in human blood serum?
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Part 10.1: Life-Threatening Electrolyte Abnormalities | Circulation
2005 American Heart Association Guidelines for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care
Part 10.1: Life-Threatening Electrolyte Abnormalities
Electrolyte abnormalities are commonly associated with cardiovascular emergencies. These abnormalities may cause or contribute to cardiac arrest and may hinder resuscitative efforts. In some cases therapy for life-threatening electrolyte disorders should be initiated before laboratory results become available.
Potassium (K+)
The magnitude of the potassium gradient across cell membranes determines excitability of nerve and muscle cells, including the myocardium. Rapid or significant changes in the serum potassium concentration can have life-threatening consequences.
Evaluation of serum potassium must consider the effects of changes in serum pH. When serum pH falls, serum potassium rises because potassium shifts from the cellular to the vascular space. When serum pH rises, serum potassium falls because potassium shifts from the vascular space into the cells. Effects of pH changes on serum potassium should be anticipated during therapy for hyperkalemia or hypokalemia and during any therapy that may cause changes in serum pH (eg, treatment of diabetic ketoacidosis).
Hyperkalemia
Although hyperkalemia is defined as a serum potassium concentration >5 mEq/L, it is moderate (6 to 7 mEq/L) and severe (>7 mEq/L) hyperkalemia that are life-threatening and require immediate therapy. Hyperkalemia is most commonly seen in patients with end-stage renal disease. Other causes are listed in the Table . Many medications can contribute to the development of hyperkalemia. Identification of potential causes of hyperkalemia will contribute to rapid identification and treatment. 1–3
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TABLE. Common Causes of Hyperkalemia
Signs and symptoms of hyperkalemia include weakness, ascending paralysis, and respiratory failure. A variety of electrocardiographic (ECG) changes suggest hyperkalemia. Early findings include peaked T waves (tenting). As the serum potassium rises further, flattened P waves, prolonged PR interval (first-degree heart block), widened QRS complex, deepened S waves, and merging of S and T waves can be seen. If hyperkalemia is left untreated, a sine-wave pattern, idioventricular rhythms, and asystolic cardiac arrest may develop.
Treatment of Hyperkalemia
The treatment of hyperkalemia is determined by its severity and the patient’s clinical condition. Stop sources of exogenous potassium administration (eg, consider supplements and maintenance IV fluids) and evaluate drugs that can increase serum potassium (eg, potassium-sparing diuretics, angiotensin-converting enzyme [ACE] inhibitors, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents). Additional treatment is based on the severity of the hyperkalemia and its clinical consequences. The following sequences list the treatments for hyperkalemia in order of priority.
For mild elevation (5 to 6 mEq/L), remove potassium from the body with
Diuretics: furosemide 40 to 80 mg IV
Resins: Kayexalate 15 to 30 g in 50 to 100 mL of 20% sorbitol either orally or by retention enema
For moderate elevation (6 to 7 mEq/L), shift potassium intracellularly with
Glucose plus insulin: mix 25 g (50 mL of D50) glucose and 10 U regular insulin and give IV over 15 to 30 minutes
Sodium bicarbonate: 50 mEq IV over 5 minutes (sodium bicarbonate alone is less effective than glucose plus insulin or nebulized albuterol, particularly for treatment of patients with renal failure; it is best used in conjunction with these medications 4,5 )
Nebulized albuterol: 10 to 20 mg nebulized over 15 minutes
For severe elevation (>7 mEq/L with toxic ECG changes), you need to shift potassium into the cells and eliminate potassium from the body. Therapies that shift potassium will act rapidly but they are temporary; if the serum potassium rebounds you may need to repeat those therapies. In order of priority, treatment includes the following:
Shift potassium into cells:
Calcium chloride (10%): 500 to 1000 mg (5 to 10 mL) IV over 2 to 5 minutes to reduce the effects of potassium at the myocardial cell membrane (lowers risk of ventricular fibrillation [VF])
Sodium bicarbonate: 50 mEq IV over 5 minutes (may be less effective for patients with end-stage renal disease)
Glucose plus insulin: mix 25 g (50 mL of D50) glucose and 10 U regular insulin and give IV over 15 to 30 minutes
Nebulized albuterol: 10 to 20 mg nebulized over 15 minutes 5–7
Promote potassium excretion:
5. Diuresis: furosemide 40 to 80 mg IV
6. Kayexalate enema: 15 to 50 g plus sorbitol PO or per rectum
7. Dialysis
Hypokalemia
Hypokalemia is defined as a serum potassium level <3.5 mEq/L. The most common causes of low serum potassium are gastrointestinal loss (diarrhea, laxatives), renal loss (hyperaldosteronism, severe hyperglycemia, potassium-depleting diuretics, carbenicillin, sodium penicillin, amphotericin B), intracellular shift (alkalosis or a rise in pH), and malnutrition.
The major consequences of severe hypokalemia result from its effects on nerves and muscles (including the heart). The myocardium is extremely sensitive to the effects of hypokalemia, particularly if the patient has coronary artery disease or is taking a digitalis derivative. Symptoms of mild hypokalemia are weakness, fatigue, paralysis, respiratory difficulty, constipation, paralytic ileus, and leg cramps; more severe hypokalemia will alter cardiac tissue excitability and conduction. Hypokalemia can produce ECG changes such as U waves, T-wave flattening, and arrhythmias (especially if the patient is taking digoxin), particularly ventricular arrhythmias. Pulseless electrical activity or asystole may develop.
Treatment of Hypokalemia
The treatment of hypokalemia consists of minimizing further potassium loss and providing potassium replacement. IV administration of potassium is indicated when arrhythmias are present or hypokalemia is severe (potassium level of <2.5 mEq/L). Gradual correction of hypokalemia is preferable to rapid correction unless the patient is clinically unstable.
Administration of potassium may be empirical in emergent conditions. When indicated, the maximum amount of IV potassium replacement should be 10 to 20 mEq/h with continuous ECG monitoring during infusion. A more concentrated solution of potassium may be infused if a central line is used, but the tip of the catheter used for the infusion should not extend into the right atrium.
If cardiac arrest from hypokalemia is imminent (ie, malignant ventricular arrhythmias are present), rapid replacement of potassium is required. Give an initial infusion of 10 mEq IV over 5 minutes; repeat once if needed. Document in the patient’s chart that rapid infusion is intentional in response to life-threatening hypokalemia.
Sodium (Na+)
Sodium is the major intravascular ion that influences serum osmolality. An acute increase in serum sodium will produce an acute increase in serum osmolality; an acute decrease in serum sodium will produce an acute fall in serum osmolality.
Sodium concentration and osmolality in the intravascular and interstitial spaces equilibrate across the vascular membrane. Acute changes in serum sodium will produce free water shifts into and out of the vascular space until osmolality equilibrates in these compartments. An acute fall in serum sodium will produce an acute shift of free water from the vascular into the interstitial space and may cause cerebral edema. 8,9 An acute rise in serum sodium will produce an acute shift of free water from the interstitial to the vascular space. Rapid correction of hyponatremia has been associated with development of pontine myelinolysis and cerebral bleeding. 10–12 For these reasons, monitor neurologic function closely in the patient with hypernatremia or hyponatremia, particularly during correction of these conditions. Whenever possible, correct serum sodium slowly, carefully controlling the total change in serum sodium over 48 hours and avoiding overcorrection. 13,14
Hypernatremia
Hypernatremia is defined as a serum sodium concentration >145 to 150 mEq/L. It may be caused by a primary gain in Na+ or excess loss of water. Gains in sodium can result from hyperaldosteronism (excess mineralocorticoid), Cushing’s syndrome (excess glucocorticoid), or excessive hypertonic saline or sodium bicarbonate administration. Loss of free water can result from gastrointestinal losses or renal excretion (eg, osmotic diuresis or diabetes insipidus).
Hypernatremia may cause neurologic symptoms such as altered mental status, weakness, irritability, focal neurologic deficits, and even coma or seizures. The severity of symptoms is determined by the speed and magnitude of the change in serum sodium concentration.
Treatment of Hypernatremia
Treatment of hypernatremia includes reduction of ongoing water losses (by treating the underlying cause) and correction of the water deficit. For stable, asymptomatic patients, replacement of fluid by mouth or through a nasogastric tube is effective and safe.
In hypovolemic patients the extracellular fluid (ECF) volume is typically restored with normal saline or a 5% dextrose in half-normal saline solution to prevent a rapid fall in the serum sodium concentration. Avoid D5W because it will reduce the serum sodium too rapidly. During rehydration, monitor serum sodium closely to ensure a gradual fall (and prevent rapid fall) in serum sodium.
The quantity of water needed to correct hypernatremia can be calculated by using the following equation:
Total body water is approximately 50% of lean body weight in men and 40% of lean body weight in women. For example, if a 70-kg man had a serum Na+ level of 160 mEq/L, the estimated free water deficit would be
Once the free water deficit is calculated, administer fluid to lower serum sodium at a rate of 0.5 to 1 mEq/h with a decrease of no more than approximately 12 mEq/L in the first 24 hours and the remainder over the next 48 to 72 hours.
Hyponatremia
Hyponatremia is defined as a serum sodium concentration <130 to 135 mEq/L. It is caused by an excess of water relative to sodium. Most cases of hyponatremia are caused by reduced renal excretion of water with continued water intake or by loss of sodium in the urine. Impairment of renal water excretion may be caused by
Use of thiazide diuretics
ECF depletion (eg, vomiting with continued water intake)
Syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone (SIADH) secretion
Edematous states (eg, congestive heart failure, cirrhosis with ascites)
Hypothyroidism
Adrenal insufficiency
Most cases of hyponatremia are associated with low serum osmolality (so-called hypo-osmolar hyponatremia). The one common exception to this is in uncontrolled diabetes, in which hyperglycemia leads to a hyperosmolar state despite a serum sodium that is below normal (hyperosmolar hyponatremia).
Hyponatremia is usually asymptomatic unless it is acute or severe (<120 mEq/L). An abrupt fall in serum sodium produces a free water shift from the vascular to the interstitial space that can cause cerebral edema. In this case the patient may present with nausea, vomiting, headache, irritability, lethargy, seizures, coma, or even death.
Treatment of Hyponatremia
Treatment of hyponatremia involves administration of sodium and elimination of intravascular free water. If SIADH is present, the treatment is restriction of fluid intake to 50% to 66% of estimated maintenance fluid requirement. Correction of asymptomatic hyponatremia should be gradual: typically increase the Na+ by 0.5 mEq/L per hour to a maximum change of about 12 mEq/L in the first 24 hours. Rapid correction of hyponatremia can cause coma, which may be associated with osmotic demyelination syndrome or central pontine myelinolysis, lethal disorders thought to be caused by rapid fluid shifts into and out of brain tissue. 10–12
If the patient develops neurologic compromise, administer 3% saline IV immediately to correct (raise) the serum sodium at a rate of 1 mEq/L per hour until neurologic symptoms are controlled. Some experts recommend a faster rate of correction (ie, increase concentration 2 to 4 mEq/L per hour) when seizures are present. After neurologic symptoms are controlled, provide 3% saline IV to correct (raise) the serum sodium at a rate of 0.5 mEq/L per hour.
To determine the amount of sodium (eg, 3% saline) required to correct the deficit, calculate the total body sodium deficit. The following formula may be used:
Na+ deficit=(desired [Na+]−current [Na+])×0.6*×body wt (kg) (*use 0.6 for men and 0.5 for women).
Once the deficit is estimated, determine the volume of 3% saline (513 mEq/L Na+) necessary to correct the deficit (divide the deficit by 513 mEq/L). Plan to increase the sodium by 1 mEq/L per hour over 4 hours (or until neurologic symptoms improve); then increase the sodium by 0.5 mEq/L per hour. To calculate this amount, use the amount you wish to correct the sodium in an hour (eg, 0.5 mEq/L) and multiply by 0.6 (or 0.5 in women) and then multiply by the body weight; that will calculate the amount of sodium to administer that hour. Check serum sodium frequently and monitor neurologic status.
Magnesium (Mg++)
Magnesium is the fourth most common mineral and the second most abundant intracellular cation (after potassium) in the human body. Because extracellular magnesium is bound to serum albumin, magnesium levels do not reliably reflect total body magnesium stores. Magnesium is necessary for the movement of sodium, potassium, and calcium into and out of cells, and magnesium plays an important role in stabilizing excitable membranes. Low potassium in combination with low magnesium is a risk factor for severe arrhythmias. Thus, magnesium balance is closely tied to sodium, calcium, and potassium balance.
Hypermagnesemia
Hypermagnesemia is defined as a serum magnesium concentration >2.2 mEq/L (normal: 1.3 to 2.2 mEq/L). The most common cause of hypermagnesemia is renal failure. Note that pre-eclampsia in pregnant women is treated with magnesium administration, often titrated to maintain the serum magnesium near the maximum normal concentration, without complications of hypermagnesemia.
Neurologic symptoms of hypermagnesemia are muscular weakness, paralysis, ataxia, drowsiness, and confusion. Moderate hypermagnesemia can produce vasodilation; severe hypermagnesemia can produce hypotension. Extremely high serum magnesium levels may produce a depressed level of consciousness, bradycardia, cardiac arrhythmias, hypoventilation, and cardiorespiratory arrest. 15
Treatment of Hypermagnesemia
Hypermagnesemia is treated with administration of calcium, which removes magnesium from serum. It is important to eliminate sources of ongoing magnesium intake. Cardiorespiratory support may be needed until magnesium levels are reduced. Administration of 10% solution of calcium chloride (5 to 10 mL [500 to 1000 mg] IV) will often correct lethal arrhythmias. This dose may be repeated if needed.
Dialysis is the treatment of choice for severe hypermagnesemia. If renal function is normal and cardiovascular function adequate, IV saline diuresis (administration of IV normal saline and furosemide [1 mg/kg]) can be used to increase renal excretion of magnesium until dialysis can be performed. Diuresis can also increase calcium excretion; the development of hypocalcemia will make signs and symptoms of hypermagnesemia worse.
Hypomagnesemia
Hypomagnesemia, defined as a serum magnesium concentration <1.3 mEq/L, is far more common than hypermagnesemia. Hypomagnesemia usually results from decreased absorption or increased loss of magnesium from either the kidneys or intestines (diarrhea). Alterations in thyroid hormone function and certain medications (eg, pentamidine, diuretics, alcohol) can also induce hypomagnesemia.
Hypomagnesemia interferes with the effects of parathyroid hormone, resulting in hypocalcemia. It may also cause hypokalemia. Symptoms of low serum magnesium are muscular tremors and fasciculations, ocular nystagmus, tetany, altered mental state, and cardiac arrhythmias such as torsades de pointes (multifocal ventricular tachycardia). Other possible symptoms are ataxia, vertigo, seizures, and dysphagia.
Treatment of Hypomagnesemia
The treatment of hypomagnesemia is determined by its severity and the patient’s clinical status. For severe or symptomatic hypomagnesemia, give 1 to 2 g of IV MgSO4 over 5 to 60 minutes. For torsades de pointes with cardiac arrest, give 1 to 2 g of MgSO4 IV push over 5 to 20 minutes. If torsades de pointes is intermittent and not associated with arrest, administer the magnesium over 5 to 60 minutes IV. If seizures are present, give 2 g IV MgSO4 over 10 minutes. Administration of calcium is usually appropriate because most patients with hypomagnesemia are also hypocalcemic. 16
Calcium (Ca++)
Calcium is the most abundant mineral in the body. Many processes depend on intracellular calcium, such as enzymatic reactions, receptor activation, muscle contraction, cardiac contractility, and platelet aggregation. Calcium is essential for bone strength and neuromuscular function. Half of all calcium in the ECF is bound to albumin; the other half is in the biologically active, ionized form. Calcium concentration is normally regulated by parathyroid hormone and vitamin D.
Total serum calcium is directly related to the serum albumin concentration. The total serum calcium will increase 0.8 mg/dL for every 1 g/dL rise in serum albumin and will fall 0.8 mg/dL for every 1 g/dL fall in serum albumin.
Although total serum albumin is directly related to total serum calcium, the ionized calcium is inversely related to serum albumin. The lower the serum albumin, the higher the portion of the total calcium that is present in ionized form. In the presence of hypoalbuminemia, although total calcium level may be low, the ionized calcium level may be normal.
Calcium antagonizes the effects of both potassium and magnesium at the cell membrane. For this reason it is extremely useful for treating the effects of hyperkalemia and hypermagnesemia.
Hypercalcemia
Hypercalcemia is defined as a total serum calcium concentration >10.5 mEq/L (or an elevation in ionized calcium >4.8 mg/dL). Primary hyperparathyroidism and malignancy account for >90% of reported cases. 17 In these and most forms of hypercalcemia, release of calcium from the bones and intestines is increased, and renal clearance may be compromised.
Symptoms of hypercalcemia usually develop when the total serum calcium concentration is ≥12 to 15 mg/dL. Neurologic symptoms are depression, weakness, fatigue, and confusion at lower levels. At higher levels patients may experience hallucinations, disorientation, hypotonicity, seizures, and coma. Hypercalcemia interferes with renal concentration of urine; the diuresis can cause dehydration.
Cardiovascular symptoms of hypercalcemia are variable. Myocardial contractility may initially increase until the calcium level reaches >15 mg/dL. Above this level myocardial depression occurs. Automaticity is decreased and ventricular systole is shortened. Arrhythmias occur because the refractory period is shortened. Hypercalcemia can worsen digitalis toxicity and may cause hypertension. In addition, many patients with hypercalcemia develop hypokalemia. Both of these conditions contribute to cardiac arrhythmias. 18 The QT interval typically shortens when the serum calcium is >13 mg/dL, and the PR and QRS intervals are prolonged. Atrioventricular block may develop and progress to complete heart block and even cardiac arrest when the total serum calcium is >15 to 20 mg/dL.
Gastrointestinal symptoms of hypercalcemia include dysphagia, constipation, peptic ulcers, and pancreatitis. Effects on the kidney include diminished ability to concentrate urine; diuresis, leading to loss of sodium, potassium, magnesium, and phosphate; and a vicious cycle of calcium absorption in the intestines and calcium release from the bones that worsens hypercalcemia.
Treatment of Hypercalcemia
Treatment for hypercalcemia is required if the patient is symptomatic (typically a total serum concentration of approximately >12 mg/dL) or if the calcium level is >15 mg/dL. Immediate therapy is directed at restoring intravascular volume and promoting calcium excretion in the urine. In patients with adequate cardiovascular and renal function this is accomplished with infusion of 0.9% saline at 300 to 500 mL/h (saline diuresis) until any fluid deficit is replaced and diuresis occurs (urine output ≥200 to 300 mL/h). Once adequate rehydration has occurred, the saline infusion rate is reduced to 100 to 200 mL/h. During this therapy, monitor and maintain potassium and magnesium concentrations closely because the diuresis can reduce potassium and magnesium concentrations.
Hemodialysis is the treatment of choice to rapidly decrease serum calcium in patients with heart failure or renal insufficiency. 19 Chelating agents (eg, 50 mmol PO4 over 8 to 12 hours or EDTA 10 to 50 mg/kg over 4 hours) may be used for extreme conditions.
Use of furosemide (1 mg/kg IV) for treatment of hypercalcemia is controversial. In the presence of heart failure, administration of furosemide is required, but it can actually foster release of calcium from bone, thus worsening hypercalcemia.
Hypocalcemia
Hypocalcemia is defined as a serum calcium concentration <8.5 mg/dL (or ionized calcium <4.2 mg/dL). Hypocalcemia may develop with toxic shock syndrome, with abnormalities in serum magnesium, after thyroid surgery, with fluoride poisoning, and with tumor lysis syndrome (rapid cell turnover with resultant hyperkalemia, hyperphosphatemia, and hypocalcemia).
Symptoms of hypocalcemia usually occur when ionized levels fall to <2.5 mg/dL. Symptoms include paresthesias of the extremities and face, followed by muscle cramps, carpopedal spasm, stridor, tetany, and seizures. Hypocalcemic patients show hyperreflexia and positive Chvostek and Trousseau signs. Cardiac effects include decreased myocardial contractility and heart failure. Hypocalcemia can exacerbate digitalis toxicity.
Treatment of Hypocalcemia
Treatment of hypocalcemia requires administration of calcium. Treat acute, symptomatic hypocalcemia with 10% calcium gluconate, 93 to 186 mg of elemental calcium (10 to 20 mL) IV over 10 minutes. Follow this with an IV infusion of 540 to 720 mg of elemental calcium (58 to 77 mL of 10% calcium gluconate) in 500 to 1000 mL D5W at 0.5 to 2 mg/kg per hour (10 to 15 mg/kg). Alternatively, administer 10% calcium chloride, giving 5 mL (136.5 mg of elemental calcium) over 10 minutes, followed by 36.6 mL (1 g) over the next 6 to 12 hours IV. Measure serum calcium every 4 to 6 hours. Aim to maintain the total serum calcium concentration at 7 to 9 mg/dL. Correct abnormalities in magnesium, potassium, and pH simultaneously. Note that untreated hypomagnesemia will often make hypocalcemia refractory to therapy. Therefore, evaluate serum magnesium when hypocalcemia is present and particularly if hypocalcemia is refractory to initial calcium therapy.
Summary
Electrolyte abnormalities are among the most common causes of cardiac arrhythmias, and they can cause or complicate attempted resuscitation and postresuscitation care. A high degree of clinical suspicion and aggressive treatment of underlying electrolyte abnormalities can prevent these abnormalities from progressing to cardiac arrest.
Footnotes
This special supplement to Circulation is freely available at http://www.circulationaha.org
References
↵
Jackson MA, Lodwick R, Hutchinson SG. Hyperkalaemic cardiac arrest successfully treated with peritoneal dialysis. BMJ. 1996; 312: 1289–1290.
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Sodium
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What creature is on the mission insignia or badge of the first moon landing, Apollo 11?
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Skyways October 2015 complete by Panorama - issuu
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Many believe that Classic English furniture has never been equalled. At Gordon Fraser, we share that belief. That’s why we offer authentic reproductions, from the days of Queen Anne, Chippendale and Regency England. Attention to detail, incomparable standards of elegance and exquisite craftsmanship have built Gordon Fraser into the sought after brand it is today. We even offer a wide range of quality timbers, fabrics and leathers to create your own unique masterpiece. Now an integral part of Bakos Brothers, Gordon Fraser perfectly complements our offering so you’ll always be confident of the finest furniture and the highest levels of service. And, just like Gordon Fraser furniture, that won’t change with time.
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2015/04/28 12:20 PM
Take an eye test at 30,000 ft. This month our cover features the Snellen Chart, which is used to check the clarity of your eyesight. Place your hand over one eye and see if you can determine the direction of each letter. If you can’t then it is time to make an appointment with an optometrist. Read more on Eye Month on page 62.
Your
Right of passage The proposed new visa regulations saga has many in the tourism industry crying foul. Both those for and against the new regulations have valid arguments. I’m leaning towards the former. Now, before you have thoughts of lynch-mobbing the Skyways headquarters, please read further. I am fully aware of the contribution that tourism makes to our GDP, particularly in these turbulent economic times. I also commend the industry for creating much-needed employment and opportunities for budding entrepreneurs. But I really don’t see how new visa regulations – if implemented correctly – will dissuade tourists from visiting our shores. As a journalist, I have often been the subject of stringent visa checks, particularly in the USA, India and China. In fact, in 2008, I was compelled to show Chinese officials all photographic footage taken during a media trip before I left Shanghai International Airport. Visitors to the USA routinely undergo stringent background checks, interviews and scrutiny before they are issued a visa to the so-called land of the brave. Yet this has had no impact on the scores of tourists who visit these countries every year. So, why should South Africa be any different? We are blessed with great weather, unique tourist attractions and friendly citizens who exude their welcoming nature even in South African consulates and embassies around the world. Will the tourists still come in their droves if new visa regulations are introduced? I believe they will. After all, that stamp of approval should be seen as a privilege that the passport holder is afforded the opportunity to experience this wonderful country in all its splendour. Gerard Peter Editor-in-Chief
complimentary copy to take away! Antananarivo
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PUBLISHER Urs Honegger EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Gerard Peter MANAGING EDITOR Deanne Dudley SENIOR SUB EDITORS Vanessa Koekemoer, Noleen Fourie SUB EDITOR Nicolette Els EDITORIAL INTERN Charlotte Bastiaanse OPERATIONS AND PRODUCTION MANAGER Paul Kotze STUDIO MANAGER Cronjé du Toit DESIGNER Perpetua Chigumira-Wenda TRAFFIC AND PRODUCTION Juanita Pattenden ADVERTISING [email protected] +27 11 468 2090 SALES MANAGER Gillian Johnston SENIOR ADVERTISING SALES EXECUTIVE Arlene Sanford 083 473 5002 [email protected] ADVERTISING SALES EXECUTIVE Mosadi Teffo 083 584 6673 [email protected] ENGLAND/WALES/SCOTLAND: Interactive Airline Partnerships, James Rolls. 13 Brook Business Centre, Cowley Mill Road, Uxbridge UB8 2FX Tel: +44-1895-258008 Fax: +44-1895-258009 SWITZERLAND/GERMANY: Imm Inflight Media Marketing Marcel Wernli, Gellertstrasse 18, 4052 Basel Tel: +41-61-3199090 Fax: +41-61-3199095 SUBSCRIPTIONS [email protected] Tel: 011 468 2090 Fax: 011 468 2091 FINANCE [email protected] ISSN 1025-2657 PRINTERS BusinessPrint
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Skyways Magazine is published monthly and distributed via Airlink. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this magazine in whole or in part is prohibited without prior written permission of Panorama Media Corp (Pty) Ltd. Copyright © 1994-2015 Panorama Media Corp (Pty) Ltd. The views expressed in Skyways Magazine are not necessarily those of Panorama Media Corp or Airlink, and the acceptance and publication of editorial and advertising matterial in Skyways Magazine does not imply any endorsement or warranty in respect of goods or services therein described, whether by Skyways Magazine or the publishers. Skyways Magazine will not be held responsible for the safe return of unsolicited editorial contributions. The Editor reserves the right to edit material submitted and in appropriate cases to translate into another language. Skyways Magazine reserves the right to reject any advertising or editorial material, which may not suit the standard of the publication, without reason given. Skyways Magazine is published by Panorama Media Corp on behalf of Airlink. PUBLISHED BY Panorama Media Corp (Pty) Ltd. Private Bag X4, Kyalami, 1684, South Africa. 92 Campolino Road, Kyalami. Tel: 011 468 2090 Fax: 011 468 2091
www.panorama.co.za
68 58 Tech review Exclusive content from MIT
69 Mind over matter Ten famous people who battled mental illness and won
60 Get smart The latest apps and gadgets
70 Festive flair Great ideas for your Christmas lunch
TIME-OUT 22 Hunger games Rugby helps to feed the masses
90 Media Latest DVD and book reviews
62 A sight for sore eyes Giving the less fortunate better vision
92 Lyrically speaking How an unnecessary war inspired an ‘80s classic
52 Legal eagle Labour law advice
65 Solve it fast Ulitimate Sudoku and Battleship challenges
94 Didya know? Take the Skyways quiz
54 Business smarts The tools every business needs
66 To Infiniti and beyond Road-hogging QX reviewed
96 Talespin The last word
EXECUTIVE DECISION 48 Money matters Saving when times are tough 50 Executive woman What happens when the fairer sex gets tough in the office?
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TAG Heuer Boutiques; Sandton City & V&A Waterfront. Also at selected fine jewellers nationwide. For further information please call 011.669.0500. www.picotandmoss.co.za
TAG HEUER FORMULA 1 CRISTIANO RONALDO SPECIAL EDITION
Cristiano Ronaldo is born to break all the records. His motivation is to win at every occasion to challenge the human statistics. Like TAG Heuer, Ronaldo surpasses the limits of his field and never cracks under pressure.
panorama
Airborne These athletes contort themselves in the air as they battle for the sepak takraw title in Malaysia. The game is similar to volleyball, however, you can hit the ball with anything except your hands or arms. Said to have been invented by the Malaysian royal family over 500 years ago, it's particularly popular in Malaysia and Thailand.
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3500BC The year the wheel was invented
I N T E R N AT I O N A L
IRB Rugby World Cup
We are heading into the business end of the tournament. The Springboks are expected to feature in the mix of title challengers. Will they emulate the heroes of 1995 and win the Webb Ellis trophy for a third time? Until 31 October 2015 i www.rugbyworldcup.com
the best of South African theatre. Audiences can look forward to an invigorating mix of new and original work spanning every genre. Theatre, dance, performance art, physical theatre, music, family theatre and magic form part of this 11-day festival. Until 4 October 2015 Cape Town City Centre i www.capetownfringe.co.za
$10,000
The price tag of the Hendo hoverboard, a levitating skateboard based on the one from Back to the Future: Part II festivities echoing through the Durbanville Wine Valley. Nitida Wines will be showcasing its debut Sauvignon and Sculpture Season, and iconic contemporary bronze sculptures by renowned sculptor, Vincent Da Silva, will also be on display. Local rockand-roll band, Back On Track, will add some jubilant ambience, entertaining guests with their contemporary, up-tempo tracks. 24 to 25 October 2015 Durbanville Wine Valley i www.nitida.co.za K WA Z U L U - N ATA L
CANSA Pink Tea by the Sea WESTERN CAPE
Cape Town Fringe
With a bold and sassy programme of more than 70 productions, this year’s Cape Town Fringe promises to be a showcase of
Season of Sauvignon
Season of Sauvignon sets off a scintillating start to spring with
In recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, high tea at the Oyster Box will be pink-themed for the whole of October. R10 per person attending the high tea will be donated to CANSA. Throughout October The Palm, Oyster Box i [email protected]
Tsogo Sun Amashova cycle challenge
The main Tsogo Sun Amashova race is 106km, with two shorter ‘fun ride’ options of 35km. It starts at Hillcrest and ends at Suncoast. The 65km half challenge starts at Cato Ridge and ends at Suncoast. All races will have full road closure. Prize money of R100,000 is up for grabs. 18 October 2015 Hillcrest i www.shova.co.za
BOOK A BUSINESS STAY AT PEERMONT AND WIN A TRIP TO
ZANZIBAR
HURRY, BOOK NOW AND BE ENTERED AUTOMATICALLY!
RELAXING STAYS. EXCITING TIMES.
Competition runs 15 August - 4 December 2015 AND ... if you are a Crown Key member you could stand a chance to double your points balance every month and O T Ewin L R the E W Atrip R D StoPZanzibar! ROGRAMME get a 2000 point BONUS ifHyou
HOTEL REWARDS PROGRAMME
Simply book your corporate stay at Peermont through our Central Reservations Call Centre or online at www.peermont.com and you will automatically be entered into the competition. Draws will be held weekly and the winners will be notified telephonically. * Bookings on qualified rates, including BAR (Best Available Rate) of the day and any contracted corporate rate will qualify for 1 entry per stay. Additional terms and conditions apply and are available on www.peermont.com.
Peermont Central Reservations Tel : 0860 777 900 - SA Only or +27 (0)11 928 1928 Email : [email protected]
508BC
The year democracy is thought to have been invented in Ancient Greece NORTHERN CAPE
Barney Barnato Amateur Golf Championship
Take part in South Africa’s largest Amateur Golf Championship, an individual Stableford tournament with prizes and entertainment valued at R200,000 for eight days and nine nights. Entry requirements include affiliation to the South African Golf Association. 24 to 31 October 2015 Kimberley Golf Club i www.kimberley.co.za
Kalahari Augrabies Extreme Marathon
The Kalahari Augrabies Extreme Marathon is a self-sufficiency run held over six legs in seven days with set distances for each day, ranging from 28km to 75km. The event goes way beyond merely covering 250km in extreme conditions. Participants must carry all their supplies, clothes and compulsory safety/ survival equipment for the
The year the first selfie stick was invented by Hiroshi Ueda
duration of the event. 22 October to 1 November 2015 Augrabies Falls National Park i [email protected]
Cyber Security in Banking Conference 2015 rAge
GAUTENG
South Africa’s annual gaming and technology expo, and the biggest gaming gathering on the continent, covers all the bases by appealing to newcomers, hardcore enthusiasts, casual gamers, young and old, futurists and fundies. rAge 2015 will boast a unique collection of console and PC videogames, computers, technology, computer hardware for sale, virtual reality peripherals and exclusive preview events for upcoming games. 9 to 11 October 2015 Ticketpro Dome, Northgate i www.rageexpo.co.za
The Cyber Security in Banking Conference will address, among other concerns, innovations such as the move to biometrics as an implementable security measure, building a secure banking cyberspace ecosystem, centralised cyber security management, cyber forensics in banking, the future digital consumer and capitalising on big data for cyber security as well as data protection and integration. 21 to 22 October 2015 Venue: Indaba Hotel, Johannesburg Info: [email protected]
Rock Royalty
Watch this 10-piece cast pay tribute to legends Chuck Berry and Little
Richard; classic rock icons such as Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Queen and Pink Floyd; ‘80s rockers such as Def Leppard, Bon Jovi and Journey; rock divas such as Janis Joplin, Pink and Tina Turner; formidable rockers such as Alice Cooper, Ozzy Osbourne and Meat Loaf; and evergreen rockers such as Elton John, Freddie Mercury and James Brown. 13 October to 30 December 2015 The Barnyard Theatre, Emperors Palace i www.barnyardtheatre.co.za F R E E S TAT E
Macufe
The ever-popular Macufe returns and showcases the cream of African and international talent. The festival features jazz, gospel, kwaito, hip hop, R&B, rock and classical music, as well as dance, drama, cabaret, musical theatre, poetry, fine art and traditional arts and crafts. 2 to 11 October 2015 Bloemfontein i 051 447 8169
take | off
The year Skype was invented
The number of users Facebook has amounted since its inception in 2004
H E A LT H
Warning: your purse can make you sick PSYCHOLOGY
How do cats get the better of mice? It would seem that cats have chemical warfare in their anti-mouse arsenal – contained in their urine. Researchers found that when very young mice were exposed to a chemical in cat urine, they were less likely to avoid the scent of cats later in life. The researchers, from the AN Severtov Institute of Ecology and Evolution in Moscow, had previously found that the compound – aptly named felinine – causes pregnant mice to abort. Dr Vera Voznessenskaya explained that mice have a physiological response to this cat-specific compound. Chemical-sensing mouse neurons in the mouse's brain pick up the scent, triggering a reaction which includes an increase in the levels of stress hormones. This new study revealed that baby mice exposed to the compound during a critical period in their development would, as adults, react quite differently to their arch enemy's smell. The team exposed onemonth-old mice to the chemical
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over two weeks. When they were tested later for their reaction, they were much less likely to flee the same scent. Source: BBC.com
TECHNOLOGY
YouTube enters gaming fray
YouTube has launched a dedicated site and app for gaming in an attempt to take on Amazon-owned streaming service Twitch. Twitch allows gaming fans to watch and interact with live broadcasts of others playing games. Google – which owns YouTube – is understood to have made a bid for Twitch last year, only to be beaten by Amazon's $970m offer.
More than 90% of purses have bacteria on them, and women are the worst offenders, according to a new study. Researchers say purses pick up unsanitary bugs from bathrooms and kitchen tables and are rarely cleaned. “Purses from both men and women are potential vectors for transmission of diseases,” say the researchers, writing in the journal Advanced Biomedical Research. “Bacteria growth was higher on the purses of women than on those of men.”
YouTube Gaming will eventually consist of 25,000 individual game portals which bring together all the activity around each title on a single page. Google will be hoping the new service will lure gamers away from rival Twitch, which currently dominates the market for live online broadcasting. Around 12 billion hours of live gaming are watched on the site every month.
The researchers from the University of Mauritius carried out detailed tests on 145 purses from 80 women and 65 men. Results show that 95.2% of the purses had bacteria contamination. Only 2.1% of women cleaned their purses once a month, and 81.5% never emptied them. Leather purses were also found to have less bacteria than synthetic materials. The researchers say the smooth surface of the leather could make it more difficult for the bacteria to cling onto.
Source: BBC.com
Source: Daily Mail
PSYCHOLOGY
Does marriage make you happier? Married couples are happier than single people, especially those who say they married their best friend, says a new study. Married couples enjoyed both a honeymoon period of the first year or two after the wedding as well as being supported against stress from work pressure and looking after children or aging parents. The National Bureau of Economic Research in Canada used data for the report from the British Household Panel Survey, the United Kingdom's Annual Population, and the Gallup World Poll. “There's a lot of stress going on in middle age,” said Department of Finance Canada researcher Shawn Grover. “Having someone to talk that out with and having someone to support you in those difficult times can help
150,000
The units of Nissan Leaf models sold since its introduction in 2010
explain why it's a bit harder for people without a partner.” Those who saw their partner as their 'best friend' reported the highest happiness levels. Researchers note that that fell in line with thinking that close relationships were necessary for long-term wellbeing.
at a safe distance from the weir, became startled when a man decked out in a bear outfit ran through the area. The man began to jump up and down, and then got close to the cubs. He refused to identify himself. The man then drove off without ever removing the costume head and revealing his face.
Source: Daily Mail
Source: Huffington Post
BIZARRE
Man in bear costume harasses mother bear and cubs Authorities in Alaska are looking for a man who donned a fairly realistic bear costume – head and all – and wore it when harassing a mother bear and two cubs trying to feed on pink salmon in an Alaska river. The incident happened on the Chilkoot River near Haines. It wasn't immediately known what the man was trying to accomplish. A crowd had gathered at a weir used to count fish, because the sow and two cubs have frequently showed up there to feed during the salmon run. The crowd, which is kept
T R AV EL
Hotel has stood vacant for 61 years A hotel in Sicily, Italy, has had several 'grand openings', but not one guest has ever checked in since it was built 61 years ago. Italy's Grande Hotel San Calogero now lies in a state of disrepair.
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2020
The year Google is planning on rolling out its self-driving cars
Since work began in 1954 there have been many 'grand openings' planned that turned into false dawns. The site for the hotel is perfect for observing all the beauty of the Italian island. Situated close to the thermal baths, it was supposed to be the perfect spot of relaxation for tourists. Instead it has become Italy's very own white elephant, complete with 300 rooms that have never been slept in. After nearly 30 years of building work, the hotel was originally set to open in the early 1980s. However, authorities made a grave error in not finalising who would run the hotel. And so it fell into a state of disrepair. So the Sicilian government decided on an upgrade, and finally it was set for a grand opening in 1993. But there was yet another hitch. Incredibly, despite years of building works and subsequent redevelopment, the hotel was not properly connected to a drainage system. Unfortunately the contract on who ran the hotel from 1993 had already been signed and sealed. This led to the authorities paying out €800,000 in 2010 after a 17 year tug-of-war to the company who had agreed, yet never had a chance to manage the hotel. A different company had agreed to take on the hotel in 2000 when authorities drew up plans to finally get the site connected to a proper drainage system. But the work never even started. So today, despite sitting in such an imposing position on the beautiful island of Sicily, the hotel remains as a testament to mismanagement and wasted money. Source: Daily Mail
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16%
The percentage increase of searches every day that Google has never had before
could only lead to mockery and unkind remarks,” said the judgement. In a similar case, a couple was banned from naming their daughter ‘Fraise’ (strawberry), which a judge said could lead to the child being made fun of. The baby was renamed Fraisine, a name popular in the 19th century. Source: Daily Telegraph
H E A LT H
Pulling the plug on cancer
TOURISM
Jozi to host international conference
Johannesburg will host another international congress in March 2017 when leading global entrepreneurs and innovators attend the first Global Entrepreneurship Congress (GEC) to be held on the African continent. The objectives of the Congress are to map out entrepreneurial ecosystems, share new developments in start-up financing, connect entrepreneurs to the best resources and networks, and identify emerging entrepreneurial hotspots and global expansion of the producer movement. The GEC, initiated by the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN) and the Kauffman Foundation in 2009, is a gathering of startup champions from all over the world. The congress hosts thought-leaders, entrepreneurs, investors, researchers and policymakers who have become part of a global movement that advances entrepreneurship to build economies and improve human welfare.
BIZARRE
What’s in a name? A French court has blocked parents from naming their baby girl after the hazelnut spread Nutella, arguing it would make her the target of mockery. A registrar recording the baby’s birth last September flagged the unusual name to local prosecutors who took it to a family court judge. The parents did not attend the court hearing and the judge decided in their absence to rename the baby Ella. “The name ‘Nutella’ corresponds to the commercial name of a spread. And it is against the child’s interest to be saddled with a name that
Is it possible to ‘switch off’ cancer? Scientists from Florida believe so and recently announced that they have found a code that can ‘turn off’ cancer. During an experiment, they were able to make cancerous breast and bladder cells turn benign again. This new work could promise a new strategy for cancer therapy. Conventional cancer drugs aim to kill cancer, whereas the new research aims to rather deactivate it. Although still in the early stages, scientists are feeling optimistic about the new research. The breakthrough focuses on a protein called PLEKHA7, which helps group healthy cells together. Scientists from the Mayo Clinic in Florida show the protein to be missing or faulty in a range of cancers. Genetic instructions to the cells are then scrambled and as a result, the cells turn cancerous. During experiments conducted in a dish, human cells from dangerous bladder cancers were made normal again. The team thinks that the approach will
1430s
The decade during which the printing press was invented by Johannes Gutenberg
apply to most cancers, but not to brain and blood cancers. More research is needed before the technique can be tested on people. It is likely that patients will still need chemotherapy, even if the new therapy does help. Source: Daily Mail
TECHNOLOGY
Don’t go to a GP – use your phone Our cellphones have become very personal items and vital pieces of technology when it comes to our dayto-day lives. Dr Allison Aiello from the University of North Carolina, along with a team of researchers, recently published evidence that cellphone data can be used to identify people who are likely to come down with the flu. This could potentially aid epidemiologists in the fight against the disease.
“We believe this serves as a window into the future of epidemiological data collection,” Aiello says. Co-author and statistician, Katherine Heller, agrees. She states, “I think that the development of these kinds of models for medical data, where we can now collect data more frequently or in a more personalised manner, is really important.” During the flu season in 2013, the study’s researchers had 103 undergraduate students’ cellphones installed with an app that used Bluetooth to record when they came into contact with one another. The students would also have to fill out weekly surveys so that they could report health behaviours, social interactions and flu symptoms. Those who reported flu symptoms were then tested for the virus. Researchers were then able to differentiate people who got the flu after contact with someone else from those who did not contract the flu after contact. The recovery period was also recorded. Statistical analysis was then used to develop an algorithm that predicts a person’s chance of becoming sick after exposure to the virus, based on sleeping patterns, drinking and smoking behaviour and other factors such as age, gender and vaccination status. The algorithm is able to take all these factors into account simultaneously and then determine the individual’s chance of getting sick on any particular day. The study group hopes that the work will pave the way for further research. Source: Huffington Post
take | off
1886
1928
The year Karl Benz’s Motorwagen was patented. It is widely considered to be the first automobile
TECHNOLOGY
South African team beats Google to solar solution Google’s engineers are stumped when it comes to the question of creating cheap solar electricity by using an array of mirrors to concentrate the sun’s energy. A team at a South African university believes they have the sought-after answers.
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The idea behind concentrated solar power (CSP) is a field of mirrors on the ground, which track the sun and concentrate its rays onto a central point, which then heats up. The heat is then converted into electricity. There are a few large-scale solar plants around the world which generate electricity, but they are expensive and it has been difficult to try to make them smaller. Paul Gauché, who is the South African director of the Solar Thermal Research Group at Stellenbosch University, is testing a new approach. “We are developing plonkable heliostats. Plonkable means that from factory to installation you can just drop them on the ground and they work,” says Gauché. This means the end of
costly cement, highly trained workers, and wires. Plonkable heliostats require no more than two workers to lay out the steel frames on the ground and a streetlight-style tower. The team’s work has already generated interest from foreign companies, such as a German consortium and a Massachusetts Institute of Technology solar company. In a nutshell, what Gauché’s team has done differently is the reduced cost of creating heliostats. CSP is in decline because it is so incredibly expensive. Gauché’s team uses smaller mirrors, which concentrate the sun’s rays onto a small surface at the top of the tower. The concentration of the heat has been described as very intense. Athi Ntisana, a technologist from the Eastern Cape, believes that the technology is right for South Africa: “It requires labour, components can be manufactured here in the country and we have land here where sunlight is abundant – and that’s also where there is not much employment. It solves all these problems.” Gauché predicts that once the technology has been refined, economies of scale will follow. Source: The Telepgraph
BIZARRE
A large tipple before boarding A Chinese plane passenger was told she was not allowed to board her flight to China with a £125 bottle of Cognac. The woman, surnamed Zhou, was stopped by airport security and told
The year during which penicillin was accidentally discovered
that no more than 100mℓ was allowed through security. Zhou then proceeded to make the most of the expensive brandy by downing the entire 700mℓ bottle. Naturally, the alcohol took its toll on her and she was reportedly rolling around the floor and behaving erratically. One of the officers told the Beijing Times, “She was so drunk she couldn’t even stand up herself. We took her to a room in a wheelchair so she could rest.” With the safety of the passengers and Zhou in mind, it was agreed that the woman would not be allowed to board the flight. Her family members came to fetch her after she had slept off the effects of the alcohol. She thanked the police for helping her situation. Source: Daily Mail
C U LT U R E
Sports stadium converted to aid alcoholics The Ihura stadium in Kenya has been converted into a rehabilitation centre for alcoholics. Illegally brewed beer, unlicensed drinking dens and addiction are all factors that prompted the need for the rehabilitation centre in the hopes to combat addiction.
Anne Wanjiku shares her experience of being an alcoholic. “I have been drinking the hard stuff for the past 30 years. At some point, some of my children stopped going to school because I used all my money on drinking. Any cent I got would end up at the drinking den,” says the mother of seven. Within three weeks of the rehabilitation centre opening, over 700 people arrived to seek relief from their addiction. Everyone who is admitted gets a bed under one of the tents, three meals per day, counselling and medical check-ups. A large area of the pitch has been left open to accommodate the morning meetings, and so that patients can exercise and play football. The minimum stay at the centre is three months. Organisers and officials are predicting that the number of people will rise to over 5,000 so preparation for more space is already well underway. Governor Mwangi wa Iria realises the severity of the problem and says, “We are putting everything else on hold until we sort out this problem. It doesn’t matter how much money we use.” An employment plan is also in place for when patients are ready to leave the centre. “Everyone you see here will join a co-operative society that will venture into agriculture, and especially the dairy sector. We have clearly thought about this and we have to save our children,” says the governor. Patients who have been admitted are determined to combat their addictions for the sake of their spouses, children and their own wellbeing. Source: BBC.com
1885
The year Louis Pasteur first used the rabies vaccine successfully on a human
❝
The autumn of your life
Architects are to homes as Aon is to insurance
Poignant words about retirement “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not every man’s greed.” Mahatma Gandhi "Retire from work, but not from life." MK Soni "Plans are nothing; planning is everything." Dwight D Eisenhower "Retirement may be an ending, a closing, but it is also a new beginning." Catherine Pulsifer "And in the end it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years." Abraham Lincoln "For retirement brings repose, and repose allows a kindly judgment of all things." John Sharp Williams "When a man retires, his wife gets twice the husband but only half the income." Chi Chi Rodriguez
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Why are emotions like longing and hate felt in your chest and not in your head? Nadia Hall, Durban
W
GETTY IMAGES
hen you feel emotion in your body, then you feel how your body is getting ready to react to an emotional situation. The why and how are sometimes pretty obvious. Your body prepares for ‘flight’ mode when you are scared. Your heartbeat rises, your muscles tense and require more blood, and you feel those changes. But for other emotions it is less obvious why your body reacts the way it does, and also why you feel some emotions more in your tummy (a knot in your stomach) and others more in your chest (a tight or actual warm feeling).
Did you know that in some areas of Europe you are not allowed to use a detector because the ground might contain ammunition from WWII?
How does a metal detector determine the difference between stone and metal? Jayden Denness, Durban
F
Q&A
irstly, the magnetic field of a metal detector changes because of metal and not because of stone. A metal detector usually has 2 rings, a smaller one with a larger ring around it. There is a gap of only a few centimetres between the 2 rings. This creates the detector’s magnetic field. A piece of metal in the surroundings distorts the magnetic field, thus sounding the metal detector’s alarm. Some metal detectors can recognise different types of metal such as copper, gold and silver. This is possible because the various metals distort the field differently.
FLASH
You are not permitted to look for objects on a private property without the permission of the owner. A You are allowed to explore most public places, except if they are marked as an archaeological site. A
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Hunger Games How rugby is putting food in the mouths of the poor
as the best
teams in the world contest the Rugby World Cup 2015 this month, the global rugby family has been taking part in a challenge both on and off the pitch to raise awareness and funds to support the push for zero hunger. To donate visit: wfp.org/tacklehunger
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Just as good nutrition is important to play rugby, the Tackle Hunger partnership established between World Rugby and the World Food Programme (WFP) in 2003
looks to ensure that children get the food they need to reach their full physical and intellectual potential. With the Rugby World Cup 2015 on track to be the biggest Rugby World Cup to date, Tackle Hunger is calling on all fans and supporters to back this campaign. There is a powerful connection between good nutrition and sporting excellence and the partnership is instrumental in ensuring that children get that nutrition. A WFP school meal provides incentive for a child to attend school and obtain an education. In the build-up to
RWC2015, fans have raised more than $250,000 through voluntary donations during ticket sales, enough for up to one million school meals for children in Senegal.
Winning captains take on Swaziland
A sobering 30% of Swaziland’s children suffer from stunting as a result of malnutrition. WFP is working to improve this and provided food to more than 50,000 orphaned and vulnerable children in the country in 2015. As ambassadors of the Tackle Hunger campaign,
former Rugby World Cup-winning captains David Kirk (New Zealand) and Nick Farr-Jones (Australia) visited the land-locked country in 2003 to raise awareness of child hunger. Further afield, following the 2004 Asian tsunami, the rugby family rallied to host a rugby aid match at Twickenham, UK, which raised almost $3.5 million for WFP’s tsunami appeal. The money raised by the match was vitally important to long-term relief in Asia and also played a crucial role in raising awareness about the scale of the disaster. This year, a rugby event between local schools in Madagascar was a highlight of the RWC2015 International Trophy Tour. During the matches children received school meals as part of the 1,200 primary schools that WFP supports with food in drought-hit southern regions of Madagascar. While the world tunes in to RWC2015, the Tackle Hunger partnership has featured at each Rugby World Cup since 2003 and many World Rugby tournaments and events over the years, including the Rugby World Cup Sevens (Dubai 2009 and Moscow 2013), Women’s Rugby World Cup (France 2014), World Rugby U20 Championship (Italy 2015), the World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series (The Netherlands 2014-15) and promoting World Food Day on 16 October each year. All of these have one common purpose: to give a child a fair shot at a decent future by feeding him or her a nutritious and wholesome meal. Text | Alexandra Murdoch Photography | Supplied
The game of rugby is being used as a means to fight hunger among the millions of starving children throughout the world
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great | escapes
Where the fun never sets Beat the heat at these summer destinations The onset of summer brings a festive atmosphere to this region of the world as many head to their favourite summer holiday spot. Unlike the northern part of the globe, we are blessed with weather well suited for spending time outdoors, from lazy days at the beach to horseback safaris on some of the best hiking trails in the world. Here’s our 2015 pick of top summer destinations.
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Did you know there are more than 2,500kms of coastline in South Africa?
West Coast flavour The West Coast is not as lush as the other side of the country, and the water is pretty darn cold, but there are some major attractions. The birding is great – particularly
in places such as the West Coast National Park and the little-known Verlorenvlei near Elands Bay. Watersport enthusiasts can kitesurf, windsurf or paddle in Langebaan, surf at Elands Bay or a dozen other great spots, and there are some fun horse rides. The West Coast Fossil Park is a spectacularly rich source of fossils of prehistoric mammals, and it’s a great place to spend half a day or so with the kids – or without them. And if you like seafood, do lunch at Muisbosskerm near Elands Bay. It’s a West Coast tradition.
Retreat to the East The Eastern Cape is the place for a real beach holiday. Port Elizabeth is family-friendly, with a beach for every
Cape of good times Cape Town always features on lists of top travel destinations around the globe. And for good reason too. For something a little different, try riding a camel near Noordhoek Beach, take your children to Butterfly World near Paarl where they can stand mesmerised by a living kaleidoscope of psychedelic wings flitting past their noses, or visit an ostrich farm to get close to these weird and wonderful birds. Walking up Lion’s Head on a full-moon evening, watching the sun set and the moon rise and walking down in the silvery light is so great, it’s worth braving the crowds to do. You won’t be alone at the Kirstenbosch Sunday Concerts either, but it’s also worth doing that. And don’t forget the wine ...
Route to fun
reason. If you head out to the wild side near Sardinia Bay, you can find an almost deserted stretch of sand to walk on – yes, even in December. Close by you’ll find fabulous malaria-free gameviewing in the Greater Addo Elephant National Park and a range of smaller private game reserves, including Shamwari and Kwandwe. Not far from Port Alfred is the fascinating little town of Bathurst, with a range of cultural and historical attractions. Jeffreys Bay is the surf centre of the universe – at least to the cool surfer dudes who hang out there. But if you’re a really cool surfer dude, you should load your boards onto the roof of your battered kombi and head off to one of the secret breaks on the Wild Coast.
The Garden Route’s tangled forests and deep river gorges fronting lovely long white beaches or craggy headlands make for a great summer getaway. The southern right whales have gone back to Antarctica for the summer, but there are dolphins aplenty, and you may spot some humpbacks or even Bryde’s whales, either from shore or on a boat trip. You could do an escorted hike along the coast, either on the beaches near Mossel Bay, through the wetlands between Wilderness and Knysna, or along the spectacular rocky coastline of the Tsitsikamma National Park.
Warmer temperatures allow you to make the most of the country’s natural tourist attractions
Escape to the islands The coastal town of Vilanculos in Mozambique is the gateway to the Bazaruto Archipelago. Over the years, surfing has become one of the most popular watersports in Vilanculos, as the area provides a temperate climate, unpredictable waters and plentiful wind – a dream for
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See flight schedule on page 83 www.flyairlink.com
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any passionate surfer. If surfing is not your cup of tea, then this vibrant town has plenty more to offer you. Try a dhow safari, island trips or horse riding on the shores of its pristine beach. There are also plenty of à la carte dining options that allow you to make the most of the sun, sand and sea.
The last outpost Durban (pictured above) is the melting pot for a diverse range of cultures, people and cuisine. Add the warm Indian Ocean beaches and you can easily see why the city and its outskirts attract thousands of visitors to its shores every summer. The famed Golden Mile, of course, is a magnet for holidaymakers. The fun never sleeps here. Stunning beaches, the ever popular uShaka Marine World, the world-famous Moses Mabhida Stadium, and the vibrant Suncoast Casino are just a few attractions in a city where visitors are spoilt for choice.
Visit the Umgeni Bird Park for a close encounter with our feathered friends, and the Sharks Board in Umhlanga, where you can learn all about these mysterious denizens of the deep – and even watch one being dissected. For a multitude of family entertainment in one place, visit the flagship of Durban’s beachfront, the Suncoast Casino and Entertainment centre. There is loads of family entertainment with movie cinemas, fine dining restaurants and restaurants catering for families and children, including Café Vigour, Havana Grill, Kai Thai and the famous Jeera Restaurant. Feel the unique vibe of Durban’s outdoor lifestyle with al fresco dining, soak up some rays on the SUNdeck, stroll along the boardwalk or simply relax on the sand. Blessed with fantastic weather all year, Suncoast Beach is the perfect spot to take it all in. Text | Arno Visagie with input from Media Club South Africa Photography | Supplied
TAKE TIME TO EXHALE The award winning Beverly Hills hotel is considered by discerning travellers to be one of Kwa-Zulu Natal ďŹ nest accommodation destinations. This prestigious hotel is synonymous with elegance, gracious hospitality and intuitive service
T: 031 561 2211 | .tsogosun.com
great | escapes
Family-friendly accommodation
Yes, we are there yet In this fast-moving world that often seems like a never-ending rat race, quality family time is a rarity. So, sometimes you need to make a conscious and definitive decision to break the daily routine and enjoy a relaxing break with your family. The Skyways team gives the thumbs up to these family-friendly accommodation offerings. Make time to bond with your loved ones this year
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It’s fab and there’s a farm Irene Country Lodge is proof that you don’t have to venture far out of the concrete jungle to enjoy a respite from city living. Located in the quaint town of Irene in Gauteng, the settings lend itself to a relaxing and revitalising experience. Located on a large property, strewn with lush greenery and plenty of open space, it is almost as if this is a world that exists on its own, far from the maddening crowd. Recently refurbished, accommodation offerings are contemporary, while remaining warm and charming. Irene Country Lodge certainly comes up tops for its cuisine options. Take a load off and take in the tranquil settings by enjoying a sundowner at the Lakeside Bar area and gazebo.
However, it is Irene’s family vacation offerings that make it an ideal place for quality bonding time. For starters, the open spaces give your little ones plenty of freedom to enjoy the great outdoors. In addition, the child-minder service and daily children’s activities ensure that there are plenty for them to enjoy while you enjoy some quiet time with your significant other. Furthermore, the hotel offers its guests one of the best country living experiences you will ever enjoy as a family. Simply request a picnic basket from reception and enjoy a wonderful lunch at the Irene Country Farm
across the road. Here your kids will have plenty of fun on the jungle gyms and also witness first-hand the daily milking of cows. A few hours spent here will certainly create a good memory that your children will forever cherish. After all, in this age of tablets and gaming, few children ever get the chance to enjoy a traditional farm lifestyle experience. Contact: www.irenecountrylodge.co.za
For children up to eight years old there is a climbing wall, a castle playhouse, movies, toys, puzzles, colouring in and other educational games. Tweens and teens from nine to 16 years old have access to PS4 with a variety of games, as well as movies, books, foosball and board games. Mount Grace: www.africanpridehotels.com
Grace expectations
When hotel magnate Sol Kerzner built Sun City more than 40 years ago, he definitely had a vision in mind to make the resort one of South Africa’s most iconic tourist attractions. Fast track to a few decades further and the vision is a reality, thanks to the seemingly unlimited family offerings throughout the world famous Sun City resort. Any child visiting the resort is spoilt for choice, with an exciting array of activities to participate in, such as water sports at Water World near the Cabanas Hotel, water rides at the Valley of Waves, and supervised workshops at Kamp Kwena.
Anyone who has stayed at the Mount Grace Country House and Spa will wax lyrical about the sheer opulence that this hotel offers. From fine dining to relaxing spa experiences, this hotel located in Magaliesburg has gained a reputation for its luxurious offerings. The only gripe for many was that this hotel did not accommodate children. This changed early in 2014 and today, Mount Grace offers a family holiday, complete with a kids’ club. Here your children can spend a few hours playing with other children and taking part in child-friendly activities under the supervision of fully trained and qualified staff. The service is complimentary for children staying at the hotel, between the ages of three and 16.
Thrill-a-minute fun for the entire family
Sun City (below) and Mount Grace (above) offer a range of activities for children of all ages
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great | escapes
Kamp Kwena also hosts two sessions of supervised activities daily for children. The programme varies and includes visits to the crocodile farm, musical games, arts and crafts, storytelling, adventures at the Lost City Maze, bumper boats, safaris with Mankwe Gametrackers and much more. While the little ones are enjoying the activities on offer, parents can enjoy some playtime of their own. Take a Segway tour around the resort or a relaxing boat cruise on the lake. For those keen to improve their handicap, try a few holes at Sun City’s world-renowned golf course. And there is no better way to end the day than with dinner at the ever-popular Bocado, known for its Mediterranean cuisine spreads. Yes, Sun City may have been around for a long time, but it still has the makings of a great family vacation. Contact: www.suninternational.com
A river runs through it
Comfortable lodgings and excellent service make Riverside Hotel a great place to stay when vacationing in Durban
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Often it is hard to distinguish one city hotel from the other. After all, they are all meant to offer comfortable lodgings, good value for money, decent meals and the convenience of being close to the city. There’s certainly nothing wrong with that and most do a very good job of it. So, what will set a city hotel apart are the unique offerings that it brings to the fore. The Riverside Hotel and Spa in Durban, KwaZuluNatal, certainly is one hotel that offers more than
just comfort and convenience. For starters, one of the differentiating and most welcome factors is the service given to guests from all staff, from the security personnel at the entrance gate to the housekeeping staff who come to turn down your room at night. It is this impeccable guest service that makes you feel at home away from home. Another great feature of the Riverside Hotel is the view of the Umgeni River or the Indian Ocean from its well-appointed rooms. The bedrooms and suites have all the regular comforts associated with a four-star hotel, but also have a kitchenette, complete with microwave, mini bar fridge, cutlery and crockery. In addition, the Riverside Spa offers all the regular comforts and services of a luxurious spa with relaxation rooms overlooking the Indian Ocean. Other spa facilities include a heated virality hydro pool, chromotherapy steam room, herbal sauna, dual hydro therapy baths and dual treatment rooms, well suited for couples. And while parents enjoy a relaxing spa treatment they can rest assured that their children are well looked after by the qualified babysitters on site. So, when you are travelling with your family and still want the convenience of being in the city surrounds, the Riverside Hotel ticks all the right boxes. Contact: www.riversidehotel.co.za Text | Gerard Peter Photography | Shutterstock
great | escapes
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Travelogue Desert dreaming and adventure in Namibia
From unbelievable panoramic views atop the highest sand dunes in the world to watching wildlife shimmer against one of the most spectacular pans on Earth, Namibia is truly one of Africa’s wonders. Rock paintings dating back to 26,000BC is evidence that this region of the continent has been inhabited for thousands of years. Today, the rich cultural heritage remains as the country fast-tracks its modernday development through a stable government, infrastructure and vibrant cities. These pictures show the diversity and natural splendour that truly is Namibia.
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2 3
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1. He might still be a juvenile but you wouldn’t want to stand in the way of this elephant in the Etosha National Park 2. A woman from the OvaHimba tribe pose for tourists. The OvaHimba are indigenous people who live in the Kunene region in northern Namibia 3. These ancient rock paintings in Twyfelfontein date back as far as 26,000BC and are the largest known concentration of ancient rock paintings in Africa 4. Once a bustling area thanks to the discovery of diamonds in the early 1900s, today Kolmanskop is a ghost town. Pictured here is all that remains of the house of the former mine manager 5. Brightly coloured houses line the streets in Lßderitz 6. A herd of oryx traverses over the red sand dunes of the Namib Desert. This is the oldest and driest desert in the world 7. An adrenaline rush on the dunes 8. The Arch At Spitzkoppe located between Usakos and Swakopmund
8
How to get there
Airlink flies daily from Cape Town to Windhoek, Namibia. See the flight schedule on page 83
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focus | 20 years in review
What a time to be alive Historical events that shaped the world as we know it
Death of a princess In August 1997 Princess Diana, married to Prince Charles of Wales, died in a car accident in France. This was particularly devastating as she was survived by her two young sons Prince Harry and Prince William, Duke of Cambridge. Although Princess Diana died 16 years ago, there is still speculation as to what was the actual cause of her death. The official story states that the princess’s car accident was caused by her driver Henri Paul losing control of the car due to a mixture of substances found in his system, including alcohol and anti-depressants.
A single currency
Don’t miss next month’s issue when we look at the top motoring advancements over the past 20 years
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Last month, Skyways celebrated its 20th anniversary. As part of the celebration, for the remainder of the year we are focusing on some of the milestones in South Africa and around the globe that have changed or shaped the world we live in today. This month, we look at some of the historical events that we witnessed over the past two decades.
In January 1999 the euro was adopted as the official currency of Europe. After countries in the euro zone adopted it as their official currency, life was made significantly easier for citizens who were no longer using their own currencies within their country. The standardisation, which was already partially implemented in 1998, simplified a complicated system.
Tech alert The new millennium proved that the pandemonium surrounding the threat of computer virus Y2K was not necessary. It was thought that when the new millennium began, all forms of digital and nondigital information storage would be lost, because computers would reset. Despite all the speculation and preparation for the loss of data and possibly the end of the beginning of the information technology evolution, the worries of the world were in vain.
9/11(left) changed the way we travel by air
America at war Few will argue that the tragic events of 9/11 have forever changed the way we travel by air. Most importantly, it opened the world’s eyes to the dangers of terrorism on all levels. No one would have thought that the seemingly impenetrable borders of the United States would be breached by terrorists on a suicide mission intent on bringing down the World Trade Centre in New York. The attacks gave immortal notoriety to Osama Bin Laden and the Al Qaeda network. Following the deadly attacks, the USA embarked on a mission to hunt down Bin Laden and also waged wars that brought about the collapse of the Taliban government in Afghanistan and Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi regime.
Apple to the fore In September 2007 the first Apple iPhone was launched in the United States exclusively on the AT & T network. This offered users a multi-faceted range of iOS applications and exceptional mobile network functionality. The iPhone, having iTunes built in, was particularly revolutionary
as the two worlds of music and cellular communication merged. The first iPhone compared to the latest iPhone, the 6 plus, has increased in screen size from 3,5 inches to 5,5 inches and has increased its pixel density by 238 pixels per inch (PPI). The iPhone continues to be one of the most used phones in 2015.
Spy games Edward Snowden, former member of the National Security Agency, blew the lid wide open on surveillance practices performed by the United States in 2013. Snowden leaked the questionable surveillance practices that the US government was guilty of to the media. This sparked a great deal of debate as the abuse of power often associated with government was questioned, the lengths that government is able to go to in order to monitor its citizens being the root question. Snowden remains in Russia up until this moment as the American government works on a plan of extraction in order to charge him. Text | Ofentse XXXXXX Photography | Shutterstock
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Total bliss Spa treatments to rejuvenate mind and body
spring
is here. It’s time to shake off those winter cobwebs and begin the renaissance of your mind and body. And what better way to do it than with a special spa or beauty treatment. Members of the Skyways team decided to review some of the best spa and beauty therapy offerings currently available.
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Urban retreat Wellness from within Most of us view a spa visit as a happy indulgence – and so it should be. However, some establishments take their role to a different level. The team at Camelot see beauty as an outward sign of health and their goal is to educate clients about looking after themselves holistically. I was particularly pleased to book in for my Signature Massage, as a recent sports event had resulted in aching muscles, stiff joints and a general sense of exhaustion. My therapist, Mandisa Nxumalo, acknowledged this but after examining my personal details during a preliminary consultation, identified several lifestyle issues that were exacerbating the situation. It’s no secret that poor diet, intermittent exercise and modern-day toxins can wreak havoc, yet most of us try to handle the symptoms without resolving the real problems. She provided general guidelines to address these issues before tailoring the spa’s Signature Massage to address my immediate concerns: tension and sore muscles. Each Signature Massage commences with a soothing herbal tea designed to assist with relaxation. A whiff of essential oils enhances the effect. Using a combination of conventional and hot stone massage with oils, stiff muscles and ‘knots’ were pinpointed and eased away – pressure is applied according to your preference. After an hour of expert attention I could barely remember the aches I’d walked in with. After the massage, a trip to the floatation chamber was the perfect finishing touch. Weightlessness is strangely cathartic and floating in a pool of salt water was an effective way to maximise the sense of relaxation. The Saxonwold branch of Camelot is located in a charming old home in Saxonwold. Despite being situated just off Jan Smuts Avenue, open doors leading to the surrounding gardens allow birdsong in without the intrusion of traffic sounds. This is a lovely oasis of tranquillity with a focus on whole-body healing.
Enmasse and YouBar are situated in upmarket Illovo, an area which boasts trendy and unique restaurants and stores. With this in mind, it’s evident that Enmasse and YouBar fit right in. The treatments and massaging areas offered by Enmasse are embedded with Eastern influences, making the experience a truly memorable one. Guests are supplied with a linen outfit upon arrival, which stays on throughout the massage. Massages are also oilfree, making the overall experience a hygienic one. The Thai Full-Body Massage is the ultimate stress-relieving treatment because the masseuses work thoroughly on your body’s physical strains. The session will transport you to a zone of total relaxation as the masseuse works on your legs, arms, shoulders, back, neck and head. Included in the treatment are various stretches and acupressures, which help relieve your body of any tension or muscular strain. Guests are welcome to relax or nap for as long as they want after the session, a special element that most spas are not able to offer. A range of natural Easterninfluenced teas are offered with compliments to the guests before or after a treatment. Enmasse believes that organic teas are effective as natural remedies and also elevate levels of relaxation. The newly established YouBar is already impressing first-time customers. The !QMS Activator Hydrating Facial is an absolute must-do! It might not be the most pampering experience, but it is definitely an informative one. During the treatment, your therapist will make a mould of your face, which shows you the areas that are collagen-deprived, dry and undernourished. After the analysis, your therapist will advise you on how to improve the overall condition of your skin. The therapist only uses !QMS products during this facial and the outcome speaks for itself. You will leave with glowing, refreshed and healthy skin.
Did you know that the term spa is derived from the name of the town of Spa, Belgium?
Text: Charlotte Bastiaanse Price: !QMS Activator Hydrating Facial R700, Thai Massage R425
Text: Brigitte Billings Price: R630 Contact: 011 646 5152
Contact: 082 802 4111
Take time to unwind by treating yourself to a few hours of relaxing indulgence
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Herbal remedy Nestled in the heart of the scenic Midlands Meander is Fordoun Hotel and Spa. This luxury five-star accommodation in Nottingham Road attracts visitors from all over the country and has gained a reputation for exquisite fine dining at its Skye Bistro restaurant. Fordoun also offers a wide selection of signature spa treatments, day spa packages and overnight spa packages for you to enjoy during your stay. One such treatment is the 60-minute Inkomfe Herbal Wrap. Inkomfe, or more commonly known as the African potato, gained notoriety when previously misdiagnosed by an ex-MEC as being able to cure people from Aids. This it can’t do, but what it can do is boost the body’s metabolism and help to prevent disease. The other major ingredient in the treatment is artemisia, an indigenous
plant that has been used for many generations by traditional healers to assist with respiratory infections. The treatment involves a super nourishing and hydrating wrap incorporating the two natural African ingredients, artemisia and African potato. The treatment starts with a full-body exfoliation using a mixture of salt and dried artemisia, after which a generous application of the African potato wrap is applied to the body. While covered up and warm, a relaxing head and scalp massage is performed to send you into a state of pure bliss. After you have showered off the body wrap, wild dagga body butter is applied lightly, leaving your skin rejuvenated and exceptionally hydrated. Text: Richard Bates Cost: R600 Contact: fordoun.com
A sense of indulgence The thing that stands out about a visit to Skin Sense is the attention to detail. From the moment you arrive staff cater to your every need, explaining each step of your visit from where you can store the keys to your locker to the type of treatment you’ll receive. I recently visited the spa for a pedicure and a Kahuna Full Body Massage – a treat which I anticipated would set my weekend off to a great start. I was not disappointed. Based on traditional Hawaiian healing, the massage combines rhythmic and flowing movements that soothe and relax. With trends moving massage to incorporate all manner of accompaniments – from hot stones and crystals to calabashes and gongs – it was almost refreshing to go back to basics. My therapist used thumbs, fingertips, palms, forearms and elbows to sweep away aches and pains, and without a stone in sight. After the massage, I was led, suitably jellylike, to the pedicure zone, where I chose a nail colour and had my toes tended to by not one, but two expert therapists. With detail being so important to Skin Sense it made sense that there’d be someone who specialised in buffing and foot massage, with another expert in painting and shaping toenails. I was particularly impressed with the way the therapists shared advice without selling products. I left with the knowledge of how to restore my winter-worn heels and maintain the lustre of my newly tinted tootsies for weeks. Situated a few blocks from Rivonia Road’s restaurant district, Skins Sense occupies a multi-level building with a strong touch of the Orient. Bamboo and water features provide a tranquil location for a much-needed treat. I’ll be back.
Hands-on approach
Price: Kahuna Full Body Massage (90 minutes) R680
Whether you are of the fairer sex or the quintessential metrosexual, having well-sculptured nails is something that will boost your confidence and show that you are a person who takes their physical appearance seriously. One establishment that has gained a good reputation for its exemplary manicure treatments is Sorbet. And from my recent visit to the Lonehill branch, it is clear to see why. I was treated to a Power Mani followed by an application of Gelish nail varnish. This comprises nail preparation, exfoliation with a hand scrub, application of the Gelish and a hand massage at the end. The process begins with the therapist shaping and buffing the nails. This is followed by the application of cuticle removing cream to soften the cuticles. This makes it easier to remove excess and neaten cuticles. After an exfoliating scrub, it was time for the application of a Gelish base coat, followed by the colour nail varnish. My hands were placed under an ultraviolet light after each application to bond the Gelish. Before the top coat is applied, my nails were coated with a correction gel. Gelish does not chip and lasts longer. With my nails looking sculptured and perfectly manicured, the entire process was rounded off with a stimulating massage. Overall the whole process took about an hour. It was a pleasant experience in a friendly environment with skilled and knowledgeable staff.
Gelish Pedicure (60 minutes) R325
Text: Petra Peter
Contact: [email protected], 011 807 6281
Price: R380 Contact: [email protected]
It is amazing what a little pampering can do for your confidence
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The age of fulfilment Ten ways to make your retirement meaningful
people
react differently to retirement. For some people, it is the best time of their lives, a time for adventure, fun and excitement. A time when they can kick up their heels, relax and enjoy the free time on their hands. Retirement doesn’t have to mean the end of living a purposeful live
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For others, retirement is a period of boredom and insecurity. This is because they aren't used to the flexible schedule and miss meeting and socialising with others in work-related activities. They also miss the predictability of their days and nights. That said, everyone can find joy and happiness in retirement and beat the retirement blues. In fact, you can have a retirement filled with meaning by following these 10 tips.
1Refocus your life
Do not consider yourself retired in the traditional sense. Yes, you no longer work for your past employer, but you are certainly not at the end of your rope. You are refocusing your life, pursuing other options – you're at a more positive turning point. This is a time for celebrating a new beginning.
2 Increase your social circle
Stay connected to those events and people that you previously enjoyed during your working career. Don't be afraid to have a social life. Join clubs and associations that interest you and get to know new people with similar interests.
3 Plan events
Get to know people of diverse interests. Don't be afraid to reach out to new people to strengthen other positive relationships. Not only will you increase acquaintanceships but you'll gain a feeling of connectedness to familiar and unfamiliar group members.
4
Prioritise your health
Maintaining good health is paramount to your success as a retiree. Therefore, you must take a preventive approach to good health. Do not wait until something is wrong to seek help. Examine your health and health habits now. Look into techniques for improving your overall wellbeing, such as swimming, walking, weight training, yoga and meditation.
5 Stay in shape
this age of technology, take time to brush up on your knowledge or take that class you've always dreamed of taking, such as a cooking or painting class or flying planes. Do whatever you can to become a more educated and knowledgeable person.
8 Update your looks
Yes, you're retired and now is the time to let your fashion sense shine. Get a manicure, facial or pedicure. Change your wardrobe to reflect the new and improved you.
9 Explore your dreams
Now that you have extra time on your hands, do what you've always wanted to do. Retirement is a perfect time to fulfil your dreams. Now is the time to accomplish all the things that you only dreamed about in the past. Do it now.
Stay in shape with exercise and a healthy diet. Choose an exercise activity that you enjoy and one that you can stick to. If you prefer to work out solo, there are many appropriate books as well as videos that you can use in your health quest right from the comforts of your own home. Just don't be afraid to try. In addition, you can also join a gym or take exercise classes with others. The better you feel, the more you will enjoy your retirement.
10 Maintain a youthful attitude
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There are many things that you can do to find your purpose and meaning in retirement. By maintaining a positive attitude and zest for life, exploring your dreams, updating your looks, increasing your knowledge, joining a worthy cause, staying in shape, prioritising your health, planning events, increasing your social circle and refocusing your life, you can do it.
Join a cause
After retirement, you may decide to join a worthwhile cause. Not only will this improve your selfesteem but you will also make the world a better place and enrich a lot of lives, including your own.
7 Increase your knowledge
Learning is a lifelong and exciting process. In
Make new friends and pursue those leisurely interests that you have been putting off for years
Be energetic and enjoy the time you now have on your hands. Retiring from a job does not mean you have to give up everything. Age is an attitude. If you act as though you are old, then you are. If you act like you're young, you'll be young. Be proud of your veteran status. Attitude is everything; let others be inspired by yours.
Text | Josiah Walter Photography | Shutterstock
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A call to action Planning for your future starts right now
the thought
of retirement is always in the back of your mind throughout your working life. For most it is inevitable and there is always concern about whether you will be able to live out those golden years comfortably. In 2013 Research company Eighty20 claimed that that South Africans spend as much on their satellite television subscriptions as they do on retirement annuities
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Inflation and compounding
Let’s start by painting a picture: In the early stages of our careers, we are too busy trying to enjoy ourselves to think of the future. However, it doesn’t take that long before you have reached your mid-30s and things start to change. You become more serious about your financial goals. Since you didn’t give your formative working years too much weight and didn’t start early retirement planning, you are left wondering how to reach your retirement goals. It is important to discuss your retirement plans at the earliest.
It is said that time is money. This old adage holds true when planning your retirement. The sooner you start planning, the longer you have to save. For those who are not familiar with the term ‘compound interest’, it is the process wherein your money grows exponentially as the interest builds upon itself over a period of time. However, along with compounding another element that comes into play is inflation. It’s important to take into consideration the prevalent rate of inflation as it hampers the growing corpus, in turn reducing the savings created.
You have to start somewhere
Market uncertainty
There is never a better time than the present to start planning for your retirement. Timing is everything because early retirement planning means that you have more time to build that golden nest egg. Starting early not only swells your bank account, but also gives you the confidence to move ahead and achieve your dreams.
Having the right investments and saving patterns will help you tide over market uncertainty. Starting early gives you the leverage to plan your retirement in a systematic manner. It is advisable to seek the advice of a financial planner or wealth management expert who can provide you with retirement solutions that fit your needs. It is these experts who can help you choose the right investments to tackle market volatility.
The age factor
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Unexpected events can turn the monthly budget around. However, having a set amount secured gives you the assurance that you will be able to tackle a problem in the future.
Age is not just a number, but a platform to help you grow individually as well as financially. Saving and planning for your retirement is in your best interest.
Text | Arno Visagie Photography | Shutterstock
focus | retirement
houses Future-proof your retirement prospects
everyone
knows that financial planning for retirement has to start when you’re young, but few realise during their working years that planning where you’ll retire is just as important as the funds you accumulate in preparation for the day after you punch the clock for the final time. Property investing remains a safe bet to make your money grow or to ensure you have a roof over your head when you retire
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It is a fact that property prices will continue to rise. There will be years when growth is lower than the current national average of 8% per annum and there will be years when it is higher, but property will never be cheaper than it is now. That’s why it’s so important to consider where you might want to retire well before you’re ready to do so, and if the funds are available, invest in that local market sooner rather than later. Buying an investment property in the area in which you want to retire – even a small one – will to a large extent future-proof your retirement prospects, as long as you’re buying in a ‘blue chip’ suburb such as Sandton, Rivonia
or Cape Town’s Claremont that offers very little chance of creeping urban decay in the next decade or two. As many Gauteng residents who are looking to relocate to the Western Cape are currently learning to their dismay, property prices in popular coastal areas are higher and you’ll probably get far less for your money than you would if you were buying in Johannesburg, so getting into your desired market now is placing your foot firmly on the property ladder you want to live in later. You may ultimately not want to retire in the property you originally bought, but selling it will allow you to stay in the same market rather than being forced into a position of drastically downsizing or never being able to live where you want in the years when you’ll spend the most time in your home. And if you’re selling your family home at the same time, you should be able to go a lot more upmarket than you might have thought possible.
What makes a good retirement property? The first criterion is location, and the most important
consideration is that the property is situated close to family and friends. You might want a holiday home that’s across the country from everyone you love, but you’re unlikely to want to live there. The other basic necessities are ease of access, excellent security, lower maintenance and close proximity to facilities such as shops and medical care. After that, it depends entirely on your level of investment. The most popular choices for retirees who decide not to live in retirement communities are lock-up-and-go type homes, golf estates or basic security estates. Lock-up-and-go homes are very popular city options, because they offer comfortable downsizing with very little maintenance and more security. We’re starting to see a number of upmarket developments of this type that offer concierge services and I believe a lot more will be built in future because there is demand. The developments with on-site concierges usually also offer other facilities such as restaurants, gyms, retail outlets or spas and they represent a very attractive residential prospect for retirees, because much of what they need is right on the doorstep or can be obtained for them with minimal hassle. Secure estates and golf estates are at the opposite end of the spectrum, offering the opportunity of a larger property within a safe, well-facilitated closed community. The other investment option is retirement communities, of which there is a drastic shortage in South Africa. This makes even the basic ones quite expensive, and the price increases substantially should one require frail care. Many retirement communities will allow younger people to invest in units and rent them out until they are eventually ready to move in themselves. When you consider buying property in a retirement community though, be very sure of what you’re getting before you sign on the dotted line. There are three common options, the most straightforward of which is sectional title which allows your estate to sell the property once you are deceased. Slightly more complex is the share block scheme, which is essentially buying a specific number of shares in the community which entitles you to occupy a certain percentage of space. The final option is ‘life rights’ or ‘occupational rights’, which allows you to live in the community but doesn’t provide your estate with a fixed asset to leave to your heirs. Wherever you decide to retire, early planning is essential to making the most of your leisure years and property is one of the safest and best investments to create longterm capital growth. Text | Lew Geffen Photography | Shutterstock
executive | decision
More bang for your buck How to save money during tough times
Consumers may have been given a little respite with two fuel price decreases in recent months, but that doesn’t mean they are off the hook with rising interest rates and other basic expenses. With prices of basic essentials like food and electricity continually rising, it seems almost impossible to have any money left over to save. Here are five ways to save money during tough financial times. Make every cent count in these turbulent economic times
are not just 1Lunchboxes for school children
Besides ensuring you stay away from unhealthy fast food options, taking a packed lunch to work is a sure-fire way to keep your money in your wallet. Analyse what you eat for lunch over the duration of one work week: is it a ready-
made convenience meal which you have brought along, leftovers from last night’s restaurant dinner or whatever you cooked at home or is it a salad or sandwich you made yourself? Each of these has a different cost. Tally what you are spending – you might be surprised.
2 Shop smart
Where possible, compare price per weight ratio. While bulk buying your groceries is usually cheaper, you may find items on special which means that the smaller size works out cheaper.
3 Set up a budget
Start by checking old bank statements to determine the cost of your monthly basic living expenses. Track what you are spending your money on under essentials and flexible costs, such as entertainment. Check your budget throughout the month to ensure you stick to it.
4 Financial planning is key
By thinking about the big picture and where you want to be five, 10, or 30 years down the road, you can develop a financial plan that allows you to work toward those goals. Without a financial plan you are more likely to live in the moment, which undoubtedly results in poor financial choices. The steps you take today will set the pace for the rest of your life, determining your quality of life and long-term financial security.
rands spent into the hours 5 Translate you worked to earn them
Time literally is money. Each rand in your pay cheque represents some amount of time it took for you to earn it. (And it’s not just your hourly wage.) Figure out how much time a rand is actually worth to you, and you will begin to see your expenses in a whole new light. Ask yourself if that new digital camera is really worth a week at the office. Before you can start saving it’s important to reduce your debt by making a list of all your debts. Include the outstanding amounts and the interest rates of each debt. Pay off debts with the highest interest rate first, as this will minimise the amount of money you pay towards interest. Work out how long it will take you to pay off all the debts. Remember, never deviate from your budget. Never miss a payment as this will damage your credit rating and you’ll struggle to get loans in future. Text | Michelle Alberts Photography | Shutterstock
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freedom
Linking your cargo to the world.
Airlink Cargo can only facilitate the movement of cargo to these destinations if it originates from any of our other branches of operations except Johannesburg.
32573
Connecting 35 destinations in 9 African countries.
executive | decision
Power play Why are assertive women judged more harshly?
a new study
about emotional inequality at the office has found that women who speak up are risking more than men. Research undertaken by The Human Edge’s international partner, VitalSmarts, revealed that a woman’s perceived competency drops by 35% when she is assertive or forceful in the workplace. Assertive men are also affected, but to a lesser degree. The study confirms that emotional inequality is real and a common occurrence in the workplace. Women are burdened with the assumption that they will conform to cultural stereotypes that typecast them as caring and nurturing. Speaking forcefully violates these cultural norms and women are judged more harshly than men for the same degree of assertiveness. Emotional inequality is unacceptable and it needs to be addressed at a cultural, legal, organisational and social level. Changing this may be a lengthy process. So, there are skills that can be developed for use at the workplace to be forceful, assertive and honest, without experiencing social backlash.
Damage control The skills I proposed can reduce the damage of workplace bias by 27%, enabling women and men in the office to be able to more consciously speak their minds with minimal repercussions. Organisations and employees can address this inequality by firstly being aware of the bias. Often this is occurring unconsciously, and everything possible should be done to address this. Secondly, women and men should learn about framing skills and how to apply them, to assist in mitigating the bias. By using a brief, framing statement, which demonstrates deliberation, forethought and control, the social consequence and emotion inequality effects are
reduced. A backlash occurs when observers use emotion to draw a negative conclusion about the speaker’s intent. Individuals are encouraged to frame an assertive statement with a behaviour phrase, a value phrase or an inoculation phrase to reduce the negative perception. Taking a few seconds to explain positive intent before stating the content helps reduce this. Examples of these phrases are: • Behaviour phrase – “I’m going to express my opinion very directly. I’ll be as specific as possible.” • Value phrase – “I see this as a matter of honesty and integrity, so it’s important for me to be clear about where I stand.” • Inoculation phrase – “I know it’s a risk for a woman to speak this assertively, but I’m going to express my opinion very directly.”
Visit humanedge. co.za or contact Carina Serfontein on 012 345 6281 for more information about The Human Edge’s upcoming public training programmes or impact your company culture positively by having The Human Edge create a programme tailor-made for your organisation
From the three phrases that can be used to explain intent, findings revealed that the behaviour and value phrases are effective and safe to be used repeatedly, while the inoculation phrase may create short-term benefits, however if used too frequently may ultimately damage a user’s reputation. If not acknowledged or managed correctly, emotional inequality and social backlash can adversely affect your career and an organisation’s effectiveness. Text | Helene Vermaak Photography | Shutterstock
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Taking the fall Employers who pass the buck can be made to feel sheepish
there have been
a number of occasions where I have been consulted in disputes where a crisis has occurred at a workplace and the boss found an innocent person to blame. lvan lsraelstam is Chief Executive of Labour Law Management Consulting. He may be contacted on 082 852 2973, ivan@ labourlawadvice. co.za or go to www. labourlawadvice.co.za.
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This ranges from fraud, theft and loss of market share to financial losses. When this happens, everyone in management runs for cover while pointing fingers at one another. For instance, the sales director tells the big boss that sales have been lost due to the fault of the sales manager or because the stores’ manager has not delivered goods fast enough. Or the production director’s excuse is that the engineer has not maintained the machinery properly. Often, the CEO or MD has to face an inquisition in front of the board chairperson because the profits are down and she puts the blame on one of her directors.
Sometimes the accusing finger is in fact pointed in the right direction, but just as often the wrong head rolls because the culprits have conspired to scapegoat an easy target or someone outside the main clique.
The blame game Very frequently, by the time the scapegoat has been able to recover from the shock of the false allegations and has perhaps even been able to throw some doubt on the allegations against him, the damage has been done. Scapegoating can result not only in the unnecessary loss for the employer of key skills, but can also tarnish the reputation of the employer. From the employee’s point of view his name will have been muddied and his career prospects may have been damaged. It then comes as no surprise that the employee refers the matter to the CCMA or bargaining council.
Sometimes, labour law arbitrators take a dim view of scapegoating as this would make a dismissal substantively unfair. For example, in the case of NEHAWU on behalf of September vs the National Department of Social Services in 2004, the scapegoat was a senior administrator. Mr September was dismissed after his personal computer number was used to verify false social grant beneficiaries. Several other employees whose computer numbers had been similarly misused were also disciplined but received only final warnings. The administrator claimed that he had been scapegoated because the employer was under pressure to deal with the matter. That is, the employer was at fault for the fraud because its systems were not secure. In order to deflect blame, the applicant argued, the employer used him as a scapegoat. The arbitrator found that there was no proof that the administrator had benefited from the fraud. It was also ruled that there were indeed serious defects in the system that could allow fraud to occur. For example, employees were permitted to swap computers. Also, the computer numbers of other employees had been used to perpetrate fraud. While the applicant had failed a polygraph test, his claim that he suffered from a mental disease that prevented him from responding to such tests was not challenged. The applicant had been targeted because the amount of fraud committed via his computer number was the highest. This was unfair because due to his senior position he had the authority to work with higher amounts. In the end, the dismissal was unfair and the applicant was reinstated. The cost of this matter to the employer must have been high because not only did it have to bear its legal costs, it also had to waste the valuable working time of the witnesses in the case. This could have been avoided had the employer made proper use of the appropriate experts to investigate the matter and to help decide on appropriate corrective measures. Scapegoating is not the quick fix that many think it is. Text | Ivan Israelstam Photography | Shutterstock
executive | decision
management How to keep your best people
a recent
survey by Accenture revealed that 31% of employees don’t like their boss, 32% were actively looking for a new job, and 43% felt that they received no recognition for their work
These figures are serious cause for concern. Every day, employees at all levels suffer at jobs that leave them feeling unhappy and frustrated. A miserable job is one that people dread going to because they know they will come home with less energy, confidence and self-esteem than when they left. Job misery can be devastating to employees and their families and it has a very real effect on the organisation’s bottom line: loss of customers, reduced productivity and increased costs of recruiting, retention, legal fees and workers’ compensation. Addressing employee engagement and commitment has never been more important. People who are miserable at work become cynical and demoralised; they are drained of energy, self-confidence and enthusiasm – they disengage. Job misery produces the exact opposite of the conditions we find in a healthy organisation. A healthy organisation has high morale and productivity and it avoids the high cost of disengaged people. In a healthy environment good people don’t want to leave! Tackling job misery is a top priority for those organisations that wish to be successful.
miserable in their job is that person’s manager. Even employees who are well paid and do interesting work cannot feel fulfilled if their managers fail to provide them with what they need on a consistent basis. Many companies try their best, at great expense, to create ideal working environments. They lay on everything from masseurs to canteens to carwashes. Perks are nice, but they don’t make employees happy over the long term. That’s because these don’t fulfil a very basic human need that everyone has – people want to be known for who they are and to know how what they are doing matters.
All too often the statement, “Our people are our most important asset,” is a hollow one
The Three Signs In his book The Three Signs of a Miserable Job, Patrick Lencioni says that managers can go a long way to engaging, motivating and retaining their direct reports by recognising and eliminating the three primary causes of job misery: anonymity, irrelevance and immeasurement. • Anonymity – the feeling that people get when they feel unknown or invisible at work. • Irrelevance – the sense that the work that people are doing has no real impact on the lives of others, and that if they didn’t arrive for work, or do their jobs well, it wouldn’t really matter. • Immeasurement – the inability of an employee to assess his or her own level of contribution and success. These three signs seem simple and obvious and even easy to resolve. The truth is though they remain unaddressed by even the most well-meaning managers.
Managers hold the key
Anonymity
The potential cure resides in the hands and approach of one individual – the direct manager. The one person who has the greatest impact on whether someone enjoys coming to work or is
People cannot be fulfilled in their work if they are not known. All human beings, regardless of their job title, need to be understood and appreciated by someone in a position of authority. People who see themselves
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executive | decision
Irrelevance Everyone needs to know that their job matters to someone. If they don’t show up for work or do their jobs well, it needs to matter to someone. Without seeing a connection between the work and the satisfaction of another person or group of people, an employee simply will not find lasting fulfilment. Even the most cynical employee needs to know that his or her work matters. The direct manager needs to help the employee answer two fundamental questions. First, who is the beneficiary of the employee’s work? And second, how exactly does the employee go about making an impact? The power of relevance cannot be underestimated. When employees understand how they can impact others, they inevitably have a greater sense of purpose and motivation. They see their jobs as part of something else rather than just jobs that require only doing the minimum to avoid being fired.
Immeasurement Encouragement and understanding from managers goes a long way in ensuring that your best employees don’t leave your business
as invisible, generic or anonymous cannot love their jobs, no matter what they are doing. How does a manager go about eliminating anonymity from employees’ work lives? It’s not complicated, but it’s harder than it might appear. Firstly managers have to get to know their direct reports. The best way to do that is to talk to them: ask how they’re doing, what’s going on in their lives, how they feel about their jobs, what kind of interests, hobbies and aspirations they have. Your efforts must be sincere and genuine. People are quick to figure out if they are being manipulated. Managers must also avoid an overly formulaic approach, where they start sending their employees birthday cards and robotically asking about their interests. The only true way to go about eliminating anonymity is for managers to start caring about their employees as people and wonder what it might be like to walk in their shoes. They can begin by making a list of their employees’ interests – their aspirations, special skills, hobbies, birthdays, family challenges, and so on. Then they can keep those topics alive by engaging in regular, casual conversation about them.
About LeadershipWorks LeadershipWorks is the official consulting partner for The Table Group and Patrick Lencioni in southern Africa. Their core purpose is to equip leaders with the tools to build healthy organisations and high performing teams. Contact Grant Ashfield on 011 463 4788, email [email protected] or visit www.leadershipworks.co.za.
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Employees need to be able to gauge their progress and level of contribution for themselves. It’s hard for them to be fulfilled in their work if their success depends on the opinions or whims of another person. Without a tangible means for assessing one’s own success or failure, motivation eventually deteriorates as people see themselves unable to control their own fates. Once again it’s the direct manager who makes the difference. Managers must work to ensure that their direct reports understand how they can go about assessing their own success. In doing so they must avoid defaulting solely to an employee’s job description or making the measurement overly quantitative. Managers need to start with relevance when thinking about what needs to be measured, and they need to involve the employee in figuring it out.
Take a genuine interest in people Organisations should not accept that employees are going to be miserable. They need to take a genuine interest in people. Sadly and all too often the statement, “Our people are our most important asset,” is a hollow one. Your care and commitment to provide people with what they need to be productive and fulfilled in their jobs, starting with eliminating job misery, have the power to change this. Text | Patrick Lencioni and Grant Ashfield Photography | Shutterstock
executive | decision
Stewart Butterfield, CEO of Slack
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The new
water cooler
You probably haven’t heard of an online game called Glitch. It existed for only a little while before the company that built it, Tiny Speck, closed it down in 2013. And yet we have Glitch to thank for a tool that is changing how people in many organisations get their work done. When they were developing Glitch, Tiny Speck’s employees were scattered between San Francisco, New York, and Vancouver. To make it easier to communicate, the team created an instant-messaging program that could serve as a hub for everything they were doing. It archived messages, just as you’d expect in email, but it also made it possible to see and search information from other sources, such as their daily status reports and file servers. Soon they realised that this application, now known as Slack, was potentially useful to any organisation and could be a far bigger opportunity than Glitch. After some of the fastest growth ever seen in business software, today Slack has 750,000 users, and the company that has come together to develop it is valued at nearly $3 billion. It’s a member of this year’s 50 Smartest Companies list. Slack is headed by Stewart Butterfield, who cofounded the photo-sharing site Flickr and sold it to Yahoo in 2005 for more than $20 million. He told MIT Technology Review’s senior editor for mobile, Rachel Metz, that he hopes Slack will do for all companies what it did for his: free people up to get more work done.
There are many communication apps for work that offer aspects of what people can do with Slack. How is Slack different? Usually within a single organisation there will be many, many different means of communication. There’s this huge value in bringing all those together. So if you can provide a tool that works for both ends of the spectrum – like “I’m going to be five minutes late to the meeting” but also “Here’s an important change to our benefits policy that all employees must be made aware of, and you have until June 30 to file some form,” or something like that – if it works for all of those and all the use cases in between those, then it will either consolidate or replace many other forms of communication. The fact that there’s only one place, one tool that you have to check, one record of all the conversations, and the fact that it’s searchable, makes a huge difference. I’ve heard of not just companies using Slack but
classroom teachers as well. We hear of people using it with their family. I have heard of a couple using it. Despite its popularity, you’ve told me in the past, perhaps somewhat tongue in cheek, that Slack is “just a giant piece of rubbish.” Is it still? I think we’ve made some improvements since then, but on the whole there are still so many problems. There are a lot of things that are still shockingly bad. Amazingly, you actually cannot invite people from the mobile app if you’ve just created a team. It’s just not possible. And that’s insane. It’s inconvenient for people, obviously, and frustrating because people just assume, “I have this brand-new messaging app on my phone – how do I invite people?” And they’ll try every single thing through the whole app. It’s also incredibly stupid for us as a business, right? Assuming you can fix that, what’s a feature you’d want to add that is impractical or technologically impossible for now? Automatic summarisation of what happened while you were away. It sounds very simple in one sense. But doing it right will be very difficult. If I said to Bob or Amy, “Go read all of the messages that came in over the course of the day that I haven’t looked at yet and tell me the three most important things that I need to deal with right away,” it would be very easy for them to do that, whereas asking a computer to do that is impossible. So that’s something we’re very interested in – especially not just the ability to do it in a one-off way but also, ideally, the ability to learn from me about what I think is important and the way in which I would like it presented. Slack has a free service, but you charge for some features. How big a business can this become? What we’re doing now is an amazing business. In [software as a service] businesses, the benchmark for churn [loss of customers] is typically 1% a month – that’s kind of the boundary between good and maybe starting to be dangerous. Anything over 1% starts to be worrying. We’re not even at a tenth of a percent per month. Essentially, no one ever stops paying us once they start paying us. Text | Courtesy MiT Tech Review Photography | Winni Wintermeyer
Skyways with MIT Technology Review brings you the latest innovations in the tech field
executive | decision
APP YOUR LIFE
Plan your life on your smartphone
Each month, Skyways helps you organise your life on your smartphone with a review of useful apps on all platforms. These are the apps that get our nod of approval.
TurboScan TurboScan turns your phone into a multipage scanner for documents, receipts, notes, whiteboards and other text. This app allows you to quickly scan your documents and store or email them as multipage PDF or JPEG files. TurboScan uses advanced, fast algorithms to auto-detect document edges, straighten the document (correct perspective), eliminate shadows and set a perfect contrast. The handy ‘Email to Myself’ feature lets you send documents to a predefined address, or even upload them to online storage sites like Evernote, with a single tap.
Polaris Office + PDF Polaris Office is a free office application suite optimised for smartphones and tablets to create, edit or read Microsoft Word, Excel or PowerPoint documents and view PDFs on your mobile device. It allows you to attach PDFs, documents, spreadsheets and PowerPoint files to emails and share through social media. The Text Reflow View Mode optimises file contents for your mobile screen. What’s more, you can use the Camera Mode to take and insert pictures and videos into documents.
Runtastic Running & Fitness
GridWatch Let’s face it: loadshedding affects the way we work and play. GridWatch is an up-to-date database of loadshedding schedules in South Africa. Search and save loadshedding schedules from across the country. Customise your app with all your important areas such as home, work and gym. Browse advanced schedules for the coming week so you can plan your life around possible outages. Sign up for alerts for each schedule and receive notifications in advance as to when loadshedding will affect you next.
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This app uses GPS to map and track sports and fitness activities, such as running, jogging, cycling, walking, hiking and many more. It tracks details such as duration, distance, elevation change, calories burned and more for your cardio and strength-training workouts to help you build healthy lifestyle habits and reach your exercise goals.
DU Battery Saver Pro This powerful battery-saving app allows you to get up to 70% more battery life for your Android phone and tablet. Schedule Power Saving Mode by power level or by time. Slow down the CPU, remove powerhogging apps and update device settings to boost your battery life.
Mincon.com
Gadgets
Total blockout Want to listen to your favourite hits while onboard an Airlink flight? The Philips FX3BK/00 headphones are well suited for long journeys, blocking out the bustle surrounding you. Designed with noise isolation, just plug in your favourite music and block out external sounds. The 40mm neodymium drivers deliver rich bass and powerful sound. The adjustable bass control lets you adapt your sound experience to your individual preference. The ear cushions are comfortable for long-time use. In addition, the lightweight, foldable design makes the FX3BK/00 headphones compact to travel with you everywhere you go. RRP: R499 Info: DionWired stores nationwide
No frills, plenty of features The new Dell Inspiron 3000 Series notebooks have the power to see you through your everyday mobile life, with a wide range of customisable specs, and without the hefty price tag. The Inspiron 3000 Series is ideal for home, business
and students, with options to suit every need. All models offer a rich set of standard features and options, including the latest processor technology from Intel and AMD. In addition, various configurations, optional extras such as built-in DVD writers and high definition touch screen display and a wide variety of accessories help users to fully customise their experience. The range is available in 14-inch and 15.6inch models, with optional 10-finger capacitive touch screen capability for seamless zooming, scrolling and tapping. Up to 8GB of RAM ensures plenty of multitasking power, and a standard 500GB hard drive, upgradeable to 1TB, offers enough storage for all of those important files. Pricing varies according to size and configuration. Info: www.drivecon.net Go retro Remember the days of LPs and 7-singles? Well, those days are back. Ride the wave of the vinyl resurgence and preserve your records digitally with the Crosley Troubadour threespeed turntable. Simply pop your USB drive or SD memory stick in the front slot and press ‘record’. No wires or computer necessary. The Troubadour also offers the ability to play music from your USB or SD card, as well as CDs, cassettes and AM/FM radio. Plus, its retro design with real wood panels and a hand-rubbed finish will complement any room in the house. Price: R2,999 Info: thegadgetshop.co.za
MINCON. 1ST FOR DURABILITY, RELIABILITY & PERFORMANCE. Mincon Southern Africa are proud to announce the introduction of 2 NEW ranges of Blast Hole Drilling Machines to the African Mining and Quarrying industries. REICHdrill DTH and ROTARY drills as well as BBurg TOP HAMMER and DTH drills. With the addition of these machines to our already superb range of Rock Drilling Tools and Accessories, MINCON and its strategic partners in Africa will help you to increase your bottom line. Mincon Southern Africa www.mincon.co.za Phone: +27 11 397 3630
time | out
A clearer vision Keeping an eye on your health There are an estimated 45 million blind people and 135 million visually impaired people worldwide
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designer
Alexander Amosu, whose London-based design house is mostly known for gem-studded phones and accessories, has done something a little different this year – he’s created the world’s single most expensive suit. The fabric of the single-breasted suit is made from vicuña wool, the most expensive wool in the world due to its scarcity and stringent regulations on wool-gathering, and qiviut, luxury wool made coats of muskoxen. It’s also threaded with 18-karat gold and features pave set diamonds.
Reclining in your comfy seat is a natural part of your journey as you take to the skies. If, however, you are reclining in order to increase the distance between this magazine and your eyes, you may well have presbyopia (farsightedness), just one of the conditions plaguing the more than 285 million people worldwide with visual impairment. Fortunately, all is not lost. Eighty percent of visual impairment is either preventable or treatable, according to Orbis Africa, a sight-saving not-for-profit organisation working across sub-Saharan Africa. October is World Sight Month and this year the theme is Eye Care for All. The good news is that not all loss of vision is serious and the solution can be as straightforward as visiting your optometrist to address your refractive error, being either near- or farsighted. Generally, this is corrected with spectacles or contact lenses (or in the event that you are in denial of your presbyopia, increasing the distance between your eyes and this magazine for better focus).
Lack of education is damning While access to eye healthcare remains a major barrier for many people in Africa, lack of knowledge and awareness is equally challenging. Extensive work is being done on the continent to raise awareness around the need to seek medical help for eye conditions, yet continued education is necessary within communities and the healthcare system itself to accurately identify eye conditions, and encourage individuals to not delay in seeking treatment. Many people across the globe have misconceptions on the causes and treatment of eye conditions and diseases and are often uncomfortable with the idea of any procedure involving the eye. This fear results in many people delaying seeking treatment, which is often then left too late. The most significant factor influencing the success of sight-restoring procedures is how soon the condition is picked up. Conditions like cataracts may need surgical intervention; however, vision may be restored completely. A mature cataract presents itself as a white spot on the pupil. From the onset of the cataract, vision will become increasingly cloudy over time until the patient eventually becomes blind. While the condition is often thought of as a product of age, babies may be born with it and children could develop it. Early detection is key. Uveal melanoma is a serious eye disease. In layman’s terms, this refers to cancer of the eye, and it’s the most common of cancers affecting the eyes among adults. Tumours develop from the melanocytes, or pigment
cells, which determine the colour of your eye. Treatments vary, but may include radiotherapy or surgery. As with all cancers, early detection can save your life. Macular degeneration (also called age-related macular degeneration) is most common in adults over the age of 50. It starts off as a blurry spot in the central vision, and while in itself it does not cause complete loss of vision, it can have a severe impact on everyday activities. And because it can sometimes develop very slowly, individuals may not realise the process has commenced. Smoking doubles your risk of developing macular degeneration, as does a family history of the disease. Experimental treatments are in development, but the best cure is to eliminate as many causes as possible before it occurs.
Giving vision to someone who doesn't have it is life-changing and reverberates through families, communities and, ultimately, economies
Prevention better than cure A healthy lifestyle can prevent or decrease your chances of contracting a number of conditions which affect vision and the eyes. Smoking is a big risk factor, and kicking the habit early will definitely pay off in the long run (and the benefits will extend beyond just your vision). A balanced and varied diet will ensure that the required vitamins and minerals are at your body’s disposal. Vitamins that support good eyesight include vitamin A, beta-carotene, vitamin C, omega 3 fatty acids and lutein. Leafy green veggies (think spinach, lettuce and kale) will supply the lutein, while broccoli, squash and papaya are packed with vitamin C. Nuts, oils and salmon will ensure you get your dose of omega 3, and the doctor’s orders for 2ℓ
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Did you know that an estimated 1.4 million children are blind, 320,000 of whom live in sub-Saharan Africa
of water per day will ensure toxins are effectively flushed from your system. It is also important to protect your eyes from the environment. A little-known fact is that eyes can get sunburnt, in addition to being damaged by ultraviolet
light. While no sunscreen exists for the eyes (that we know of or would recommend), polarised sunglasses with UV protection will offer a good first-line defence against the sun. Bright light and prolonged staring at computer screens can also cause dry eyes in some individuals, which in turn lead to discomfort, fatigue and possibly headaches. Frequent breaks are highly recommended to avoid eye strain at your desk. If you suspect that you or a loved one may be suffering from an eye condition, seek medical council as soon as possible. The earlier treatment starts, the higher the chances of an individual’s sight being saved. This also holds true for children, who may choose to ignore their fading eyesight. Text | Helen White Photography | Supplied
sudoku
s e t o N
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Try the addictive game of Sudoku. The aim is to fill each block with a number from 1 to 9. Each number must not appear more than once in each row, column and square. If you can’t finish this puzzle during your flight, please take this free copy of Skyways with you. The cabin attendant will make sure that the next passengers get their own magazine, with a clean Sudoku for them to puzzle over! Puzzles taken from www.krazydad.com
challenging
Puzzles supplied by Conceptis, www.conceptispuzzles.com
easy
Solutions can be found on page 95
battleship Each Battleship puzzle represents a section of ocean with a hidden fleet of one battleship, two cruisers and three submarines. The ships may be oriented horizontally or vertically within the grid so that no ship touches another, not even diagonally. Any remaining squares in the grid contain water segments, which are shown as a symbol of water or as an X. The numbers on the bottom and on the right of the grid show how many squares in the corresponding rows and columns are occupied by ships. The object is to discover where all six ships are located.
1 x Battleship 2 x Cruisers
Easy
It has taken a while, but Infiniti’s QX80 has finally reached our shores
one look
at the Infiniti QX80 and you will realise which global markets this luxury SUV is aimed at. With its shiny chrome finishes, hulking presence and burly engine, this is undoubtedly a vehicle designed for places such as the US, Middle East, China and Russia.
Leisure wheels is South Africa's foremost adventure motoring magazine. For this reason Skyways has chosen to work with Leisure wheels when it comes to providing you with motoring information. For more on the topic of adventure motoring, look out for the current issue of Leisure wheels, on sale now. www.leisurewheels.com
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Little wonder, then, that Nissan SA decided against importing the new Nissan Patrol – a vehicle that has a lot in common with the QX80 – when it was launched back in 2010. Both the latest Patrol and the Infiniti QX80 are more reminiscent of large vehicles such as the Lincoln Navigator and the Cadillac Escalade than the 4x4s South African buyers tend to opt for. The first thing that strikes you about the QX80 is its size. It is massive, with an overall length of around 5,300mm and a width of more than 2,000mm. And thanks to its bulging design and chrome finishes, it has even more of a presence than its dimensions suggest. The big question is, will there be a market for this sort of SUV in SA? Can a huge 4x4 with a massive petrol engine sell in our market?
Features and equipment Despite its shiny and modern exterior, the underpinnings of the QX80 are decidedly old school. For instance, the QX80 boasts a ladder-frame chassis.
Like the chassis, the SUV’s powerplant is also quite old school. No modern bi-turbo setup here. Instead, there is a meaty 5.6-litre V8 petrol mill that develops 298kW of power and 560Nm of torque. Thankfully, though, the engine is mated to a modern seven-speed automatic transmission. Ninespeed autos are quickly becoming the norm, but the
QX80’s gearbox does its work well. An extensive suite of advanced technology systems is standard with the QX80, ranging from Intelligent Brake Assist (IBA) with Forward Emergency Braking, Predictive Forward Collision Warning (PFCW), Backup Collision Intervention (BCI), Intelligent Cruise Control, Blind Spot Warning (BSW) and Distance Control Assist (DCA). Also included is Blind Spot Intervention (BSI), Lane Departure Warning (LDW) and Lane Departure Prevention (LDP), Front Pre-Crash Seatbelts, Adaptive Front Lighting System (AFS) with auto-levelling headlights and Hydraulic Body Motion Control (HBMC) system. The HBMC system helps reduce body lean in turns, resulting in improved ride comfort for passengers in all three rows. Hydraulic chambers integrated into each shock absorber automatically control suspension travel. The Predictive Forward Collision Warning (PFCW) system warns the driver of risks that lie beyond the driver’s forward field of vision. It not only senses the relative velocity and distance of a vehicle directly ahead, but also of a vehicle travelling in front of the preceding one.
Accommodation Step into the cabin of the QX80 and you’ll be blown away by the space. This is a true eight-seater, capable of transporting three adults in the second row and two in the third row. Even with all seats folded open, you’ll still be left with a good chunk of luggage space.
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Crunching the numbers
Engine Type: 5.6-litre V8, naturally aspirated, direct injection Displacement: 5,552cc Max power: 298kW @ 5,800r/min Max torque: 560Nm @ 4,000r/min Claimed performance Top speed: 210km/h Overall fuel consumption: 14.8ℓ/100km Price: R1,238,000
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The driver’s seat is 10-way power adjustable, including two-way power lumbar support. It also features a standard dual occupant memory system for the driver’s seat. The front passenger’s seat is eight-way power adjustable, including two-way power lumbar support. Climate-controlled heating and cooling for the front seats are standard, and there is even heating for the second row of seats. Cabin temperature is regulated with the help of Infiniti’s Advanced Climate Control System (ACCS) with air purifier. Among the QX80’s premium entertainment and technology features are an eight-inch colour touchscreen display, 30GB hard drive navigation system with 10GB music storage, a Bluetooth hands-free system and an in-dash CD/DVD player with MP3 playback. A Bose 15-speaker premium audio system with two subwoofers and rear headliner-mounted speakers has also been fitted. Dual seven-inch monitors mounted on the rear of the front headrests, with two pairs of wireless headphones, a wireless remote control and auxiliary input jacks, are there to keep passengers occupied. The system allows playback of games or movies in the rear, while front occupants listen to audio, all at the same time.
Performance Despite its size and weight, the Infiniti QX80 accelerates with surprising speed. The reason for its competent acceleration (and impressive top speed), of course, is its 5.6-litre V8 petrol mill. This engine delivers 298kW at 5,800r/min and 560Nm of torque at 4,000r/min, and allows the QX80 to go from 0-100km/h in 7.5 seconds and reach a top speed of 210km/h. The predictable downside of all that power is a stiff fuel bill. Infiniti claims a figure of 14.8 litres per 100km, but achieving that in a real world environment will be difficult. Driving carefully with all that power under your right foot is tough. And once you hit urban traffic, you’ll quickly see a consumption figure of 20 litres per 100km.
Verdict The Infiniti QX80 is a tempting alternative to the established premium SUVs. It is competitively priced, very well equipped and offers impressive performance. Love-it-or-hate-it styling and a steep fuel bill might count against it, though. But if you are looking for a spacious luxury SUV that can do the odd bit of offroading, the QX80 is worth looking at. Text | Gerhard Horn Photography | Supplied
Extraordinary people live ordinary lives Ten famous people who battle mental illness As we honour Mental Health Awareness Month, we look at 10 well-known people who have openly admitted to having a mental illness. Some have since passed on, but they have helped raise awareness for those millions of people who fall prey to this silent killer every day.
1
Diana, Princess of Wales, spoke openly of her battles with bulimia and depression, and was the first royal to do so. Sadly, the much-loved princess died in a car accident in 1997. Author JK Rowling admitted she was battling depression when she wrote the first Harry Potter book. Actor Marlon Brando experienced chronic depression throughout his life yet still managed to wow millions of admirers with his performances in some of the most epic movies of all time. Multi- Grammy Award-winning rapper Eminem tried to commit suicide in the ‘90s by overdosing on Tylenol. He has admitted to battling depression but continues to be one of the most successful rappers ever. Actor Jim Carrey has entertained us on screen and is a committed advocate for mental health awareness. In 2004, he openly discussed his history of depression and being on Prozac on 60 Minutes.
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6
Pulitzer Prize winner Ernest Hemingway penned a host of classics. He battled depression throughout his adult life. You can read about it in An Intimate Portrait of Hemingway by Those Who Knew Him by Denis Brian. Carrie Fisher, the actress who played Princess Leia in the first three Star Wars movies, was diagnosed with bipolar disorder but continues to enjoy a successful acting career to this day. Winston Churchill, the legendary British leader, was dogged by bouts of depression and sometimes feared he might commit suicide. “I don’t like to stand by the side of a ship and look down into the water,” he told his doctor. “A second’s action would end everything. A few drops of desperation.” In 1983, the iconic actress Elizabeth Taylor revealed that she had lived with a 35-year addiction to sleeping pills and painkillers. In doing so, she helped millions around the world also reveal the truth about their addictions and mental wellbeing. Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps was diagnosed with ADHD. Still, he is the most decorated Olympian of all time, with a total of 22 medals.
History shows that mental illness doesn’t condemn you to a life of failure
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Festive F lair It is never too early to start planning for your Christmas lunch. This month, the everpopular annual, The Christmas Magazine, hits the shelves. The Christmas Magazine contains everything you need to plan the perfect festive season, including gift ideas, craft tips and recipes. This month, we feature two recipes from this year’s magazine.
Roasted lamb with mint aioli Ingredients:
• • • • • • • • • • •
1 bunch fresh rosemary 2kg leg of lamb 1 packet Knorr Beef Stroganoff Dry Cook-in-Sauce 60mℓ olive oil 800g baby potatoes 45mℓ flour 15mℓ white wine vinegar 1 garlic clove, crushed 1 egg yolk 125mℓ olive oil 30 mint leaves, chopped
Method: • Preheat the oven to 200°C. • P lace the rosemary in a roasting dish. Place the lamb on top. • I n a jug mix together the 60mℓ oil and the contents of the Knorr Beef Stroganoff packet. Rub over the meat. • Place the potatoes around the lamb. Place in the oven. • After 30 minutes use the juices from the pan to baste the lamb. • R oast for a further 40 to 60 minutes depending on how well done you want the lamb. • P lace the lamb and potatoes on a warm serving plate and allow to rest before carving. • R emove the rosemary sprigs from the juices and add the flour. • S tir continuously over a low heat, adding about 250 to 350mℓ water to make a gravy. • Aioli: Place the egg yolk, garlic and vinegar into a small food processor. Blend, then slowly blend in the 125mℓ oil until you have a thick mayonnaise. Stir in the mint leaves. • C arve the lamb and serve with the roasted potatoes, gravy and aioli.
*Recipe courtesy Knorr
Sticky Asian chicken and mushroom pancakes with plum dipping sauce Ingredients:
• • • • • • • • • • • •
5mℓ olive oil 60mℓ soya sauce 60mℓ sherry 2.5mℓ Chinese five-spice powder 10mℓ garlic, crushed 5mℓ sugar 250g chicken, cooked 200g fresh oyster mushrooms 8 Chinese pancakes, shop-bought 6 spring onions, sliced ½ cucumber, julienned Bottle of shop-bought plum sauce
Method: • P lace the olive oil, soya sauce, sherry, five-spice powder, garlic and sugar into a frying pan. Gently heat the mixture until the sugar dissolves, then bring to the boil and let the mixture bubble for a minute. • Cut the cooked chicken and mushrooms into strips and add to the pan. Cook, stirring, for three to four minutes or until the chicken is hot and sticky. • Heat the Chinese pancakes according to the packet instructions. • Serve the chicken and mushrooms with the spring onion, cucumber and pancakes all neatly arranged into piles on a platter with a bowl of plum sauce. Each person should place a little chicken and lots of vegetables in each pancake, and then roll it up and dip it into the plum sauce.
*Recipe courtesy the South African Mushroom Farmers Association Get your copy of the Christmas Magazine at coolmags.com
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sky | cafe www.oldjoes.co.za +27 83 229 3751 [email protected]
N4 Schoemanskloof Road Mpumalanga S 25˚23.096’ E 30˚32.395’
Named after the first warden of the Kruger National Park, Sir James Stevenson Hamilton. Hamilton’s offers a relaxed atmosphere with a colonial touch. Open from 9am offering Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner 7 days a week. Hamilton’s is available for functions and does outside catering, to avoid disappointment it is advisable to make a reservation.
Accommodation Bar and Restaurant Labyrinth The perfect destination for reviving your soul...
Tel: 013 790 3421 | Cell: 081 487 7956
MORGENZON GUEST HOUSE ACCOMMODATION: WONDERBOOM AIRPORT, PRETORIA
TO ADVERTISE IN CONTACT
Tel: 011 468 2090 [email protected]
Upington
O79 895 8324 / (27) 12 566 3693 [email protected]
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Tel: 011 468 2090 [email protected]
Leisure & corporate rentals in and around Cape Town & Johannesburg
A PA R T M E N T R E N TA L S
Why stay home when you can stay with us? No time wasted with our real-time availability calendars, and reservations booking engine with instant confirmation. Try it LIVE... www.fzp.co.za • Studios from R500 per apartment per night, or R6 000 per month
FZP Apartment Rentals +27 (0) 21 426 1634 www.fzp.co.za [email protected] www.facebook.com/fzpapartments
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• 1 bedroom apartments from R750 per apartment per night, or R8 500 per month • 2 bedroom apartments from R950 per apartment per night, or R10 000 per month.
This is your complimentary copy of Skyways. Should you wish to hang on to any information, please take this copy of the magazine with you.
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PGA Teaching Professional
Gordon Millar 082 957 3375 [email protected]; www.aisj-jhb.com
• Weekly Trips to Gauteng & Back • Monthly Trips to the Cape & Back • Local Moves – Good Rates • Contract Work Welcome! LOCAL AND COUNTRY WIDE REMOVALS Christo 084 047 2600 Petra 079 026 2619 Tel/Fax 0866 103 567 Email [email protected]
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We look after yours, as if it were our own!
Okavango Delta, Botswana Swamp Stop Lodge and Pepere Island Camp.
This is a once in a life time opportunity to obtain an outstanding Tourism Venture which is offered for sale as a running concern. For enquires please email: [email protected] Website: www.swampstop.co.bw
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AFRICA) PT
568 2407 Phone +27 11 mcworld.com http://www.s
SMC Corporation Japan, the world leaders in pneumatics and industrial automation component technology, announced a significant expansion of its global operations with the opening of a new subsidiary in Johannesburg, South Africa.
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Did you know? •
As the global leaders in pneumatics and industrial automation with a 30% market share, SMC Pneumatics offers a range of over 12 000 basic components available in over 700 000 variant forms.
•
We were voted one of the top 100 most innovative companies in the world by leading business magazine, Forbes for three years in a row.
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We offer state-of-the-art production with factories and local subsidiaries in 50 countries, plus 400 sales offices and a distribution network in a further 32 countries.
Contact us for a free consultation on +27 11 568 2407 or [email protected]
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SMC Pneumatics (South Africa) Pty Ltd
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timber frame SPRUCE & LARCH TIMBER SALES
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1 2 3 4 5 7
ER3
11:25
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 7
Day 1 = Monday, Day 7 = Sunday For reservations visit www.flyairlink.com, your travel agent or SAA Central Reservations on +27 11-978 1111 • Flight schedules subject to change • Contact your booking agent for these conditions
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EXCESS BAGGAGE AND SPORTING EQUIPMENT: Refer to www.flyairlink.com Important information & Conditions of Carriage Clause 8 Baggage 8.3 Whilst every effort has been made to ensure accuracy of content of the published timetable, both operational and strategic issues cause timetable changes. Due to the forward lead time required for publication, these often cannot be duly reflected. Should this occur, Airlink and its agents are not responsible for any errors, omissions, losses or detriments arising from the publication.
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Connecting 35 destinations in 9 African countries.
Jetstream 4100 - Regional Turboprop Airliner 7 29 19.25m 18.29m 5.74m 2 600kg 25 000ft 500km/h
Number of aircraft Maximum Passengers Length Wing Span Height Fuel capacity Maximum Operating Altitude Cruising Speed
ERJ 135-LR - Regional Jet Airliner and Corporate Jet Number of aircraft Maximum Passengers Length Wing Span Height Fuel capacity Maximum Operating Altitude Cruising Speed
17 37 26.34m 20.04m 6.75m 5 000kg 37 000ft 800km/h
32326
Avro RJ85 - Regional Jet Airliner Number of aircraft Maximum Passengers Seating Classes Length Wing Span Height Fuel capacity Maximum Operating Altitude Maximum Cruising Speed
12 83 2 28.60m 26.21m 8.61m 9 362kg 35 000ft 780km/h
to connect
City to Bush – Lodge Link Network Airstrips
Lodge Link Network Programme FLIGHT
ROUTE
6
7
Applicable fare rules apply. 20kg checked baggage, soft bag only. 7kg Hand baggage, soft bag only. Free luggage storage facilities available at Skukuza Airport and Nelspruit KMIA. These exclusive services are restricted to applicable Lodges and their Guests.
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500 years
The length of time paper money was used in China before it started catching on in Europe
Media DVDs
That Sugar Film Damon Gameau embarks on a unique experiment in this eye-opening documentary to record the effects of a high-sugar diet on a healthy body, consuming only foods that are commonly perceived as ‘healthy’. Through this entertaining and informative journey, Gameau highlights some of the issues that plague the sugar industry and where sugar lurks on supermarket shelves. His journey to discover the bitter truth about sugar will forever change the way you think about ‘healthy’ food.
1902
The year the first modern electrical air-conditioning unit was invented by Willis Carrier
Terminator: Genisys Arnie is back in the latest iteration of this popular movie franchise. When John Connor, leader of the human resistance against Skynet, sends Kyle Reese back to 1984 to protect his mother, Sarah, from a Terminator assassin, an unexpected turn of events creates an altered timeline. Instead of a scared waitress, Sarah is a skilled fighter and has a Terminator guardian by her side. Faced with unlikely allies and dangerous new enemies, Reese sets out on an unexpected new mission: reset the future.
Treurgrond Through soil, people become connected, lives intertwining like deep roots. It is from the soil that everything grows, and it is the soil that ultimately becomes a resting place. To farm is to understand the volatility of soil. Without farmers there is no produce, but without soil, there is no life. This is the painful story of a farming community in South Africa trying to survive the onslaught of farm attacks confronting them almost every day, affecting not only those related to the victims, but setting in motion a chain of events.
Losing revenue as a result of a power outage? Is your business, mine, factory or shop losing revenue as a result of a power outage? Contact us today and we will assess your needs and determine the optimum generator or Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) solution for your business, factory, mine or shop. Visit www.barloworldpower.com or contact 0860 898 000 and we will determine a generator solution for you.
© 2015 Caterpillar. All Rights Reserved. CAT, CATERPILLAR, BUILT FOR IT™, their respective logos, “Caterpillar Yellow,” the “Power Edge”trade dress as well as corporate and product identity used herein, are trademarks of Caterpillar and may not be used without permission.
16 October 1846
The day of the first successful public demonstration of ether anaesthesia for a surgical operation by Dr William Morton
Books Capitalist Crusader: Fighting Poverty through Economic Growth By Herman Mashaba Herman Mashaba is a self-made entrepreneur who started his business Black Like Me in the dark days of apartheid. As a successful business person in South Africa he says he can no longer be silent on the state of the South African economy. In this book Mashaba outlines his crusade for economic freedom for all South Africans – through a firm commitment to capitalist principles. He describes the changes in his political affiliations and maps out the route South Africa needs to follow to escape entrenched unemployment and poverty.
16 March 1926
The day Robert H Goddard successfully launched the world’s first liquid-fuelled rocket in Auburn, Massachusetts
Megastructures and Masterminds By Tony Murray Megastructures and Masterminds takes you inside 33 remarkable construction projects in southern Africa. The book takes a fascinating look into construction structures such as the Huguenot Tunnel, Victoria Falls Bridge, Kariba Dam, Durban Harbour and Agulhas Lighthouse. It also tells the stories of the civil engineers behind these projects, and how through imagination, inspiration, persistence and technical expertise they literally changed the face of the region.
Disrupt Yourself By Jay Samit In Disrupt Yourself, innovator and digital
media expert Jay Samit reveals how to achieve your goals and permanently alter the status quo through the art of self-disruption. In today’s ever-changing and often volatile business landscape, adaptability and creativity are more crucial than ever. Samit describes how specific strategies that help companies flourish – challenging assumptions, pinpointing one’s unique value, and identifying weaknesses in the structure of current industries – can be applied at an individual level. Incorporating stories from his own experience and anecdotes from other innovators and disruptive businesses – including Richard Branson, Steve Jobs, YouTube, the BBC, Virgin Media and many more – Samit shows how personal transformation can reap entrepreneurial and professional rewards.
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The year nuclear fission was discovered
1983
The year the 3D printer was invented by Chuck Hull
A d e t s a w youth the trauma ts h lig h ig h t a th A song ecessary war n n u n a in d e c n experie
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2012
9:41am
The year the 3D printer was used to print a gun, successfully fired the next year
The exact time that Steve Jobs unveiled the iPad. This same time is displayed on every product’s clock in Apple ads
paul hardcastle’s
1985 hit 19 may have had many club-goers getting their groove on, but there is a haunting story behind this ‘80s classic. And it is one that chills you to the bone.
It’s no secret that the atrocities of war have far-reaching effects on everyone involved. So unsurprisingly many songs have been written about it – just think about Born in the USA (Bruce Springsteen), In the Army Now (Status Quo) and many more. One-hit wonder 19 also falls in this category. Paul Hardcastle didn’t always see himself as a musician. “All my life I wanted to be a motorbike racer, until I had a bad crash and ended up in hospital for four months. While I was bedridden I listened to the radio all the time, especially clubby stuff, and thought: ‘I can do that.’” He continues to explain how 19 came to life. One night he happened to end up watching a documentary called Vietnam Requiem. The documentary looked at the Vietnam War and more specifically the post-traumatic stress disorder veterans suffered from. Says Hardcastle: “What struck me was how young the soldiers were. The documentary said that their average age was 19. I was out having fun in pubs and clubs when I was 19, not being shoved into jungles and shot at. One line – ‘none of them received a hero’s welcome’ – really struck a chord. When the soldiers came home, people wondered what happened to the smiling kids who went out there. What did they expect if they’d been through that?” And so the idea for a chart-topper was born.
Song sans vocals The title 19 thus refers to the average age of the American soldiers who went to Vietnam. The song lyrics claim that “In World War II the average age of the combat soldier was 26.” The lyrics also explain how bad these young soldiers really had it: “In Vietnam the combat soldier typically served/ A 12-month tour of duty/ But was exposed to hostile fire almost every day.” Instead of ‘normal’ vocals written by the artist, 19’s lyrics consist of sampled and processed speech, including samples of Peter Thomas’ narration in Vietnam Requiem, along with out-of-context interview dialogue (such as the line “I wasn’t really sure what was going on”) and news reports. The song also features nonspeech sampling such as crowd noise and a military bugle call.
Hardcastle then started “messing around” (as he described it) to create music for the song. “The main sound was electro – I was hugely into Afrika Bambaataa (an American DJ who focused on electro in the ‘80s) at the time – but I added a bit of jazz and a nice melody.” An E-mu Emulator was used to create the recognisable hook, “N-n-n-nineteen.” This sampler was among the first to be used by musicians, but it had a two-second limit. That is why the word ‘nineteen’ was used – it was the only bit of the narrative that made sense in two seconds.
Unexpected success Hardcastle didn’t expect 19 to do very well in the charts. The fact that he recorded it in his mother’s house probably contributed to this opinion. Not to mention the fact that the local radio station did not support dance music. But two things counted in its favour. The 10th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War was celebrated around the same time the song was released, leading to Hardcastle being interviewed on London’s Independent Television Network. Also, one radio DJ, Tony Blackburn of Radio London, supported the song with airplay. It soon shot to number one in the UK and several other countries. Hardcastle went on to produce different mixes of the song to keep listeners interested. However, it did not perform well in the United States. Some radio stations there refused to play it, because they felt that the song was anti-American. Hardcastle denied this by saying:“I had tons of letters from Vietnam vets thanking me for doing something for them.”
Want to know the meaning of a song? Write to noleen@ panorama.co.za
Still relevant Thirty years later, in May this year, Hardcastle rereleased 19 in an effort to once again raise awareness of post-traumatic stress disorder in army veterans, and hoping to reach a new generation of listeners. The haunting PTSD Mix is quite heavy, and reflects the fact that more soldiers have committed suicide since the Afghanistan War than actually died in battle. Now that is a sad statistic. Text | Noleen Fourie Photography | Shutterstock
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The number of iPhones sold per day during 2012
12.3 times
The number that the amount of duct tape sold every year could wrap around the equator
Didya know? 5.
6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19.
20.
Clue to number 1
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Questions 1. Rib, stretcher, runner, ferrule, crook-handle and tube are parts of which common protective device? 2. What significant territory did President Richard Nixon call by telephone on 20 July 1969? 3. What spring 2012 Formula 1 Grand Prix was held among violent civil unrest? 4. Static occlusion, dynamic occlusion and centric occlusion refer to misalignment of what?
Can you ace the Skyways quiz? What major international leader was in 2010 officially given ranked status as a Hell’s Angel by his nation’s ‘high council’ of bikers, with the name Abaddon? Bratwurst is a greatly varying German food made mainly of: meat; cabbage; potato; or fish? Jurisprudence is the theory/philosophy of what? Hyponatraemia is an unhelpful reduction of what element in human blood serum? The mountainous and partly lawless province of Nuristan lies in the north-east of which country? Go Set a Watchman is the 55-years-after sequel to what famous work? In 2015, 21st Century Fox launched what fictional beer brand from The Simpsons in South America? What dog breed has Queen Elizabeth II traditionally had as pets? What famous road began in Chicago, Illinois, ending in Santa Monica, California? What’s the cube root of 27,000? Hitsville, in Detroit, is the original recording studio of which famous record label? Name the pioneering Game Theory US mathematician featured in the film A Beautiful Mind. Name the iconic Bond girl character introduced by Ian Fleming in 1959. The cochlea is a spiral cavity of the human: large intestine; inner ear; gullet; or heart? In the Bible, who betrayed Samson to the Philistines by revealing that his strength was due to his long hair? Terroir refers to the complete environment in which what is produced?
Answers 1. Umbrella 2. The moon 3. Bahrain 4. Teeth 5. Vladimir Putin 6. Meat 7. Law 8. Sodium 9. Afghanistan
Proud to be Building Africa for 60 Years
1996
The year the DVD player made its debut
Sudoku #1 5 8 7 9 3 6 4 9 5 8 3 1 2 6 4 7 9 1 4 2 8 5 6 7 1 2 3 410. 8 9 4 7 5 1 6 9 2 811. 3 5 1 6 312. 2 7
Answers Intermediate Sudoku by KrazyDad,Challenging Sudoku Volume 7, Book 7 by KrazyDad, Volume 7, Book 7
Sudoku #1 2 1 7 4 1 6 4 2 3 4 9 1 2 3 1 7 8 5 6 7 7 9 5 8 4 7 8 5 6 8 3 5 5 3 2 6 3 4 2 9 6 9 1 8 5 Kill 7 6A 1Mockingbird To 1 8 3 9 8 2 9 3 Duff 9 2 5 3 4 1 7 6 7 6 4 2 9 5 8 4 Corgi
Sudoku #2 5 31 66 85 93 9 8 4 7 2 6 83 78 52 24 6 7 9 1 5 2 99 34 47 11 2 5 3 8 6 3 14 92 23 67 8 6 5 9 1 9 48 81 19 75 4 3 6 2 7 7 25 novel 57 36 4by 2 8 4Lee) 3 9 1Harper (the 4 66 25 78 52 7 4 1 3 9 1 77 43 61 88 5 9 2 6 4 8 52 19 94 36 3 1 7 5 8
13. Route 66 Sudoku #3 Sudoku #4 30 5 1 6 4 2 74 96 35 87 4 3 8 2 3 9 4 5 6 83 19 28 76 8 1 7 9 Motown 2 8 7 9 3 12 57 61 43 9 6 4 5 John 9 6 8 3 7 51 22 49 15 7 9 Nash 2 1 6 8 5 3 Pussy Galore14 37 52 81 94 625 734 896 569 3 4 6 7 8 3 7 2 Inner 7 2 9 6 1 46 85 52 31 5 2 ear 1 4 8 4 3 7 5 97 61 14 28 2 7 3 8 Delilah 6 5 1 2 8 39 48 73 94 1 5 9 6 20. Wine (or grapes for winemaking)
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7 8 4 4 5 9 1 3 6 6 9 2 2 7 8 8 1 7 5 6 3 9 4 5 3 2 1
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6 9 2 1 4 7 Clue 3 9 1 7 6 3 5 8
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talespin
Funny side up Sometimes it pays to play the Never underestimate the power of humour
96 10 15
bumbling fool
R300 excluding batteries. That’s the price I recently had to pay for a Minions walkie talkie set for my 22-monthold son. Ten minutes. That’s the total time that my son had been amused by this new toy before it was demoted to the bottom of his toy box. The above is not unique to me though. Every parent has a similar tale to tell anyone who would listen and share their pain as they fork out hard-earned money for a few moments of bliss for their offspring. What really got my head in a spin is why the Minions are such a huge hit with people of all ages? Let’s set the scene here. Firstly, the Minions are not a good bunch of guys (or gals). The story goes that since the beginning of time, they have been on the side of the baddies. Surely, we are supposed to dislike them. Also, their physical appearance and barely coherent language make them more of a laughing stock rather than characters to be looked up to.
And yet, the Minions’ character make-up is raking in billions of rands for its creators. The movie raked in over R1 billion in box office sales on its opening weekend in the USA. Now those yellow guys are everywhere, from Minion bananas to a new colour from Pantone called Minion Yellow. And their reign is set to continue for a while yet. So, what is the attraction? After all, we have been taught that only the good guys win and that if you want to makes loads of cash, then tomfoolery should not be what you are known for. This couldn’t be further from the truth, as can be seen by the success of the Minions. So, you see: sometimes it’s okay to have a bit of a laugh, particularly in the office environment. On occasion, it is fine to be the brunt of jokes if it helps lift the spirits of others. Who knows? You could very well be the next big financial success story … after the Minions, of course. Text | Gerard Peter Photography | Shutterstock
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To donate, visit wfp.org/tacklehunger
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i don't know
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Canadian psychiatrist Eric Berne (1910-70) founded which psychotherapeutic/psychological methodology?
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Games Hong Kong People Play by George Adams
GAMES HONG KONG PEOPLE PLAY
A SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY OF THE HONG KONG CHINESE BY GEORGE ADAMS
COPYRIGHT GEORGE ADAMS 1991
For Danielle, again
"For certain fortunate people there is something which transcends all classifications of behaviour, and that is awareness; something which rises above the programming of the past, and that is spontaneity; and something that is more rewarding than games, and that is intimacy." Eric Berne
INTRODUCTION This book is the first attempt to understand the behaviour of Hong Kong people, and any group of Chinese people in general, from the viewpoint of game analysis, an aspect of the psychological school known as Transactional Analysis. Game analysis as a technique of understanding human behaviour was first presented by Eric Berne in his book Games People Play (The Psychology of Human Relationships) in 1964 . Game analysis continues to be one of the most useful and comprehensible techniques of social psychology, that is the study of the individual's interaction with others and his behaviour in society: the family, at work, in the street and so on. It continues to shed light on human behaviour as it is applied in new contexts and as more games, or variants of games, are discovered in clinical, educational and organizational experience. Many of the games analysed in detail by Eric Berne are just as applicable to the Hong Kong context as those which I have compiled here. A number of Hong Kong people's games are ultimately variations of recognised Transactional Analysis games whilst some appear to be additions to the compendium. The problem faced by a game analyst in Hong Kong is quite clearly to differentiate charming aspects of accepted Chinese cultural behaviour (most of which are far from unique) such as deference, modesty and politeness, from true games. It was not always possible to do this as it became obvious during compilation of the present thesaurus that Hong Kong people conduct games as a part of everyday life to an extent quite bewildering to Western observers. Games, as opposed to their antitheses such as intimacy and straightforwardness, seem to be integrated into every part of Hong Kong life - so much so that only Westerners appear capable of perceiving the series of manoeuvres as games. (Perhaps, in return, only Hong Kong psychologists can truly describe the self-deception of Westerners). Hong Kong people are also, in our experience, some of the hardest and most indefatigable game players and do not take kindly to demonstration that a good proportion of their ordinary behaviour may be understood as games mostly circulating around ideas of power, prestige, identity, blamelessness, and, occasionally - in contact with foreigners - cultural uniqueness. The bases of these games differ in many respects from the sources of TA games in general, or games which can be applied to Western people. Many of the motivating malaises in Western games arise from sexual insecurity, childhood decisions or existential conflicts. The particular games of Hong Kong people seem to be derived from less abstract or primal sources. For these reasons - the general seamless integration of games into the social nexus and the differing emphasis of sources - some of the games cited in the present volume are not always, under present analysis, verifiable as TA games proper in that some of their essential elements (con, switch, payoff, Victim) appear to be absent or unclear. Eric Berne was aware of the problem of identifying each part of a game and he does not give perfect analyses of each of the games he cites in his work. Perhaps it does not matter, except to the dogmatist or the strict academic. It may be that a new understanding of the term "game" is required for application in the Hong Kong, and pan-Asian, contexts. Failing this, the status of some of the games we have listed will have to be provisional or be assigned to the category of interesting manoeuvres. Many of the games in the list are societal and group-oriented games rather than games played in the Western style with a relatively low number of players. The reason for this is obvious given the Asian context of group cultures. A further difficulty arises in categorising my analysis into etic (using universal concepts) or emic (culture specific) research. It is generally not acceptable in our times to conduct research from a Western standpoint on non-Western cultures. This difficulty is mitigated to a large extent by the long "interference" of Westerners in Hong Kong and the ways in which Hong Kong people have taken on some of the guises of the Western mentality. As one of the sources of games is the cultural ambivalence of some Hong Kong people in certain circumstances, a culture-free analysis will not reveal the element of game-playing involved in such identity crises, for what is the Hong Kong cultural standpoint?: eclectic, pragmatic and adaptable. Clearly then, any analysis from a consistent cultural position is valuable in aiding comprehension of a society in flux and I make no apologies for what may be dismissed as cross-cultural misapprehensions, especially by those unsympathetic to my approach. Study of any Chinese society presents a fertile ground for game analysis not only for the reasons cited above but also because the Chinese are such a socially-oriented people. They define man through and by his relationships to a greater extent than Westerners do and heterocentrism, accepting others as authorities for behaviour, is valued above Western autocentrism where rules of behaviour may be independent of others. Game analysis, which focuses on interaction and on socially-oriented manoeuvres, would appear to be the natural means of analysis of Chinese social psychology. It is also more interesting than the fog of self-contradiction and prejudice backed up with data on the one hand and preoccupation with guiding principles in the collective unconsciousness on the other which characterises much of what is presented as "Chinese psychology". The work of prominent Hong Kong psychologists comes to mind in this context. There is a kind of implicit racism underlying such approaches. They find a comparison in the plethora of "studies" aimed at emphasising the "uniqueness" of Japanese society which choose to ignore that society's links with other Asian or Pacific peoples. Armed with some recognisable examples of the games of the Hong Kong people (that is ordinary people who happen to live in Hong Kong), the bewildered novice to Chinese studies has some solid ground for predicting and understanding behaviour in a dynamic and lively sense usually arrived at only by long exposure to life in Hong Kong. The expert in Hong Kong social psychology may also see his subject in a new light and begin to make sense of the data available to him. Although the games presented here are said to be typical games of Hong Kong people, it is not our intention to attack, marginalise, isolate or elevate the subjects of this study. Hong Kong people are as fallible, likeable, comprehensible and, I think, as predictable as a large number of people living in Western cities. They are certainly not odd or strange and one of the aims of this book is to dispel the image of this group of Chinese, and Chinese in general, as being unique and exotic. They are not. Just as the British or the Americans have their particular ways of interacting and expressing their malaises, Hong Kong people, due to their origins, upbringing and sociological situation, have developed a series of coping mechanisms for maintaining the integrity of the psyche and avoiding pain. As we have already noted, experience has shown that the games of Eric Berne's thesaurus are generally applicable to all peoples, although research may prove unequal distribution of game frequency, flexibility, intensity and tenacity between people of differing cultures. In conclusion: Hong Kong people are OK, despite their games, just as all peoples are OK. Like everyone, they would probably be better off for not playing games at all, but this is a personal decision for the individual which lies outside the scope of this book.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT It is impossible to acknowledge all the people who have contributed by an idea, a word, a phrase to this book. They include students, teachers, writers, journalists and other friends and acquaintances - both local and foreigners. Many people will recognise their own conversations with me in relevant parts of the book and will know that I thank them with all my heart for sharing their insights with me. George Adams Hong Kong December 1991.
PSYCHOLOGICAL GAMES - HOW THEY WORK AND WHAT THEY MEAN The mechanism of games is explored in detail in the Introduction to Transactional Analysis but some points need to be emphasised. Games are series of interchanges between people leading to an outcome which appears entirely "unexpected" but which, on analysis, was entirely predictable given the personalities of the people involved. Some game players select unwilling partners for involvement in their games. More often, people select each other as both get some sort of satisfaction from the game. Thus, in a game of Chinese Girl, the over-eager lover finds a girl to exclaim "Rapo!" as much as the girl finds the over-eager lover. It is therefore difficult to speak of manipulation and exploitation in game playing in the sense we use the term. The second important point about games in the sense in which we use the word is that they are largely played outside consciousness. They are not attitudes, positions, tricks, ploys or manoeuvres such as those employed by, for example,insurance salesmen, confidence tricksters and seducers. This is not to say that the players are not, occasionally, aware of what they are doing at various points in the game. Few players of games would acknowledge that they are playing anything however and great embarrassment and confusion ensues when the mechanism of the game is revealed to them. Thirdly, there is usually some reverse in roles at the end of the game which leads to the point of all the interchanges: some negative feeling for one of the players and a sort of phony positive feeling for another player. It is however difficult to speak of positive or negative feelings because in a game, each player gets what he wants and likes it - humiliation, superiority, anger, frustration for example. The feeling reinforces his beliefs about himself and the world. The reversal in roles is most likely to be from Persecutor to Victim, from Victim to Persecutor or from either position to Rescuer. In a game of Kowloon Taxi, for example, the persecuting taxi driver presents himself as a victim and is "rescued" by the passenger. In this case, the "rescuing" takes the form of a large tip. Fourthly, it is important to remember that games are repetitive in nature, often being played by the same person in a variety of settings for months, years or an entire lifetime. The game of Refugee for example may be played during the whole of the player's residency in Hong Kong whilst a game of Banana or Connections can be over in a few sentences. The game of XOV probably takes many hours of preparation before the drinking begins to ward off the underlying sense of sexual insecurity. The final important point about games is that they are occasionally very serious matters indeed and the fact of them being termed "games" should not be taken as an indication of their triviality as in one-upmanship or gamesmanship presented by for example, Stephen Potter. Some games are relatively harmless whilst others have dire consequences for the players including death, the courtroom, ruined health or a destroyed marriage. Alcoholism is analysed as a game in our sense as are a good many rapes, suicides and "accidental deaths." In our present compendium, the game of Non-Interference In China's Internal Affairs is extremely serious in a collective sense whilst Suzie Wong can lead to actual tissue damage and a host of other legal, physical and psychiatric problems for the individual players. On the other hand, an apparently trivial games such as Night Club and Virginity, when played by the appropriate "hard" players, can lead to the courtroom as was seen recently in the Chin trial in Hong Kong. The selection of games which follows was compiled after several years of research in Hong Kong and is only a preliminary list. More games and varieties of existing games are constantly unearthed but the present list does contain some important games of the Hong Kong people along with others which are more amusing than meaningful. The analysis of the games undertaken here is briefer than that undertaken by Berne for reasons of clarity and economy. Each description of the game attempts to give its general background and character together with some examples of its more important moves. This is then followed by detailed analysis. Some of the terms used in the analysis need explanation. The THESIS of a game is the "magical" and/or unconscious and/or irrational belief which underlies its playing. Such beliefs are based on fundamental childhood decisions which influenced the character and personality of one or more of the players. The AIM is the general purpose of the game in emotional or externally real terms. Most games are played to maintain the balance of the personality and avoid change. The aim of justification or rage or revenge is usually secondary to this fundamental aim. The ROLES of the game are the players and their characters in the game, not their "stances" or "positions" . Games are mostly played outside consciousness and the "role" of the player is his function in the game, not a momentary guise which he can discard at will. The DYNAMICS of the game indicate the most fundamental source of the game as a whole expressed in traditional Freudian psychoanalytic or common psychiatric terms. Such analysis is an attempt to see things in the light of mainstream psychiatry/psychology. The attempt is not always successful or particularly well-informed but it may aid people who can only see games, or any other psychological phenomena, in these terms. The MOVES of the game are the two apparently salient interchanges expressed as a verbal statement, although many games proceed without words. The first statement usually indicates the state of play near or at the beginning whilst the second statement is an indication of the situation towards the end of the game. The SWITCH of the game is the sudden change in role before the game comes to an end. Thus, a persecutor becomes a victim and a victim becomes a persecutor. Subsequent analysis usually reveals there is nothing inexplicable about such a reversal of roles. The PAYOFF is the final benefit of the game for the players, usually some sort of reassurance that their character and their way of life is OK. It often represents a favourite position or feeling of the players needed in the maintenance of an harmonious psyche. It is the "point" or "punchline" of the game. ADVANTAGES of the game are presented as psychological or social gains related to the thesis, the aim and the payoff. The social advantage of a game is often as considerable as the psychological gain. Games are however not played primarily for social gain, even in the case of Hong Kong people's games. Like their mechanism, their significance is predominantly psychological.
Everyday Games
Everyday games are played wherever and whenever Hong Kong people come together and thus this class of games may be played in any of the situations described later in the book : business, administration, politics, romance and so on. They are the key games needed for an understanding of the ordinary behaviour of Hong Kong people.
Minding My Own Business Whilst boarding the boat for my first junk trip in Hong Kong at Queen's Pier one afternoon, I was accosted by a film crew from a TV programme called, I think, Eye on Hong Kong. The very small but attractive lady interviewer wanted to know the secret of success of Hong Kong people. My host, the head of one of Hong Kong's business associations, came up with a most apposite reply: "Mind your own business". Disciplined occupation with one's own concerns is a practiced art form in Hong Kong. Moreover, very few actions of anybody seem to be spontaneous or aimless. But do Hong Kong people really mind their own business? The translucent plastic bag, besides being the representative national fish and flag of Hong Kong, appears to have been invented to only partially conceal its contents and thus satisfy the eternal curiosity of Hong Kong people for other people's shopping. Hong Kong people peer through bags in the street and on public transport with an impertinence not usually ascribable to Chinese people as a whole. Mainland people are of course great gapers but what is not usually remarked upon by foreign observers is their mastery of the surreptitious gaze. Hong Kong people are intensely curious about the contents of wallets, handbags, drawers, briefcases and, one must add, trousers and brassieres and their gazes are often far from surreptitious. To look at every person passing one in the street would wear one out: how do Hong Kong people select objects of curiosity? The common factor appears to be an attraction to what is concealed, hence the interest in the items mentioned above. Credit balances registered on the computer screen of ETC machines is of especial interest to local people but friends will usually walk away and leave one to deal with the machine in private. The display is not concealed but is private and as privacy is a negative concept in mainland society (it is always better to say one wishes to be "independent" rather than private), private matters present objects of great curiosity to people in Hong Kong although they are, in varying degrees, Westernised and treasure privacy (but seldom on the telephone to judge by the conversations held on portable machines in the street). Private life tends to be very private indeed for Hong Kong people and may account for the curiosity for other people's privacy (people who give little away like to take the most in general). The gazes through the plastic bags and into the wallets at the supermarket checkouts reveal an inquisitive people and not a people who mind their own business at all. The switch in MMOB comes with the look of indignation in the peeper when the owner of the plastic bag readjusts its contents and the payoff is a greater determination to pay less attention to insignificant others. ANALYSIS Thesis: You show me yours and I won't show you mine. Aim: Satisfaction of neurotic curiosity. Roles: Exposed Person, Peeper. Dynamics: Voyeurism. Moves: 1. That looks interesting. 2. What do you take me for! Switch: I was looking at your watch. Payoff: You'd better keep yourself to yourself. Advantages: Psychological - Suppressed intimacy Social - Semi-adventurous pastiming
Goldfinger Ostentatious displays of wealth are so common in Hong Kong as to be counted as normal social behaviour. There is also probably nowhere in the world where people are so concerned with getting rich quickly. As spending money is not synonymous with making it, many Hong Kong people are placed in a dilemma of wanting to parade their wealth but being afraid to reduce their chances of making more by extravagance. This has led to the classic Hong Kong game of Goldfinger, or how to appear rich without raiding the bank account. Copy watches, handbags and famous labels are not only sold to visitors. They find a ready market among Hong Kong people, as do (or did before the real thing became cheaper) dummy portable telephones, throwaway suits, gilt jewellery and, for rural Honkies, the Golden Smile (gold amalgam fillings on prominent teeth). Drinkers play the game of XOV which emphasises consumption of expensive liqueurs to the ruination of business competence ,the bank balance and sexual performance. The true status of "Goldfinger" as a game emerges most dramatically in many court cases with gamblers as defendants who, in the end, are forced to raid bank accounts which contain no assets belonging to them. Even well-to-do foreigners are not immune to this game after some period of over-adjustment to Hong Kong circumstances. A number of acquaintances have taken French leave owing large sums to credit card companies, friends and employers. The weekly listing of court writs in the newspaper is a useful index of Goldfinger players in extremis. The antithesis of the game would appear to try and earn as much as you can without bothering how you look. The Swiss have mastered this antithesis thoroughly, having the greatest number of scruffy millionaires in the world. Related Games: Indigence, Debtor. ANALYSIS: Thesis: We live in an age of surfaces. Aim: Deception. Roles: Playboy, Bimbo; Spendthrift, Credit Card Company. Dynamics: Desperation Moves: 1. Look what I've got. 2. Look what I had. Switch: Caught with my pants down. Payoff: Bills and bankruptcy. Advantages: Psychological - Ego enhancement. Social - I'm somebody.
Blameless If the Swiss are famous for being policemen citizens then the reverse is true of Hong Kong people. They are the masters of buck-passing. Involvement in potentially embarrassing situations is warded off with the same vigour as evil spirits are frightened away from houses in the New Territories. It is often very difficult to find who is actually responsible for any inconvenience such as a dead water buffalo causing an accident on a Lantau road (although the owners are found quickly enough if compensation for the demised beast is a possibility). As a glance at the readers' columns of the South China Morning Post will prove, Government departments, including the police, have a rubber wall to insulate them from involvement and each officer or civil servant is a trampoline for transferring the hot potato of responsibility to another department (cf.We Will Act). Blamelessness seems to be rooted in traditional admiration for inaction combined with low social consciousness (the flip-side of group solidarity). Hong Kong people are always blameless where littering is concerned (Filipinas do it), when hillside fires occur (an impromptu warm meal for the ancestor's grave) and when people expire unaided in the street (I didn't know what to do). The search for a party responsible for mixing up the contents of gas bottles used in hospitals continues without any conclusion. The destruction of Country Parks by property developers is allowed because no single Government official ever gave permission for the development to take place but no one broke the law (the phenomenon is called "spontaneous urbanisation"). Murder victims are usually discovered when the neighbours detect the smell of their decomposing body. They are not rescued from the hacking, torturing and beating. When a schoolchild commits suicide, teachers and parents proclaim their propriety, if not sensitivity (it is considered normal for ten-year-olds to have four hours of additional homework each night). Occasionally, public self-castigation does occur as highlighted recently in the case of the mother who said she should be sent to prison for leaving her children unattended. They were burnt in the privacy of their own home. In public life, however, negligence and incompetence are given a congratulatory retirement payoff. The Legal Department, probably the worst-run in the world outside Latin America until, we are told, quite recent improvements, is Blamelessness incarnate with the chiefs firmly in their posts or cruising home to continued prosperity. Where there is no accountability, there can be no blame. ANALYSIS: Thesis: It ain't me what's responsible. Aim: Relief of guilt. Roles: Accuser, accused. Dynamics: Anal extrusive. Moves: 1. Can I help you? 2. My fingers are burning. Switch: Get rid of this hot potato. Payoff: Vindication. Advantages: Psychological - I'm OK. Social - Get them off my back.
Banana This game stems from the insecure identity of certain Hong Kong people and is played to temporarily relieve this underlying malaise. Player A assumes a Western manner in stereotype, wears a Western suit, has Italian furniture in his house and peppers his conversation with English phrases. On encountering player B, who is certain about his identity, player A is thrust into a sort of cosmic panic and dashes from one pole to the other to "hook" player B into provoking him to emphasise his "Chineseness" or his "foreignness". The dichotomy is the invention of player A . The payoff comes when Player A pulls the switch and says: "We Chinese..." or "Of course, I've lived abroad too long...". This revelation of his "true" identity is made by Player A when B has made some innocent statement about local (or foreign) ways or people. It is a useful game in the business world, enabling the Hong Kong businessman to bamboozle his rivals. Unfortunately, as in all true transactional games, the player actually confuses himself and wastes a lot of psychic energy hiding, instead of confronting, his insecurity. The main point about the proclamation of identity is that it is unwarranted in the context. Recently, a Chinese friend expressed some concern about a little old lady who lived alone in an isolated village on Lantau. The lady was afraid that she might be burgled or attacked in her home. I said that there was little need for her to be frightened as burglaries were very infrequent in the village she mentioned. "But you don't understand," she replied, "the old lady is Chinese." I pointed out to my friend that little old ladies who lived alone in isolated villages all over the world were afraid of burglars. The fact that the old lady in question was Chinese was irrelevant. Expatriates who have lived in the territory for a number of years may in their turn suffer from a reverse Banana syndrome called "Old China Hand" in which they constantly put down any newcomer with less than twenty years' residence in the territory. Clues to this are references to "we in Hong Kong", "our schools, banks, way of life etc.", or "the riots of '67". They exhibit dubious expressions at the mention of words like principle, responsibility, humanity and express a scathing attitude to visiting delegations from anywhere except the mainland. This species of expatriate is frequently alcoholic, fat and/or demented. The obesity is explained by their low physical mobility as they tend to live and work within a small area of town, never venturing out much into the buzzing metropolis they so admire. Many vegetate on outlying islands with "adopted" sons, ageing spouses or their most popular companion, a bottle. "Tiffin" is a more refined version of the game in which a Colonial heritage is emphasised either in words or by attitude. It is largely played by elderly civil servants and former Colonial Officers in the better established clubs on Hong Kong Island. "Old China Hand" and "Tiffin" are the hallmarks of the expatriate bore. Related Games: Chinese Girl, NIGYSB. ANALYSIS: Thesis: There must be somewhere I can call home. Aim: Resolution of identity crisis. Roles: Insider, outsider; Local, Foreigner; Foreign Passport Holder, Homespun. Dynamics: Anal Passive. Moves: 1. I'm just like you 2. I'm really Chinese/a Westerner. 1. Welcome 2. Go home, newcomer. Switch: Now I've got you, you SOB. Payoff: Superiority. Advantages: Psychological - I belong somewhere 2. Social - I'm different, somebody knows it.
Refugee Although some people claim to be indigenous,practically every inhabitant of Hong Kong could be counted as a refugee, at most perhaps of third or fourth generation, but as script analysis makes clear, a refugee attitude takes at least two generations to dissolve, if it does at all. Foreigners are mainly "economic migrants" being paid on average twice the London wage and having additional advantages like being able to lord it over local people, to some extent, which they would not be able to do if they were immigrant workers in Europe or the USA. Hong Kong is also advantageous for physically small European people, men in particular. The Refugee attitude has been analysed earlier in the discussion of cultural scripts. The game of Refugee is of an entirely different nature from a simple set of beliefs but the beliefs of the Refugee mentality form the thesis of the game: " Earn, save, multiply, adapt - but do not forget your heritage in the new land." Players of Refugee would deny that they are in a new land. The simple fact that they live in a state governed by equitable law, where money may be earned and protection is given to rich and poor also escapes Refugee players. Shanghai Street, the Walled City and parts of Western District would not be allowed to exist in modern PR China: their archaic ghetto character is protected by the Colonial power. The moves in "Refugee" may encompass the whole period of residence in Hong Kong and are inspired by the two incompatible beliefs mentioned above: "Hong Kong is China" and "Hong Kong is a foreign country". Opening moves may include, typically, establishment in one of the more ethnically sound areas of the territory, reluctant registration, avoidance of income tax and lack of concern in community affairs. This is, of course, the pattern of certain new immigrants the world over. As a family is founded and progresses, some thought is given to establishing children in English schools for the prestige this involves but no thought is given to learning English outside school. Traditional learning methods of rote and memorisation are reinforced at home. Family members from the mainland may be brought for extended visits or may even be encouraged to become illegal immigrants. Ties are maintained with the mainland via regular remittances, regular visits at New Year and by interest in opera, sport and small economic ventures. There is no doubt that such loyalty to a cultural tradition is OK. The game element arises from a growing alienation from a changing society: voting, civic responsibility (no illegal extensions to one's flat for example) and children unable to cope with the demands of modern urban living present refugee players with insuperable problems. Queues are formed when rumour strikes a bank but should the bank fail, the Refugee player does not know the mechanism for recovering his savings. The switch in Refugee is bewilderment and panic at the turn of events (pregnant daughters, court appearances, eviction notices, poor invalidity benefits) and the payoff a reinforcement of superstition and a blinkered approach to life: "If I had only been more self-seeking and careful". As Hong Kong has become more stable and sophisticated, Refugee players have dwindled in number but older and harder players continue to give welfare authorities and planners many headaches. The dismantling of the Walled City in Kowloon is the present salient example. Refugee has its complementary game in the foreigner's game of "Expat" which can best be heard, if not viewed, every week in Ralph Pixton's Saturday morning show on RTHK Radio Three, Open Line. Complainants rarely show evidence of awareness of being in Asia and complain endlessly about inefficiency, shortages of essentials such as Hershey's chocolate and Crosse and Blackwell soups, being overcharged and not being taken seriously, or comprehended by the police and the Urban Council. The fundamental perceptive trick which brings the game into being is to believe the veneer of Western sophistication covering the basic chaotically Asian character - which has many good as well as bad points - of Hong Kong. A Gestalt awareness technique in which the Expat player imagines Hong Kong as Asian first and Western second yields remarkable results if practiced regularly and obviates the employment of tranquillisers, meditation, alcohol, irate letters to the South China Morning Post and tirades on Open Line. "Disco Bay" is an extreme form of the game in which the player loses all claim to knowing where he is, although he is in fact in the landscape of a second-rate British New Town. ANALYSIS Thesis: Hong Kong is a foreign country but it's just like home. Aim: Resolution of ethnicity crisis. Roles: Peasant, Them; Foreigner, Local Environment. Dynamics: Schizoid thinking. Moves: 1. It's a foreign shore. 2. Why isn't it like home? 1. Exotic life in the sun. 2. Why isn't it like home? Switch: (examples) 1. "I've been fined" 2. "What is jury service?". 1. Blasted karaoke machines! 2. Must you shout? Payoff: 1. Papa was right, you can't trust these people. 2.They'll never be like us / I'll never be like them. Advantages: Psychological - Avoidance of growth. Social - Ain't It Awful pastiming time structure.
Connections The Chinese people probably invented interpersonal relations, long before the social psychologists of the Western world began to write doctoral theses on the subject. For Hong Kong people, life is a web of connections in which the self is linked with the family, one's work colleagues, people with the same status or occupation. Hong Kong people like to know where they are and how to get to somewhere better fast. The latter task can best be accomplished by having the right connections. In the PRC, getting anything done at all is a matter of connections (guanxi) and the nation is paralysed by its rules. In Hong Kong, although an independent societal network, in which any citizen may orientate himself to get things done, does exist, the most important network is another hidden network of relationships. Certain key points in this second network have unassuming titles which belie their importance in much the same way as the Committee for Public Safety did in revolutionary France. A significant example is the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club. Although essentially a gambling syndicate with a charity rake-off, it probably exercises more power than the Government as a whole. Whereas such implicit and covert power structures are the subject of exposes and are mostly regarded as corrupt in Western societies, they are the norm in Hong Kong where corruption is a way of life. The libel laws prevent me from making more explicit connections, suffice to say that a little investigation of some of the caps worn by Government members are not always compatible with their actual, if not declared, interests. The activities of establishing, disclosing, hiding and using connections constitute much of the gamy activity in Hong Kong. A friend reveals that her brother is a police inspector at a critical point in the conversation to establish her ability to find out things about so-and-so. A teaching colleague reveals his connections with the Independent Commission Against Corruption as he slides some school stationery into his bag. An employer turns out to have been to the same University in Canada. Connections appear to be used by Hong Kong people like cards in poker. Hardly given to self-disclosure, Hong Kong people proceed at a snail's pace in relationships which sometimes appear to be aimed less at establishing intimacy but at establishing status. As in poker, the bluffer sometimes wins the day whilst the man with all the cards plays them close to his chest and wins the pot without so much as a sigh. Related Games: Blemish, Kick Me. ANALYSIS: Thesis: It's who you know. Aim: Reassurance. Roles: Protege, Intruder. Dynamics: Anal aggressive. Moves: 1. Look what I've got 2. Buzz off, Buster. Switch: Victim to Persecutor. Payoff: Superiority. Advantages: Psychological - I know where I am, Mama. Social - Keep out the riff-raff.
XOV Drinking cognac is popular with Hong Kong men. It is generally considered mean to pour a small amount for guests, bad form to order a small splash in a bar and unmanly to be illiberal in actual consumption anywhere (especially in public). As cognac was originally conceived for people of greater body mass than Hong Kong men, its enjoyment has had disastrous effects on certain individuals. One wonders how the villains portrayed quaffing large glasses of cognac in the local gangster films could ever have enough strength to pull a trigger next day. To borrow the terminology of Roland Barthes, there is a rich mythology surrounding cognac. Cognac is the imbibitional sign of Hong Kong maleness. Symbolizing conviviality, prosperity and masculinity in an oral medium, it cannot be drunk with any kind of ease. The underlying anxiety of the XOV player is most likely the shrivelled penis. Like macho games surrounding certain foods and drinks in the West, the XOV game has women in walk-on parts: acquiescent bimbos, pouting, available, partially denuded and excluded from the world of men except under certain circumstances. The message in the XOV bottle appears to be like the message in the Foster's can: imbibe and your penis will grow. Although increasing sexual desire by removing inhibitions, alcohol ruins sexual performance but provides the XOV imbiber with a good excuse for his generalised impotency and fear of women. ANALYSIS Thesis: Drink the elixir and become irresistible. Aim: Potency. Roles: Impotent Man, Sexy Barmaid, "Frigid" Wife etc. Dynamics: Oral/Phallic confusion. Moves: 1. This will put hairs on your chest 2. Shome mishtake shurely? Switch: Will someone stop revolving the room? Payoff: I was so drunk I couldn't perform. Advantages: Psychological - Rationalisation and relief of neurosis. Social - I am one of the real men. Subsequent pastiming: "Martini" (how many drinks and how they were mixed/served), "Morning After" (I'll tell you about my hangover), "Final Bill" (how much it all cost).
Face To Face Face behaviour occupies a good deal of space in the literature of Chinese social psychology. The essential element of face behaviour, from the present point of view, is its potential for duplicity: the appearance of power, advantage, equality etc. is prized as much as the substantial holding of it. This lack of straightforwardness indicates the gaminess of face behaviour. Winners, according to Berne, know their next move in life if they lose a battle so who cares who knows if we're winning or not ? We are all born to win in the end. Face saving is not a prerogative of Chinese cultures. As David Ho has persistently argued, it has parallels in the West and Westerners are as every bit conscious of "face-saving" as the Chinese are always thought to be. Like Westerners, Chinese people have a keen sense of personal self-esteem and dignity. In the absence, for many, of salvationist or transcendental religion and of a society aimed towards support of the individual, the Chinese probably developed Face to ensure the maintenance of personal dignity through ages which have tended to bring about a growing sense of the worthlessness of the individual. The present day People's Republic has attempted to crush the individual systematically but it has largely failed. The ordinary Chinese bides his time and waits for better circumstances. Human dignity has not surrendered in the PRC. Passive resistance to the Government is the main pastime of the mainland Chinese. One day, it will probably triumph. In the final analysis, Hong Kong is perceived by its population as a highly competitive and uncaring society where the individual must strive with all his might to survive today and all his increasingly bleak-looking tomorrows. Face, the gentle handling of one's own and other people's self-image, provides if not an abundance of strokes of recognition, at least the maintenance of dignity in circumstances which many Westerners could not cope with. There is very little sense in seeing the codes of behaviour in Face, so ably catalogued by Sinologists, as any other than variations of universal coping mechanisms. Face is a game when people engage in it unconsciously, manipulating reality and thus occasionally other people to a favourable interpretation. An antithesis to Face would be open mutual stroking based on mutual trust. This would appear impossible in most human intercourse in Hong Kong under present circumstances where the "stroke economy" (societal system of recognition) dictates a shortage of "warm fuzzies" (positive strokes of recognition). ANALYSIS Thesis: If I can't get stroked at least I won't lose anything. Aim: Maintenance of image of self and others. Roles: Stroke Seeker, Stroke Giver. Dynamics: Ego reinforcement. Moves: 1. Hello. 2. Stroke me! 1. Hello. 2. Can I stroke you? Switches: 1. Didn't I/you do well! 2. Never mind. Payoff: Fairly warm fuzzies. Advantages: Psychological - Appreciation in competitive stroke economy. Social - Harmony.
Badinage Visiting foreign businessmen in the People's Republic of China are surprised that the rulers of such a poor country do not appear to want to take advantage of the benefits of industrialisation quickly. Typically, the first days of the business trip are spent in seemingly trivial conversations which leave the businessmen seething slowly beneath the collar. What the visitors do not realise is that far from not coming to the point, the locals have begun negotiations in their way with great intensity and speed. The polite enquiries as to the education, background, family, hobbies and impressions of the visitor are carefully directed probes aimed at establishing his value as a possible associate. This is done by looking at his connections (see above). The badinage, or trivial banter, lures the unsuspecting foreign visitor to reveal key cards in his hand whilst his interlocutor remains largely in the shade. The switch in the relationship comes when the candour of the visitor is not matched by his straightforwardness in talking business. As mainland people do not see any important difference between personal relationships and business relationships, they usually interpret this split attitude as a sign of insincerity and halt negotiations. The carefully laid exploitative manoeuvres of the visiting corporation, and few Westerners have ever arrived in China with truly honest intentions, are stalled before they can get to first base. Badinage is thus a game in which the most important parts of the relationship are established by trivia and the trivia is of vital importance. For this reason much thought is given by Hong Kong people to conversational gambits which provoke revelations of motives, background and character. The foreigner especially should proceed with great caution. Candour may be taken as a lie. ANALYSIS: Thesis : You can't be too careful nowadays. Aim: Evaluation. Roles: Interviewer, Victim. Dynamics: Mistrust. Moves: 1. Tell me something about yourself! 2. We'll let you know. Switch: Persecutor becomes Victim. Payoff: Inaction, bewilderment. Advantages: Psychological - Papa was right all along. Social - Keep out the foreigner/the insignificant other.
Business Games
Office Space or Make the Boss Pay Office space is at a premium in Hong Kong and the rising small businessman is faced with an additional problem when he wishes to do what Hong Kong is famous for: become his own company. In 1981, 92% of manufacturing companies in Hong Kong had fewer than 50 employees. Only 0.4% employed more than 500. The rising businessman needs to secure enough capital whilst starting off a business - how can this be achieved? The answer is to gain a desk, a telephone line and some other business facilities at someone else's expense: your employer's. Hong Kong is full of small businessmen occupied with their own company whilst sat at the desk of a salary-paying company. The pager, the portable telephone and the personal fax have made this game so much easier. The employee sits pretty for months, or years, often in an underpaid position, to the wonderment of his boss who cannot understand how such a talented and hard-working employee (he makes so many "representative" trips outside the office, often to his own first premises and is always on the phone) can accept such a lousy deal for so long. The employer gets a shock when his employee is the director of the company which buys him out a year later. He may even then be on the payroll. The switch is usually from underpaid employee Victim to Persecutor moonlighter but occasionally the roles are reversed and a Persecuting employee is brought to account for breaking a protective contract or acting against the interests of the company. In the absence of equitable employment protection in the frontier town of capitalism, Hong Kong suffers from an employee turnover rate and company formation/bankruptcy figures of burgeoning proportions. ANALYSIS Thesis: Salaries are gifts, and poor ones at that. Aim: Revenge for being exploited. Dynamics: Anal aggression. Roles: Bob Cratchit, Mr Scrooge. Moves: 1. Look how hard I'm trying 2. Your company belongs to me. 1. It's a good starting salary 2. It's a pension. Switch: Persecutor becomes Victim. Payoff: Can't get the staff. Advantages: Psychological - Big conditional strokes. Social - Rags to riches.
Joint Venture Experience of many foreign industrialists and other businessmen in the PRC has given them vivid memories of the meaning of "joint venture" and the accompanying "friendly cooperation". In certain PRC's central planners' eyes, a joint venture is a means of attracting foreign currency to the mainland and the venture usually consists of the con, or come on, of demand, cheap labour supply, adequate raw materials and so on. How can it fail? Governments may be a little corrupt but they are responsible aren't they? So what if you have to wait a little longer for profits to come through? A year or two ago, a Hong Kong businessman was severely bruised by a rubber glove deal which went wrong: the product, millions of pairs of them, did not meet international standards. The product was literally left on his hands. Other tycoons have died of heart attacks after securing a viable venture on the mainland (so-called third degree players). Yet most people who operate solely in Hong Kong know that Joint Venture can be played without travelling over the border. Usually, an over-eager businessman seeks out a partner for a deal in some "sure thing". For it to be a game of Joint Venture rather than a successful and straight business operation, there must be a stark contrast in the enthusiasm of originator and partner. This is the gimmick of the game: the mistaken belief of the originator that his partner is as committed to the deal as he is. Some months into the business operation, it becomes obvious that the partner is not doing his job and here the originator of the deal begins to notice that the parameters of responsibility are constantly being obfuscated by his partner. Where clear lines of responsibility existed, there now exists a hazy no-man's land. The originator's response is to take on more responsibility and to begin to make the partner's decisions for him. The partner willingly cooperates, only too glad to have found someone to do all the work. When the business folds or is an unexpected success (at the cost of the originator's patience and nervous energy) the players collect their payoffs; the originator exclaims " Never get a partner" and the partner cries "What's the problem? Don't you trust me?". Unfortunately,however, a switch is often pulled and the game ends in a breach of contract suit or a bar brawl. The antithesis to the game lies in securing from the outset clear areas of responsibility with sanctions for non-fulfillment and curbing the tendency to Rescue other people from their own fair share of the work. Rescuers hook Persecutors as easily as they attract permanent Victims. Much good can be done by looking at alternatives to the Drama Triangle such as those proposed by Acey Choy (see the switches in Love And Mercy). ANALYSIS Thesis: If you want a job doing well, you'd better do it yourself. Aim: 1. Frustration. 2. Surrender of responsibility Roles: Eager Partner, Laid-back Partner Dynamics: Masochism. Moves: 1. Can I help you a little? 2. Can anybody help me? Switch: Rescuer becomes Victim. Payoff: Ain't it awful. Advantages: Psychological - Kick Me. Social - I get things done.
I Call You Back The Hong Kong education system seems to specialise in producing a certain type of office employee who can be trained but who cannot reason. Faced with an unusual request or something outside the parameters of their responsibility, an inordinate number of Hong Kong office menials prefer to hang up, transfer the call to an unused phone or place the call on hold until the caller gives up trying. The sources of this unreasonable behaviour can be found in the life situations of Hong Kong people and the resulting coping mechanisms. Faced with the sociological reality of an uncaring society (poor welfare support), arbitrary rulers (a Colonial government) and the threat of Stalinism (the nefarious "transfer of sovereignty" in 1997), many modern Hong Kong people have developed an attitude to life based on extreme self-centredness with aggressive and cynical survivalist thinking. The prevailing circumstances of life in other Chinese societies have brought about a similar view of life which reinforces the attitudes in Hong Kong. Many Hong Kong people are thus conditioned to "filter out" of experience any extraneous concerns not directly relevant to themselves or significant others (people they know). Many Hong Kong people may be regarded therefore as unsociable, in a Western sense, and when they take up new lives in a new society, their isolation may be severe. The way in which ICYB becomes a game is when B does not return A's call and takes steps not only not to answer any more inquiries but to pretend that he never received A's original call. I Call You Back combines two aspects of archaic thinking: an inability to say "I don't know" or "I'm not capable" plus a reluctance to get involved in anything not in one's immediate sphere of responsibility. ANALYSIS: Thesis: Don't get involved. Aim: Self-protection. Dynamics: Compliance of Adapted Child. Roles: Inquirer, Inept Secretary. Moves: 1. Can I help you? 2. Buzz Off, Buster. Switch: Hot Potato. Payoff: I did my best to satisfy the customer. Advantages: Psychological - Security. Social - Maintains position, however lowly.
Love Games
Being a member of the male sex has given me the opportunity to see the game-playing prowess of Hong Kong womanhood, mostly from a platonic stance, without having a similar opportunity to experience the games peculiar to Hong Kong men. Luckily, the latter coincide with women's love games in most instances for even in this age of the AIDS epidemic, which is beginning to shock Hong Kong people out of a certain dangerous complacency, few love games are played alone. The perspective in which I see Hong Kong love games is a male perspective but not, I hope, a sexist, or even heterosexist, one. It may comfort certain female liberationists to know that I view the dynamics of the Hong Kong heterosexual relationship as that between Beauty and the Beast or the Virgin and the Lecher (the Virgin and the Beauty being the female partner). This has its parallel, peculiarly enough, in the dynamics of many Western homosexual relationships which Quentin Crisp described as being generally conducted as between a chorus girl and a bishop. Equality and autonomy do not seem to be living concepts in sexual relationships in Hong Kong. Possessiveness is marked. Women, as much as men, derive certain advantages from their situation, as we shall see. Money and romance appear to be seamlessly entwined in the local consciousness. "Separation money" may be demanded from a girl or the new boyfriend when a couple break up. In a recent case, a policeman demanded HK$ 50,000 for the "loss of face" occasioned by losing his girlfriend to another suitor. Hong Kong men are generally fairly promiscuous, to judge by the thriving prostitution rackets all over Hong Kong (there are even some twenty practicing prostitutes on Lean-to), and hypocritical, to judge by their prudery. Their legitimate womenfolk are forced to be the embodiment, or at least must assume an air, of an abashed innocence, in part, which has not been known in Europe for a century or more, when Western men were just as lecherous but more hypocritical than they are now and women were advised to lie back and think of their country. In modern Hong Kong, a good many women, married to beasts for husbands, lie back and think of City Plaza Shopping Centre. In a desire for social harmony, local men sometimes support mistresses. In the past, some Hong Kong men kept concubines. Such an arrangement imparts some variety into the sexual regimen but is far from being a romantic solution to the wish for more sexual partners. Fortunately, love affairs abound in offices, schools, factories albeit in check and without significant public displays of affection. Such reticence to publicly express loving feeling can be seen as a mechanism for potentiating subsequent private expression and is not to be taken at face value as indication of a moral position. It may be regarded as a more refined, and essentially more wicked, means of sexual enjoyment. As we shall see, shame and guilt (two common standby emotions of local sexual behaviour) may add interest to an activity which, viewed in a dispassionate light, leads to little else but exhaustion, and for Asian males in particular, an empty wallet.
Chinese Girl This is the classic game of the Hong Kong girl and is not reserved for dealings with foreigners. In essence, it is a variety of the game "Rapo" (or "Kiss Off") described by Berne. The mechanics are fairly straightforward. A (male) makes a move of some sexual daring towards B, a local girl. The point about the move is that it was instigated to some extent by the encouragement of B in order to attract interest (there is intense competition amongst Hong Kong women) and, later, to prove the thesis of the game: that men are generally No Good. The game usually ends with a slap on the face and an exclamation of: "What sort of girl do you think I am ?" Given the flirtatiousness of Hong Kong girls, this is often taken as a come-on by the man in question and the whole situation may escalate into a third-degree "Rapo" ending in the courts or in hospital. An acquaintance related that he had always had the experience, when making love for the first time with Chinese girls, that they frequently exclaimed "No" whilst grasping his genitalia and drawing him towards the bed. This is a more dramatic form of "Chinese Girl" and may result in severe injury to one or both concerned if the girl is suddenly overcome by shame as her potential lover removes his underpants. Our researches have shown that sudden attacks of shame, or regret, are frequent in Hong Kong girls as the Child impulses are violently interrupted by Parental injunctions. Of course, this is not primarily a cultural problem. Some traditional social psychologists repeatedly refer to Chinese diffidence in sexual matters which has no real cultural foundation and one wonders what sort of sex life they have had whilst among the Chinese. Sociologically speaking, women are well aware of the value of virginity in securing a husband (Chinese and Japanese men, like late eighteenth century Frenchmen, are caught up in the thrill of innocence) and do not like to sell themselves cheaply. It is much easier for women to make money by a good marriage or even through prostitution in Hong Kong than by a solid career in business or the professions. An acquaintance referred to the Golden Hymen in this connection, but other researches have revealed a changing attitude to premarital sex (which was formally practiced in Chinese societies only when marriage was a few weeks away). The idea of Chinese chastity is often exaggerated. Emphasis on traditional Chinese chastity has been exploited in the past as a means of playing Banana (proclaiming a fictitious cultural separateness) and, in the PRC, of maintaining control of the population in the manner described by George Orwell. Once the region below the waist is secured by tyrannical governments, the populace's hearts and minds quickly follow. Proclamations of "Western influence" reinforce a xenophobia useful to the Chinese Communist Party and are even trotted out in Hong Kong by desperate politicians anxious for "popular support". This was highlighted recently in the debate over decriminalising homosexuality, some commentators suggesting it was all a Western invention. In the author's own experience, he has never encountered so many homosexuals as in Hong Kong, Oxford perhaps excepted. The antithesis to Chinese Girl for the man lies in correct behaviour tempered with perspicacity in being able to differentiate the come-on from the genuine refusal. Unfortunately, given the strength of male passion under certain circumstances and other possible intoxicating or disinhibitory influences (alcohol and traditional Chinese aphrodisiacs, commonly available in Hong Kong), the percentage of men skilled in avoiding "Chinese Girl" is rather low. The antithesis for the woman is to realise, perhaps, that virginity is not the prize it once was and that a fulfilled sexual life is a secure basis for a healthy organism. Moreover, coyness is charming but it wastes a lot of time. The power and lure of sexual games, combining as they do the libido and the imagination, mitigate however against successful avoidance and even more so against resolution once the game has commenced. ANALYSIS Thesis: Men are pigs. Aim: Alleviation of guilt and shame. Roles: Virgin, Lecher. Dynamics: Libidinal guilt. Moves: 1. SECs (Significant Eye Contact). 2. Buzz Off, Buster. 1. Don't stop! 2. Don't! Stop! Switch: Now I've Got You, You Son Of A Bitch. Payoff: I'm a good girl, mama. Advantages: Psychological - Parental self-stroking. Social - Builds dependency and respect.
Night Club On 29th October, 1991 one of the most sensational vice trials in Hong Kong history came to an end. Chin Chi-ming, a moderately successful businessman, was convicted of blackmailing a number of female starlets of Hong Kong's entertainment industry. His technique was to lure them to hotels on the pretext of requiring services for a rich acquaintance suffering from sexual impotence. In an interview prior to the verdict, Chin claimed that he regularly had sex with such women. Twice a week was usual and the fee in each case was $5,000. Chin had progressed to this means of securing a regular supply of available women after frequenting night clubs. Night clubs in Hong Kong provide legalised prostitution. The larger establishments have hundreds of girls available as "hostesses" ranging from the tawdry to the frankly alluring. The girls may be "bought out" and subsequently intercourse may be arranged for a high fee in private negotiation with the girl. It is unclear what commission the night club demands from them. Hong Kong, and Oriental men in general, apparently do not see any threat to their pride in arranging companionship and sex for money. Chin must have spent millions of dollars in his pursuit (he claims to have made love to 700 women). The man who never succumbs to the illusion of romance is of course not playing Night Club but even the most cynical and hard-bitten Hong Kong man probably succumbs to the illusion somewhere along the line, if only for a moment. In this sense, all night club visitors are players of Night Club. The night club arrangement of course finds its most deliberate expression in Japan. A friend relates of an evening spent with business colleagues in one of the karaoke hostess bars in Shinjuku, Tokyo. The evening began with drinks and conversation with delightful hostesses whose "spontaneous" attentions (including surreptitious thigh massage) ended abruptly at 11.00 p.m. (the pre-arranged time). The Japanese hosts then paid up and the party left. Night clubs and "pink salons", (low lit bars with groping) seem to provide the Japanese with a comfortable anarchic edge to their humdrum over-structured lives. The essential con in Night Club as a game is the suspension of reason and the acceptance of synthetic "stroking" as being the real thing. Cognac or beer aid the illusion. The switch in the game occurs with the sobering credit card bill, which the spouse may or may not see, a month later ; or even on the same evening as the alcohol wears off, the smile of the hostess fades and her feigned enthusiasm leaves her client with the realisation that the girl would just as eagerly have sex with a fat, balding, ugly impotent man as with him, providing the price was right. Hong Kong men seem to be remarkably resilient to reasoning regarding Night Club's affront to manly pride and easily succumb to the illusion of romance created by skilful prostitutes. They may even relate that "I got a discount", " She did it for free" or as Chin proclaimed: "They thought I was an excellent lover". ANALYSIS Thesis: Women love me really. Aim: Relieving perceived personal inadequacy. Roles: Punter, Prostitute. Dynamics: Phallic deprivation. Moves: 1. Hello, Big Boy! 2. Visa or American Express? Switch: Can I stop moaning now? Payoff: I am a success with women. Advantages: Psychological - Child stroking. Social - I can certainly pull the girls.
Virginity One of the interesting aspects of the Chin trial was the revelation of one of the prosecution witnesses who claimed that she was still a virgin, despite holding a rendez-vous with a complete stranger in a seedy hotel room and performing oral sex on him for money. We were reminded of an acquaintance's account of how he had spent nights with a local girl and her friend and how the girl would do everything but the most natural. She also claimed to be a virgin. He also related the story of another girl who had almost given up the idea of finding an acceptable husband but who resolutely kept her virginity at the age of 36. "She comes to see me any time but won't do the essential. I think she's hanging on to it for medical science.," he said. "Then why do you continue to see her?", "Well, she's so obliging, and skilful." A well-known song in the Beggar's Opera suggests that "by keeping men of, you keep them on." The thrill of virginity motivates men to overlook obvious sexual experience and Hong Kong women arrive at a compromise between purity and healthy sexual indulgence. An untoward payoff occurs in the game when the girl develops some sexually transmitted disease or possibly becomes pregnant after some particularly intimate heavy petting. The man responsible may then exclaim: "I never laid a hand on you". The inherent hypocrisy of the game usually escapes the players. ANALYSIS Thesis: There's gold in them there loins. Aim: Blamelessness. Roles: Virgin, Lecher. Dynamics: Anal retentive. Moves: 1. But I'm still a virgin 2. Was that nice? Switch: Look what you made me do. Payoff: I didn't get screwed, mama. Advantages: Psychological - Stroke the Parent and spoil the Child. Social - Stability of intersexual status quo.
Suzie Wong Suzie Wong is a character in Richard Mason's famous book of the same title which describes the love affair of an artist and a Hong Kong prostitute. It is a common fantasy of Western men to believe that the women touted for sex in Asia may become genuinely attached to them. German tourists in Thailand in particular may indulge the fantasy for weeks, touring the country with devoted bar girl at hand. Some even marry the girls. As the basis for all true intimate human relationships is equality and non-exploitation, the underlying imbalance in such relationships becomes obvious over time but excessive devotion to one's carrer and to alcohol aid avoidance of the truth. In the beginning, the game resembles Night Club in the willing suspension of disbelief but the fanatical search for a prostitute who loves one makes the game more sinister and pathological. Some players may not be able to have intercourse with anyone but a prostitute and quickly regret each encounter (the Child wishes being assaulted by the Parent). Some may decide to beat their former bar-girl wives to drown out realisation of the unreal expectations of their fantasy. The antithesis to Suzie Wong is a calm realisation that fantasies may be indulged at a certain significant cost but that a loving warm relationship with a partner on some kind of equal footing is more rewarding in the long run and more nurturing of one's self-esteem. Permission may be obtained from oneself to ignore Parental provocation to regard sex as only good when it's dirty. Adult information regarding the incidence of sexually transmitted diseases in bar girls may assist the exploitation of such permissions. The hold of the Prostitute Virgin with a Heart of Gold illusion is a powerful one however. "Suzie Wong's Kid Sister" is a common variant of the game in which the objects of the search are younger and younger girls. It is played from the same position of sexual guilt and personal inadequacy. ANALYSIS Thesis: Prostitutes are good girls really. Aim: Resolution of neurotic guilt. Dynamics: Oedipus complex. Roles: Fallen woman, Rescuer. Moves: 1. You look like a nice girl. 2. Don't talk dirty. Switch: Mommy was never like this. Payoff: All women are whores. Advantages: Psychological - Parent/Child harmony. Social - "At least he keeps them off the streets".
Emigration A survey was conducted in 1990 into the criteria of male attractiveness in the eyes of Hong Kong women. It showed that although most women wanted to marry Chinese men and rated them highest, Canadians, Australians, Americans and New Zealanders were rated as the most attractive foreigners. British men came nowhere in the poll. It appears that the attractiveness of men had very little to do with appearance or character. The fashionability of men's country of origin for emigration purposes was however strongly correlated with physical attractiveness. Wealth seems also to have a similar magnetic effect - Dickson Poon, a wealthy shop owner, is similarly credited with Adonis- like handsomeness. Conspicuous display of wealth seems to be a pheremone-type aphrodisiac for certain Hong Kong women. Many Hong Kong women, like many Hong Kong men, want to emigrate. Canada and Australia are commonly perceived as presenting the best prospects for an undisturbed life style and freedom from racial prejudice. Emigration to other parts of Asia is low and Taiwan seems to interest nobody. Europe is becoming more attractive for the more desperate or culturally inspired emigrant - the Iceland Consulate in Hong Kong receives enquiries regularly from would-be emigrants. Britain is such an unpopular emigration destination that the 50,000 passports offered to Hong Kong people were almost under-subscribed. The game of Emigration is played from a position of hostility towards the prospective country of destination combined with a strong though largely unconscious desire to get out of Hong Kong. After a search for available overseas Chinese has been exhausted, the Emigration player suddenly discovers a strong romantic interest in foreigners. The attitude to foreign men has thus changed considerably even in the past few years in Hong Kong, largely unconsciously. The Emigration player dates more Western men and gravitates towards them at parties, meetings and even in restaurants. Some women's search ends at the thriving marriage agencies who charitably charge both parties double fees when a foreigner is introduced to a local person. The switch in Emigration comes when it is discovered that the foreigner is as poor as a church mouse, not interested or already attached. He, and the foreigner population in general, suddenly becomes unattractive and uninteresting. It must be stressed that in order for Emigration to be a game, the Hong Kong woman is largely unaware of her motivation and reasoning in pursuing foreigners. Active and aware passport hunting is not a game. ANALYSIS Thesis: I am not a passport hunter. Aim: Alleviation of shame. Roles: Xenophile Girl, Foreigner. Dynamics: Introjected guilt. Moves: 1. You are very handsome. 2. Which passport? Switch: It says here you're married with four kids. Payoff: I don't know what I ever saw in him. Advantages: Psychological - I'm not that cheap. Social - Escape from Stalinism and it is true love.
Restaurant Games
Restaurants, as George Orwell knew, are key areas of gamy activity largely revolving around ideas of one-upmanship and the accompanying snobbishness. Every Frenchman is aware that the better the restaurant, the ruder the waiters. In Britain, the land of gastrophobes, the restaurant games of the comic character Basil Fawlty are widely recognised and appreciated. In Hong Kong, restaurants are serious institutions because eating is a serious activity. Not for Hong Kong people the frivolity of the Americans who regard eating as a tedious occupation between sports, sex and television. Eating needs dedication and thought. Freshness is prized and unlike the West, where it is a tribute to refrigeration, freshness in Chinese societies is measured on the scale of recent demise or unearthing. The ultimate meal in certain Western cultures is thus a microwave TV dinner whilst the ultimate Chinese meal is expiring on the plate. The Cantonese have a love of wildlife, largely experienced through the digestive tract. One of my students wrote that Chinese food was so tasty because of the variety of "species" used. On the other hand, the ultimate Japanese meal is consumed in a sushi bar, seated on an individually sanitized, pre-heated electric toilet/bidet. The games outlined in this section are those between waiter and guest and between the restaurant and its clientele. As restaurants in Hong Kong are public and often crowded, other games do of course take place on the sidelines, which we have detailed elsewhere. Goldfinger is played for example in the conspicuous consumption of expensive dishes and Portable Phone is popular in restaurants well-equipped with courtesy telephones. The beginnings of Chinese Girl may be played at one table whilst Badinage is conducted at another. The guests might have arrived by a Kowloon Taxi and may go on to play Night Club or XOV. Nearly everyone plays Minding My Own Business. An evening hardly goes by in one of the better restaurants without a Celeb player arriving with train of admirers.
Western Style Western Style is the classic game of the dozens of lower- class European restaurants in Hong Kong and provides for a large degree of subtle hilarity for the game analyst in much the same way as Chinese restaurateurs derive great pleasure from seeing the locals play "Oriental Cuisine" in Britain (Chips and Fried Rice with Sweet and Sour Sauce twice). A European tourist is lured by the "French Restaurant" sign in the lace-curtained grimy windows. He is hot, thirsty and hungry. The confusion begins with the menu which is often highly pretentious in English but quite straightforward in Chinese (for example, "garoupa" is just "fish" for the locals and "minute steak" just "beef"). Waiters stand around in their shabby- genteel uniforms, curious as to why a European would wish to eat in their restaurant of all places but carefully avoiding eye contact in case they are summoned to decipher the misleading, and occasionally misspelled, English of the menu into something meaningful (cf. Minding My Own Business). At this point a game of Service may be instigated by the one proficient English speaker of the restaurant, the boss. As the guest looks around at the dismal chrome and velvet chairs, greasy carpet and low-lit decay of the restaurant, he may choose to leave or to stick it out. It all depends how much the shopping has taken out of him. Guilt raises its ugly head. Did he really come all this way for European food? Shouldn't he try some local food again? Actually, he is having a deeply ethnic experience by being in the restaurant. As the ancient lady with the wellingtons and the rubber gloves enters to throw the dishes at the next table into her filthy bucket, as the plates of rice and chops awash with gravy are thrown onto the ash-laden tablecloths and as the toothpicks are placed on his table with the nonchalance of a salt cellar, he has arrived at one of the more lowly culinary expressions of intimate Cantonese culture and, if he can abandon his own pretensions, he can start to enjoy the buzz of life which makes Hong Kong - any part of it - so stimulating. As for the food itself, the "garoupa" may arrive with a meat sauce on it, "salads" are actually adulterated mayonnaise and "minute steak" is as tough as a boot. But why go to such a restaurant for the food? ANALYSIS Thesis: This is a Western Style restaurant. Aim: Partial accommodation of exotic culture. Roles: Pretentious Restaurateur, Confused Guest. Dynamics: Insecurity. Moves: 1. Rice or chips with the meat? 2. More toothpicks? Switch: Yes sir, it used to be owned by a Mr French. Payoff: (Guest) Indigestion. (Restaurateur) We have many European customers. Advantages: Psychological - We are exotic. Social - We are not a dai pai dong.
Service It is the mark of the aristocrat and the gentleman in general that he knows how to treat servants. Hong Kong has a dearth of gentlemen, most of the money around being new money and money acquired in trade ( I now use the terms of people who know how to treat servants). Much of the training given to hotel staff is based on the traditions of European hotels of the old style where people generally knew how to behave. This has led to a certain disparity in the behaviour patterns of servant and master in hotels and restaurants in Hong Kong. "Service" is played between a brash but apparently suave (because he is wearing all the trappings of sophistication) Hong Kong businessman and an obsequious waiter or series of waiters. As in all games, Service is played largely outside consciousness and is not aimed at establishing a conscious point. The businessman enters the restaurant and is fawned upon by the attendant waiter, or proprietor. At this moment, the game is set in motion because both players have "spotted" each other as unerringly as a brawler chooses his victim from the assortment available in a crowded bar. Perhaps the smile of the waiter was too false or the gait of the businessman too swaggering. The businessman may open the game by refusing to sit at the table offered to him. This is usually not greeted with anything but enthusiasm by the waiter as it indicates the willingness of the businessman to play the game with vigour. The ensuing moves may include the following examples: menu presented before drinks offered (glare from businessman); businessman ignored for ten minutes (businessman seethes); businessman orders something not on menu (waiter glares); businessman requests ice bucket, special sauce, unavailable liqueur, cigar cutter, pepper mill etc.(waiter knots brow). An additional technique employed by the guest is to change waiters and get all the restaurant's staff gradually infuriated. The waiter often cooperates with this move by passing on the guest to his four or five colleagues in the course of a meal. The underlying hostility is never declared or made apparent throughout the game as it moves to its switch. The businessman's credit card is not accepted ,his dish is "off" or he is mysteriously overcharged; the businessman "pulls" dirty fork, dirty seat or nonexistent service to insist on a reduction of the bill. Hard players of the game march out and later call the Urban Services department. Hard-playing restaurants call the police. Such endings are rare in Hong Kong. The important point about the game is that no matter who "dirty", each player experiences a favoured feeling as payoff in the end. ANALYSIS Thesis: Now I'm this rich, nothing's good enough. Aim: Vindication. Roles: Discerning Guest, Obliging Waiter(s). Dynamics: Guilt complex. Moves: 1. I'm a big spender. 2. Now I've Got You, You SOB. Switch (examples): 1. There's a fly in my soup 2. Would sir care to pay cash? Payoff: (Guest) I showed them / How dare they?; (Waiter) I showed him / How dare he? Advantages: Psychological - Relives unresolved archaic dramas or (waiter) confirms professional position. Social - Separate variants of Ain't It Awful: "Canaille" (waiter) and "Restaurants Nowadays" (guest).
Hover Just as the air conditioning, lighting, music etc. in the majority of Hong Kong restaurants is arranged for the comfort and entertainment of the staff and not the guest, the whole aim of the service offered is often to extract a tip, not to live up to any abstract idea of restaurant standards or professional pride. The better restaurants are noted for their deviance from this accepted path and do not, for example, crowd their guests into a corner of the restaurant at lunch time to facilitate speedy clearing up afterwards. The eagerness to get the tip at the expense of propriety is seen in the game of Hover, to be differentiated from the irritating manoeuvre of Hover when waiters present a tray with the change and look appealingly at it like a dog ogling finnan haddie at breakfast time. The game of Hover however has an unconscious motivation, rage, and an apparently unexpected payoff, frustration. Just like the game of Service, waiter and guest usually find themselves but unlike Service, the relationship is strongly Persecutor to Victim with no repricocity until the final switch. Underlying the obliging service for the guest is the waiter's rage at being forced into such a servile position. His unconscious hope is to gain more frustration points so he can leave the job; his conscious aim is to gain a little money in the meantime from the slobs he has to serve. Food arrives too fast, drinks are poured with undue haste and there is too much smiling for the guest to take (for it is instinctively felt to be false). Essentials like a clean tablecloth, sharp knives and the table the guest wanted may be ignored. The unconscious resentment of the guest grows. When the change arrives, invariably including over ten dollars of silver, he leaves the dish on the table and pretends to be engrossed in the scene outside or in his companion. This infuriates the waiter who hovers aimnlessly, then rushes off to curse in private. Fortunately, the antithetical good game of "Obliging" can be played with a change of attitude in the waiter from fawning servility with contrasting brusqueness to genuine interest and pride in his profession. The tips are usually better. ANALYSIS Thesis: Want out of this profession. Aim: Venting confused discontent. Roles: Servile Waiter, Gullible Guest. Dynamics: Rage. Moves: 1. Anything to please. 2. And where's my tip? Switch: You can have the tip of my boot. Payoff: Why Does This Always Happen To Me? (WAHM) Advantages: Psychological - Brings malaise vaguely into consciousness. Social - He's so helpful.
Shopping Games
Get Avay From My Vindow! The game's title is derived from the German immigrant jeweller who shouted at children staring into his shop:" If you vonna vye a votch, vye a votch. If you don't vonna vye a votch, get avay from my vindow!" In the Tsim Sha Tsui area, tailors often call out to passers-by, proclaiming the merits of six shirts, a tweed suit or silk blouses. Obvious enjoyment of the benefits of good clothing does not deter the persistent trader. The writer was offered made-to-measure leather trousers ("Ready tomorrow. What time your flight?") to match his leather jacket one cold winter afternoon in Mody Road. Copy watch sellers are not only persistent but impervious to satire or to confrontation in general. Pointing to my modest but genuine watch one morning outside the Holiday Inn in Nathan Road I said: "But I've got a real one. Why should I want a copy?" "Ah, but what about your girlfriend." "She has a real one too." "But wouldn't you like a change?" "No!" "Okay, what about a handbag? Where you from?" "Look, I live here. Do I really look like a tourist?" "Yes." The urge to sell has placed the traders in a difficult situation - they wish to attract customers but they do not want them to waste time "Just Looking". Tradesmen tricks such as engaging the customer in conversation, complimenting him/her in subtle ways and gently creating the idea of need and opportunity are not aspects of game playing, however covert the real transactions are between customer and salesman. The game of "Get Avay From My Vindow!" is a mechanism for expressing scorn and rage towards tourists and silly punters in general. The payoffs are a shrinking business and duodenal ulcers. Mr Apparently-Artless from Adelaide is looking for some kind of gift for Auntie May and thinks a goods look round the shops might be a good idea. The essential misunderstanding in the game arises from the local tradesman believing that tourists have a definite aim in wandering about shops. Western people and holidaymakers in general are not the same as the local Hong Kong people who are more likely to have a definite aim in doing anything, shopping included. Mr Apparently-Artless sees nothing wrong in talking at length about the merits of a certain item and whether it would suit an elderly spinster. The tradesman in the game (Mr Scheister Bhagwan-Wong) is at first encouraged by the naivety of Mr Apparently-Artless who may exclaim how cheap everything is really compared to back home. The genuine interest of Mr Apparently-Artless causes Mr Bhagwan-Wong to salivate with anticipation. Then a sudden switch occurs as Mr A.-A. ( who is in fact a chartered accountant and has left his cash and credit cards in the hotel) reveals that he has seen something cheaper in Mong Kok and that he is just looking to compare prices. Scheister can now rush him to the door muttering imprecations. ANALYSIS Thesis: Customers are idiotic geese. Aim: Reinforcement of depressive position. Roles: Apparently Gullible Customer, Scheister Trader. Dynamics: Rage. Moves: 1. Sale Now On! 2. Get Avay From My Vindow! Switch: I'm sorry, I was deliberately wasting your time. Payoff : (Somatic) I suddenly have terrible indigestion. (Existential) Just look what you get for being nice to people! (Business) Bankruptcy. Advantages: Psychological - Temporary I'm OK - They're not OK. Social - Next please!
Peng Di La! One of the commonest pastimes in everyday conversation in Hong Kong is "I Can Get It For You Wholesale" in which the better connections of he who can get it cheaper are paraded for the poor unfortunate who has, for example, paid two hundred dollars more than he might have done for a video recorder ("and it doesn't even have Nicam!"). Hong Kong people are obsessed with cheaper prices, a fact of which the Government is only too aware. It maintains a very cheap transport system to keep local people happy (as well as cheap hospitals and schools but you actually get what you pay for). Local people will even go shopping in Shamshuipo to get a better price. All this money saving inspired the well-known joke of the Hong Kong person entering Heaven where he complains about all those foreigners on earth and "why did God create them anyway?" "Well, someone has to buy retail," was God's reply. Peng Di La! (Cheaper) becomes a game when concern for the cheap item outweighs the benefits of the article or the quality of life in general It is clear that the quality of life is an alien concept to many Hong Kong people. Thus most live in appalling conditions whereas outlying islands are practically deserted during the day. Convenience is the key word of the ideal Hong Kong life style - escalators, condominiums, shuttle buses, theme restaurants in chrome and marble mausoleum shopping centres. In all fields, the discounted item wins the day. ANALYSIS Thesis: Never mind the quality, feel the width. Aim: Survival. Roles: Careful Shopper, The Big Store of Life. Dynamics: 1. Anxiety. 2. Anal retention. 3. Consumerism. Moves: 1. That looks nice. 2. Oh what a price tag! Switch: Save for a rainy day. Payoff: Discontent. Advantages: Psychological - Conformity and solidarity. Social - I am getting somewhere in life.
Special Customer Just as business in Chinese cultures, and elsewhere, depends on personal relationships, the client/shopowner relationship is crucial for success in the retail trade. Hong Kong people - although they window shop, ask relatives to "Get It Wholesale" and take advantage of generally available chain stores - are also loyal to certain traders in markets, shopping centres and in the street. The reason for this is quite obvious: after a certain relationship has been established, bargaining, a common Hong Kong pastime, may be initiated with greater ease and the risk of exploitation, Hong Kong's religion, reduced. Customer relations are especially important in the business sphere. Visits to night clubs and expensive restaurants are accepted ways of establishing business relations as a welcome accompaniment to the usual commissions, bribes and favours which are the norm of commercial life in Hong Kong. In the PRC, all foreign guests, business customers or not, must be banqueted even if their knowledge or projects are finally rejected. Deng Xiao Ping expressed reservations about this practice in his interesting set of essays: "Fundamental Issues in Modern China." (1987) (which incidentally also contains the intriguing advice that "execution is a good method of education") when he writes that in the past, the PRC has given too many banquets and not listened to foreigners enough. He is probably right. The intimacy created by the status of Special Customer makes exploitation irresistible for traders conditioned by a hard controlling script (life plan) based on dominant Refugee and survivalist components. Thus it is that the naive customer may realise that he has been overcharged on certain items for years and that the smiles of the trader have cost him dearly. The confusion in the customer's mind between personal and business relationships is not one some traders share for long. Employers have also been known to have departed for Canada owing their loyal work force months of salary and benefits. Caveat emptor thus extends to a caution for all engaged in the booming economy of Hong Kong. The traders in Special Customer are oblivious to their disregard for normal human decency and do not see that short-term gain also has its disadvantages in lost goodwill and the lowering of personal morale. The shopper (or employee or wholesale buyer) does not appreciate the ruthlessness of Hong Kong tradesmen and may be playing a game of "Kick Me". Foreigners usually follow this up with a session of "Ain't It Awful". The cheapening of the trader's personality operates independently of regarding the ethos of Hong Kong people as an example of shame culture where the personal conscience present in guilt cultures is usually absent. The avoidance of intimacy, which is how we regard exploitation, is a psychological process not linked to such outdated anthropological considerations. ANALYSIS Thesis: Business is business. Aim: Exploitation. Roles: Ruthless Trader, Vulnerable Customer. Dynamics: Fear of intimacy. Moves: 1. Friendly Cooperation. 2. Get lost. 1. Welcome to Hong Kong. 2. Now go home. Switch: I am a businessman, not your friend. Payoff: Masochistic lowering of self-esteem. Advantages: Psychological - None. Social - Monetary gain.
Street and Traffic Games
Kowloon Taxi This game contains in its apparent triviality some of the main game concepts of certain Hong Kong people and possibly of Chinese people in general. Its essentially anarchic property may find its origin in the arbitrary way in which the Chinese have been treated by their rulers, both foreign and native, throughout the ages. The game begins when a well-meaning person hires a taxi on Hong Kong Island to go to Kowloon. For some reason, some taxi drivers on Hong Kong Island object to travelling to Kowloon although they are compensated for the trip back to Hong Kong by the imposition of double the toll for any car using the tunnel. There could be some triad carving up of territory but this has not come to light so far. The rules of holding a taxi licence state clearly that a passenger in the urban area must be driven anywhere he wishes within the urban area, the trip from Hong Kong to Kowloon included. Were this not so stipulated, passengers would have to hunt around for taxis which would take a long trip or a a short trip, taxis which would not go to the south of the island on Sundays or work after midnight in Kowloon and so on. In other words, the admirable and relatively cheap public transport provided by taxis would become ludicrously complicated. More often than not, passengers requesting to be driven to Kowloon from Hong Kong are taken to a secret rendezvous where a "Kowloon Taxi" (one operating mainly in Kowloon but now stranded in Hong Kong) stands waiting for the passenger to transfer. This is done at the passenger's volition as he is under no obligation to do so. He must pay the first taxi driver. Now, some passengers know their rights and will not stand for such treatment. They insist, despite the mumblings of the driver, on being driven directly to Kowloon. However, being such nice sorts, they are persuaded by the driver's irritable behaviour that they have wronged him and put him to some inconvenience. To alleviate the guilt of upsetting the driver, he tips him generously on arrival in Kowloon. The dynamics of the game are interesting: the Persecuting taxi driver manages to present himself as a Victim and is thus Rescued by the generous passenger. Taxi drivers are not the only people to play this game. New Territories farmers are compensated for not polluting the environment with pig manure (dollars per crate of dung) and squatters are regularly resettled at Government expense. Even Vietnamese "economic migrants", shockingly mistreated in other respects, are given resettlement allowances by the Hong Kong government to induce them to comply with international agreements. At a higher level, Kowloon Taxi is a time honoured game of the PRC government in Peking who are granted trade and other concessions for releasing "dissidents" who should never have been locked up in the first place. Western governments nearly always acknowledge as a favour what is normally accepted as a duty and an inalienable right amongst non-Stalinists. More subtly than this, the PRC, as one of the world's greatest polluters, has made minimal commitment to international environmental agreements such as the Montreal Protocol dependent on Western aid and technology to the tune of US$ 200 million. (Far Eastern Economic Review, 19.9.91). Related games: Blameless, Non-Interference In China's Internal Affairs. Thesis: I am blameless no matter what the law says. Aim: Vindication of lawlessness. Dynamics: Anal fixation. Roles: Persecutor, Victim. Moves: 1. Just do your duty 2. I'm so sorry I made you do your duty. Switch: 1. (Passenger) Victim to Rescuer. 2. (Driver) Persecutor to Victim. Payoff: (Passenger) I support helpful people. (Driver) I am a helpful person. Advantages: Psychological - Avoidance of guilt and responsibility. Social - I am not inconvenienced and I still collect.
Sorry! (Shoulder charge) An acquaintance relates that now that he knows the Cantonese for "Sorry!" he still does not hear apologies very frequently in normal street contact with Hong Kong people. Given the high density of Hong Kong's urban population, collisions, foot squashing and near-misses of the same are frequent and an intricate technique of shoulder swerving has been developed to avoid accidents. The game of Sorry! (played in both vocal and silent versions) is however quite different in psychological character from unforeseen stumblings. It is played to express aggression and to assert oneself. It may be played on pavements by pedestrians and on the roads by car (and bus) drivers although in the latter cases the threat of physical contact constitutes the aggression and assertion (statistics are not available to prove what percentage of vehicular accidents are caused by Sorry! players). The game is also played by bicyclists and, to some extent, by users of public swimming baths. In essence, Sorry! is a game of bluff, the main aim being to prove that the other party in the game is worthless and uninteresting. The Sorry! player steers determinedly on towards someone travelling directly towards him and feigns obliviousness (for attention to what is going on around them is taken by some Hong Kong people as a loss of face). The trick comes in a last- second adjustment of the shoulders or a subtle change in course which far from avoiding collision gives the player(s) the opportunity to exclaim Sorry! or look slightly apologetic as the attempt to avoid collision of the other player is skilfully nullified. The game is genuinely played outside consciousness; were the player(s) aware of what was happening, they would feel angry and aggressive. The Sorry! player plays from a position of suppressed emotion. Related game: Schlemiel. ANALYSIS Thesis: Get them before they get you. Aim: Release of suppressed aggression. Dynamics: Paranoia. Roles: Aggressor, Victim. Moves: 1. Get out of my way, punk. 2. I'm so sorry, madam. Switch: Look what you made me do. Payoff: People are so pushy nowadays. Advantages: Psychological - Emotional homeostasis. Social - Manners maketh man.
Portable Phone Just as brandy is the imbibational sign of Hong Kong people, the portable telephone is the technical sign of the Hong Kong identity. Completely selfish, showy, irritating, expensive, superficially sophisticated and stress-inducing, the portable telephone seems to have been invented for Hong Kong people. One of the more amusing sights in the Hong Kong street scene is people sailing along the crowded pavements waiting for connections with their wives, children and friends only a block or two away. Some PPPs (Portable Phone Persons) use the instrument in hotel lobbies with traditional phones on the table in front of them. As many Hong Kong people exist in a personal bubble of social withdrawal even when surrounded by dozens of people, PPPs see nothing wrong in shouting into the phone in places usually regarded as peaceful and quiet. The assumption is that the insignificant others who surround one are locked in their own bubble and will not perceive noise emanating from your bubble. PPPs are thus not being rude when they break the silence of a relaxed restaurant with their babble - they are simply declaring their awareness level and playing the game of Portable Phone. The essential point of portable phone use is that it avoids contact and thus intimacy. The voice of one's interlocutor is distorted by radio noise and even if the line were crystal clear, the encounter of a mobile phone conversation would not replace the effectiveness of face to face conversation (and nobody in Hong Kong's urban areas is that far away). Again, although the portable phone is actually meant to make life more convenient ( a Hong Kong leitmotif), carrying it is like being tied to a telephone, to be summoned at will by anyone who knows the number, and occasionally by those who don't or shouldn't. Pagers are similar in this respect. The paradoxical need expressed in the portable phone is not a desire to communicate but a desire to be enslaved by sociality and yet to be excluded from proper intimate contact. Withdrawal and insecurity, combined in fun time structure, are thus the psychological realities expressed in the use of the portable phone in Hong Kong - not "I need it for my work" (Hong Kong has hundreds of available free telephones); "It's so convenient" (even the newer models are heavy); and "It helps me to stay in touch with my friends" (are healthy human relationships maintained by radio?). These arguments constitute the cons in the game of Portable Phone. ANALYSIS Thesis: Get a portable phone and never talk to anyone again. Aim: 1. Withdrawal. 2. Relieving urban insecurity. Dynamics: Sociopathology. Moves: 1. Stay in touch. 2. Can't get a connection. Switch: Don't come over to see me. Payoff: Why doesn't anyone call me these days? Advantages: Psychological - Comforting regression. Social - Public display of status symbol.
Family Games
Whatever a culture emphasises should not be taken at face value. The converse of what is suggested is so often true. The closeness of Chinese families is a major theme of the classical literature of "Chinese psychology". Confucius emphasised filial piety, ancestor worship and the unity of the family but, as Lin Yutang relates, Confucius did not know his own father and buried his mother on the street. Only later in life did he find his parents a respectable common grave. A major misconception propounded by countless psychologists is to speak of the "group/family orientation" of Chinese people set against the individualistic ethos of the West. On the contrary, Chinese people are best regarded as amongst the world's great individualists, as can be seen in their game playing. There is nothing to be gained in regarding the West from the point of view of individualism and Chinese culture from that of utilitarian familism etc. in the understanding of modern human behaviour in Hong Kong. The author once asked a student in East Kowloon, in the course of an English oral examination, how many people were in his family. The reply was "78". The Cantonese have a highly differentiated vocabulary to describe their extended family: eight words for aunt or aunty and cousin (differentiated by mother/father relationship and being elder/younger) ; six for uncle and sister/brother-in-law; (highly differentiated between,say, husband of one's younger sister and elder brother of one's wife); two words for grandson and daughter (depending on whether the child is of a son or daughter) and two words each for mother/father-in-law, niece/nephew and grandfather/grandmother. It would appear that family relationships, tenuous or formal in Western contexts, are established, real and important for Hong Kong people andthe individual likes to know where he belongs. Such a picture of happy families is belied by the reports only this week as I write of child psychologists, one of whom stated that the local population has the attitude that feeding and clothing a young child is sufficient child-rearing and the revelations that children, as young as six or ten, are deserted by "astronaut" immigrants from Hong Kong in New Zealand. The parents leave the children with a large sum of money to buy food and other essentials and return to Hong Kong for months. The lack of parental support comes to light when the children use up the money and resort to shoplifting and bullying other children to get food. Even the guarded pages of "Chinese psychology" suggest child neglect is the norm in Hong Kong, speaking of a tendency to beat rather than instruct the young child.As in Western countries, neglect of old people is common and any tour of the Government hospitals provides striking examples of old people left in cramped wards and visited seldom. The mentally handicapped and ill fair little better and some are kept away from special education out of a sense of family shame. Families would then appear to be self-reliant closed systems of mutual material support rather like clans were in Western culture. The outward signs of closeness are not to be taken as predominantly signs of affection, as they would be taken in viewing a family in the West. This is not to say, of course, that Hong Kong family members do not behave affectionately towards each other. Affection is however subordinate to the idea of material support.
Pere de Famille (Father of the family) The paintings of Greuze (1725-1805) and the plays of Diderot (1713-84), sentimental, stilted and ridiculous to our modern eyes, presented the family of the French bourgeois in the 18th Century as the symbol of perfect humanity. Fortunately, Diderot's views on human nature were actually more advanced and subtle than those presented in the play Pere de Famille. Greuze's portrait of Le mauvais fils puni (Punishment of the wayward son) is a perfect antidote to those who cannot take any more histrionic Cantonese soap opera, film or, indeed, actual emotional behaviour and who see this as a failing of the culture as a whole. The picture shows an old but dignified man about to expire with his family ranged around his death bed in various statuesque poses. His wayward son has just arrived to see the horror brought on, perhaps, by his own behaviour and is stricken by grief and remorse. To see the picture is to know that Hong Kong people did not invent over-acting. We can only speculate why the drame bourgeois and the paintings of Greuze came about and why they were so admired and imitated by such geniuses as Diderot (Marx's favourite leisure author). Perhaps it was a an attempt at compensation for the real moral corruption and emotional decrepitude of the French 18th century. In turn, the over-acting of Cantonese film and soap opera may have the function of stimulating "brutalised" (in Rousseau's terms perhaps) urban people of Hong Kong and appealing to lost emotions.Pere de Famille as a game revolves around the figure of the patriarch in Hong Kong families. Women seem to be peripheral figures in Hong Kong society, striking public figures, sometimes, but more often forgotten. The idea of a husband and wife team is becoming more respectable however. In actual fact, women and the concerns of women seem to be the driving force in Hong Kong families. In my village in the New Territories (where all good social psychologists and anthropologists should stay for eighteen months or so before they write a book on Chinese psychology), I hardly see any men doing any work. Perhaps they are occupied with affairs of state. Women pick up children from school, do the shopping and the fetching. I have never seen a local man hang up washing. The only relief for some women out of all the drudgery is, perhaps, to take a part-time job so they can hire a maid from the Philippines. Research done into the emotional dynamics of the Hong Kong marriage is scanty but the general impression is that, in common with many Italian families, the man pretends to be in charge but in reality the woman runs the show. Apart from working hard, she does this through a) sexual blackmail b) concerted action with children and relatives c) progressive control of financial resources. As we have already noted in the section devoted to Love Games, local girls possess a considerable reserve of guile and manipulative skill which they receive, we propose, with the mother's milk from examples in her environment as she grows up. In Hong Kong, men have their wishes but women probably have their way. ANALYSIS: Thesis: Let her know who wears the trousers. Aim: Dominance. Dynamics: Castration anxiety. Roles: Patriarch, Submissive Wife. Moves: 1. No woman tells me what to do. 2. Certainly, dearest. Switch: All right, anything for a quiet life. Payoff: She's a good little woman, really. Advantages: Psychological - I've still got my balls. Social - Preserves status quo. Family members are nurtured even in absence of responsible male partner.
Happy Families A: You're quite close to your family? B: Oh yes. I see them all the time. A: When did you last see your parents? B: Ten days ago. A: But you only live five minutes' walk from them, right? B: Yes. A: What does your father do in his spare time? B: I don't know. A: Tell me about your sister. B: She studies at the Polytechnic. A: Which course? B: I'm not sure. A: Does she have a boyfriend? B: I don't know. A: Tell me about your brothers. B: What do you want to know? One of them died a year ago. A: You never told me that before. B: I know. I didn't like him really. The above conversation could be replicated quite easily in conversations with Hong Kong people. The replies are not taken here as being evasive but rather as signs of comparative ignorance and unconcern regarding relatives. Similar replies might be evinced in a dialogue with Western people. After all, relations are often "a tedious pack of people who haven't got the remotest knowledge of how to live, nor the smallest instinct about when to die." We have already cited the example of "astronaut" children in New Zealand but instances of institutionalised child neglect are at hand in Hong Kong. Children are regularly farmed out to aged relatives in the New Territories for example and rarely see their working parents. Schools have elements of a borstal model with lining up in the morning, uniforms, detentions and, until recently, corporal punishment. Children are made to clean their own classrooms. The gaminess of the Hong Kong person's attitude to his family is seen in the vivid affirmations of filial piety, concern for one's sick relatives and attendance of family gatherings which are taken by foreigners especially as signs of close emotional family ties. This declared attitude is often belied by actual knowledge and action. Many Hong Kong families are factionalist and centripetal (excluding other groups) and, internally, function mainly to further its individual members materially, not to provide emotional support. ANALYSIS Thesis: Let's keep the family together, I suppose. Aim: Emotional security. Dynamics: Socialization. Roles: The Clan, Clan Member. Moves: 1. We have a happy family. 2. Auntie who? Switch: I never liked her really. Payoff: I did my best for Auntie May. Advantages: Psychological - Security. Social - Group survival.
Perfect Child This game is the most pathological family game played in Hong Kong and is also a noted game of mainland people suffering under the dictatorial One Child policy of central government. Given the hypothesised strong capacity for nurturing behaviour inherent in the personality of Chinese people (Nurturing Parent) and the special refugee-based life plan of many Hong Kong people, inordinate demands are made on children by Hong Kong parents. These expectations find parallels in Western cultures and the willingness or ability of children to meet parental demands is a favourite theme of our literature and drama. High educational attainment is seen as supremely important in the production of the Perfect Child but is viewed as an achievement of effort and application rather than inborn competence. Thus less able students may be aided throughout their academic career by hack tutors, some only slightly more proficient than the student himself. Kindergarten is well subscribed and English may begin at three years of age. Hong Kong parents appear to derive huge gratification from hearing toddlers pronounce English greetings to foreigners although the parents do not usually greet the foreigners themselves. As the children do not hear English at home, in most cases, the language begins its polarized association with school, the non-intimate and the Important (see "I Really Must Do Something About My English"). Long homework hours are expected from even five-year-old students. A strong adaptive mechanism is instilled into the child. Knowledge is regarded as a series of exercises to be memorized if not necessarily understood. The school system encourages backward educational attitudes through rote learning and endless cycles of tests and examinations (sometimes before anything meaningful has been learned). The educational precepts in traditional culture are harsh and demand almost absolute submission to teachers. Hong Kong students usually fulfill these demands readily, only rarely questioning the authority of the teacher. In Hong Kong, the Education Dept. provides a list of schools for parents to select what they consider the best establishment for their child. Parents often move across town or use a relative's address to fall into the catchment area of a desirable school, even at primary level. Sending children overseas for study, although the child is quite incapable of benefitting from the experience, is another common educational "help". Children are often ridiculously spoilt and receive useless educational gifts such as high-powered computers and irrelevant books which are never read. Relatives are engaged in the game of acquisition for the children of the family and are expected to fulfill the whims of their nephews and cousins (perhaps because they claim "I Can Get It For You Wholesale"). Perfect Child usually becomes a game when the behaviour of parents does not match the demands placed on the child or when expectations assume an element of fantasy. Unfortunately, this is practically always the case. Children learn what they live, not what they are told and in a home environment dominated by traffic noise, the TV, exhausted money-earners, bad air, few books - or, at the other end of the social spectrum, by slavish accumulation of wealth, long parental absences in Canada and hedonistic values and behaviour - children are not made into winners but losers. The unreal expectations of the parents may cause them to fantasise about their child's success in the entertainment world, perhaps as a concert pianist or pop singer. Undue admiration is given to mathematical geniuses and other prodigies. The parents actually express their past frustrations through their child and thus the intensity of the "encouragement" may reach absurd proportions. This finds an obvious parallel with the "loving furtherance" of certain Western parents who send their children to summer schools, riding stables, elocution tutors, talent contests, dancing classes and a legion of other " extras I never had when I was his age". Some hard players of Perfect Child insist on orthodontics or plastic surgery to bring about the desired faultlessness.Very few children can become even academic successes. In Hong Kong, with its low percentage of higher education places (which is rapidly improving), educational attainment is actually very difficult and has become competitive to the detriment of genuine quality. As a consequence, Hong Kong students are good exam passers but often lack a capacity for independent thought. The entertainment industry can only absorb a certain amount of talent and mathematical geniuses do their best work before they are usually allowed into University. The antithesis to Perfect Child for parents is an examination of their motives for raising children; a rapprochement of example and precept; an appreciation of the child's right to autonomy; and a clear realisation of any personal frustration and inadequacy before it is transmuted into the various manoeuvres of pathological child "furtherance". ANALYSIS Thesis: I/we must have a perfect child. Aim: Regulation of past inadequacy and frustration. Roles: Kind Providing Parent, Talented Child. Dynamics: 1. (Soft version) Anxiety. 2. (Hard version) Script-driven "hot potato game" (transference of neuroses). Moves: 1. It's time for your piano lesson. 2. You play just like that Richard Clydermann. Switch: You never play your beautiful piano any more. Payoff: Where did we go wrong? Advantages: Psychological - Relieves panic of uncertain parental role. Social - They are devoted parents.
Medical Games
Does The Man In Your Nightmare Ever Mention My Bill? This game is played either from a position of magical expectation in the power of well-paid doctors to cure all known conditions allied with naivety concerning medical ethics and expense or, in the second version, a position of justified distrust of all Hong Kong medical practitioners which, however, excludes even a trial consultation. The first version is often played by an over-stressed expatriate executive who falls ill with one of Hong Kong's mysterious viral conditions. This is made worse by the foul environment, the demanding working world and a tendency of expatriates towards physical inactivity and alcohol abuse. The tired executive runs from private hospital to private consultant with impassioned cries of "Cure Me (I'm paying you aren't I?)." In the second version, often played by Hong Kong people of a lower income group and educational attainment, the patient with a serious but curable medical condition is delivered to hospital in great distress having spent a large amount of time and effort with traditional medicine, self-medication, prayer and rest (the mainland panacea). In the first version, the payoff for the patient comes when he cannot be cured quickly (he needs a long rest) and accuses his doctors, wife, employer and anyone else of negligence, cruelty desertion, etc. His condition is exacerbated and he falls into depression or has a nervous breakdown (which was what he wanted all along as an excuse to leave Hong Kong or to hate it even more than he does). A further switch in the game may be made on his subsequent recovery when he divorces his wife, sues the hospital or quits his job. Somewhere along the line, his magical belief in money to cure himself will also find some switch as he threatens to "expose" his medical insurance company (who refuse another consultant's test). Later on, this patient may become a regular of alternative medicine clinics on Hong Kong Island. These generally fulfill his subconscious wish to be charged huge fees for bringing about health (the difference being that the advice of the clinics to change diet, get into the countryside more and lay off alcohol is non-medical and undramatic). In the second version, the ill man incurs the extra expense of an emergency operation when with some guarded trust in medical science at some earlier stage, he might have spared himself the final outlay. The payoff comes when he is presented with the bills for his operation, after-care etc. which confirm his belief that Western medical practitioners are scheisters and money-mad. He leaves hospital even more determined never to consult orthodox doctors and sends a bouquet to his bone-setter: he was right all along. All the Western doctors did was to do it quicker.ANALYSIS: Thesis: 1.Pay them and they can cure you. 2.Western medicine is humbug. Aim: 1.Avoidance of responsibility for self. 2.Confirmation of hostility to Western things. Roles: Expensive Doctor, Difficult Patient. Dynamics: 1. Adolescent rage. 2. Paranoia. Moves: 1. Cure me, here's my cheque. 2. Cure me, here's my writ. 1. See what you can do. 2. What did you do to cost all this money? Switch: 1. Stupid/ I'm Only Trying To Help You. 2. Helpless. Payoff: 1. Doctors know nothing. 2. Doctors are crooks. Advantages: Psychological - 1. I really am special. 2. You can't trust anybody nowadays. Social - 1. I can quit at last 2. I had to pay in the end.
Xiuxi Xiuxi is the rest taken by mainland people generally after meals but any other time is not excluded from acceptable behaviour. It finds an echo in the attitude of certain local private practitioners of Western medicine in Hong Kong who because of considerations of professional pride, cannot prescribe such a simple thing as rest even when it is in the best interest of the patient. Such simple recommendations might result in the patient's refusal to pay (because why should he pay for what is obvious). The subtle argument of professional training and skill expressed as inaction (no antibiotics, no painkillers and no tranquillisers) is lost on the local patient and is actually lost on the doctor (who perceives Western medicine as actionist in character). Thus, although the instinct of the doctor is to prescribe rest , he lets himself be persuaded that he must diagnose (often most obscure illnesses) and prescribe (often useless medecine). The self-deception arises from the fact that doctors in Hong Kong generally perceive medical practice as a means of making quick money - like teachers, very few leave their salaries to work on the mainland for half a year for example. Western medicine's decisive character is used as a convenient excuse to win the patient's readiness to pay whilst preserving a sense of professional ethics. ANALYSIS Thesis: If I suggest the obvious they won't respect me. Aim: Mystification. Dynamics: Suppression. Roles: Doctor, patient. Moves: 1. What seems to be the trouble? 2. Take the pills. 1. Can you cure me? 2. Gee, You're Wonderful Mr Murgatroyd! Switch: If you don't prescribe, he won't pay up. Payoff: Professional reassurance. Advantages: Psychological - The force is with me. Social - Let's buy that house in Vancouver.
Sterilise The Instruments Despite the familiarity of local doctors with bodies, which they dissect as part of their training, they show some reluctance to touch such bodies with their bare hands, especially those of the opposite sex. At least one clinic has robes to be worn during examination and nurses usually serve as chaperons in all clinical encounters. Such shyness is at odds with medical efficacy, therefore doctors devise manouvres to avoid touching patients. The most ingenious of these manouvres is to plead that the instruments needed for an internal examination have to be sterilised and that the machine is not functioning properly etc.. In general, same-sex doctors are recommended for cases of piles, vaginal discharge, urethritis, lower back problems and so on. A non-tactile version of STI is played by the doctor reluctant to discuss the intimate life of the patient. ANALYSIS Thesis: I may be a doctor but I still get shook up. Aim: Avoidance of intimacy. Dynamics: Phobia. Roles: Shy Doctor, Opposite-Sexed Patient Moves: 1. It says here you're a doctor. 2. You're Uncommonly Perceptive. 1. Treat my piles. 2. Is that the time!Switch: 1. I never liked dissection. 2. You probably need a psychiatrist. Payoff: Now I have more time for some real medical problems. Advantages: Psychological - Parent stroking. Social - Clean hands and sweet dreams.
Educational Games
I Really Must Do Something About My English Although people have achieved success with English in Hong Kong, English itself has not been very successful. The language is often learned from the age of two-and-a-half on yet very few Hong Kong people speak it really accurately or well compared say with India, Singapore or some African countries. These are probably not fair comparisons. English is of course an auxiliary language in Hong Kong, not a lingua franca, and is drowned out by Cantonese culture. The facilities for learning the language are however very good and people who want to learn it have excellent opportunities for doing so. Students are far from convinced of this and often complain of "Lack Of Opportunities To Practice" (LOOP). Psychodynamically speaking, English in Hong Kong is best understood as a Parental language: that is a language associated with power, success and even duty. Real Hong Kong parents expect their children to learn it even if they themselves make no effort to learn it. Students are led to believe, through the confusing device of being taught in a bewildering mixture of Chinese and English, that fluency in English is impossible. As few teachers or anyone else show enthusiasm about English, it is held to be uninteresting and a little like Latin was to schoolchildren in Britain. English is forced down students' throats and treated as a formal asset, not a liberating creative tool. By the time the students reach the higher forms in secondary school and possibly before then, they suffer under a schizoid attitude to English: they want it but they don't. They want it because it makes study easier (and higher education is virtually impossible without it). They don't want it because they have been conditioned to regarding it as a bit of a grind. The game of IRMDSAME is now ready to be played. Languages can't be learned like mathematics because they are very personal and intimate things which involve the whole of the personality. One part of the IRMDSAME player really wants to learn English and looks for extra courses, buys the Reader's Digest Big Book Of English Words and tries to steer his eyes away from the subtitles on the English TV channels. Another part of him, perhaps more powerful than his conscious self knows,is certain that English is very dull and that it is associated with strange unknown people and places his parents have always treated with disinterest if not mistrust. The game is played to partially reconcile the paradox in attitude. A student enrolls for extra lessons but does not exploit classroom time to practice; he drops out because the course is too far away from home; he refuses to practice English with strangers; he doesn't buy one of the excellent English newspapers (too difficult) and doesn't listen to the radio (can't follow); he spends hours in the library producing reports which would take fifteen minutes if he were fluent in English. He becomes more aware that he really must do something about his English but doesn't know what. At the end he can say "At Least I Tried" with the absolute conviction that he did his best. The Hong Kong Language Campaign or the British Council attempts to rescue him. The antithesis to the game is presented in my previous volume, Transactional Analysis in Education. Teachers in Hong Kong are devoted players of the complementary game, "I Really Must Do Something About My Teaching" and are often unaffected by long courses in didactics, humanistic education and educational psychology. "I Really Must Do Something About My Cantonese" is played by foreigners who never acquire even a smattering of the local language although numerous Chinese dictionaries and Cantonese courses stand on their bookshelves as an expression of their willingness to "be with the people". ANALYSIS Thesis: English is useful but it can't be fun. Aim: Relief of Parent/Child impasse. Roles: Learner, Teacher; Real Child, Real Parent; Student, Subject. Dynamics: Masochism. Moves: 1. I really must do something about my English! 2. At least I tried. Switch: Too close for comfort. Payoff: English really is difficult, isn't it? Advantages: Psychological - reinforces favoured learning style Social - Group cohesion; TEFL book sales; demand for English teachers and social standing of fluent English speakers.
I'm Only Trying To Help You A version of this classic game is played with especial fervour in Hong Kong between visiting intellectuals and the local educational establishments The intellectual takes up a post on a three-year contract determined to do something useful in one of the last British colonies. The situation is quickly assessed and remedial measures proposed. The local population of students, colleagues, government departments nod along and play a side game of "Gee, You're Wonderful Professor" (admiration without action). The intellectual in question may play up to this with a game of YUP (You're Uncommonly Perceptive). So far the game is fairly harmless but as time goes by and the advice given by the visiting intellectual is ignored, sabotaged, under-funded (but never attacked), the frustration of the intellectual grows and he begins to make desperate attempts to "shake up the establishment", "get the media on his side" and to "show them who's boss". The unconscious aims then come to the fore - "Why don't people do what I tell them" and "They don't deserve me". These are in turn motivated by a fundamental I'm OK - You're not OK life position. The passive resistance of the local population to social and personal change, one of the strongest forces in the world, wins the day in the end. The intellectual storms off to Kai Tak with or without official car. The complementary game to IOTTHY (or ITHY for short) is Peasant and is played by the institution wish invited the intellectual to take up the post in the first place with come-ons of "You're so eminent", "We need you" and "Poor us". Financial outlay, although often considerable, is unimportant given the perverse psychological satisfaction obtained by making the intellectual prescribe remedies which the Peasant player can ignore ("but just look how much we paid"). ANALYSIS Thesis: Why don't people ever do what I tell them? Aim: Superiority. Roles: Visiting Intellectual, Local Staff and Students. Dynamics: Insecurity. Moves: 1. Here's what you have to do. 2. Why don't you do what I say? Switches: 1. Rescuer to Persecutor: I'll show them. 2. Persecutor to Victim: I'm going. Payoff: They don't deserve me. Advantages: Psychological - I'm OK - They're not OK. Social - 1. (Institution) At least we tried 2. (Intellectual) At least I tried.
Civic Education Educating the public is a boom industry in Hong Kong, although it has not reached the proportions of Singapore where citizens are now told how to defecate. Visitors must also declare chewing gum to customs. The British Empire's aim until disintegration was to make the whole world like West Hartlepool. Fortunately, they were only marginally successful. In Hong Kong, people were presumably told in the earliest public information films to bury their dead, feed their children and to cook their food. The latest films attempt to prevent people throwing television sets out of high buildings (it could kill a child), to warn against leaving knives and poisons lying around (they could kill a child) and urge people to hurry up while they are crossing the Light Rail Transit lines (especially if you are a child). You can complain about unfairness to your legislative councillor (if he is not under investigation by the ICAC), listen to practical legal advice (they put a tape on for you) or even complain about television (particularly about Government information films). All this Civic Education has gone over the heads of a great many Hong Kong people who continue to spit, jostle, crowd the MTR, neglect their children and get out quick when there is a fire without warning the rotten neighbours. This is usually the effect of Civic Education in Britain as well. Civic Education is a game because although it aims to present good advice for everyone's good, it is perceived as, and is inspired by, a Controlling Parent ("I will tell you what to do"). It has bee noted elsewhere that Hong Kong people already have a resilient Parent (or superego) which has strong ideas about the world which do not always tally with Western beliefs. The Government believes in its turn that it is aiming its advice at the rational self (or Adult) in the population. In reality, the advice is dictated by a superior Colonial mentality and is resisted as such by the Hong Kong people. ANALYSIS: Thesis: Be reasonable - do it my way. Aim: Dominance. Roles: Colonial Example, Unenlightened Native. Dynamics: Paternalism. Moves: 1. Here's how to behave 2. Why don't you do as you're told? Switch: What do you mean - "Ethnicity"? Payoff: They'll never learn. Advantages: Psychological - Maintains superior position. Social - We must go out into the far corners of the fading Empire.
Administrative Games
Lunch Bag Lunch Bag, one of Berne's discoveries, is usually a game played by a married couple. Mr White decides to save money by using up all the bits of cheese and ham he can find in the fridge to make a sandwich to take to work instead of buying lunch in a restaurant. This show of economy so impresses Mrs White that she surrenders all control of the family's finances to Mr White. Mr White can then shamelessly indulge his expensive desires for stereo equipment, golfing clothes and fishing weekends with impunity and without personal guilt. After all, a man who takes his own lunch to work in a brown paper bag every day can't be a spendthrift, can he? By extension, the game is played with subtlety and enthusiasm by Government and other organisations, especially public ones, in Hong Kong. Crammed into tiny offices with old typewriters and rickety chairs in unsavoury parts of town, forced to use hideous brown envelopes for correspondence and ageing telephones for more direct communication, the typical public servant presents a picture of threadbare shabby-gentility which masks his department's unquenchable thirst for public funds. Hong Kong is probably one of the most over-administrated but undergoverned places in the world. The tiers of bureaucracy at every level, especially in education and public works, are extraordinarily dense and resilient. Moreover, the questionable resource allocations of Councils and departments are periodically exposed in the Press . A recent example of the gravy train mentality was a delegation of Regional Councillors sending themselves on a fact-finding holiday to Australia to look at shark nets ( a somewhat less important problem than the prospect of the PRC- run nuclear generators at nearby Daya Bay). On return, the Councillors and their assistants work on in their humble brown offices and, presumably, submit a humble claim for expenses incurred during their necessary and humble tour of the Gold Coast's seafood restaurants on a recycled paper form inside a tatty reused envelope. ANALYSIS Thesis: 1. Be humble and ye shall prosper. 2. Watch their pennies and you can spend the pounds on yourself. Aim: Guiltless exploitation. Roles: Uriah Heep Administrator, Taxpayer. Dynamics: Rationalisation. Moves: 1. Let's save money 2. I saved so much at Lane Crawford! Switch: I deserve this for being so careful with money. Payoff: This Department has imposed drastic cost-cutting measures in order to meet Government targets in the next fiscal year. We apologise for any inconvenience caused. Advantages: Psychological - Relieves guilt. Social - Maintains governmental credibility.
We Will Act Although Hong Kong Government departments proclaim their willingness to act, their essential character is passive. This accords well with the laissez-faire, commercial character of Hong Kong which dictates that money making should not be unduly interfered with. As the Hong Kong Government is a branch of the British Government (or rather a ruse for appeasing the locals' demand for some control over their affairs: see Who's The Boss?), it incorporates some of the principles of enlightened government, in particular the concept of law enforcement and the idea of the Government servant. Government servants in Western societies are bound to be not only responsive to requests from the taxpayer but also active in the enforcement of laws and regulations. In Chinese societies, their character is generally quite different. Chinese public servants are a dictating elite whose duty it was, and still is, to carry out the wishes of a controlling minority, enlightened or not. Their responsivity to individuals is commensurate to the individual's social status. It was, therefore, quite uncommon for a worker or peasant in Imperial China, and still is for the the lower classes in the present PRC, to complain to an authority higher than his immediate superior (and as complaining may lead to a loss of Face and goes against the pragmatic nature of most Chinese people, as noted elsewhere, it is not the favoured strategy for effecting change in general). In Hong Kong, people are encouraged to complain to the Consumer Council and to Legco, for example, but it is not generally popular. Complaints against medical doctors, many of whom are unscrupulous and grasping beyond the parameters of professional ethics, are rare. Public servants in Hong Kong are thus supported in their fundamental Imperial position of passivity and unapproachability by a general attitude of the populace. When it is pointed out to public servants that they should be more active in their enforcement of regulations concerning planning permission, littering, hawking, inspection of restaurants, holes in the highways and pollution, their response is "We Will Act" rather than "We should have acted" or "We will continue to act". Citizens are expected to be policemen who report injustices and grievances to Government who then consider such complaints for action. The assertive nature of Government, which sometimes needs to be that of a Persecutor of injustice and inefficiency, is then devalued to that of a reluctant Rescuer. The citizen himself may be transformed by the Government's passivity from concerned to active Persecutor. As the game of Michael Kohlhaas shows clearly, he may then be turned into a Victim of Government ,the Police or the original third party wrongdoer (hawker, builder, landlord for example). ANALYSIS Thesis: We are government servants paid to act only when people complain. Aim: Abnegation of social role. Roles: Aggrieved Citizen, Public Servant. Dynamics: Passivity. Moves: 1. We will act 2. But why didn't you do it in the first place? Switch: What? A rat in the same restaurant? Payoff: Aggrieved Citizen becomes Policeman, Public Servant becomes Judge. Advantages: Psychological - Blamelessness. Social - Appeases burgeoning middle class.
Michael Kohlhaas This game is derived from a novella of the same name by the German writer, Heinrich von Kleist (1777-1811). The attempts of the story's hero to redress the wrong done to him in a province of feudal Germany, actually amounting to no more than the harsh treatment of two horses, leads to the involvement of the Holy Roman Emperor and, finally, to Kohlhaas's own execution. A main theme of the story is an obsession with absolute justice. It is clear from an analysis of the preceding game that absolute justice in Hong Kong has the shelf life of a soap bubble. An examination of Judicial Games (q.v.) will confirm this. The law, taking its lead from the Hong Kong Legal Department, is an ass. Nevertheless, some people harbour unreal expectations of the administrative machinery in Hong Kong, believing that it exists to further good government and justice rather than its real aims - being a Third World administration in statu nascendi - obfuscation, delay, bargaining, plastering over cracks and, occasionally, taking kick-backs. The real Michael Kohlhaas player's unconscious motivation is however quite different from the apparent concern with justice - he wishes to alleviate boredom and frustration from other sources, perhaps from an overly comfortable bourgeois lifestyle. Michael Kohlhaas is thus a game favoured by foreigners and Hong Kong's enlightened middle class. The mechanism of the game resembles Berne's "Now I've Got You, You SOB". Mrs Treegrunter-Smythe moves into an expensive apartment block in Mid-Levels in the belief that she has at last escaped the hordes of hideous and noisy people her husband's latest posting has made her come into contact with. She has just finished discussing arrangements with the interior decorators when major renovation work begins on the whole building and bamboo scaffolding obstructs her view of the harbour. Jack hammers and pile drivers operate seemingly round the clock and bits of masonry are found in the pots of her favourite balcony plants. Telephone calls are made to the building contractors, management agency, landlord, husband, radio stations. Letters are written to the Government, the police and the English newspapers. The reactions of the police and the Government departments is to listen politely, take notes, inspect, reassure but, in the end, to look up to the heavens, complaining about insufficient powers to remove the nuisance. In fact, the Government in Hong Kong, a virtual police state, can come up with regulations to do almost anything it wants with the greatest ease and speed. Mrs Treegrunter-Smythe doubles her Valium and enrolls at the Vital Life Centre. The noise and discomfort continue - at $40,000 a month. Exasperated beyond belief, the lady now decides to strike back against the forces arranged around her. Steeled by a shot from an expensive single malt whisky her husband thought he had concealed underneath his Japanese teenager pornography in the guest bedroom, she selects a large knife from the kitchen and hacks one of the bindings on the bamboo scaffolding close to her balcony. One of the mainland workers sees her but decides to keep quiet. The incident is quickly forgotten and the lady now employs one of Hong Kong's renegade lawyers to sue with vehemence. Nothing can be done. Only temporary injunctions and a small reduction in the rent bring some feeling of redress in Mrs Treegrunter-Smythe's increasingly desperate mind. The landlords are now heartily tired of what they perceive as a tedious troublemaker, as are the police. When a worker falls several floors from the scaffolding outside Mrs Treegrunter-Smythe's flat and sues here for malicious endangerment, the police, the Government departments and the landlords breath a sigh of relief and issue joint writs. Mrs Treegrunter-Smythe pays the compensation but spends her remaining time in Hong Kong protesting her innocence in the media or anywhere else people might pay attention to her. At a more mundane level, the game is played by people who have something against police in general (possibly because they are reformed criminals or have been rejected by the police recruiters). They persecute the police for not enforcing traffic or security regulations and enjoy many minor victories until they provoke the police by taking the law into their own hands (causing an accident by redirecting traffic or joking about bombs at the airport for example). The antithesis to this variant of the game is correct behaviour and clear realisation that suing the police or Government authorities costs the latter nothing in personal terms in most instances. The machinery available to Government and the police in Hong Kong for persecuting the individual citizen is however considerable, and free of charge, for individual public servants provoked by hard Michael Kohlhaas players. ANALYSIS Thesis: I know what justice is. Aim: Justification. Roles: Victimized Just Citizen, Persecuting Authority. Dynamics: Masochistic Rage. Moves: 1. How dare they! 2. I'm sorry but I got all shook up. Switch: (Judge) It looks to me as if you are the criminal party, Mrs Treegrunter-Smythe. Payoff: I am innocent. They have got it in for me. Advantages: Psychological - Bypasses underlying malaise. Social - At least she's got principles.
Political Games
Legco or Uncle Wong's Cabin Until recently, the composition of the Legislative and Executive Councils was safely in the hands of a species of over-adapted individuals so like Governor Sir David Wilson's Foreign Office crowd that they had even begun to speak like him (an ethereal but essentially effeminate voice borrowed from Runcie, the former Archbishop of Canterbury). Such imitation would not be a game if it did not occur outside consciousness. The sad truth is that the old crowd of appointed members and "elected members" from "functional constituencies" (oligarchic cliques) are largely unable to perceive what has happened to them: their true identity having been surgically removed like a large part of Michael Jackson's nose. The payoff of Uncle (and Auntie) Wong is a growing bewilderment that it is now not enough to suck up to Colonial rulers even if the colonial system is not too far removed from what could await Hong Kong in 1997. The switch pulled by Mr Martin Lee in the first direct elections reverses their roles from Persecutors of democracy to its Victims. ANALYSIS Thesis: Suck up and shut up. Aim: Adaptation. Dynamics: Alienation. Roles: Colonial Ruler, Local Worthy. Moves: 1. Yes, massah. 2. Who are all these Hong Kong democrats? Switch: Direct elections. Payoff: Political graveyard. Advantages: Psychological - Temporary self-aggrandizement. Social - Power to the oligarchs.
Non-Interference In China's Internal Affairs This game's title is the favourite cliche of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in much the same way as "Stability and Prosperity" is the call-sign of every self-respecting politician in Hong Kong. Allen Lee for example never gives an interview without at least one mention of the phrase. NIICIA originates from the "News Agency" of the PRC , a very large building in Happy Valley, Hong Kong Island. Actually, employing so many staff to spy and prepare for Stalinism in the sovereign territory of another country is usually considered to be interference in most country's internal affairs and even Libya in its heyday was not as cheeky in London as the PRC is in Hong Kong. It is all a matter of national self-respect. The story still told in PRC schools is that Britain kidnapped Hong Kong from rotten corrupt rulers and that it is a power of occupation, not a landlords or a rightful owner. This is the Victim position taken up by the PRC. In fact, it would be hard to imagine the PRC existing without the entrepot of Hong Kong or something similar. It was an Adult necessity for all Communist power blocks in the past to have access to foreign exchange and foreign goods (in order that they could maintain some contact with the real world ). The lamentations of the PRC have been fulsome indeed since 1949 but they never quite got round to invading Hong Kong. It would be tantamount to cutting off your nose to gain Face. Despite the advantages of Hong Kong in keeping an inefficient and decadent empire afloat, the PRC wept enough crocodile tears to secure the unequal treaty of 1984 known as the Joint Declaration. The real fact of the PRC being the Persecutor in the piece has become more evident since the Tiananmen massacre. NIICIA has the advantage of halting debate on real issues (surveillance, incarceration, torture for example) whilst securing a position for more Persecution. Related Games: Kowloon Taxi, Blameless. ANALYSIS: Thesis: "No one should know what goes on behind closed doors." (Josef Stalin - Unedited Memoirs). Aims: Confusion Roles: Victimized Nation, Persecuting Colonial Power Dynamics: Little Old Me. Moves: 1. Stop beating me! 2. Hand me the whip. Switch: Feigned Victim to Persecutor. Payoff: 30th June, 1997. Advantages: Psychological - Maintains sadistic stance. Social - Enter the Dragon to eat the golden goose.
Who's The Boss? The three-cornered fight in Hong Kong between Legco, the British Hong Kong Government and the mainland's NCNA seems to be the perfect illustration of Stephen Karpman's drama triangle. In most disputes, one of the three parties occupies the position of Persecutor, Rescuer or Victim until a switch or reversal in roles occurs. In general, most Drama Triangle activity is also game activity and in Hong Kong, the favoured game is Who's The Boss? In a typical game, say over the Court of Final Appeal, Legco represents itself as a Victim of two Persecutors: Big Bad Britain and Even Worse PRC. The Press asks as a Rescuer in the favourable coverage it gives to Legco's quite legitimate concerns over the rule of law after 1997. The British, through the Hong Kong Government, do not like to occupy the Persecutor position for long and make concessions to Legco, arrange for public debates and promise to make strong representations to the PRC. For years, of course, the PRC acted as Rescuer for the local people against what was perceived as the iniquitous colonial regime. Legco and allied human rights organisations begin to persecute the NCNA through demonstrations, candid statements and petitions. After some negotiation at the Joint Liaison Group it becomes obvious that the PRC will not budge and, moreover, if it gets any more trouble, the airport project may be delayed. The rumour of such a calamity sends shock waves through Legco's vested interest groups in construction, trading, land and other pertinent spheres. The British are also alarmed by the threat to their power in the unprecedented moves towards actual protest in Legco, which was hitherto a chamber for nodding through government policy. They begin to Persecute Legco once more whilst Legco Rescues the PRC by mumbling that "it is all Britain's fault". The British are transformed into the Victims but are Rescued by the PRC who arrange for some last-minute tactical concession on something quite unconnected to divert attention from a subject which has exhausted its political interest anyway. Apart from the switches in role, the most important feature of Who's The Boss? is the assumption of power by Legco in a game where it effectively has none. The power of the effective agents in the game (Britain and the PRC) is in its turn diluted by representatives (the NCNA and the Hong Kong Government). These two agencies have no power in the non-game of Realpolitik played by the Foreign Offices of the two countries concerned. This non-game is not played around the idea of authority, which is the fundamental con of Who's The Boss?, but around real concerns such as mutual advantage, maintenance of influence and continuing profits; or the avoidance of destabilising events. The antithesis to Who's The Boss? would appear to be Legco's recognition of the fictitious nature of the Hong Kong Government and the NCNA. They should conduct direct negotiations with Britain and the PRC without the illusion of authority but with a real concern for local people combined with the real threat of Hong Kong people's power to disrupt the smooth running of a Stalinist regime. ANALYSIS Thesis: We are powerful mandated representatives. Aim: Authority. Roles : Persecutor (typically the PRC), Rescuer (typically the British), Victim (typically Legco). Dynamics: Domination. Moves: 1. What about human rights? 2. I think we have to adjourn this debate. Switch: China was right all along. Payoff: They are listening to us at last. Advantages: Psychological - Relieves insecurity. Social - Democracy for the people.
Law Games
As we have indicated in a number of previous sections,certain games may be played in a "hard" way which leads to the courthouse or to prison, if not to hospital or the morgue. Just as medical practitioners are able to collect high fees for ministering to some of the more pathological game players in Hong Kong, the practice of law is a lucrative occupation given the number of willing players of hard versions of "Goldfinger", "Michael Kohlhaas", "Fung Shui" and "Joint Venture", or even "Night Club" and "Chinese Girl" (as recent sensational cases have shown). There are few lawyers for the population in Hong Kong compared with the USA (2,100 solicitors, 384 barristers in 1989) and a lot of work for them to do. Fees are very high. In criminal cases, one well-known firm charges even for ballpoint pens and sweeties (only M&Ms and transparent fruit drops are allowed) for clients detained in a Reception Centre or Correctional Institution (Hong Kong has few "Prisons"). This is in addition to its usual care, conduct and control @ HK$ 2,000 per hour. A key game in the Hong Kong legal world is thus "Hidden Fine" in which an acquitted accused may face an horrendous legal bill after the case, a fact of which merciful judges are perfectly aware. The employment of a "London Silk" is the legal fraternity's major extortion racket but apparently so impresses the more insecure Hong Kong judges that acquittal is a mere formality. Despite being one of the most vigorously policed territories in the world (one police officer for 200 citizens in 1989), the rates of violent crime have soared steadily from 24.8 per 100,000 population in 1956/7 to 307.7 in 1989/90. Armed violence in shopping centres, banks and jewellers' is now relatively commonplace. Mugging and other petty street crime against individuals is however still uncommon. Divorces give lawyers a lot of comparatively easy work as the games of Pere de Famille and Happy Families reach one of their more dramatic culminations. There were ten divorce petitions for the courts to deal with in 1953 compared to 5,056 in 1985. On the other hand, bank fraud, money laundering and insider trading, although undoubtedly common in Hong Kong, provide only a few expert legal representatives with steady work, albeit for a number of years in some cases, due to the small number of prosecutions initiated. This is a reflection of the general tolerance towards kick-backs and other sharp business practice in the territory. Prosecution of big triad bosses is also rare. The degree to which triads rule certain areas of Hong Kong life appears to be growing after suppression in earlier decades. The film industry, which makes films glorifying some triad heroes, held a public demonstration recently to protest against the "tea-money" needed to film in certain locations. Some film stars were also intimidated to star in certain gangster films by the triads whose life they represented. It is difficult at present to gauge the degree of hypocrisy inherent in the stars' protest. The demonstration certainly gave many a good deal of free publicity. Although it is quite obvious to even the most ignorant and unprejudiced observer that many aspects of the legal system in Hong Kong - laws, courts, judges and not least lawyers - present elements of oddity or amusement and arouse suspicion, the game playing of the legal world is not clear in many respects. This is largely due to the legal world's general liking for obfuscation, privileged information, cabalism, and in Hong Kong, active protection of the venal and the incompetent, especially at Government level. Complicated surface structures, such as those present in most legal systems, often mask the ulterior mechanisms of self-deception and destructive interaction which characterise the essential nature of games. Thus it is that the long and complicated submissions of the lawyers in Mrs White's divorce case may mask an essential game of "If It Weren't For You" or "Now I've Got You, You SOB". The protracted legal resistance against extradition in the Osman affair conceals underlying games of "Cops and Robbers" and "Bum Rap". Sociology and conventional criminology do not satisfactorily explain the motivation of the criminal or account for the dramatic increase in certain crimes in Hong Kong during its periods of greatest economic progress. Ordinary legal analyses cannot account for the development of law in Hong Kong nor for its sudden reversals and inconsistencies. Without the idea of games, no analysis of human behaviour - and probably collective human behaviour - is comprehensive or convincing. The inadequacy of strictly disciplined psychological or sociological approaches to social questions is sometimes inadvertently expressed by the investigators themselves. One recent assessment of legal questions in Hong Kong, although written from a sociological viewpoint, employs some of the terms of game analysis to reach a full understanding of its subject. Writing in Crime and Justice in Hong Kong, (ed. Traver and Vagg, OUP 1991) Lo Man-chiu uses terms such as "Game", "Player", "Actor" and "Role" not in the specific Bernean sense but clearly aware that some important structure operates beneath the surface phenomena. The real problem in analyzing legal games in the sense we use the term is to differentiate the deliberate "professional" ulterior transaction (such as provoking the witness whilst apparently complimenting him) from the ulterior transactions which go on outside the awareness of both parties. This latter interaction may constitute a game. The former is the professional trick. Despite the assertions of many, Hong Kong lawyers are probably just as dishonest, in a moral sense, as any other Western legal fraternity. Judges on the other hand, like many Hong Kong academics, belong to the Third World circuit and are usually not quite the best in either probity or competence. The degree to which lawyers and judges (and their ancillary secretaries, clerks and translators) play games in the Hong Kong legal system appears to exceed the gamy activity of other legal worlds, however, because they reflect, as professionals, the game-ridden behaviour of their Hong Kong clients and paymasters. The demand for litigation has increased greatly in Hong Kong in recent times. An alternative to building more law courts to complement the existing tower blocks would be to employ game analysts instead of lawyers and judges in the vast majority of civil proceedings ,and in an advisory capacity to the bench in criminal cases. This would have the effect of expediting expensive trials, most of which are prolonged salvoes of legal jargon aimed at proving total guilt or innocence. In most legal disputes, however, the question of guilt is hardly ever one-sided or wholly conscious in nature. The adjustment of the legal framework of Hong Kong to the advances in psychology made in this century will probably only follow when Britain or the PRC shows some willingness to do the same.
Aborigine The resistance of certain New Territories people to the rule of law was detailed amusingly by Austin Coates in his stories of his time as a District Officer. Alternately obtuse, conniving, stubborn and audacious, New Territories people, although in many ways spoilt children of a benevolent protective regime, maintain their position of being aboriginal inhabitants of the New Territories entitled to separate development. Of course, only few New Territories people (at most one in 8) can trace their family's residence in the territory back further than two generations. In the game of Aborigine - which can also be played in town - genuine entitlement to ethnic separateness, which is perfectly legitimate, is subordinate to the power of the assumed role. The greater part of the law applied to the New Territories is, in the final analysis, no different from that applicable to Hong Kong as a whole: British common law, precedents and a few local touches (such as the death penalty). The British, perhaps out of a feeling of guilt which they did not feel for their occupation of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, have attempted to respect the curious laws of ancient China with regard to the New Territories. Concubinage was a notable example. Even today however, the local elder rules supreme in New Territories villages and must be consulted by the police before they enter his hallowed ground. Failure to inform the elder before the police arrive can have disastrous results. On Lantau, Hong Kong has the perfect open cultural museum in Tai O, a place which although it has two police inspectors, is as beyond the rule of reasonable law as was Treasure Island. The basic con of the Aborigine player is the assumed role of confused indigenous subject under unjust Colonial role. Such confusion and olde-worldiness does not affect the Aborigine player's enjoyment of modern bourgeois society in Hong Kong: off-course betting, laser disc karaoke and Danish butter cookies. The confusion usually arises when the Aborigine player is asked to comply with the law - for example pay rates or income tax, to stop using his land as a rubbish dump/garage or, occasionally, to send his children to school or court. The authorities often pull "Crown Land" (claiming that the Government is the ultimate owner of the land in question and requesting the Aborigine to "Get Orff My Laaand"). The confused Aborigine player may appeal to the NCNA or the more sinister Heung Yee Kuk for help exclaiming: "Colonial Infamy". As in the game of Fung Shui (which may be played simultaneously with Aborigine), some cash payment usually smooths matters over and, emerging suddenly out of his confused wronged state, the Aborigine player seizes the cheque with both hands. The most remarkable example of this in 1991 was the huge compensation paid out to a man who had squatted under a staircase in a Kowloon building for some twenty years. Instead of being summarily evicted when the building was condemned, the man pulled Aborigine to claim he was a bona fide resident, in the olde worlde understanding of the term. An alternative to the 1984 Joint Declaration, by which Sir Geoffrey Howe showed the mettle which made his usual comparison with a sheep all the more convincing, might have been a subtle manoeuvre of Aborigine on the part of the British Government and the seeking of commensurate compensation for ceding Hong Kong to the PRC. Of all arguments, this would have been the most convincing in the eyes of the People's Republic. Related games: Fung Shui, Refugee, Blameless. ANALYSIS Thesis: I am a poor confused aborigine living under colonial tyranny. Aim: Freedom from responsibility. Roles: Wronged Aborigine, Colonial Tyrant. Dynamics: Absolution. Moves: 1. Here is your rates bill. 2. Help, I'm being suppressed! Switch: Suddenly I see you and your cheque were right all along. Payoff: Times change and so mustn't I. Advantages: Psychological - Reinforcement of ethnic stance. Social - We still have our dignity, you know.
Lock 'Em Up Hong Kong was created to serve the drug trade and some of its earliest laws tried to regulate hemp, betel nuts and opium in order to derive profit from their distribution. Opium became a Government monopoly in 1912 and led to even bigger profits for the public coffer. Dangerous Drugs Ordinances were inspired in the beginning by a desire to keep the trade in official hands, not to address a serious social problem. Thus it was that 1n 1924 20-25% of the adult male population of Hong Kong smoked opium and as recently as 1965, this figure stood at 12.5% (official estimates). Recent times have seen a switch to heroin as the drug of choice and a fall in the Government figures from 60-100,000 in 1977 to 42,000 addicts in 1989. Even if "recreational" use (a misnomer of course) and official optimism in compilation of figures are discounted, Hong Kong clearly has a significant hard drug problem. The efforts of all Western countries to deal with the social problem of drug addiction to date has focussed on interrupting the supply of hard drugs rather than, for example, addressing the mechanism of demand or analyzing the psychology of addiction. Drug traffickers are persecuted by police and even specially created para-military organisations. In Hong Kong, trafficking ia defined as possession of more than 0.5 grammes of heroin or morphine, or 2.5 grammes of any mixture containing not less than 0.2 per cent morphine. The trials of drug traffickers seem to revolve around a technical formula of conversion of the drugs seized into the power of No. 3 heroin. The sentence given is related to the amount of morphine equivalent the drugs actually contain. The specific social effect, the actual people supplied, the economic necessity of the dealer (who are often users themselves) are gone over in favour of a primitive scale of guilt based on power to intoxicate. Thus it is that much court time is taken up by quibbling whether to send the accused to incarceration for ten, thirteen or fifteen years. The logic of relating sentencing to narcotic potency might lead judges to impose stiffer sentences on drivers of limousines involved in traffic accidents as a limousine is capable of causing greater damage than a Fiat 500cc. Again, the same logic presumes that there is a significant difference between a sentence of thirteen and ten years in prison. Perhaps there is for someone who has already served ten years, or eight, but as a move to reform wrongdoers and protect society, the effect of stiff sentences is questionable. As one year in prison is the equivalent of being knocked unconscious, the repeated beating of a long prison term will not make the prisoner more unconscious. The possible use of drug traffickers as trainee drug therapists or in day release schemes with electronic monitoring has not been considered in sufficient depth by a Government obsessed with retribution. The fact that there is a hard core of hard drug abusers in Hong Kong who constantly reoffend and do not respond to the programmes of SARDA (The Society for the Aid and Rehabilitation of Drug Addicts) cannot be addressed in an atmosphere of crime and punishment. TA analyses alcoholism and other drug abuse as a game with at least five players, usually Abuser, Persecutor, Rescuer, Patsy and the Connection (see Berne, Games People Play and Claude Steiner, Games Alcoholics Play). The Persecutor is the drinker or drug addict's excuse to use or drink, often a spouse. The Rescuer is the person who cleans or covers up afterwards; he Rescuer is typically a doctor or some organisation like AA or SARDA. The Patsy, perhaps mother or a willing welfare agency, is the person who slips the drug abuser some money or the rent. Finally, the Connection is the barman, or the drug trafficker who supplies the goods. Viewed in this way, drug abuse presents a predictable set of social relationships which can be verified in the examination of any drug "scene". The important point in this analysis is that the group of players is usually exclusive and complementary and rarely involves outsiders. One of the traditional myths of retributive justice - the drug pusher - is incompatible with the reality of the addiction game which is played by a clique of mutually destructive insiders rather than a vicious threat to Society. This small group model of drug abuse is related to the games of governments around the world, including Hong Kong, in tackling the problem of drug abuse. The role of the Hong Kong Government and Government-sponsored agencies - excepting perhaps the Community Drug Advisory Council - appears to be alternately retributive and Rescuing in nature (for example in its ordering of addicts to Addiction Treatment Centres in lieu of prison). The courts seem intent on shifting society's guilt away from the central problems such as our drug-using culture and the widespread desperation of modern urban life. ANALYSIS Thesis: Lock up the Connection. Aim: Justification. Roles: Social Menace, Strong Arm Of The Law. Dynamics: Retribution. Moves: 1. We have found certain substances concealed about your person. 2. How much morphine equivalent is that? Switch: We still have 42,000 addicts. Payoff: The war against drug abuse is unceasing. Advantages: Psychological - Alleviation of guilt. Social - Say No and Lock Them Up.
Translator One of the greatest amusements in Hong Kong is a morning in the public gallery of a court, preferably a magistrate's court, but District Courts have been known to draw large crowds. The higher courts, being deadly serious, can be very dull especially for the judges and jurors. In recent times, several jurors have been found dozing during more than usually tedious submissions whilst one High Court judge was disciplined for reading a novel whilst listening to counsel in open court. Luckily, in the lower courts the entertainment value is so great that no one feels inclined to sleep or read. A typical morning will include a brawl, a gambling school, a dog or traffic incident, some hawkers and several common thieves. The author's only court appearance in Hong Kong, in which he managed to argue successfully that he did not own the dog who had bitten everyone, was sandwiched between an expatriate appearing for indecent exposure at Central and a group of card players who had on average twelve previous convictions for illegal gambling. The magistrate was an Englishman. He did not need a translator. Many of the judges and lawyers in Hong Kong courttsrequire translators as they are Europeans not acquainted with Cantonese. Moreover, although the court may proceed in Cantonese for some time, the official language of law in Hong Kong is English, few of the laws having been translated into written Chinese. The interpreters in court have to serve as a bridge between the accused and witnesses and, as the process of translating every statement takes time, they are encouraged to be selective in their translations. What actually happens is that an abridged version is supplied to the judge from the accused or the witness and a garbled version of a lawyer's or a judge's question is posed to the witness or accused. A dialogue may run thus: Judge: How many other people were present in the restaurant when the accused entered with a knife? Translation: How many people were there with you? Witness: Seven, but the man with the knife was already there. Translation: Seven. Judge: Did you know all of them? Translation: Did you know all the people in the restaurant? Witness: My uncle and my nephew were in the restaurant. Translation: Two. Judge: And when did the stabbing take place? Translation: When did the man stab the victim? Witness: I couldn't see the clock because of the other man with the gun. Translation: I don't know. The lack of verbatim translation may lead to a lot of the case being misunderstood and a false impression of the situation arising in the judge's mind. The game aspect of the interpreter's activity arises when he begins to select material either for or against the accused based on his own unconscious prejudices and sympathies. In the above instance, the mention of the other man with the gun and the fact that a man with a knife was already in the restaurant when the accused arrived would have altered the run of the case significantly. Of course, in reality the game of Translator is very subtle, affecting the appearance of evidence in mere nuances. The vast majority of court interpreters are trained not to play the game but slips outside consciousness are not prevented by even the most rigorous prior tuition in objective translation, for every translation, especially between languages as dissimilar as Cantonese and English, is an interpretation. Local accused in courts in Hong Kong should therefore bear in mind that they must be careful not to incur the displeasure of either of the two effective judges present and should treat the court interpreter with the respect he deserves. ANALYSIS Thesis: I am an objective reporter - even of horrid people I don't like. Aim: Professional reassurance. Roles: Accused, Interpreter Judge, Other Judge. Dynamics: Blamelessness. Moves: 1. Judge - Do you behave violently towards your spouse? 2. Interpreter - Have you stopped beating your wife? 3. Accused - No. I mean yes. Switch: The accused says he hasn't stopped beating his wife. Payoff: I just tell it how it is. Advantages: Psychological - Justification. Social - It is a difficult job but someone has to hang these criminals.
Media Games
Boob Toob Jan Morris, writing in her book about Hong Kong, describes the television of the territory as some of the worst she has seen anywhere. The major quality of TV in Hong Kong is its power to infuriate. Films are often cut in such a clumsy way that a prodigious literary imagination is needed to patch together the fragments of incident presented into a comprehensible whole. News broadcasts (stipulated in the companies' charters) are interpolated at crucial points in the film to reduce the tension and artistic integrity of even the finest film to the quality of a poor soap opera. The essential cons proposed by the two television companies in Hong Kong are the ideas of "public utility" and "journalistic ethics". Operating within the British tradition of high quality television and public responsibility (Lord Reith, Dimbleby, et al.), the TV companies, especially TVB, pander to the worst instincts of the Hong Kong public and provide gaudy, throwaway culture most evenings with the occasional alibi political discussion or government-made documentary. Rates for commercials must be very low to judge by the frequency with which they are re-broadcast. Bewilderment and unease manifest themselves when news broadcasts run half a day behind the BBC World Service and when even the prospect of cable TV becomes so appealing to bored TV consumers. The TV companies then run to their government lobbies and exclaim: "But we provide a public service". ANALYSIS Thesis: We are a serious public utility. Aim: Justification. Roles: Responsible Public Broadcaster, Viewer. Dynamics: Boredom. Moves: And now another chance to hear the in-depth interview with the Governor. 2. Why are people not buying our advertising? Switch: Cable TV, Video Rentals, Nintendo. Payoff: Due to falling revenue we are forced to radically restructure major capital expenditure in the next fiscal year. (Ed., you're fired). Advantages: Psychological - Professional pride. Social - We shall inform and entertain.
Hello English Audience Hong Kong benefits from a large amount of English language media: two TV stations, about six radio stations and two daily newspapers. The newspapers' readers and the TV stations' viewers are mainly Cantonese mother tongue. It is likely that very few people listen to the output of the English radio stations given the excellent upbeat attractions available on the Cantonese channels. Nevertheless, radio presenters on the English channels are called on to appear relevant and alive, as if their audience were in the hundreds of thousands rather than in the hundreds. Many presenters gained broadcasting experience in systems where audiences were reasonably large. Others derive their amateurish or pedestrian style ( imitating the old BBC Home Service or Radio Luxembourg of the 70s) on the fact that they have never broadcast anywhere else. The quality of the newspapers, on the other hand, depends on the particular merits of whichever provincial editor from Australia or Britain can be persuaded to take up one of the two leading positions on the fringe of English language journalism (Third World division). The game aspect of the radio, and to some extent the other English language media in Hong Kong, is expressed in the unconscious assumption of a wider audience than is actually the case. The broadcasting style is derived from this and "cons" the audience into believing that it is in an English-speaking environment. This may contribute to the bewilderment underlying the games of Expat and Disco Bay. A more intimate style of broadcasting combined with more local broadcasters might contribute to a reversal of the social marginalisation of English speakers in Hong Kong, something which English language broadcasting originally sought to prevent. The English newspapers offer disproportionate coverage to anything in English or anybody who can write the language. Although this is a bonus for the more obscure psychological, humanistic and environmental groups in the territory, social impact of such world improvers is obtained more efficaciously through even minimal partial exposure in the Chinese press rather than saturation coverage in the English media. As some world improvers like to be eternal minorities and shrink back from even partial realisation of their goals (cf. I'm Only Trying To Help You), they are the media's most loyal partners in the game of Hello English Audience. Hello English Audience may also be a game played by writers of popular psychology in English aimed at the Hong Kong market (cf. Celeb). ANALYSIS Thesis: We have a large English-speaking audience. Aim: Relevance. Roles: English Media, Audience or Readership. Dynamics: Fugue. Moves: 1. What time can you fit me into the programme? 2. What time can you get here? Switch: He's the English-speaking housewives' favourite. Payoff: I get everything I need from the English media, thank you. Advantages: Psychological - Relieves alienation. Social - Commonwealth Union of Broadcasters etc.
Bilingual In order to save money in trying times, one of the TV networks took to employing "bilingual" staff to present its news and other filler programmes. Imported from Chinese communities in Canada and the West Coast of the USA, they are competent in neither Cantonese nor English but illustrate the underlying game played by English TV in Hong Kong. This is aimed at persuading the local population that although the station is in English, it offers no threat to their identity or way of life. A parallel is the use of newscasters with thick Allemanic accents on the radio in Switzerland reading High German barely distinguishable from Swiss dialect. The Swiss complain if the accent becomes too neutral. English language TV in Hong Kong is really an advertising medium for certain consumer products and services: watches, brandy, travel, expensive handbags and clothes, imported furniture. The viewer is thus already alienated by watching English TV before the barrage of bad English begins. He thinks that only very rich people live in Hong Kong and, perhaps, he is very rich. More alienation occurs when he sees long discussions at midnight on the comparative merits of horses. This is the longest English language programme of the week devoted to local affairs. Apparently, people in Hong Kong are not only rich, they also are all gambling mad. Although the main presenter is a European person, his English is sufficiently transfigured by a thick Irish accent to meet the requirements of the Bilingual game. Can any local people follow his wise pronouncements on the 7.00 at Happy Valley? English can be garbled, crushed, mispronounced, cut mid-sentence (in film presentations) or broadcast in a sound quality which only clever whales or bats can decipher (particularly in CNN re- runs of "current affairs"). Perhaps all English speakers in Hong Kong are lip readers. In any case, the sub-titles (often only an approximation of the English) reassure the local audience that English is impossibly difficult and they were right not to learn too much of it at school. ANALYSIS Thesis: English is an alien and alienating language. Aim: Reassurance. Roles: English TV Service, Local Viewers. Dynamics: Xenophobia. Moves: 1. Here's Crystal Kwok with Maxell Music Motion. 2. Did she really say that about Freddie Mercury ? Switch: Off. Payoff: BBC World Service Television. Advantages: Psychological - English is for external purposes. Social - We are with the people.
Spiritual Games
Fung Shui (missing in this online edition on the advice of a Fung Shui master).
The Undead The first missionaries in Hong Kong must have been shocked by the religious practices of the local people. Far from simply worshipping deities in the way missionaries may have encountered in earlier postings around the "savage" globe, the locals worshipped their dead ancestors through pictures, lacquered ancestor boards and graves on hillsides. Moreover, the heathen enemy had a variety of names and influences: Taoism, Buddhism, Confucianism differently emphasised by different peoples. Buddhism in particular was a particularly difficult enemy as it incorporated so many Christian ideas like purgatory, self-denial and humility. Taoism was so ethereal in tone that Christianity's mysteries could not compete for interest in the popular imagination. Pomp and ceremony were highly developed and the ethical guidelines from Confucianism had been absorbed into sociological reality over a greater period of time than Christianity's fundamental messages had had time to influence the Western mentality. The most difficult thing for the missionaries to swallow was most probably the local people's attitude to death. Chinese people do not generally praise suffering and do not see it as ennobling or transfiguring as Christianity has done. On the contrary, death is an inconvenience to be borne with fortitude and prepared for by the engendering of sons who may pray for one after one's demise. This seems to be a very practical arrangement of survival of the personality in the memory of those still alive. Some local people are of course very superstitious and do not like to talk about death. This does not prevent the Queen Mary Hospital placing its Death Certificate Dept. right next to the Admissions section. It is right to be realistic and no one objects to what Westerners would term insensitive. Death in Western societies has been marginalised and made tabu although, as Philippe Aries has argued, it was familiar and integrated into everyday life in the Middle Ages. Death is regarded not only with practicality but with great spirituality by the Chinese, something which belies the common Western perception (propounded in, for example, David Bonavia's work) of Chinese people as pragmatic materialists. The spirit world is much more tangible in Chinese religions and ghosts, ghouls and zombies may even marry, eat and persecute the living (in more than a psychological sense). In Western thinking, the split between the spiritual and the actual is comparatively clear. The sociological reality of clans, survivalist thinking, hierarchical structures and filial piety has not damaged the fundamental spirituality of the Chinese. This is one of the main reasons why Christianity has been such a failure in Chinese societies. The apparent hedonism, practicality and superstition seen by righteous Christians hide a sense of spirituality unmatched in Western culture. The Chinese are surpassed in sensitivity to the Beyond by the Balinese, however, who, amongst other things, store their ancestors in their back yards. ANALYSIS Thesis: Spirits can be part of the living world. Aim: Resolution of sociological/spiritual impasse. Roles: Christian Missionary, Local Heathen. Dynamics: Rationalisation. Moves: 1. We will convert you. 2. What can you offer us? Switch: Ancestor worship. Payoff: Rejection of the "superiority" of Western religion. Advantages: Psychological - Relieves existential anxiety. Social - Emphasises practicality
Insurance "Of course I go to the temples. It's fun actually, a part of the festivals. We all get together and go to Wong Tai Sin or to one in a village if we are in the New Territories. Just for luck really. Some people are really lucky. They win lotteries all the time. There are so many stories to tell. Everyone believes in luck. Even Westerners like you. We Chinese try to get the best deal from what's offered. You don't want to be limited to just the Buddha or worshipping the ancestors. That's too boring and you just don't know which one is right. I think the strict Buddhists must be crazy. I'm not really religious, not like the bible readers at work. Every Friday lunch time. Who wants to waste time doing that? Actually, Christians are very nice people. But they always want to make you think about their religion. Sin and all that. What does that mean? Sin. Am I sin? Sin. People do wrong all the time but how can you carry all that with you. Not only what you do, what you think as well! No one can be so cruel with themselves. Chinese people are very careful what they do. They don't want to make a mistake. I make a mistake in my office, everyone knows. Very embarrassing. Westerners in the office can make mistakes. Everyone just thinks they're funny anyway. You think Chinese people are funny. That's why you wrote the book. Don't you think that's why Chinese people play games? They don't want to make a mistake. Religious? No, I'm not religious. My mother isn't really religious. Lights her sticks every morning, more often at festivals. For the dead. Who will remember you when you die? Where are your family? All away. How can you live so far away? And you talk all the time about whether this is right or that is wrong. Life is a bet. You can win if you bet on the best horse. Who's going to help you if things go wrong? You can't count on anyone but your family. And 1997. You're OK. Who's going to help the Chinese? Has Britain helped the Chinese? You all don't care. Hong Kong people made this place what it is. The British with their big hats! They all wear big hats. Of course I go to the temple. I celebrate Christmas. I think it's good. It's your religion. Your luck." ANALYSIS Thesis: You never know. Aim: Security. Roles: Defenceless Mortal, Cruel Destiny. Dynamics: Anxiety. Moves: 1. There is another world. 2. Life is a bet. Switch: All bases covered. Payoff: I always paid my dues. Advantages: Psychological - Relieves existential anxiety. Social - Festival feasts.
Good Games
Readers of the present volume may have gained the impression that psychological game playing is inherently bad and that the Hong Kong people are bad people. This is not true. As mentioned in the Introduction, Hong Kong people do indeed play a large number of games and such games appear to be integrated into everyday life to an extent quite bewildering for Westerners. This is not to say that Hong Kong people's games are more pernicious than those played by Western people or that game playing is a sign of a bad person. Usually, game players are more sad and unsuccessful than inherently evil. In any case, a moral perspective has very little to do with the examination of psychological mechanisms. Part Two of this volume was devoted to an analysis of what we perceive as characteristic games of the Hong Kong people. As the vast majority of these games waste psychic energy and avoid personal growth and awareness, they are usually considered to be undesirable or "bad" both from a humanistic and a psychic optimization viewpoint. Game players are, in a general sense, psychologically inefficient and hardly achieve their full potential. The fact that some games are socially acceptable or integrated into everyday life does not lessen their harmful effects on the personality. Games always destroy the individual's ability to cope and to adapt. As Hong Kong society is in a constant state of flux and as many Hong Kong people wish to take up residence in other societies, this is an important point to ponder for those who dismiss game analysis as being irrelevant to the examination of partially or totally non-Western cultures. This section is devoted to the analysis of some Good Games. Although good games are fundamentally dishonest, like all games, inasmuch as they are played for ulterior and largely unconscious psychological satisfaction, they are redeemed by their socially desirable effects. If games are lies, good games are white ones. It appears that few societies can function even in their nurturing and altruistic roles with complete honesty. Thus the world abounds, thankfully,in silent helpers, anonymous donors, good sorts, kind persons. Perhaps the ulterior nature of certain good deeds is unimportant. As goodness is timeless, it would appear to be just as good a means of removing the mask of Time as intimacy, the avoidance of games.
Love And Mercy Hong Kong is a low-violence society and the streets of the territory are some of the safest in the world. Rape, mugging and other assaults against the person are infrequent perhaps because of traditional stress on harmony and non-confrontation. It could also be that a lack of concern for strangers in general may even extend to not doing them any harm. White foreigners are especially safe in Hong Kong, although certain women complain of sexual assault (usually amounting to frottage) in the MTR. Perhaps some of the complainants are playing a game of "That Man Keeps Looking At Me, Mamma", a variant of "Let's You And Him Fight". On the other hand, fleecing tourists is normally achieved without any physical contact but there are stories of threatening behaviour towards foreign shoppers playing a recalcitrant game of Get Avay From My Vindow!. Local uncooperative customers may be threatened with triads. Despite the violent character of films and comic books in Hong Kong (sex is heavily censored whereas brutality is hardly touched), the overwhelming impression on the visitor to Hong Kong's urban areas (which is as far as most tourists roam) is one of an industrious people engaged in positive gainful activities. Beggars, drunks and the homeless are not as persistent or as noticeable as in, for example, San Francisco or London. In the countryside, peace and harmony are seldom disturbed unless the police decide to break up a gambling school or arrest a local hero. The resistance of the villagers can then be vehement and fists often fly. Notwithstanding the prospect of being handed over to Stalinists in 1997, very few Hong Kong people have contemplated urban terrorism to oust what could be perceived as a tyrannical and traitorous Colonial regime. It is difficult to believe that Westerners would react in a similar way in similar circumstances. Riots have taken place in Hong Kong, however, as Old China Hand players relate with especial relish.. Love And Mercy is probably a game because of the underlying and rising discontent of Hong Kong people which finds its expression in growing impatience, nervosity, personal desperation and a decline in ethical standards. At present, Hong Kong is a peaceful and delightful place in which to live with many smiling adult faces, contented children and old people integrated in extended families in meaningful roles. ANALYSIS Thesis: It's a wonderful life. Aim: Contentment. Roles: Citizen, Fellow Citizen. Dynamics: Social cooperation. Moves: 1. Can Do. 2. M'goy Tsai. 3. M'sai Haak Hei. Switch: Players leave Drama Triangle: Rescuer becomes Concerned, Persecutor becomes Assertive and Victim becomes Vulnerable. Payoff: I'm OK - You're OK - They're OK. Advantages: Psychological - Gets needs met efficiently. Social - Growing stability and prosperity. Disadvantages: Psychological - Frustrates creative conflicts. Social - Where are the great artists?
Celeb Andy Warhol would have loved Hong Kong. The marvellous advantage of living in this territory is that everyone can be a star not only for minutes but for the whole time of residence in the territory. Being a foreigner is a great asset but not strictly necessary if access to the media can be secured. Newsreaders, talk-show hosts, walk-on parts in soap operas, pop crooners and porn movie stars are major celebrities in Hong Kong although their impact is strictly limited to the territory. Below this first division there is another section of important persons: wine importers, eccentric newly-rich tradesmen, socialite dandies, war veterans, former radio announcers, restaurant, film and theatre critics, public relations managers. In the absence of serious competition, academics can become leading experts on their subsidiary subject and are given lengthy broadcasting time to air their views. Government leaders, once provincial civil servants in Britain, suddenly acquire a media profile which their real profile hardly ever matches. The problem seems to be that the media resources are quite out of proportion both to the quality of their focus of interest and to the quantity of true celebrities. Hong Kong is rather a vain and self-important place which takes such ego insecurity too seriously. Celeb is thus a game played by the hordes of society stars who appear, clutching glasses, in sections of a Sunday newspaper and constantly in the pages of glossy magazines. Celeb players raise money for charity, keep photographers and hoteliers in business and bolster a dying fur industry. The social advantage is therefore real and considerable. An embarrassing switch in the game arrives when some newcomer in a hotel or restaurant does not recognise the Celeb player and takes exception to his or herhauteur and bad manners. The payoff circulates round exclamations of "Do you know who I am?" and replies of "I don't care who you are." Fortunately, local people usually play up to Celeb's self-importance and there are relatively few ugly scenes of personality deflation. ANALYSIS Thesis : King (or queen) for a day. Aim: Ego enhancement. Roles: Celebrity, Admirer. Dynamics: Insecurity. Moves: 1. I am a star 2. Who he? (ed.) Switch: Could sir move his Mercedes off my pavement? Payoff: He pretended not to recognize me. Advantages: Psychological - Goodbye, and I love you all.Social - She's a good customer/ She launched the charity ball.
Consideration Despite pushing and shoving and the loud behaviour which is so criticised by visitors to Hong Kong,the local people, in dealings with people they know or with whom they work, are inordinately considerate and sensitive, taking hints most Westerners would not even vaguely detect. Intermediaries are used to conduct negotiations and thus avoid embarrassing confrontation. Silence or acceptable excuses are employed when something embarrassing has occurred. Relatively few people say bluntly "No" preferring "maybe" or a swift change of the subject. Consideration is a game because the subconscious motivation is not simply to avoid inflicting injury or loss of Face in others but , firstly, to protect some deep-seated concepts of which very few Hong Kong people are really conscious and, secondly, to make life easier for oneself. Its payoff is thus a feeling of relief rather than one of moral pleasure. The same can be said of a related game, Tolerance. Active tolerance is really accepting, not putting up with, people you know to behaving in a manner quite differently to your own principles. This is not quite the same as ignoring the deviants or turning a blind eye. Very few societies are really tolerant in this strict sense. The deep-seated concepts of harmony and group consciousness on the one hand, and Face combined with a horror of confrontation on the other exist quite outside awareness for many Hong Kong people. They are perceived not as codes but as objective rules. There does not appear to be any other way of behaving. Every parent knows that children, before they are fully socialized (an event which in some individuals never takes place) are not subject to rules or codes. This part of the personality becomes submerged in the directives and controls of other more desirable psychic functions (termed Parent and Adult in TA). The anarchic capacity of the Child is never quite superseded as the potent executive of the person, and its clash with the more socially programmed personality constitutes the essential problem in living. This reality probably applies to all peoples, no matter how strong the social controls injected into the personality and consideration hardly features in the Free Child part of the personality at all. The satisfactions experienced in the game of Consideration are through the Parent and the Adapted Child, not through the Adult or Free Child, as it may appear to those playing the game. This said, there is no denying that the Hong Kong people are both tolerant and considerate, especially to people they know. ANALYSIS Thesis: Let's be considerate, like Mommy told us. Aim: 1. Avoidance of conflict. 2. Non-involvement. Roles: Considerate Person, Grateful Friend. Dynamics: Social stability. Moves: 1. Let me show you how considerate I can be. 2. Yes, you really are considerate. Switch: You are such a valued colleague. Payoff: Friendly cooperation. Advantages: Psychological - Confirms parental programmming. Social - It's the only way to behave.
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Introduction to Transactional Analysis
Transactional Analysis is a way of understanding what goes on inside people and how they behave towards each other. It can be used to look at specific thoughts, feelings and actions and to predict thinking, behaviour and feelings. More importantly, Transactional Analysis provides the knowledge for people to change, should they wish, and to avoid unpleasantness with other people. Familiarity with ourselves obtained through Transactional Analysis increases our opportunities for getting more out of life and as such it is not simply a therapy or a technical framework for psychotherapists and counsellors. TA (the common abbreviation of Transactional Analysis) is concerned with the non-pathological, a sense of wholeness and the rediscovery of latent positive aspects of the personality. TA is not religious or mystical and it does not propose any set of moral precepts.Origins of Transactional Analysis TA was developed principally by Dr Eric Berne (1910-70), a Canadian psychiatrist, in the 1950s and '60s and popularised in two bestsellers:Games People Play (The Psychology of Human Relationships) andWhat Do You Say After You Say Hello? (The Psychology of Human Destiny). After emigrating to the USA in 1935, for better employment prospects, Dr Berne worked principally in the San Francisco area of California. He gradually became disillusioned with orthodox psychotherapy and devised his own methods to demystify psychology, and thus speed up recovery, by actively engaging his clients' ability to analyse their own condition. Some of the ideas in TA are derived from Freud and Adler and, in its developmental theory, from Erik Erikson. Wilder Penfield influenced Berne's theory of ego states. Paul Federn, one of Freud's inner circle, was among Berne's teachers and his mentor. It would be wrong, however, to suppose that TA is a mere "recycling" of Freudian or Adlerian concepts and the reader is advised to clearly distinguish the latter from TA ideas (which are generally less abstract, more dynamic and expressed in everyday language).The aims of Transactional Analysis The aims of TA, used in psychotherapy and education, or less specifically as general humanistic aims, are awareness (being more alive), spontaneity (having more choice), intimacy (being closer to more people) and autonomy (leading a life of one's own unfettered by the past). TA does not exist as a movement to promote these goals as an alternative, say, to religious faith, personal ethics or philosophical speculation. It does not make any "born again" promises, although many people do benefit from TA in their personal and professional lives. TA is not another "therapy from California".Ego States Transactional Analysis sees the human personality as consisting of three basic ego states: Parent, Adult and Child. Ego states are not abstract concepts like, say, Freud's ego and id butactual observable realities. People exhibit consistent patterns of behaviour and feeling which are typical of their own individual ego states. (Ego State diagram ) We analyse the ego states both functionally ( how they actually express themselves) and structurally (their content and history). In order to understand the ego states fully, Transactional Analysts carry out a "second order analysis", which breaks down the individual ego states into smaller units: (Second order diagrams) TheParent is that part of the self which contains norms, values and principles but also prejudices, hang-ups and "blocks". People are using their Parent ego state when they are being very critical, prejudiced or dogmatic but also when they are being nurturing or "loving" like a real parent. This ego state is derived from parental figures in the past and is stored in our heads like old tapes which constantly replay themselves. Examples of the messages we here in our heads are "Be a good boy (or girl)" "Don't be too friendly" or "Work hard". Familiarity with the Parent ego state can help us to turn off negative messages or to bring out a more positive nurturing side of our personality. TheAdult is that part of the personality which processes information, estimates likelihood and thinks rationally. The Adult is often "contaminated" by impulses from the other ego states so that what is experienced as "rational" is coloured by prejudice or wishes and hopes. Familiarity with the Adult ego state helps us to think and act better. TheChild ego state resembles a real child of about six years of age with all of its charm, naivety, vulnerability and energy. It is the "feeling" self which needs regular recognition and love. People are said to be in their Child ego state when they are joyful or depressed, whining or withdrawn, tearful or excited. The Child is an enormously powerful resource of creative energy or negative behaviour. We usually divide it into two parts: the Free Child, which is autonomous and is not subject to any controls; and the Adapted Child which is subject to parental commands and functions like "Daddy's good little girl". Familiarity with the Child ego state can help us direct our efforts towards getting the kinds of recognition and love we need and help us to recognise the Child in others (because we are all feeling selves). How do we know when people are in a particular ego state? Here are some clues: (Woollams and Brown)Stroking and Time Structuring After the basic needs of food, drink warmth and shelter have been provided, people have three other hungers to be satisfied:stimulus hunger,recognition hunger andstructure hunger. Babies need to be actually physically stroked in order to survive which gives them both stimulus and recognition. In adult life, stimulus from our environment is not usually lacking but it tends to become less "physical" as actual physical stroking is replaced by the symbolical stroking we get from being recognised for being attractive, hard-working, lovable, conscientious, original or anything else which we think is important to be recognised for. Some people need lots of recognition whilst some people need comparatively little. In TA, we call units of recognition "strokes". As strokes are requirements for survival and for happiness (people get depressed when they are not stroked properly) it is important that we get the right type and learn to give them to others. People want to know why they are being recognised and want to be recognised in their way and for their reasons! It is also important to stroke ourselves and to learn to ask for the strokes we want. Strokes can be conditional or unconditional, negative or positive, real or plastic.Conditional strokes are strokes people get for doing things or strokes which are only valid for some reason or other. Positive ones are quite nice to hear: (e.g. "You look nice in red", "You're a good student of mathematics", " Thank you for being so kind.") whilst negative ones can be gentle criticism or vicious rebukes ("You look awful in that colour", "You're not cut out to be a mathematician" or "You never write me".)Unconditional strokes are strokes we get for just being and in both the positive and negative modes they are very powerful, even if they are only implied: "I love you", "You're wonderful", "You have beautiful blue eyes" or negatively "You disgust me", "Drop dead!" or " I hate short people. Why are you so short?" Strokes are not to be confused with "Dale Carnegie" type recognition (remembering people's birthdays even if you don't like them and appearing to agree with them all the time) which is fictitious and insincere. We call this kind of stroke "plastic" as it is usually discerned to be worthless and an imitation of the real thing. Besides stimulus and recognition hunger, people need to fill their time and in Transactional Analysis we believe people structure time in the following ways: through withdrawal, rituals, pastimes, activities, games and intimacy.Withdrawal is what people do when they retreat from the world around them e.g. on the subway, in a lift, daydreaming.Rituals are low-contact exchanges of a predictable nature in everyday life. Certain greetings are rituals e.g. "Hello. how are you?", "Not so bad. How are you?", "Where are you going?", "To the supermarket", "OK, have a nice day. See you later."Pastimes are what people do when they engage in small talk about a certain subject, e.g. holidays, airlines, cars, shops, children, life nowadays. Contact is slightly higher than in ritual exchanges but there is little exchange of real feelings or of original insights. Like rituals, pastimes are safe options and no one will get hurt if they stick to pastiming.Activities are goal-oriented pursuits such as "work", "study" and "teaching". Activities are great producers of strokes and of material rewards.Games are a predictable series of exchanges, verbal and non-verbal, between people leading to some kind of unpleasant and/or unexpected outcome. They are a major type of time structuring not only for the neurotic but also for people who are usually considered "normal" or "ordinary". Transactional Analysts analyse the games people play. When the game player is made aware of the "mechanics" of his negative cycles of behaviour, he may opt to adopt different and more positive patterns. Games are usually played between individuals. This volume introduces the idea of games played between groups of people or by groups of people amongst themselves.Intimacyis game-free autonomous behaviour when people exchange their innermost thoughts and feelings freely with "all their cards showing." People are very vulnerable at such times and consequently, intimacy is high-risk activity which most people experience rarely and with few people after childhood. It is one of the most rewarding experiences in our lives and one of the four aims of TA is to awaken people's capacity for intimacy. For this reason, TA people tend to be straight talkers who openly express their needs and feelings to others. Transactions When people interact with each other they do so by means oftransactions which Berne describes as the "unit of social action". In the TA model, people transact from a certain ego state to an ego state in another person. Transactional Analysis proper focuses on these interactions in order to understand what is going on between people. For this purpose, the ego states are represented by circles and the interaction by arrows. (complementary transaction diagram) The above transaction iscomplementary in that the stimulus elicits a predictable and desired response. Communication of this type is generally straight and harmless. Another type of transaction is thecrossed transaction where the stimulus elicits a response from a different ego state than that intended or expected: (crossed transaction diagram) Crossed transactions may indicate the beginning of an argument or the preparation for a game but may also be the beginning of more intimate and direct communication. We can cross transactions deliberately to get a different type of communication going. The third type of transaction which is the most insidious and is calledulterior as there is usually something else going on besides the surface stimulus and response. There are two types of ulterior transaction.Angular transactions use, often deliberately, an ulterior stimulus to elicit a crossed surface response.Duplex transactions usually occur outside immediate consciousness and elicit both a surface and an ulterior response to surface and ulterior stimuli in a complementary ("parallel") fashion. The examples below make this clear. Complementary ulterior transactions are the beginning of games in TA and as games are usually negative and avoid intimacy, ulterior transactions are important areas of analysis. Not all ulterior transactioning is insidious however: it may be stimulating, romantic and charming, at least in the beginning. (two types of ulterior transaction) When people transact in an ulterior way they are usuallydiscounting, i.e. ignoring their own ego states and the ego states of others. In other words, they are ignoring the potential of each other's personality. When people constantly discount their ego states in a relationship, asymbiosis arises: that is, an unhealthy relationship where a person's capacity for intimacy, reasoning or nurturing is decommissioned.Games and Rackets A game in TA is not like a game of football or a ploy, a simple dissimulation or plain manipulation. A game may incorporate all of these elements. In TA, a game is "an ongoing series of complementary ulterior transactions leading to a well-defined, predictable outcome." More specifically, we use a formula to decide what is a true game and what is something else (such as lying, cheating or attempted manipulation of narrower scope than a game): CON+GIMMICK = RESPONSE---SWITCH----CROSS-UP----PAYOFF. In other words, a game runs thus: an ostensible stimulus is issued such as "Do you want my help?". In some way, another message is issued at the same time at a covert psychological level which contains some statement about the self (thecon). In Goulding's example, it is "What would you do without me?" or, in more abstract terms: "You're inferior to me". This represents the dynamics of John and Jane's relationship: Jane is the strong Parent who plays to John's weak Child. John is not the sort of person who can or wants to solve his own problems. Jane needs somebody to dominate and "help", as long as it suits her. (Goulding's game analysis) The con hooks something (thegimmick) in the second player ("Poor me, I can't make it on my own" or in more abstract terms: "You're right, I'm inferior"). The response which follows this initial exchange consists of a series of pieces of "advice" given by Jane. Both Jane and Johnswitch ego states and the secret messages are revealed. Jane says: "You can't be helped. You really are inferior". She changes from being a rescuer to being a persecutor. John's belief in himself is confirmed: "I really am no good". The "cross-up" is experienced as a moment of confusion. Jane thinks: "Why am I being so cruel?" and John thinks: "I thought she was trying to help me!". Thepayoff, or psychological reward, is that each player can experience their favourite "racket feelings": Jane feels superior ( for she has played "What Would You Do Without Me?"and John feels inadequate (for he played "Poor Me!".) This is the psychological advantage of the game (because people do not like to change). The dependent relationship of Jane and John (which is clearly also symbiotic) is maintained. This represents thesocialadvantage of the game (stability). Perhaps also John or Jane are collecting "trading stamps" of frustration or anger or hopelessness or inadequacy to be saved up for a future tantrum, divorce or suicide.Stamp collecting in TA describes this process of collecting fictitious feelings needed to support fundamental beliefs about oneself and the world based on one's lifescript ( pre-conscious life plan) and life position (basic attitude towards other people). Like real trading stamps, such books of invented or manipulated feelings can be cashed in later for big or small prizes depending on how pathological the stamp collector is and how long he wants to save his resentments. Another way of looking at games is to see the "switches" in terms of switches of roles on the Drama Triangle: (drama triangle diagram) In our example, John pesters Jane in the beginning with his woes (Persecutor) and she attempts to help him, even without his express desire to be helped and thus she acts as a Rescuer and a Victim of John's problems. At the end of the game, John is the Victim and Jane is the Persecutor as she removes her help and probably criticises John for being weak-willed, good-for-nothing and so on. It is of course possible that a third party was involved ( John's mother, his boss, the landlord) who could take up one of the positions in the triangle. The analysis of games often provides us with theantithesis of the same which may consist of switching ego states, ignoring the opening move or refusing to be discounted ( i.e. refusing to play a role of Rescuer or Persecutor for example). In this volume we propose that certain games may be termed culture-specific if it can be demonstrated that certain groups of people play them more intensely and more often than other groups of people. The way that groups of people play games differs in some respects from the way individuals play them. When games become part of everyday life, it is often difficult to differentiate them from straightforward or "intimate" behaviour. As intimacy appears to be behaviour which occurs in all cultures, its avoidance offers the best evidence of game behaviour.Scripts and Life Positions The most persistent system in people's personality, which ultimately influences all their most important decisions and which programmes action and reactions to events in life such as choices in work or relationships, final success or failure, fundamental aims and aspirations, recurring conflicts and problems is the individual's underlyingscript which is: "A life plan based on a decision made in childhood, reinforced by the parents, justified by subsequent events, and culminating in a chosen alternative." There is nothing definitely mystical, arbitrary or genetic about scripts. Although formed under influence of the environment and of parental figures, they are constructed by the individual not by fate or by chromosomes. Some people havewinner's scripts (Be Happy and Productive) and some haveloser's scripts(Go Mad, Drop Out, Be a Drunk). A winner in TA is someone who achieves what he sets out to achieve. Most of us are non-winners as we don't quite achieve what we want but we don't destroy ourselves in the process. Fortunately, in the TA system, it is possible to redecide our script orientation and swap a losing script for a winning script by achieving autonomy (or "getting our own show on the road"). Finding out our scripts is not an easy - but also not an impossibly difficult - task. Script analysis concerns itself withpre-conscious processes (it is not psychoanalytic which concerns itself primarily with the subconscious). Transactional Analysts do not put their clients on a couch! The preconscious is said to be just outside consciousness and can be recalled on reflection. This is not to say that TA does not believe in the unconscious. It simply does not emphasise it.An individual's life script is partly generated by thelifeposition which is expressed in the famous formulas: I'm OK - You're OK (the winner's position characterised by GETTING ON WITH); I'm OK - You're not OK (the mediocre "superior" GET RID OF position); I'm not OK - You're OK (the depressive inferior GET AWAY FROM position); and I'm not OK - You're not OK (the futile and destructive GET NOWHERE WITH position). We can also have three-handed positions (I'm OK, You're OK, They're not OK). An important component of the individual life script is the effect of the person's culture on e.g. his decision criteria and on his fundamental aims. This component of the individual's individual life plan is termed cultural script. Aspects of the cultural script promote individual development whilst others may hinder it.TA Organizational Theory Besides investigating the individual and the individual in his relationships, Berne was interested in how organizations and groups work. HisThe Structure and Dynamics of Organizations and Groups can be employed in a complete analysis of a business, governmental or educational system.TA in Education "Transactional Analysis in Education" refers to the efforts of hundreds of educators to apply the direct and original ideas from Transactional Analysis into their work in the classroom, the lecture hall, the counselling group and the staff conference. As a loosely structured movement, it has grown in momentum since the death of Berne and now has solid bases on four continents. TA educators emphasise autonomy and the individual's capacity for change. They frequently combine moral and strictly academic education and undertake to remove the barriers to communication between teacher and student, teacher and supervisor, supervisor and school board. Cooperation is stressed rather than competition. Transactional Analysis thus presents a complete system of reference for the understanding of how people feel, think and behave expressed in terms which are both flexible and communicable. This volume applies TA ideas regarding individuals to the understanding of groups of people and a society in general. This is in keeping with one of Eric Berne's original definitions of Transactional Analysis as a "theory of social action". It is hoped that by understanding the typical games of a society, which is really an analysis of typical behaviour, a greater understanding may be achieved of what actually constitutes "cultural difference" in Hong Kong and elsewhere.
FUN AND GAMES: WAYS HONG KONG PEOPLE STRUCTURE THEIR TIME
The ways in which a social group structures time give social psychologists and the general observer important indications of the essential nature of the group and aid prediction of behaviour. It has already been noted in the Introduction that Hong Kong people appear to spend an inordinate amount of time engaged in games, defined then loosely as activity which was not straightforward or confined to the concerns of the here and now. In general, humans spend a large part of their actual clock time and even more of their essential energy engaged in games. Such games may extend over hours, days or months whilst some games may take a whole lifetime to reach their culmination. Games are usually played repetitively and the game player may easily recognise the payoffs (in terms of lost friends, gratuitous or inexplicable anger, triumphant justification or in alcoholic hangovers for example) after some elementary application of Transactional Analysis to his own life experiences. Because many game payoffs are feelings rather than observable events and no systematic research from a TA standpoint has been undertaken into societal time structuring in the Hong Kong context, any analysis is bound to rely on speculation and interpretation of generally available data. Withdrawal appears to be a time structure undertaken by Hong Kong people not only in the ordinary situations of crowded urban life such as public transport, lifts, the street but also in contexts which would belie the conception, common amongst commentators on Chinese social psychology, that Chinese people are essentially socially oriented. An aggregation or gathering of people does not constitute affective communion and people may withdraw even in the company of their closest friends. Hong Kong people live and work almost literally on top of one another and a very dense filter is employed by Hong Kong people on outside stimuli in order to survive. The stress of the Hong Kong environment makes an ability to withdraw essential and the daydreamers, sleepers and the "switched off" constitute a large part of any social scene in Hong Kong. Dozers in cinemas and concert halls are legendary. A peculiar perception of personal space, strict and cramped by Western standards, frequently excludes Hong Kong people from concern for strangers in close physical proximity. The Hong Kong person may withdraw in this sense (excluding himself from his environment) at will and genuinely fails to understand why the noise emanating from his perceived personal bubble may cause actual annoyance to those unaccustomed to such perceptions. There is usually an incredulity that the person complaining about loud music, strident voices, smoke, beeping pagers etc. cannot withdraw in turn. Westerners, and anyone brought up or resident for some time in "polite" cultures (such "politeness" being of course only relative) may see such behaviour as confirmation of the common perception of Hong Kong people's public behaviour, and increasingly by themselves, as loutish, loud and inconsiderate. Peculiar forms of withdrawal take place in the family gathering, at the racecourse and in the electronic game salons. In certain family gatherings, where forced intimacy often becomes unbearable, withdrawal may be assisted by concern with the permutations of the lotteries, the vibrations of the pager or by rapid intoxication with brandy. At the racecourse it may be observed that the mass of people leave the course alone at the end of the meeting. Gambling may be a means of securing withdrawal and may be another explanation of its popularity in Hong Kong. Electronic game salons, although suggesting activity, are places to switch off and find popularity with schoolchildren who cannot yet place bets at the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club outlets. Drug abuse as a means of withdrawal is common in Hong Kong. Cheap hard drugs are freely available and medical practitioners are generally prescription-happy. Cough syrups and medicaments not generally available in Western countries may be purchased at certain more liberal druggists'. The compounds of traditional Chinese medicine have unpredictable effects, including intoxication, and poisoning is always a risk. Rituals are notable areas of interest in Chinese social psychology and it is not our intention to add to the voluminous literature concerning rituals in their usual sense. Ritual as a TA time structure finds less favour in Hong Kong than in the PRC as it is usually a hindrance to profit or progress. Hong Kong businessmen are usually polite to potential allies and card exchanges and formal dinners are the rule but do not take on the grotesque obsequiousness of Japanese encounters. In the educational sphere, the ritual is a hindrance to learning and survives very well in Hong Kong. In certain respects, the whole educational process in Hong Kong may be regarded as a ritual of low contact exchanges of a predictable nature in which the student progressively adapts to the system and becomes a by-product of it. Breaking up niceness, adaptation and obedience are goals not only of the humanistic educator in Hong Kong but also, curiously enough, the higher management trainers. In the war of the sexes, transactions are often ritualised and "romantic" weekends on Lantau or Cheung Chau, gifts from Lane Crawford and "meet the family" dinners are thought de rigueur. An acquaintance renowned for his success with women related that it was very unusual in his experience to become intimate with a local girl before a formal introduction, dinner and a moonlight walk along the harbour front had been "gone through" (as he put it). Hurrying the process along was generally unacceptable, no matter how strong the desire on both sides to deritualise and take a short cut to consummation. In government, ritual is the order of the day with policeman on the beat often ignoring clear breaches of the law and civil servants thriving in departments which have long ago been axed by every other progressive administration in the world. The Hong Kong Government is always bypassed in important matters by Peking or London and its function is largely to nod through the latter's decisions, appease the locals and assume an air of ritualistic importance. Official cars, residences and titles contribute to the illusion of power and thus relevance. In conclusion, certain conversational rituals often cause bewilderment to the uninitiated: inquiries in English about whether a foreigner has had lunch or dinner is a translation of a common Cantonese greeting, not an inquiry about whether the foreigner has had lunch or dinner. "Mr Chan is not back yet" means he has not come in yet and "Do you like Hong Kong" may imply "Do you want to talk to me". Hong Kong people do not usually issue empty invitations such as "We must have lunch some time". Eating is too serious an activity to treat with such levity and vagueness. Pastimes in the TA sense are practiced with as much interest in Hong Kong as anywhere else. Gambling, besides being a major source of fun and a vehicle for games and withdrawal, is a favoured pastime of the Hong Kong male and an obsession for many. Despite being remarkably hard-working when self-interest has opportunities for reward, Hong Kong people like to chat with each other and the free telephone system provides the means for constant contact with one's friends. The subjects of pastiming include the antics of pop stars and TV personalities, fashion, food, films and delays in the traffic. Questions to relative strangers tend to be aimed at their present work or occupation or their immediate destination (or where they have just come from) rather than their state of mind or health. The local climate is perceived by Hong Kong people as generally unpleasant and much air conditioning is used to chill the populace even in the low humidity temperate weather of autumn. It does not constitute a popular conversation topic except when a typhoon approaches (such an approach being reckoned in hundreds of kilometres). The panic which then seizes the population and the endless debate which then ensues make the weather a temporary universal pastime. The price of goods is a subject of eternal fascination and everyone knows where an item can be got cheaper. Conversation is usually not directed towards the merits or functions of appliances, cars, gadgets or even clothes but to their price. Being such a practical and down-to-earth people, Hong Kong people see no merit in complaining as e.g. the British tend to do. Hong Kong people circumvent difficulty or tolerate the same and do not introduce it into their conversational routines. This may partly reflect an immigrant mentality to overcome misfortune rather than toŠdwell on it. Activities for Hong Kong people are usually frankly pecuniary in nature and even pastiming may develop into a sales pitch. This is sometimes termed "entrepreneurialism". Curiously, pastiming and activity in selling are often difficult for the Hong Kong trader to combine effectively and although Hong Kong people are good traders, they may not be not good salesmen. As in pastiming, the question of price overrides quality. Work hours are long and wages, by Western standards, low. The active saving of money and the quest for a better salary has thus become an obsession with large numbers of Hong Kong people and the job market has a high turnover in all businesses and professions. Some office staff are willing to change jobs for only a few hundred dollars monthly raise and the cheaper shopping areas are always crowded with bargaining hordes. Certain Western people, who prize convenience and quality and who often have the incomes to support such attitudes, are regarded by many Hong Kong people as having more money than sense. Many charities, welfare organisations and many campaigns are instigated and, to a certain extent, predominantly staffed by Western people. Expatriates carry an unequal burden in the social responsibility of Hong Kong. Welfare concerns were until recently more likely to be focussed on a certain area, group or even clan association. Expatriates in their turn still have a strong tendency to form semi-exclusive groups and clubs. Activity and interest in ecology, universal human rights and even politics in general is still quite low. Education and further training are obsessions and the evening schools are full. Knowledge of English is valued as a key to a better job . Investment in gold, the stock exchange, in property and in land are important activities, even in a small way, as is the pursuit of a foreign passport: either by good business performance, when a passport may be bought by investing in a suitable country; the securing of a successful, preferably overseas Chinese, marriage partner; or by educational or other contacts with mainly North American or White Commonwealth countries. Only a minority of people hope to secure the option of a British passport by continued public service in Hong Kong's schools, the police, civil service etc.. Religious observance, often eclectic in nature, may be included under activity as its aim is usually to secure better luck in the present life and mercy in the life to come for oneself and one's relatives alone and, except in Christianity and other mainly transcendental religions, tends to have no general symbolic or salvationist role. Games are essential occupations of Hong Kong people for a number of reasons: the competitive nature of the society, a traditional occupation with status and power, a tendency against altruistic humanism in people's dealings with each other and thus also a low potential for intimacy and straightforwardness. Status and power games are documented in the standard literature. Games however extend into all spheres of Hong Kong life from the offices of Government to the squalid housing estates, from the classroom to the board room, from the karaoke bar to the morgue. Many of the mechanisms of "Face" may be understood more profitably from a game perspective and much of the "mystery of the Orient" as usually represented by Sinologists is demystified by simple game analysis. Hong Kong people are not exotic or mysterious. On the contrary, their behaviour is explicable and highly predictable in most contexts. The gain from game-playing is usually an avoidance of intimacy, autonomy or of personal growth. Few people discard their games with ease and often seek professional help not to give them up but to learn how to play them better. Where game playing becomes seamlessly integrated into everyday life, as is the case in Hong Kong, the capacity for the individual for intimacy is severely restricted but, as Eric Berne pointed out, the birth of each new citizen in a society creates a fresh stock of potential achievers of intimacy. The anarchic child-rearing practices of certain Hong Kong parents mitigate against the restrictive education system's power to destroy the child's capacity for intimacy and offer a glimmer of hope to the more idealistic social psychologist. Intimacy is defined as game-free autonomous behaviour without exploitation. As a frontier town of capitalism, exploitation in a societal sense is pervasive in Hong Kong and as people have a tendency to carry over behaviours from one time structure to another, people employed in pastimes or in situations where openness and candour may be profitably employed (such as in love affairs) carry over behaviours from activity, ritual and from games. In TA parlance, this may be termed "time structure contamination" in analogy with ego state contamination. Experiments have been made with previously unrelated people to engage in eye-to-eye contact for a matter of minutes in a relaxed setting. The findings were that the bonds of intimacy created between strangers (as the eye contact led later to general openness) were long-lasting and powerful. Even at an advanced state of cynicism and mistrust (and most people over the age of six are no longer capable of sustained intimacy in their everyday lives), people are capable of having their capacity for intimacy awakened under special circumstances. Straight talkers, thinkers and feelers tend to be more successful in every part of life and this represents the essential appeal of intimacy for Hong Kong people, before they begin to appreciate its more general and humanistic qualities. The intimacy experiment may be thus profitably employed in the Hong KongŠcontext. The consequences of an avoidance of intimacy constitute the theme of this volume. People in general have everything to gain by regaining intimacy and autonomy. This is basically a process of getting rid of the rubbish which has accumulated in the personality over the years and beginning to live as a real person in the here-and-now. Such a transformation gives us more time and energy to address the essential questions of life such as how to say Hello, how to say Goodbye and finding something to do instead of waiting for Santa Claus or for Rigor Mortis. Expressed more mystically, the essential point in the observations which follow is that in order to remove the mask of Time, we need to take off the mask from our own Faces. Fun is a time structure not mentioned in Berne's theoretical taxonomy but in his life he was not averse to jumping-up-and-down-parties or to poker evenings. Fun is a liberating procedure when the Free Child may take over and let it all hang out (sometimes quite literally). Hong Kong people generally have permission to have fun and the restaurants, bars and cinemas are all well-patronised in the territory. Unlike many Japanese and Westerners, local people do not have to be drunk to have fun and any ferry ride, traffic jam or lunch break will find Hong Kong people goofing off, playing cards and reading comics. Barking into telephones is a major source of fun. Hong Kong people have fun on and through TV . "Enjoy Yourself Tonight" and "A Vigorous Life With Great Fun" are often riotously upbeat programmes very popular with local people. Pop music tends to sound solemn and melancholy to Western ears and frequently features a pouting girl bemoaning life at the harbour front of Sai Kung or an outlying island (in the video performance). It probably serves as a useful relief to all the fun. There is however a more lively genre called Canto-Rock music which is an acquired taste. Little of the local music or film industries is exportable to countries outside Asia.
YK PAO, LI KA SHING AND STANLEY HO AS ROLE MODELS? LIFE PLANS OF HONG KONG PEOPLE
Certain individuals, through the pattern of their lives, seem to fascinate us. The inherited wealth of a Rockefeller does not interest us so much as the success, and decline, of a self-made man like Robert Maxwell, and not only because the latter had more interesting ways of using his, and other people's, money than most wealthy heirs and heiresses. The important factor in our admiration of successful men is their link to underlying patterns of behaviour which programme our own visions and dreams and ultimately, in our small way, our achievements. A script is a pre-conscious life plan formed under influence of the parents and early experience and lived out in the person's lifetime. Important decisions regarding career choice, success, choice of marriage partner, final destiny and so on are said to be laid out in the basic life plan, of which most people are only vaguely aware. Although culture is by no means the main formative factor of people's personal scripts, (which depend on the individual's reactions to his parents and his environment) "cultural script" is a concept we can use to incorporate a sociological and cultural element in the formation of individual life stories and to gain an understanding of the pressures of culture on the individual. The cultural script may or may not play an important role in the individual's own life story. It does appear, however, that large numbers of Hong Kong people follow certain patterns of life plan which have their origins in the past, sometimes generations removed from the present. Scripts are often repetitive in certain families (whole families go from rags-to-riches and whole families go mad and drop out) but this has nothing to do with culture and cultural scripts, unless, of course, the behaviour of the family is heavily determined by cultural factors (rather than its own qualities of being infuriating, non-cooperative, alcoholic, autistic etc. to name only a few common familial traits!). Families would appear to be heavily culturally influenced in Hong Kong just as the individual is heavily influenced by the family. Attention to cultural scripts in order to understand the individual's day-to-day behaviour and ultimate destiny would therefore seem to be warranted. The cultural scripts of Hong Kong people have at least six important bases: a conception called Proto-China; a Third World component; aspects of a Refugee mentality; the Nouveau Riche syndrome; a Decadent Colony legacy and, finally, for the younger generation in particular, the benefits of New Hong Kong. These terms obviously need some definition and elucidation.Proto-China is a conception of China often confused with the present day People's Republic,but which has no significant relationship with the PRC in an understanding of its function in cultural scripting. Proto-China is a largely abstract concept, equivalent perhaps to Britannia or Uncle Sam, in which certain cultural assumptions regarding identity and ultimate destiny are contained, albeit largely implicitly and unconsciously. This component of the cultural script is the only one to receive attention in most social psychologists' conception of the underlying life plan of Hong Kong people. It manifests itself in deep-rooted behavioural patterns such as group identity, familial consciousness, harmony maintenance. It is the key factor in the conception of even many third generation Hong Kong people of their own cultural uniqueness. The Third World element is a sociological factor composed of generally chaotic concepts of civic role and social responsiveness. There is an implicit acceptance of corrupt government and business conduct. This element, when combined with traditional group dynamics, makes the triad societies such an intractable social problem in Hong Kong. In addition, Third World thinking makes environmental consciousness very low - another major Hong Kong social problem. The Refugee mentality is one in which the personality is always somewhere else in ultimate aim: either looking back with loyalty to the old country or with anticipation to the new. Main concerns are with accumulation of wealth as a means of maintaining stability, the furtherance of children in the educational sphere and matter-of-fact indifference to the host society. This mentality gives the ruthless edge to life in Hong Kong. The Nouveau Riche syndrome of conspicuous consumption, continued and disproportionate concern with wealth allied with insecurity and problems with one's children (who were neglected whilst the money was being made) is a key element in the culture of modern Hong Kong. The input from a Decadent Colony legacy into the cultural script is seen in the identity crisis and insecurity of Hong Kong people having to deal with the manoeuvrings of a former world power extricating itself from one of the most audacious handovers in history. This malaise contrasts with the security of the Proto-China element of the cultural script. The New Hong Kong element, perhaps the most hopeful of all, is derived from the development of Hong Kong in the 50s and 60s of this century into a liberal affluent society with all its trappings: good housing, educational opportunity, improved health care and, in general, an expectation of "stability and prosperity". The New Hong Kong element has led to the great generation gap in Hong Kong as older members of the community did not benefit from it in formative years. TYPES OF HONG KONG LIFE PLAN Berne originally divided the type of life plan a person may have into six basic types: Never, Always, Until, After, Over-and-Over, Open-ended. A Never script for example is one in which the individual never achieves his goal of fame, success or dramatic failure although he is surrounded by tantalizing opportunities to do so. An Open-Ended script is inconclusive and the potential of the individual is strangely unfulfilled. The Over-And-Over life plan is one familiar to the man who marries the same kind of woman ten times over, changes career or locality twenty times in a lifetime or who bankrupts a series of his own companies. An Always script is compulsive, whilst Until and After scripts await certain life events (death of a parent, old age, illness, marriage) for their more dramatic development. A recent article in the Transactional Analysis Journal by David Chan, a Hong Kong clinical psychologist, has attempted to relate the six types of script with examples in Greek mythology outlined by Berne to six Chinese myths. Although the parallels from Greek mythology are tragic, the examples of the script type in Chinese myths may have more positive endings. Script was conceived by Berne primarily as a negative concept. As a psychiatrist, he did not spend much time analyzing positive or winning scripts. The Chinese mythical examples are useful not only for Chinese people but also for Westerners who may be discouraged by Berne's examples if they have a predominantly negative script. In the Hong Kong context it is thus quite common to see people becoming successful only when they reach a certain age or when a parent dies; making the same successful business venture over and over or always making progress towards their ultimate goals. On the other hand, mistakes and even tragedies occur in some people with great regularity. All these script types appear in every sense to be dramatic - indeed they are often lived out in a histrionic way and one of Berne's analogies to the lifescript was the stage drama. A key question in any "Life Script Questionnaire" is: "If your life story were put on stage, would it be a comedy, a tragedy or something else?" As anyone who has listened to people's life stories knows, many people's scripts are better regarded as a dull soap opera than an exciting box-office success. This may account for the popularity of soap operas. BANAL LIFE PLANS IN HONG KONG The success script called "rags-to-riches" has already been mentioned at the beginning of this section. This may be termed a classic culture-conditioned script. Where it becomes reinforced by a good personal script (or if it is inserted into a winning lifescript), such as the case of Stanley Ho for example, the result is dazzling enough. On a more mundane level, this script is lived out by many Hong Kong people who later become proprietors of small-to-medium size businesses, headmasters, doctors, lawyers and so on. The main difficulty for such self-made people is to know when to stop being prosperous and to start living. Claude Steiner, a close colleague of Berne, speaks of banal scripting, in other words, life plans which are not especially tragic or winning but rather joyless, loveless ,mindless, powerless and unequal. Perhaps the life stories of most discontented people are best understood in this way - as low intensity expressions of banality. Such banal scripts are thought to be sex-specific. Thus typical banal male scripts are Man In Front Of The Woman (in which the man's dominance is a sham, a common Hong Kong situation); Playboy, Intellectual and Woman Hater. Typical banal women's scripts are Mother Hubbard (who takes care of everyone but herself, a common Hong Kong situation), Poor Little Me, Queen Bee and Plastic Woman. Banal scripting appears to be widespread in Hong Kong where the expectations of life are confined, in many people's minds, to certain basic patterns. Unlike other city states in history, Hong Kong has not produced great writers, inventors, artists or intellectuals. Its central concerns appear to be survival, accumulation and imitation, all fairly banal ideas. If the life plans of Hong Kong people have certain characteristics, what of their personality? Are there any common denominators, even of the vaguest kind, which we can propose in an effort to understand what sort of people play Hong Kong games? The next section tries to briefly answer this question.
DOMINANT PARENTS AND ADAPTED CHILDREN THE PERSONALITY OF HONG KONG PEOPLE
Functional Analysis is a way of understanding the human personality derived from the basic three ego states of Transactional Analysis. Two of the basic ego states, Parent and Child are subdivided into Controlling and Nurturing Parent and Free Child and Adapted Child respectively. We can further divide these personality functions with positive and negative signs to obtain nine basic functions. In the Parent ego state, a positive Controlling Parent called Structuring Parent and a negative called Critical Parent; a positive Nurturing Parent called Protective Parent and a negative called Overhelpful Parent. In the Child ego state, we may have a positive Free Child called Creative Child and a negative called Rebellious Child; a positive Adapted Child is a Helpful Child whereas the negative may be termed a Fearful Child. The Adult is not usually subdivided. Different Transactional Analysts use slightly different terms in their subdivisions (and some call the Structuring Parent the Critical Parent). TA escapes from being a dogma for this and other reasons. People are free to use the terms which they can use profitably. In any case, with a nine-way split of the personality, TA escapes the charge of being reductionist, unless that is one wishes to present the human personality as a boiling cauldron of inchoate impulses, ideas and feelings which can never be understood. This is a perfectly legitimate way of looking at things. For our present purposes however, which are aimed at understanding the personality and then the behaviour of a group of people known as Hong Kong people, Functional Analysis is a useful instrument for demystifying the apparent complexity of the "Chinese soul".
THE PARENT PART OF THE PERSONALITY - NURTURE AND CONTROL The Parent ego state of Hong Kong people appears to be remarkably powerful and resistant to change. It probably functions as the dominant ego state for the great majority of mainland people as well. In other words, Hong Kong people are concerned with achievement of goals, maintaining self-image but also with nurturing and providing for offspring and other dependents to a degree rarely experienced by Western people. The Parent checks Hong Kong people's behaviour more readily than the behaviour of Western people and real Hong Kong, and mainland, parents smother their small children with an affection which would be regarded as exaggerated in the West.A real question arises for observers of Hong Kong people when we begin to suggest behavioural clues to ego state diagnosis which are applicable to them. The Parent ego state usually expresses itself in Hong Kong people by either a raised finger, slightly flared nostrils, a set jaw and other signs applicable to Western people (although the ability of Westerners to read such signs in Orientals is limited). Changes in voice and vocabulary are also discernible, especially when Hong Kong people speak English. Indeed, for most Hong Kong people, English is a Parental language associated with control, prestige, formality and little else. A major component of the Parent ego state is prejudice. Hong Kong people, as a group, are as racist in Parental thinking as the worst Westerner and given the power of the Parent ego state in directing behaviour, attitudes to many other racial groups are frequently negative (Indians, Vietnamese, Filipinos and Japanese are generally detested and despised). Attitudes to Western (usually considered to be White) people occasion a Parental impasse. White people govern key areas of Hong Kong society and most belong to the middle classes, thus commanding respect on the hierarchy scale. This fact partly accounts for the mixture of genuine friendliness, deference, envy, hostility, admiration and automatic rejection in the Hong Kong person's mind (and we are aware of the brutality of the generalisation) when encountering foreigners. It is too easy to attempt to resolve this conflict by terming the attitude of Hong Kong people "positive" or "antagonistic" as the situation decides when the Parent is "hooked" in each of us and Hong Kong people are no exception. Prejudices are best regarded as dormant phenomena in the majority rather than active forces in the minority. We must register here, however, our disquiet at the matter-of-fact racism apparent in Hong Kong people's reactions to Blacks and those they perceive as being borderline Blacks. Racist attitudes of this kind appear are becoming the exception in Europe and North America: in Hong Kong they are presently the rule. This can be confirmed by any cursory inquiry. Directives from the Parent of Hong Kong individuals dominate much of their behaviour and combine with script directives to make them generally very hard-working and ruthless in pursuit of their goals. Most have "permission", that is a message received by example and by encouragement from their real parents in early life, to succeed and to prosper. Unfortunately, some do not have permission to spend their money or to spend it tastefully and well. Decor is considered gaudy and overdone by Western experts (and their comments are more valid as a Western style is usually imitated). Hong Kong people in general are conspicuous consumers and flashiness, new money and tastelessness predominate in certain spheres. In keeping with a certain nouveau-riche mentality, some seem to overlook their Child instincts as to what is seemly and beautiful and are driven by archaic Parental ideas to emphasise what impresses and expresses wealth. They are willingly supported in this by droves of third-rate resident foreigners.
THE CHILD PART OF THE PERSONALITY: SHAME, FUN, COMPLIANCE The Adapted Child is that part of the personality which functions as if the person were observed by parent figures. As Parental and actual parental figures are very potent in Hong Kong people's personalities, the Adapted Child is likewise a strongly cathected (energised) part of the personality. People operating under the influence of the Adapted Child tend to be compliant, shameful and industrious and occasionally rebellious (if that is how they reacted to their parental figures in childhood). Compliance and shame are said to figure prominently in the dynamics of Chinese personality and have been analysed at length in the standard literature. Avoidance of shame is a major component of face behaviour. Compliance is seen in traditional filial piety and in the hierarchic structures of traditional Chinese society. As we shall see, compliance and shame are major factors in game playing. For example shame is apparent in Blameless and Chinese Girl whereas compliance is seen in Legco or Uncle Wong's Cabin as well as a host of educational games. Wilful rebellion against authority also figures highly in the behaviour of certain Hong Kong people as is apparent in games such as Refugee, Aborigine and Kowloon Taxi. The Free Child, although dominated by the Adapted Child and the Controlling Parent, is like the Free Child of all peoples - fun- loving, spontaneous and highly energised. Hong Kong people are often exuberant and are avid sportsmen, gamblers, dancers, singers, musicians and so on. The degree to which real spontaneity is expressed in such time structuring is variable according to the individual personality's ability to free himself from Parental directives. Genuine spontaneity, in the sense of aimless, unstructured or assertively original behaviour, appears to be reasonably uncommon in the behaviour of Hong Kong people, at least in public. This does not imply however that the same people cannot be aimless, fun-loving, creative or assertive. Nor does it imply that Hong Kong people are boring.
THE ADULT PART OF THE PERSONALITY - REASONING AND LEARNING Studies tend to show that Chinese people excel in mathematics but are not relatively proficient in verbal abilities. The memory is highly developed. Learning strategies tend towards rote and adaptation but some studies would suggest a "deep" learning approach characterised by engrossment and personal interest in the subject. Teachers complain that this is hardly encountered in experience. All the "differences" in reasoning mechanisms and abilities mentioned are probably derived from differing ways of teaching and of upbringing in general. There is no evidence for superiority or inferiority or for deep-seated differences from Western data-processing etc. which cannot be accounted for by later development in society. The grown-up Chinese person is however likely to have quite a different set of habitual thought patterns and affective mechanisms which are expressed in different types of games with differing intensity, tenacity and regularity. As games are largely played outside consciousness, the reasoning self is only vaguely aware of them. The habitual thought and data processing patterns of Hong Kong people, and probably Chinese people in general, can be demonstrated to be very close to those of Western people and the search for inherent differences in the collective unconsciousness etc. quickly succumbs to self-contradiction and mysticism. The analysis of games, however, highlights clear differences in behaviour which can be verified in everyday experience.
GLOSSARY (See the Introduction to Transactional Analysis for more detailed explanations.) Key to Sources: G - Games People Play by Eric Berne. W - What Do You Say After You Say Hello? by Eric Berne. WB - Transactional Analysis by Woollams and Brown. Other definitions are by the author. Activity - One of the ways of structuring time in TA. The person's energy is directed to influencing the external world by means of work or hobbies. Adapted Child - This Child ego state function behaves as if the person were observed by parent figures. People operating under the influence of the AC are typically compliant, shameful, industrious or rebellious. Adult - An ego state oriented toward objective, autonomous data- processing and probability-estimating. (W) Antithesis - The way out of a game. Autonomy - The capacity for positive and creative self-management unhindered by dependency, the past or by undesired influences from the Parent or the Child of an individual. Cathected - Charged with mental energy. Cathexis - The energy within an ego state. Child - An archaic ego state. The Adapted Child follows parental directives. The Natural Child is autonomous. (W) Cold Pricklies - A colloquial term for negative strokes. Complementary - A transaction in which the response is appropriate and follows the natural order of healthy human relationships. (G) Usually indicated by parallel stimulus/response from and to the intended ego states. Con - The secret or ulterior message which begins a game. It "hooks", or attaches itself to, the gimmick in the other participant(s) in the game. Contamination - The condition of one ego state being influenced unconsciously by another ego state. The contaminated Adult is experienced as "reasonable" and "true" when it is coloured by delusions and prejudices from the Child and/or Parent. Cross-up - The period of confusion which follows the switch and precedes the game payoff. Cultural Script - The component in the individual's life plan derived not from particular parental programming or from a specific environment but from "cultural influences". Such influences may, of course, be transmitted through parental figures or through the environment. Decision - A child commitment to to a certain type of behavior, which later forms the the basis of character. (W) Discounting - The act or process of ignoring some aspect of internal or internal experience. We can discount the existence of a problem, its significance, change possibilities or personal abilities. It is the mechanism by which symbiosis is maintained. Drama Triangle - Developed by Dr Stephen Karpman. A simple diagram showing the possible switches of roles in a game or script. The three major roles are Persecutor, Victim and Rescuer. (W) Dynamics - In game analysis, the fundamental source of the game as a whole expressed in Freudian psychoanalytic or common psychiatric terms. Egogram - Developed by Dr Jack Dusay. A visual representation of the use of the functional ego states drawn as a bar graph with five separate bars, one representing each ego state. Ego State - A consistent pattern of feeling and experience directly related to a corresponding consistent pattern of behaviour. (W) The basic building blocks of Transactional Analysis. Ego states are observable realities, not abstract concepts. Free Child - Also called Natural Child. Highly energised Child ego state function and the most capable of spontaneity and intimacy. Functional Analysis - Describes how a person uses her ego states to relate to herself and others. (WB) Game - A game is an ongoing series of complementary ulterior transactions progressing to a well-defined, predictable outcome. (G) Games may be also understood as culture-specific behaviour of groups rather than individuals. Gimmick - A special attitude or weakness which makes a person vulnerable to games or scripty behaviour. (W) Intimacy - A game-free exchange of emotional expression without exploitation. (W) One of the goals of Transactional Analysis.Life Position - A basic attitude towards the world expressed in four formulas: I'm OK-You're Ok, I'm OK-You're not OK, I'm not OK-You're OK, I'm not OK-You're not OK. Explored in depth in the works of Thomas and Amy Harris. Loser - Someone who does not accomplish a declared purpose. (W) In TA, a loser is someone with a poor script. Moves - In our game analysis, two salient interchanges expressed as a verbal statement, although many games proceed without words. Non-winner - Someone who works hard just to break even. (W) Parent - An ego state borrowed from a parental figure. It may function as a directing influence (the Influencing Parent), or be directly exhibited as parental behaviour (the Active Parent). It may be nurturing or controlling. (W) Pastime - One of the ways of structuring time in TA. "Semi- ritualistic topical conversations" (G) "A series of semi- ritualistic, simple complementary transactions arranged around a single field of material, whose primary object is to structure an interval of time." (G) Payoff - The psychological "reward" of negative racket feelings which ends, and is the purpose of, a game. Permission - (1) A parental license for autonomous behaviour. (2) An intervention which gives the individual a license to disobey a parental injunction if he is ready, willing and able, or releases him from parental provocations. (W) Racket - The sexualization and transactional seeking and exploitation of unpleasant feelings. (W) An internal or external process by which a person interprets or manipulates her environment as she justifies a not-OK, or discounted position. (WB) Ritual - One of the ways of structuring time in TA. Usually a predictable, low contact exchange of strokes. "A stereotyped series of simple complementary transactions programmed by external social forces." (G) Roles - In game analysis, the players and their characters in the game. As roles are not assumed consciously, they are not stances, attitudes or positions. Script - A life plan based on a decision made in childhood, reinforced by the parents, justified by subsequent events, and culminating in a chosen alternative. (W) Switch - 1. A switch from one role to another in game or script. 2. A manoeuvre which forces or induces another person to switch roles. 3. An internal or external stimulus which turns off adaptive behaviour. (W) Stroke - A unit of recognition, such as "Hello". (W) Structural Analysis - Analysis of the personality, or of a series of transactions, according to Parent, Adult, Child ego states. (W) Deals with the each ego state's developmental history and innate capacity for expression... the content of the ego states. (WB) Switch - In game analysis, the sudden change in role, or in the situation generally, before the game ends. It is followed by confusion (the cross-up) and the payoff. Symbiosis - An unhealthy relationship in which two or more individuals behave as if they were a whole person. Neither individual uses all ego states. Discounting is the mechanism used to maintain it. Thesis - The "magical" (usually unconscious and irrational) belief of the players which underlies the playing of a game. Trading Stamps - A feeling "collected" as the payoff in a game. (W) A feeling or a stroke which is collected to justify some later behaviour. (WB) The currency of rackets and games. Transaction - A transactional stimulus from a certain ego state in the agent plus a transactional response from a certain ego state in the respondent. A transaction is the unit of social action. (W) Transactional Analysis - (1) A system of psychotherapy based on the analysis of transactions and chains of transactions which occur during treatment sessions. (2) A theory of personality based on the study of specific ego states. (3) A theory of social action based on the rigorous analysis of transactions into an exhaustive and finite number of classes based on the specific ego states involved. (4) The analysis of single transactions by means of transactional diagrams; this is transactional analysis proper. (W) Ulterior - Transactions involving the activity of more than two ego states simultaneously. (G) Besides the social level transaction, another transaction is made largely outside consciousness. Ulterior transactions are moves in games. Warm Fuzzies - A colloquial term for positive strokes. Winner - Someone who accomplishes his declared purpose. (W) In TA, a winner is someone with a good script. Withdrawal - One of the ways of structuring time in TA. Removing ourselves mentally from others by daydreaming, fantasies etc..
INDEX OF GAMES AND PASTIMES (P) Aborigine Ain't It Awful (P) Badinage Banana Bilingual Blameless Blemish Bum Rap Buzz Off, Buster Canaille (P) Celeb Chinese Girl Civic Education Connections Consideration Cops and Robbers Cure Me Debtor Disco Bay Does The Man In Your Nightmare Ever Mention My Bill? Emigration Expat Face To Face Final Bill (P) Fung Shui Gee, You're Wonderful, Mr Murgatroyd! Gee, You're Wonderful, Professor! Get Avay From My Vindow! Goldfinger Happy Families Hello English Audience Hidden Fine Hover I Call You Back I Can Get It For You Wholesale (P) If It Weren't For You I'm Only Trying To Help You Indigence Insurance I Really Must Do Something About My Cantonese I Really Must Do Something About My English I Really Must Do Something About My TeachingJoint Venture Kiss Off Kowloon Taxi Lack Of Opportunities To Practice Legco or Uncle Wong's Cabin Let's You And Him Fight Love And Mercy Lunch Bag Martini (P) Michael Kohlhaas Minding My Own Business Morning After (P) Night Club Non-Interference In China's Internal Affairs Now I've Got You, You Son Of A Bitch Obliging Office Space or Make The Boss Pay Old China Hand Peasant Peng Di La! Pere de Famille Perfect Child Portable Phone Queen's Silk Rapo Refugee Restaurants Nowadays (P) Service Sorry! (Shoulder Charge) Special Customer Sterilise The Instruments Suzie Wong Suzie Wong's Kid Sister The Undead That Man Keeps Looking At Me, Mamma Tiffin Tolerance Translator Virginity Western Style We Will Act Who's The Boss? Why Does This Always Happen To Me? Xiuxi XOV You're Uncommonly Perceptive INDEX OF SUBJECTS AND PEOPLE A Activity time structure Americans Autonomy B Barthes, Roland Berne, Eric Bond, Michael Banks Bankers (expatriate) British Business C Cantonese language Chan, David Child ego state Child-rearing China (People's Republic) China (concept and culture) Choy, Acey Clans Corruption Diderot Doctors Drunkenness E Education Eating (see food) Egogram Engineers (expatriate) Ethnicity Executive Council Expatriate (see Foreigners) F Families Films Food Foreigners Fun time structure Functional Analysis Funerals G Games Geomancy Government Governor H Hill fires Ho, David Ho, Stanley Hong Kong Club I Identity Individualism Intimacy J Jockey Club, Royal Hong Kong K L Law Lee, AllenLee, Martin Legislative Council Lin Yutang Littering M Marx Mong Kok Music N New China News Agency O Orwell, George P Parent ego sate Pao, YK Philippinas Prostitution Q R S Schools Scripts Shing, Li Ka Shopping Social Psychology Stalinism (see China, People's Republic) Steiner, Claude T Time Structuring Traders (expatriate) Triads Taxis Transactional Analysis TV TVB Ltd.UV WXYZ Walled City Western District
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Cambridge Encyclopedia Vol. 75 - StateUniversity.com
Cambridge Encyclopedia Vol. 75
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Tibesti Mountains
Mountain range in NC Africa, largely in NW Chad, partly in Libya and Sudan; area 100 000 km²/38 600 sq mi, length 480 km/300 mi; highest mountain group in Sahara; highest peak, Emi Koussi (3415 m/11 204 ft); spectacular rock formations created by wind erosion. The Tibesti Mountains are a group of dormant volcanoes forming a mountain range in the central Sahara desert in the Bourk…
Tibet - Definitions, Name, Cities, Geography, Demographics, Culture
pop (2000e) 2 448 000; area 1 221 600 km²/471 500 sq mi. Designated by Chinese as an autonomous region in SW China; S and W border includes Bhutan, India, and Nepal; in the Tibet Plateau, average altitude 4000 m/13 000 ft; Himalayas in the S, on borders with India, Nepal, and Bhutan, rising to 8848 m/29 028 ft at Mt Everest; Kunlun Shan range in the N; major farming area in S valle…
Tibetan art - Greek influence brought by Alexander the Great, Mahayana Buddhist influence, Tantric Influence, External Links
The art associated with Tibet, which for a thousand years has reflected the intense spirituality and mysticism of Lamaism. Wall-paintings and banners, Buddhist sculpture in stone, wood, metal, and ivory, as well as tombs and stupas, were produced by anonymous craftsmen following age-old rules. Tibetan art refers to the art of Tibet and other present and former Himalayan kingdoms (Bhutan, La…
tic - Description and classification, Tic disorders, Controversy and confusion
An involuntary non-rhythmic motor movement or vocal production which serves no apparent purpose. It may occur as the result of a neurological lesion, and most famously in Gilles de la Tourette syndrome, where the patient may suddenly utter a sound like a bark, or swear without provocation or intention to do so. A tic is a sudden, repetitive, stereotyped, nonrhythmic, involuntary movement (m…
tick - Characteristics, Ticks as disease vectors, Location, Population Control, Life cycle, Example species
A large mite specialized as a blood-feeding, external parasite of terrestrial vertebrates; fangs modified for cutting skin; cuticle typically elastic, stretching to accommodate blood meal; can transmit diseases of humans and domesticated animals. (Order: Acari. Family: Ixodidae.) Tick is the common name for the small arachnids that, along with mites, constitute the order Acarina. …
ticket of leave
A pass issued to convicts in Australia as a reward for good behaviour; it was a form of parole which could be issued after 4, 6, or 8 years depending on whether the sentence was for 7, 14 years, or life, respectively. About 30% of convicts received tickets of leave by 1840. A ticket of leave was a piece of paper issued to convicts transported from the United Kingdom who had served a period …
tide - Tidal terminology, Timing, Tidal physics, Tides and navigation, Other tides
The regular, periodic rise and fall of the surface of the sea. The tides are produced by differences in gravitational forces acting on different points on the Earth's surface, and affect all bodies of water to some extent. These so-called tidal forces are produced primarily by the Sun and Moon. The Sun's tidal forces are only about half as strong as those of the Moon, due to the Sun's greater dist…
Tiergarten
A park covering 255 ha/630 acres in Berlin, Germany. Originally a royal hunting ground, it was landscaped in the 18th-c and opened to the public. The park was re-established, after being severely damaged during World War 2 and the bitter winter that followed, when many trees were cut for fuel. Tiergarten (Animal Garden) is the name of both a large park in Berlin and a neighborhood within …
Tierra del Fuego - Geography, History, Flora, Economy
pop (2000e) 78 200; area 73 746 km²/28 473 sq mi. Island group at the extreme S of South America; E side (about one third) belongs to Argentina (National Territory), remainder belongs to Chile; boundary agreed in 1881; bounded by the Magellan Strait (N), Atlantic Ocean (E), Pacific Ocean (W), and Beagle Channel (S); highest point Monte Darwin (2438 m/7999 ft); Cape Horn southernmost poin…
Tiffin
41º1N 83º2W, pop (2000e) 18 100. Seat of Seneca Co, NW Ohio, USA; on the Sandusky R; first settled as Oakley village (1817), renamed Fort Ball, and finally Tiffin (1822); birthplace of Oliver Baker and George Cressey; severely damaged by floods (1913); railway; many parks. Tiffin is an Indian and British term for a light meal eaten during the day. Not so long ago, in India, …
tiger beetle
An active, brightly-coloured beetle found in open, sunny habitats; larvae typically live in burrows; both larvae and adults feed mainly on small insects. (Order: Coleoptera. Family: Carabidae.) The tiger beetles are a large group of beetles known for their predatory habits. …
Tiger Woods
Golfer, born in Cypress, California, USA. He studied at Stanford University and won amateur US golf titles before turning professional in 1996. He shot to fame after winning the US Masters at Augusta in 1997 - with a record score of 270 - at the age of 21, the first African-American to do so, as well as the youngest; in his first appearance at the British Open later that year he equalled the Troon…
Tijuana - History, Culture and entertainment, Economy, Driving to Tijuana from the USA, Tijuana Makes Me Happy
32°32N 117°02W, pop (2000e) 894 000. Border town in NW Baja California Norte, NW Mexico; on the Pacific Ocean at the frontier with California, USA; airfield; tourist town with casinos and nightclubs; horse racing, dog racing, bullfights. Tijuana (Spanish [ti'xwana], English usually [ˌtiːəˈwɑnə]), is the largest city in the Mexican state of Baja California and the seat of the munic…
Tikal - Tikal in the Classic era, The site, Ancient history of Tikal, Modern history of Tikal
An ancient Mayan city in the Petén rainforest of N Guatemala, settled by 250 BC, at its peak in the 7th8th-c AD, but abruptly abandoned c.900. In area 16 km²/6 sq mi, it contained an estimated 3000 buildings with a population of c.2030 000. Monuments include palaces, plazas, ten reservoirs, and six temple pyramids, the largest 70 m/229 ft high. It is a world heritage site. Tikal…
Tilburg - History, Famous people from Tilburg
51°31N 5°06E, pop (2000e) 168 000. Industrial city in North Brabant province, S Netherlands; on the Wilhelmina Canal, 54 km/34 mi SE of Rotterdam; railway; woollens, metalworking; major business and cultural centre in the S; capital of Dutch Catholicism. Tilburg (pronunciation (help·info)) is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of Noord-Brab…
Tilbury - History, Fort, Docks, Transport
51°28N 0°23E, pop (2000e) 12 100. Town in Essex, SE England, UK; on the R Thames estuary, E of London; railway; major port and docks for London and the SE. Tilbury is located on the north bank of the River Thames, in the borough of Thurrock in England, at the point where the river suddenly narrows to about 800 yards/740 metres in width. Tilbury has a deep water port, a fort …
tillage
The preparation of land for crop-bearing. Tillage loosens the soil, kills weeds, and improves the circulation of the water and air in the soil. Plant wastes from preceding crops enrich the soil with nutrients when the soil is tilled. Harrows may be employed to break up and pulverise strips of soil after ploughing. This aeration of the soil provides further circulation of oxygen and water and stimu…
Tim Rice
Lyricist, writer, and broadcaster, born in Buckinghamshire, SC England, UK. He studied at Lancing College, then took up law, but left a lawyer's firm to join the EMI recording company. He has co-written lyrics on many award-winning records, has appeared on numerous radio and TV quiz shows, and written several books. He is best known for writing the lyrics to music by Andrew Lloyd Webber for Joseph…
Tim Robbins
Film actor, director, and writer, born in West Govina, California, USA. He grew up in New York City, moved to Los Angeles in 1981, and helped found the Actors Gang, an alternative theatre group. To fund this venture he took roles in such films as Fraternity Vacation (1985) and Howard the Duck (1986). He wrote, directed, and composed the songs for the critically acclaimed Bob Roberts (1992). He app…
timbre - American Standards Association definition, Spectra, Envelope, In music, Spelling
The sound quality of a voice or musical instrument, which depends on the prominence or otherwise of upper harmonics (partials) in the notes produced. The timbre of a flute or recorder, for example, is weak in upper harmonics compared with that of the much brighter violin or trumpet. The clanging sound of a bell results from the number and strength of upper partials which are not concordant wit…
Timbuktu - Origins, Legendary tales, Center of learning, Ravage and decline, Timbuktu today, Famous people connected with Timbuktu
16°49N 2°59W, pop (2000e) 32 000. Town in Gao region, N Mali, 690 km/429 mi NE of Bamako; settled in the 11th-c; a chief centre of Muslim learning; declined after conquest by Morocco, 16th-c; taken by the French, 1893; airfield; adjoining town of Kabara serves as a port on the R Niger; tourism, salt, power plant; Djinguereber Mosque (13th-c), Sankore Mosque (14th-c), Sidi Yahya Mosque (15th-…
time - Measurement, Standards, Interpretations, Psychology, Use of time, Further reading
That which distinguishes sequential events from simultaneous events; symbol t, units s (second); the fourth dimension, in addition to the three spatial dimensions. It allows the assignment of cause and effect, and, according to our perception, the assignment of past, present, and future. In Newtonian mechanics, time is absolute, meaning that a second as measured by one observer is the same as a se…
time and motion study
The technique of job analysis to discover how tasks are actually carried out; more usually known now as work study or industrial engineering. Its aim is to find the most efficient way of performing a task, both in terms of time and effort, in order to raise productivity. When used as a basis for wage negotiations, it can lead to industrial disputes. A time and motion study (or time-motion s…
time dilation - Overview, Experimental confirmation, Time dilation and space flight, Simple inference of time dilation
The slowing of time for objects moving at velocities close to the velocity of light, as perceived by a stationary observer. If observer A watches the clock held by observer B as B moves past, A will see B's clock as running slowly. In turn, B will see A's clock as running slowly. The symmetry is consistent with the principle that no observer is more at rest than any other. Time dilation is obs…
Time of Troubles
A period of intense social and political turmoil in Russia (15981613), involving a series of successive crises, civil wars, famines, Cossack and peasant revolts, foreign invasions, and widespread material destruction. In 1591 the legitimate heir of Ivan the Terrible, Dmitri, was murdered, possibly on the orders of Boris Godunov. Subsequently, four pretenders assumed his name. The first appeared …
time-sharing (computing)
A means of providing simultaneous access by several users to the same computer. Each user, in turn, is assigned full use of the central processing unit for a very small duration, making it appear that each user has continuous access. Other historical timesharing systems, some of them still in widespread use, include: …
time-sharing (leisure)
The joint ownership of holiday accommodation by a consortium. Depending upon the number of shares acquired, each share holder is entitled to a specific period of use. A register of time-share owners exists, enabling them to exchange their accommodation for another during their holiday entitlement period. Other historical timesharing systems, some of them still in widespread use, include: …
Times Square - Times Square today, Times Square in popular culture
The area in New York City formed by the intersection of Broadway, 42nd Street, and 7th Avenue, and at the centre of the city's theatre district. It takes its name from the Times Tower, built in 1904 to house the offices of the New York Times. Times Square is the name given to a principal intersection, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue, and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th…
Timgad
The former Roman city of Thaugadi in NE Algeria; a world heritage site. Founded by the Emperor Trajan in AD 100, and abandoned after the 5th-c, it is a noted example of Roman planning. The site has been extensively restored, and archaeological work still continues. Timgad (Arabic, Thamugadi, called Thamugas by the Romans, was a Roman colonial town in North Africa founded by the Emperor Traj…
Timoleon
Greek statesman, and general of Corinth. He overthrew the tyranny of his brother Timophanes, and retired from public life; but when Dionysius the Younger and others tried to establish themselves in Syracuse, he was prevailed upon to return. He manoeuvred Dionysius into abdication and fought the Carthaginians, who were supporting the other tyrants, defeating them at the Crimessus in 341. Tim…
Timor - History, Trivia
pop (2000e) 1 905 000; area 33 912 km²/13 090 sq mi. Mountainous island in SE Asia, in the Sunda group, NW of Australia; divided between Portugal and Holland, 1859; West Timor (former Dutch Timor) included in Indonesia at independence, administered as part of the province of Nusa Tenggara Timur; capital, Kupang; coffee, coconuts, maize; former Portuguese territory of East Timor granted fu…
Timor Sea
Part of the Pacific Ocean, SE of Timor, Indonesia, and NW of Northern Territory, Australia; lies over a wide continental shelf, with depths down to 110 m/360 ft, but deepens off Timor. A number of significant islands are located in the sea, notably Melville Island off Australia and the Australian-governed Ashmore and Cartier Islands. It is thought that early humans reached Australia…
Timothy (James) McVeigh - Biography, Bombing, Arrest, trial, conviction and sentencing, Death, Motivations for the bombing, Alleged accomplices
Convicted perpetrator of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, born in Pendleton, New York, USA. He joined the army in 1988, took part in Operation Desert Storm, and was discharged in 1991. He became internationally known when he was charged with the bombing of the Alfred P Murrah US government building in Oklahoma City in 1995, in which 168 people died. At his trial in 1997, a Denver jury found him gui…
Timothy (Lancaster) West - Life and career, Stage roles, TV roles, Film roles, Autobiography
Actor and director, born in Bradford, West Yorkshire, N England, UK. He was educated in London, entered the profession as assistant stage manager at Wimbledon (1956), and made his London debut in 1959. He was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company (19646), and with the prospect Theatre Company (196672), where he also directed, and thereafter played a wide variety of roles in the provinces, …
Timothy (Peter) Mo - Awards
Novelist, born in Kowloon, Hong Kong. He studied at Oxford University, attracting attention with his first novel, The Monkey King (1978), set in Hong Kong, followed by Sour Sweet (1982, Hawthornden Prize), a densely realistic portrait of London's Chinese community. Later novels include The Redundancy of Courage (1991), Brownout on Breadfruit Boulevard (1995), and Renegade or Halo Squared (1999, Ja…
Timothy Hackworth - Youth and early work, Further locomotive constructions, Legacy
Locomotive engineer, born in Wylam, Northumberland, NE England, UK. He was manager of the StocktonDarlington railway (182540), and builder of a number of famous engines, including the Royal George and the Sans Pareil, rival of George Stephenson's Rocket. Timothy Hackworth (December 22, 1786 – July 7, 1850) was a steam locomotive mechanical engineer who lived in Shildon, County Durham,…
Timothy Michael Healy - Governor-General, Additional Reading
Irish Nationalist leader, born in Bantry, Co Cork, S Ireland. He sat in parliament (18801918), headed in 1890 the revolt against Parnell, and became an Independent Nationalist. He was the first Governor-General of the Irish Free State (19228). Timothy Michael Healy, KC (17 May 1855 – 26 March 1931) was one of the most controversial of Irish politicians, with a career that spanned the …
Timothy Murphy
American soldier, born in Pike Co, Pennsylvania, USA. A legendary Continental army sharpshooter, he enlisted (Jun 1775) and fought at Boston and in the New Jersey campaign, served with General Daniel Morgan in the campaign against John Burgoyne (1777), and saw action at Yorktown (1781). His inability to read and write did not bar him from postwar successes in local politics. At the Battle o…
Timothy Thomas Fortune - Early life, Education, Tuskegee's Point Man, New York Journalist
Journalist, editor, and civil rights activist, born in Marianna Township, Florida, USA. Freed from slavery in only 1865, he witnessed his father's stormy career as a Reconstructionist politician in Florida. He learned the printing trade, and when he moved to Washington, DC (1876) he worked on an African-American newspaper and became friendly with Frederick Douglass. In 1880 he moved to New York Ci…
timpani - The instrument, Timpani sticks, Timpani in the modern ensemble, Performance techniques, History
Drums made from large copper bowls (hence the English name kettledrum), with heads of calfskin or plastic, which can be tuned to various pitches by means of hand-screws or, in modern instruments, pedals. They are normally played with two felt-headed sticks, but other types may be specified. As military instruments, two timpani were carried on horseback at either side of the rider. Since the 17th-c…
Timur - Early life, Military leader, Rise to power, Period of expansion, India, Last campaigns and death
Tatar conqueror, born near Samarkand, SE Uzbekistan. In 1369 he ascended the throne of Samarkand, subdued nearly all Persia, Georgia, and the Tatar empire, and conquered all the states between the Indus and the lower Ganges (1398). He won Damascus and Syria from the Mameluke sovereigns of Egypt, then defeated the Turks at Angora (1402), taking Sultan Bayezit prisoner. His death, while taking a 200…
tin
Sn (Lat stannum), element 50, melting point 232°C, density 7·3 g/cm3. A white metal in the carbon group of elements, occurring in nature mainly as the oxide (SnO2), and isolated by reduction with carbon. The metal forms a very strongly adhering oxide coat, and is therefore not corroded easily. Tin is used as a plating for other metals because of its corrosion resistance. Tin compounds are less …
Tin Pan Alley - Origins, Prime, Influence on law and business, Composers, Publishing houses, Biggest hits, Trivia
A nickname coined towards the end of the 19th-c for the popular music-publishing centre of New York City situated on 28th Street and 6th Avenue, and later on Broadway near 49th Street. In the UK it can refer to the area around Denmark Street in Soho, London. Coordinates: 40°44′44″N, 73°59′22.5″W Tin Pan Alley was the name given to the collection of New York City-center…
Tina Anselmi
Italian politician, born in Castelfranco Veneto, Veneto, NE Italy. She took part in the resistance and was an active member of the Christian Democrats after 1944, and a deputy from 1968 to 1992. The first Italian woman minister, she served first in the department of employment (19768) and then the ministry of health (19789). She headed the parliamentary commission on the masonic lodge P2 (1981…
Tina Turner - Biography, Solo career, Solo discography, Filmography, Tours, Trivia
Singer, born in Nutbush, Tennessee, USA. She achieved considerable success in the rhythm-and-blues vocal duo, Ike and Tina Turner, before their marriage and professional partnership was officially dissolved in 1976. Her first solo single, Let's Stay Together (1983), reached number 6 in the UK music charts. Other hit singles include What's Love Got To Do With It? (1984) and Private Dancer…
tinamou - Species
A partridge-like bird, native to the New World tropics; inhabits woodland, scrub, or grassland; eats plant material, insects, and (occasionally) mice; eggs incubated by male. (Family: Tinamidae, c.50 species.) The tinamous are one of the most ancient groups of bird, members of a South American bird family of about 47 species in 9 genera. …
Tinian
pop (2000e) 2500; area 101 km²/39 sq mi. One of the N Mariana Is, W Pacific, 5 km/3 mi SW of Saipan; length 18 km/11 mi; four long runways built by the USA during World War 2; plaque commemorates the launching of the Hiroshima bombing mission in 1945; site of ancient stone columns. Tinian is one of the three principal islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands. Ti…
tinnitus - Objective tinnitus, Causes of subjective tinnitus, Mechanisms of subjective tinnitus, Prevention, Tinnitus treatment
A ringing or hissing sound heard within the ear, which may arise from almost any disorder of the ear or its nerve supply. When the cause is simple, such as excessive wax in the external ear, the condition is easily remedied; in other cases, the disorder is usually intractable. Tinnitus (ti-NIGHT-us or TIN-i-tus) is the perception of sound in the absence of a corresponding external sound. Ti…
tinplate - History, The pack mill process, The strip mill
A thin steel sheet coated with tin by dipping or electrolytic deposition. It is used for light robust containers and protective constructions. First tried out in the late 17th-c, it was not used to any extent until the invention of canning in the early 19th-c, since when it has attained worldwide industrial importance. Tinplate consists of sheet steel covered with a thin layer of tin. …
Tintoretto - Biography, Style of life and assessment
Venetian painter, probably born in Venice, NE Italy, the son of a dyer (Ital tintore). Except for visits to Mantua (1580, 15903), he lived all his life in Venice, painting portraits and biblical subjects in which he attempted (according to a contemporary critic) to combine the energetic drawing of Michelangelo with the glowing colour of Titian. His most spectacular works are sacred murals painte…
Tiny Rowland - German background, Rhodesia, Honoured
Financier, born in India. He joined Lonrho (London and Rhodesian Mining and Land Company) in 1961, and became chief executive and managing director. In 1983 he became chairman of The Observer newspaper, which he sold to The Guardian in 1993. He stepped down from Lonrho in 1994, following a bitter battle for control of the company with German property tycoon Dieter Bock. Roland 'Tiny' Rowlan…
Tip O'Neill - Early life and political career, Congressman O'Neill, Speaker of the House, After Congress
US representative, born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. He studied at Boston College, then went into insurance, at the same time becoming actively involved in Democratic politics. He was elected to the Massachusetts House (193652), and became its youngest speaker (1947) before going to the US House of Representatives (19531987). He pushed liberal legislation while protecting his working-clas…
Tipasa - History, Another Roman town of the same name, Modern era, Externals Links
A village on the N coast of Algeria, standing on the ruins of the ancient city of Tipasa; a world heritage site. The original settlement, founded in the 5th-c BC, passed through many hands, from Phoenician to Roman, before it was abandoned in the 5th-c. Tipasa (Arabic: تيبازة) Tibaza, older Tefessedt, Chenoua Bazar) is a town on the coast of Algeria, capital of the Tipasa wilaya. …
Tipperary
County in Munster province, SC Ireland; divided into North Riding (pop (2000e) 58 500; area 1996 km²/770 sq mi) and South Riding (pop (2000e) 76 000; area 2258 km²/872 sq mi); watered by R Suir; Silvermine Mts (N), Galty Mts (S), Slieve Ardagh Hills (W); capital, Clonmel; rich dairy-farming area; centre for horse and greyhound breeding; festival of Irish and modern music and dance at T…
Tippi Hedren - Films, Influence, Shambala Preserve, Listen to, Marriages, Filmography, Awards and nominations
Film actress, born in New Ulm, Michigan, USA. She was discovered by Alfred Hitchcock, who cast her in The Birds (1963) and Marnie (1964). Later films include Roar (1981), which she also produced, Deadly Spygames (1989), and Citizen Ruth (1996), and she has appeared in several television movies, including Birds 2: The Land's End (1994). In 1972 she founded and is president of the Roar Foundation, a…
Tiran - Population, Name, History, Climate, Districts, Economy, Education, Environmental problems, Transport, Notable people, Landmarks
41°20N 19°50E, pop (2000e) 277 200. Capital town of Albania and of Tiranë district; in a valley in the foothills of the Kruja-Dajti Mts, 40 km/25 mi from the Adriatic Sea; founded by Turks in the early 17th-c; made capital in 1920; residential area built by the Italians (193943); industrial area to the W; university (1957); railway; airport (Rinas); textiles, foodstuffs, footwear, metalwo…
Tiresias - Overview, Tiresias and Thebes, Death, In post-classical literature, Sources
In Greek mythology, a blind Theban prophet, who takes a prominent part in Sophocles' plays about Oedipus and Antigone. Later legends account for his wisdom by saying that he had experienced the life of both sexes. In Greek mythology, Tiresias (also transliterated as Teiresias) was a blind prophet famous for changing his sex, the son of the shepherd Everes and the nymph Chariclo. …
Tirso de Molina
Playwright, born in Madrid, Spain. Educated at Alcalá, he became prior of the monastery of Soria. A disciple of his contemporary, Lope de Vega, he wrote many comedies and religious plays, but is best known for his treatment of the Don Juan legend in El burlador de Sevilla (1635, The Seducer of Seville). Tirso de Molina (October, 1579 - March 12, 1648) was a Spanish dramatist and poet. He s…
Tiryns
An ancient Greek town in the Argolid near Mycenae, famous for the remains of its fortified Bronze Age palace. Large parts of its Cyclopean walls still stand. Tiryns (in ancient greek Τίρυνς and in modern Τίρυνθα) is a Mycenaean archeological site in the Greek nomos of Argolis in the Peloponnese peninsula, some kilometres north of Nauplion. The famous megaron of the …
tissue
A group or layer of similarly specialized cells, or cells and associated fibres, which have specific functions. Most animals are composed of some or all of the following types of tissue. Epithelial tissue consists of cells only, and covers all internal and external surfaces. Connective tissue (eg fat) consists of cells and fibres, and tends to have a passive role, supporting or joining the more fu…
tit
A small, lively, acrobatic songbird, native to the N hemisphere and Africa; inhabits woodland and habitation; in the wild, eats insects and seeds; also known as the titmouse or typical tit; includes the chickadees of North America. The name is also used for the long-tailed tit (Family: Aegithalidae), the penduline tit (Family: Remizidae), and numerous other birds of diverse groups. (Family: Parida…
Titan (astronomy) - Mythology, Science, Sports, Military, Geography, Gaming
Saturn's largest satellite, discovered in 1655 by Huygens; distance from the planet 1 222 000 km/759 000 mi; diameter 5150 km/3200 mi; orbital period 15·945 days. It is the second-largest moon in the Solar System, and the only satellite with a substantial atmosphere, principally composed of nitrogen and methane with a surface pressure greater than Earth's atmosphere. It was approached clos…
Titan (mythology) - In Hesiod, Titanomachy, In Orphic sources, In the 20th century
In Greek mythology, a member of the older generation of gods, the children of Uranus and Gaia. After Zeus and the Olympians took power, the Titans made war on them; but they were defeated and imprisoned in Tartarus. One or two, notably Prometheus, helped Zeus. The Titans may represent memories of pre-Greek Mediterranean gods. In Greek mythology, the Titans (Greek Τιτάν, plural Τιτά…
Titania (astronomy)
The largest satellite of Uranus, discovered in 1787 by W Herschel; distance from the planet 436 000 km/271 000 mi; diameter 1580 km/980 mi, orbital period 8·7 days. It has an icy, cratered surface, with extensive scarps. Titania may refer to: Titania Street, Belfast, Northern Ireland …
Titania (mythology) - Modern References
In Greek mythology, a female Titan, identified with the Moon. In Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream she is the queen of the fairies, who is tricked into falling in love with Bottom the weaver. Titania was the name of a character in William Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream. In Shakespeare's play, she is the queen of the fairies. Due to Shakespeare's influence, later fi…
titanium - Applications, Safety
Ti, element 22, melting point 1660°C. A lustrous, white metal, with a relatively low density of 4·5 g/cm3. It is found widely distributed in nature, never uncombined, and usually as an oxide (TiO2). The metal, produced by magnesium reduction, is used in some alloys, especially for aircraft. Its compounds usually show oxidation states +3 and +4. The dioxide is a particularly important white pigm…
Titian - Biography, Family
Venetian painter, born in Pieve di Cadore, NE Italy. Trained in the studio of Giovanni Bellini, he assisted Giorgione with the paintings on the Fondaco dei Tedeschi (1508). His early paintings display Giorgione's influence, and his own revolutionary style is not apparent until after c.1516, in such works as The Assumption of the Virgin (151618, Venice). For the Duke of Ferrara he painted thr…
Titian (Ramsay) Peale
Painter, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, the son of Charles Willson Peale. He was trained as a naturalist and artist by his father at the Peale Museum in Philadelphia, where he became director in 1833. He is known for his naturalist illustrations, as seen in American Ornithology (182533) by Charles Lucien Bonaparte, and his own work, Lepidoptera Americana (1833). Peale was first …
title - Honorary titles granted by heads of state
A word used before someone's name to show an acquired or inherited rank or honour, a person's sex (Mr, Mrs, Ms) or occupation (Doctor, Colonel), or some other attainment (eg Dr for a PhD degree). Inherited title equivalents between languages include (French/German/Italian/Spanish): king - roi/Kaiser/re/rey; duke - duc/Herzog/duca/duque; prince - prince/Pfalzgraf/principe/principe; marquess - marqu…
Tito Gobbi - Biography
Baritone, born in Bassano del Grappa, NE Italy. He studied law at Padua, then took up singing in Rome, making his operatic debut in 1935 at Gubbio. He appeared regularly with the Rome Opera from 1938, and soon made an international reputation, especially in Verdian roles such as Falstaff and Don Carlos. Gobbi was born in Bassano del Grappa and studied law at the University of Padua before h…
titration - Etymology, Preparing a sample for titration, Titration curves, Types, Particular uses
A technique for finding the volume of one solution chemically equivalent to a given volume of another, usually by adding the first solution slowly until equivalence is reached. This can be detected by the addition of a small amount of an indicator material. Titration is a common laboratory method of quantitative/chemical analysis which can be used to determine the concentration of a known r…
Titus - Early life and military successes, In later literature, Quotes
Roman emperor (7981), the elder son and successor of Vespasian. Popular with the Romans for his generosity, charm, and military prowess, he is execrated in Jewish tradition for his destruction of Jerusalem (70) and suppression of the Jewish Revolt. His brief reign was marred by many natural calamities, notably the eruption of Vesuvius (79). He completed the Colosseum, begun by his father. …
Titus Oates - Early life, Royal Navy, Jesuits, The Popish Plot, Trivia
Conspirator and perjurer, born in Oakham, Leicestershire, C England, UK. He studied at Cambridge, and took Anglican orders, but was dismissed from his curacy for misconduct. Having feigned conversion to Catholicism and attended Jesuit seminaries on the continent, in 1678 he made public details of a fictitious Jesuit plot to murder Charles II and restore Catholicism. This Popish Plot caused wid…
Titus Pomponius Atticus
Intellectual, businessman, and writer, born in Rome, Italy. He acquired the surname Atticus because of his long sojourn in Athens (8565) to avoid the Civil War. He was a wealthy and highly cultivated man who espoused the Epicurean philosophy and combined his literary activities with a successful business career. Cicero's Letters to Atticus form a famous and prolific correspondence. Titus …
Tiverton
50º55N 3º29W, pop (2000e) 23 000. Market town in Devon, SW England, UK; on the R Exe, 21 km/13 mi N of Exeter; formerly famous for lace; railway; textiles, engineering; birthplace of 1st Viscount Amory and Richard Cosway. Tiverton is a town in the County of Devon, in England. Its name is derived from 'the town on two fords' or 'Twy-ford-ton' - 'Twyverton'. An Iron Age hill…
Tlaloc - Mythology, Related gods
The Aztec god of rain, to whom children were sacrificed in time of drought. The features of his face are formed of serpents, representing the lightning. Tlaloc, also known as Nuhualpilli, was, in Aztec belief, the god of rain and fertility. Human sacrifices were often made in his honor, usually children. Tlaloc was also worshipped in pre-Aztec times, by the Teotihuac…
Tlemcen - History
34°53N 1°21W, pop (2000e) 333 700. Chief town of Tlemcen department, NW Algeria, N Africa; 113 km/70 mi SW of Oran; capital of major Moroccan dynasties (12th16th-c); despite French occupation from 1842, a well-preserved Muslim culture; railway; agriculture, carpets; leather, olive oil, tourism; Almovarid Great Mosque (1135), Grand Mosque, Museum of Bel Hassane. Coordinates: 34°52
Tlingit - Territory, Culture, Food, Philosophy and Religion, History
A North American Indian group of the Pacific NW coast (from Prince William Sound to S Alaska), who lived mainly by fishing and hunting, c.14 000 (1990 census). They are famed for their art, including Chilkat blankets woven from cedar bark and goat hair, and subtly coloured wood sculptures. The Tlingit (IPA: /'klɪŋkɪt/, also /-gɪt/, often incorrectly /'tlɪŋkɪt/) are an American Nativ…
TNT (explosive) - Chemicals, Organizations, Arts, Other
The abbreviation for trinitrotoluene, C7H5N3O6. A high explosive made by the nitration of toluene with nitric and sulphuric acids; a solid melting at 82°C. Used for filling shells and bombs, it is one of the most effective and easiest to handle of the military high explosives. TNT may refer to: …
toadfish
Robust, bottom-living fish of the family Batrachoididae (6 genera), found in inshore waters of tropical to temperate seas; body typically elongate, tapering to a small tail, dorsal and anal fins long; eyes placed on top of flattened head, mouth large with strong teeth; some species have powerful poison spines. The toadfishes are a type of ray-finned fish normally found on the sand and mud b…
Toamasina - Maps
18°10S 49°23E, pop (2000e) 195 000. Port on the E coast of Madagascar, on the Indian Ocean, 367 km/228 mi NE of Antananarivo; Madagascar's main port, and a popular tourist resort; airfield; railway; surrounded by sugar-cane plantations; Ivoloina Gardens nearby. Toamasina (Masc. It owes its importance to the existence of a coral reef, which forms a spacious and fairly commo…
tobacco - History, Etymology, Cultivation, Types, Tobacco products
An annual or shrubby perennial, native to warm parts of the New World and Australasia; large leaves; tubular flowers, greenish, yellow, pink, or reddish. The dried, slightly fermented leaves of various species, principally Nicotiana tabacum, are used for smoking, chewing, and snuff, and contain the powerful alkaloid nicotine which is both poisonous and addictive. (Genus: Nicotiana, 66 species. Fam…
Tobago - Geography, History, Climate, Economy and tourism, Environmental problems, Diving, Ecology, Government, Hurricanes
pop (2000e) 48 000; area 300 km²/116 sq mi. Island in the W Caribbean; part of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago; chief town, Scarborough; united with Trinidad in 1889; airport; luxury hotel-conference centre at Rocky Point; tourist complex at Minster Point. Tobago is the smaller of the two main islands that make up the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Tobago has a land …
Tobias (George) Smollett
Novelist, born in Cardross, Argyll and Bute, W Scotland, UK. He studied medicine at Glasgow University, served on the Cartagena expedition in 1741, and settled in London as a surgeon in 1744. He turned to writing, achieving success with his first works, the picaresque novels The Adventures of Roderick Random (1748) and The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle (1751). He spent several years in journal ed…
Toby jug - Origin, Toby in the stars
A pottery jug in the form of a seated figure, usually a stout man smoking a pipe and wearing a tricorn hat which forms the pouring lip. Such jugs seem to have been introduced in N Staffordshire c.1770. Makers included Ralph Wood (174895) and Enoch Wood (17591840). A toby jug - also sometimes known as a Fillpot - is ceramic jug in the form of a seated person. The original tob…
Todor Zhivkov - Biography
Bulgarian statesman, prime minister (196271), and president (197189), born in Botevgrad, WC Bulgaria. He joined the (illegal) Communist Party in 1932, fought with the Bulgarian resistance in 1943, and took part in the Sofia coup that overthrew the pro-German regime in 1944. He became first secretary of the Bulgarian Communist Party in 1954, prime minister in 1962 and, as chairman of the Counci…
Togo - History, Geography, Administrative divisions, Economy, Religion, Politics, Culture and sport
Local name République Togolaise (French) Togo, officially the Togolese Republic, is a country in West Africa bordering Ghana in the west, Benin in the east and Burkina Faso in the north. Western history does not record what happened in Togo before the Portuguese arrived in the late fifteenth century. For the next two hundred years, the coastal region was a major raiding center…
Tok Pisin
An English-based pidgin, spoken by c.34 million people in Papua New Guinea, mainly as a second language, and heavily influenced by local Papuan languages. It is now spoken by over 100 000 as a mother-tongue, and has thus become a creole. …
tokamak - History, Toroidal design, Plasma heating, Experimental tokamaks
A machine used in nuclear fusion research. A helical system of magnetic fields confines the plasma of reactive charged particles in a hollow doughnut-ring-shaped chamber, where it is then heated by passing an electric current through it, and additional methods using radio-frequency fields and ion beams, to temperatures in excess of 108°C. A tokamak is a machine producing a toroidal (doughn…
tokay gecko - Feet, As pets
A large gecko (Gekko gekko) (length, almost 30 cm/12 in), native to India and SE Asia; mottled coloration; nocturnal; eats insects and small vertebrates; common in houses; male calls gekk-ho loudly (all geckos named after this call); also known as common gecko. The Tokay Gecko (Gekko gecko), is a nocturnal arboreal gecko native to southeast Asia and the Indo-Australian Archipelago. To…
Tokelau - History, Geography, Demographics, Internet domain names, Miscellaneous topics
810°S 171173°W; pop (2000e) 1000; area 10·1 km²/3·9 sq mi. Island territory under New Zealand administration, consisting of three small atolls (Atafu, Nukunonu, Fakaofo) in the S Pacific Ocean, c.3500 km/2200 mi N of New Zealand; chief settlement, Nukunonu; timezone GMT ?11; ethnic group, Polynesian; chief languages, Tokelauan, English; inhabitants are citizens of New Zealand; Weste…
token ring - Overview, Token frame, Token ring frame format, Active and standby monitors, Token ring insertion process
A form of computer local area network, developed by IBM and using a ring topology, in which a token is passed around the computers on the ring. If the token is free then a computer may attach a message to the token and transmit it. If the token is not free then the computer must wait until the token comes round again. Token ring local area network (LAN) technology was developed and promoted…
Tokugawa shogunate - Government, Institutions of the Shogunate, List of the Tokugawa Shoguns
(16031868) The last and most powerful of the Japanese shogunates (16031868), established by Ieyasu Tokugawa at Edo (modern Tokyo). Tokugawa power was cemented through ruthless domination of daimyo (noble) lands and lifestyles. Western commercial contacts were developed, important poetry and the great ukiyo-e art were produced, and there was rapid educational advance. Nevertheless, a series of …
Tokyo - History, Geography and administrative divisions, Economy, Demographics, Transportation, Education, Culture, Tourism, Tokyo in popular media
35°40N 139°45E, pop (2000e) 8 184 000 (metropolitan district). Seaport capital of Japan, Kanto region, E Honshu; on N shore of Tokyo-wan bay, on R Sumida; founded as village of Edo, 12th-c; headquarters of the Tokugawa shogunate, 1603; imperial capital, 1868; severe earthquake damage, 1923; heavily bombed in World War 2; airport; railway; over 100 universities; shipbuilding, engineering, chem…
Toledo (Spain) - Places, People, Other
39°50N 4°02W, pop (2000e) 61 000. Capital of Toledo province, Castilla-La Mancha, C Spain; on R Tagus, 71 km/44 mi SW of Madrid; former capital of Visigothic kingdom of Castile and of Spain; railway; tourism, metalwork, silk, artwork, confectionery; noted for its swords and knives; Moorish citadel, cathedral (13th17th-c), El Greco's house, Churches of St Thomas and St Romanus, Santa Cruz m…
Toledo (USA) - Places, People, Other
41°39N 83°33W, pop (2000e) 313 600. Seat of Lucas Co, NW Ohio, USA; port at the mouth of the Maumee R, at the W end of L Erie; formed by the union of two settlements, 1833; involved in the Toledo War (18356), a boundary dispute between Ohio and Michigan; railway; university (1872); vehicles, glass and fabricated metal products, machinery, oil products; trade in coal and grain; one of the…
tolerance - Rationalization, Politics and religion, Tolerating the intolerant, Tolerance as a virtue
In medicine, a diminishing effect when certain drugs are given continuously. Several mechanisms are responsible, which include a change in the wall of the cell membranes that bind the drug, or a change in the way the drug is degraded in the body. Immunological tolerance represents the inherent or acquired failure of the immune system to distinguish between self and not-self, preventing an immunolo…
Tolpuddle martyrs - The historical events, Cultural and historical significance, Image gallery
The name give to six agricultural labourers at Tolpuddle, Dorset, S England, UK, who were organized in 1833 into a local trade union by a Methodist preacher, George Loveless (17961874). Poverty, unemployment, relocation of jobs, increased mechanization, and poor harvests led to protests. The labourers were convicted of taking illegal oaths, and transported to Australia. The action provoked subst…
toluene
C6H5CH3, IUPAC methylbenzene, boiling point 111°C. A colourless liquid with a characteristic odour, widely used as an organic solvent, being substantially less toxic than benzene. It is obtained from coal tar, and is the starting point for many organic syntheses. Toluene, also known as methylbenzene or phenylmethane is a clear, water-insoluble liquid with the typical smell of paint thinner…
Tolyatti or Togliatti - History, Modern city
53°32N 49°24E, pop (2000e) 650 000. Town in Samarskaya oblast, Russia, on the Samara reservoir; founded, 1738; relocated in the mid-1950s when it was flooded by the reservoir of the nearby hydroelectric power plant; rail terminus; synthetic rubber, fertilizers, machinery, foodstuffs. Stavropol (Russian: Ста́врополь) is a city located in south-western Russia. The city is the a…
Tom Brokaw - Early life, Career, Present, Awards
Television presenter, born in Webster, South Dakota, USA. Starting as a radio reporter in college, he worked in television in Omaha and Atlanta, before becoming KNBC late-night presenter in Los Angeles (196573). As the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) Washington correspondent (19736), he covered the Watergate scandal. He became Today show host (197682), leaving to become presenter of the …
Tom Connolly
Baseball umpire, born in Manchester, Greater Manchester, NW England, UK. His family moved to Natick, MA when he was 13. As an American League umpire (190131), he umpired the first ever American League game (1901) and the first ever World Series game (1903). He was elected to baseball's Hall of Fame in 1953. Thomas Henry Connolly (December 31, 1870 - April 28, 1961) was an Anglo-American u…
Tom Conti
Actor and director, born in Paisley, Renfrewshire, W Scotland, UK. He studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music, made his acting debut in 1960, and has since performed and directed regularly in London theatres. Television appearances include The Norman Conquests and Glittering Prizes, and the later Donovan (2004). Among his films are Galileo (1974), Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence (1982), Shirle…
Tom Courtenay - Biography, Later Career, Trivia
Actor, born in Hull, NE England, UK. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, London, and made his professional debut in 1960 with the Old Vic company in Edinburgh. He played Hamlet at the 1968 Edinburgh Festival, and won acclaim for his performance as Norman in the Ayckbourn comedy trilogy, The Norman Conquests (1974). Other stage appearances include The Dresser (1980), the title role in …
Tom Cribb - Trivia
Prizefighter and bare-knuckles champion of the world, born in Bitton, South Gloucestershire, SWC England, UK. He twice defeated Jem Belcher for the bare-knuckles championship (1807, 1809), and also defeated the US black pugilist Tom Molineaux (1810, 1811). He retired with an unbeaten record, and became a publican in London. Tom Cribb (1781-11 May 1848) was an English bare-knuckle boxer of t…
Tom Cruise - Early life, Hollywood, Relationships, Controversy, Selected filmography, Trivia, Other work
Film actor, born in Syracuse, New York, USA. After an itinerant childhood, his plans for a professional wrestling career were abandoned through injury. He tried his hand at acting, struggling through night classes and auditions, and went on to make many successful films including Top Gun (1985), Rain Man (1988), A Few Good Men (1992), The Firm (1993), Interview with the Vampire (1995), and Mission…
Tom Finney
Footballer, born in Preston, Lancashire, NW England, UK. He played for Preston North End all his footballing life. He won 76 England caps, and is considered to have been one of the best wingers in the game. He was knighted in 1998. In 2003, he published Tom Finney: My Autobiography. …
Tom Graveney
Cricketer and television commentator, born in Riding Mill, Northumberland, NE England, UK. A tall, graceful batsman, he had a patchy Test career; nevertheless, he made 11 Test centuries for England in the course of compiling 4882 runs, recording a best of 258 against the West Indies at Nottingham in 1957. In a first-class career spanning 23 years, he scored 47 793 runs including 122 centuries. In…
Tom Hanks - Hanks's early life, Personal life, Filmography, Top worldwide film grosses, Academy Awards and nominations
Film actor, born in Concord, California, USA. He studied at the California State University, Sacramento, where he worked as stage manager and actor in university productions. He spent three seasons performing the classics with the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival in Ohio before making his film debut in the thriller He Knows You're Alone (1981). After some well received television comedy, he was ca…
Tom Hayden - Books by Tom Hayden, Trivia
Radical activist, state legislator, and writer, born in Royal Oak, Michigan, USA. One of the best-known student radical leaders of the 1960s, he was a co-founder of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) (1961), president of SDS (19623), co-founder of the Economic Research and Action Project (1964), and leader of the Newark Community Union Project (19647). Married to actress Jane Fonda, h…
Tom Keating - Forger with a cause, Technique, Revealing the forger, Aftermath, Further reading
Art restorer and celebrated forger of paintings, born in London, UK. The scandal about his fakes of the works of the great masters broke in 1976, when an art expert suggested that a work by Samuel Palmer, which sold at an auction for £9400, was not genuine. Keating admitted that a series of nine pictures, bearing imitations of Samuel Palmer's signature, were in fact drawn by himself, and estimate…
Tom Kilburn - Computer engineering, Administration, Personal
Computer scientist, born in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, N England, UK. He studied at Cambridge, becoming professor of computer science at Manchester (196481), and one of the dominant figures in British computer design. After working with Sir Frederic Calland Williams to build the world's first operational stored-program computer in 1948, he directed a series of collaborative ventures with Ferranti…
Tom Landry - Early life, NFL playing career, NFL coaching career, Beyond the NFL, Tom Landry in Popular Culture
Player and coach of American football, born in Mission, Texas, USA. An outstanding defensive back with the National Football League's New York Giants, he became head coach of the Dallas Cowboys in their first year (1960) and remained until 1988. His teams featured a tricky, multiple offence and his creation, the flex defence. During his 29 seasons, the Cowboys won 18 division championships and app…
Tom Lanoye - (partial) Bibliography
Flemish novelist, poet, and performer, born in Sint-Niklaas, N Belgium. Generally regarded as the most influential contemporary performing poet, in his performances he explicitly places himself in the ancient oral tradition. His novels, poems, and shows are typified by his strong rhetorical ability, sharp sense of humour, and self-mockery. He made his breakthrough with Een slagerszoon met een bril…
Tom Mboya - Education, Politics, Death
Kenyan statesman and nationalist leader, born in Kilima Mbogo, WC Kenya. He studied at Mangu, joined the Kenya African Union, and after this Party was suppressed became secretary of the Kenya Federation of Labour and a campaigner for independence. In 1960 he was general secretary of Kenyatta's Kenya African National Union, and became minister of labour (19623), minister of justice (19634), and…
Tom McCall - Early life and career, Political career, Vortex I, Back to journalism, End of life, Tributes
Journalist and governor, born in Egypt, Massachusetts, USA. After serving in World War 2 as a US Navy correspondent, he became a television journalist in Portland, OR and produced Pollution in Paradise. A Republican, he became Oregon's secretary of state (19646), and as governor (196775) he passed 100 environmental protection bills, including the first state fuel conservation plan (1974). He l…
Tom Mix - Early years, Film career, Fatal accident, Honors, Trivia, Further reading
Film actor, born in Mix Run, Pennsylvania, USA. He had been a champion rodeo rider, a soldier, and a cowboy in Oklahoma before he began to make short Westerns in 1909. (Studio publicists would later invent an even more glamorous past, fighting in the Spanish-American War, service with the Texas Rangers, and other such mythical feats.) He went on to star in more than 400 low-budget Westerns with hi…
Tom Paulin - Life and work, Controversy, Bibliography
Poet, born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, N England, UK. He grew up in Belfast, and studied at the universities of Hull and Oxford. His central themes are the Irish predicament, and in particular Protestant identity, beginning with A State of Justice (1977). Later books include The Riot Act (1985), Seize the Fire (1990), and The Invasion Handbook (2002). He edited the Faber books of political verse (19…
Tom Peters - Biography, Bestselling author, Works
Writer, lecturer, and management consultant, born in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. He was a McKinsey and Co associate (197481) before founding the Tom Peters Group. His best-seller, In Search of Excellence (co-author, 1982), dissected successful corporate practices and became a business bible. As a ubiquitous and popular writer, lecturer, and newspaper columnist, he helped formulate competitive Amer…
Tom Roberts - Life, Works
Painter, born in Dorchester, Dorset, S England, UK. He emigrated as a child, and studied at the Carlton School of Design and at the National Gallery School, both in Melbourne, before returning to London to attend the Royal Academy Schools. His best work, which deals with pioneering life in the bush, was produced in Australia in the late 1880s and 1890s. He was commissioned to paint the official op…
Tom Seaver - Early development, Rookie of the Year, The "Miracle Mets" season, Continued excellence
Baseball pitcher, born in Fresno, California, USA. During his 20-year career (196786), primarily with the New York Mets and Cincinnati Reds, the right-hander won 311 games, three earned-run-average titles, and the Cy Young Award three times (1969, 1973, 1975). He was elected to baseball's Hall of Fame in 1992. George Thomas Seaver (born November 17, 1944 in Fresno, California) is a former…
Tom Selleck - Early life, Early career, Movie Star, Awards, Personal life, Filmography, Television Work, Trivia
Television and film actor, born in Detroit, Michigan, USA. A talented collegiate athlete, he supported himself as a model, winning small parts in films and television during the 1970s. He starred in CBS's Magnum, PI (19808), playing an easy-going private eye. His feature films include Three Men and a Baby (1987), In and Out (1997), and The Love Letter (1999). Thomas William Selleck (born …
Tom Sharpe
Novelist, born in London, UK. He studied at Cambridge and did his National Service in the Marines before going to South Africa in 1951, from where he was deported in 1961after being imprisoned for his anti-apartheid views. He was a lecturer in history at the Cambridge College of Arts and Technology (196371) before turning to full-time writing, beginning with Riotous Assembly (1971). Later novels…
Tom Thomson - Biography, Art and technique, Facts and figures
Painter, born in Claremont, Ontario, SE Canada. He worked as an engraver and designer-illustrator before turning to art in 1906. He spent a great deal of time working in Algonquin Park, Ontario, producing many sketches and some larger canvases, such as The West Wind (1917, Toronto). He was found drowned near Wapomeo I, leaving a mystery about the manner of his death which to some extent has ob…
Tom Tryon - Acting Career, Writing Career, Relationships, Selected works, Selected Filmography
Actor and writer, born in Hartford, Connecticut, USA. He studied at Yale (1949 BA), and in New York City at the Art Students League and the Neighborhood Playhouse, then worked as an actor (195271) on Broadway, on television, and in Hollywood films. Leaving acting, he turned to writing and became a successful novelist. He wrote compelling horror fiction, as in The Other (1971) and Harvest Home (1…
Tom Waits - Early career, 1980s, 1990s, Lawsuits, Discography, Filmography
Singer, songwriter, and actor, born in Pomona, California, USA. He had a critically acclaimed debut album, Closing Time (1973), and Jersey Girl from his 1980 album Heartattack and Vine became an integral part of Bruce Springsteen's concerts. His soundtrack album from the film One From the Heart (1982) was Oscar nominated. His biggest chart success was the number 3 hit for Rod Stewart, Downto…
Tom Wesselmann
Painter, born in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. He studied psychology at Cincinnati University before taking art courses. In 1961 he moved to New York City, abandoning the abstract expressionist style and turning to Pop Art. Most of his paintings depict overtly erotic female nudes in contemporary American environments; these works form the series known as The Great American Nude. Tom Wesselmann…
Tom Wolfe - Career, Trivia, Bibliography
Writer and artist, born in Richmond, Virginia, USA. He received his doctorate in American Studies from Yale University (1957), and began a career as a reporter for the Springfield Union (19569), the Washington Post (195962), and the New York Herald Tribune (19626). The originator of such phrases as radical chic and the me decade, his new journalism essays were collected under such titles…
Tom Yawkey - Successes with the Red Sox, Legacy
Baseball executive, born in Detroit, Michigan, USA. The nephew of Bill Yawkey, who had once owned the Detroit Tigers, and heir to a multi-million-dollar fortune, he attended Yale (where he played second base) and had been looking for a major league team to own when the Boston Red Sox came up for purchase in 1933. He was actively involved in running the Red Sox until his death (his 44 years was the…
Tomar - Parishes, Geography, History, Attractions, Economy, Politics, Holidays
39°36N 8°25W, pop (2000e) 13 800. Town in Santarém district, C Portugal, on R Nabão; railway; textiles, paper, cork, distilling; Convent of Christ, a world heritage site; Church of São João Baptista; festival of the Tabuleiros (Jul, even-numbered years). Tomar (pron. The municipality is composed of 16 parishes, and is located in the district of Santarém. It …
Tomasz Hajto
Footballer, born in Kraków, Poland. He began his career at age 14 with KS Halniak, and progressed to play for a number of first division clubs in Poland. Moving to Germany, from 1997 he enjoyed success with Duisburg, but the German Cup runners-up found themselves relegated to the second division at the end of the 2000 season and he moved to Schalke 04, where he has developed into one of the best …
tomato - Cultivation and uses, Myths of the Tomato, Controversies, Tomato records
A bushy annual (Lycopersicon esculentum) native to Pacific South America, but now cultivated on a commercial scale throughout the world; leaves pinnate with toothed or lobed leaflets; flowers in short sprays (trusses), yellow, with five reflexed petals; berry bright red, fleshy, edible; originally called love apple and regarded as an aphrodisiac. The plants are resistant to pests such as greenfly,…
Tommaso Campanella
Philosopher, born in Stilo, S Italy. Entering the Dominican order in 1583, he taught at Rome and Naples. He evolved an empirical, anti-Scholastic philosophy, for which he was imprisoned by the Inquisition. He was arrested again in 1599 for heresy and conspiracy against Spanish rule, and was not finally released until 1626. From prison he wrote his famous utopian work, La Città del Sole (c.1602, C…
Tommaso Grossi
Poet and writer, born in Bellano, Lombardy, N Italy. A friend of Manzoni and Porta, he was a strong supporter of Romanticism and explored its main themes in his work. He wrote the satirical anti-Austrian poem La Prineide (1815) and some short stories in verse set in the Middle Ages, Ildegonda (1820). His best-known work is the poem I lombardi alla prima crociata (1826), from which Verdi wrote an o…
Tommaso Landolfi - Bibliography in English, Essential bibliography in Italian
Writer, born in Pico, Latium, W Italy. He wrote short stories and novels which delve into the paradoxes hidden in everyday life, searching for a new type of morality; he also described in bitingly ironic tones the human struggle between rationality and instincts. His work includes La pietra lunare (1939), Rien va (1963), Un amore del nostro tempo (1965), Racconti impossibili (1966), and Del meno (…
Tommaso Tittoni
Italian politician, born in Rome, Latium, Italy. A deputy of the right, he was three times foreign affairs minister (19035, 19069, 1919) and ambassador to Paris (191016). As such, he strove to maintain a good relationship with all foreign powers. Later he joined the Fascist Party and was president of the Accademia d'Italia (192930). Tommaso Tittoni (November 16, 1855 – February 7,…
Tommy (Lee) Flanagan
Jazz musician, born in Detroit, Michigan, USA. A distinctive modern jazz pianist, he accompanied Ella Fitzgerald and other singers throughout the 1960s and 1970s, and led his own trio after 1980. The Tommy Flanagan Trio (with bassist Wilbur Little and drummer Elvin Jones) released their first album, Tommy Flanagan Trio Overseas, in 1957. As an accompaniest, Flanagan worked with Ella F…
Tommy Armour - Results in major championships
Golfer, born in Edinburgh, EC Scotland, UK. He emigrated to the USA in 1925, where he became a successful golfer, winning the US Open (1927) and the British Open (1931). After retiring from competition he became a teaching professional. NYF = Tournament not yet founded NT = No tournament DNP = Did not play WD = Withdrew CUT = missed the half-way cut "T" in…
Tommy Cooper - Biography, Honors
Comic and magician, born in Caerphilly, S Wales, UK. A member of the Horse Guards (193946), he began performing with the Combined Services Entertainment in the Middle East, where he acquired his trademark headgear of a red fez. In 1947 he appeared at the Windmill Theatre, then achieved television renown in numerous variety shows and his own 1950s series It's Magic. His act thrived on his apparen…
Tommy Docherty - Playing Career, Managerial Career
Footballer and manager, born in Glasgow, W Scotland, UK. He played 25 times for Scotland, and managed 10 clubs including Aston Villa, Manchester United, Derby County, and Queen's Park Rangers. From September 1971 he managed the Scotland side for just over a year. On leaving football he built a successful career as an after-dinner speaker. Thomas Henderson Docherty (born Gorbals, Glasgow on …
Tommy Dorsey - Early life, His own band, Death and aftermath, Married life, Discography, Filmography
Musician, born in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, USA. He was a Swing Era bandleader who began with local dance bands in Scranton, PA. He moved to New York City (1925) and engaged in free-lance radio and recording work as a trombonist and trumpeter, and during 19278 was a sideman with Paul Whiteman. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, he and his brother, Jimmy Dorsey (190457), a saxophonist, co-led a…
Tommy Douglas - Early life and activism, Premier of Saskatchewan, Federal NDP leader, Late career and retirement, Artistic depiction
Baptist minister and Canadian politician. As premier of Saskatchewan (194461), he led the first Socialist government elected in Canada, and was later leader of the federal New Democratic Party for 10 years. He helped establish Democratic Socialism in the mainstream of Canadian politics, and with the introduction of medicare in Saskatchewan is recognized as the Canadian father of socialized med…
Tommy Farr
Boxer, born in Clydach Vale, Rhondda Cynon Taff, S Wales, UK. A former coalminer and booth fighter, he gained a reputation as one of the most courageous boxers of his era. He became British and Empire Heavyweight champion in March 1937 after defeating Ben Foord on points, and went on to fight 197 official bouts over a 30-year period. In August 1937 he challenged the reigning world champion, Joe Lo…
Tommy Franks - Early life, Military career, Iraq Troop Levels and Conduct of the Iraq War
US general, born in Wynnewood, Oklahoma, USA. He studied at the University of Texas (1971) and graduated from military school at Fort Still, OK (1967). From the 1980s, he served in West Germany, commanded in Korea, and was commander of the Third US Army, Fort McPherson, GA. He was promoted to general (2000) and appointed commander-in-chief of the US Central Command (20003). He had responsibility…
Tommy Handley
Comedian, born in Liverpool, Merseyside, NW England, UK. He served in World War 1, then worked in variety, and in the infancy of radio became known as a regular broadcaster. In 1939 he achieved nationwide fame through his weekly programme ITMA (It's That Man Again) which, with its mixture of satire, parody, slapstick, and wit, helped to boost wartime morale, and continued as a prime favourite unti…
Tommy Hitchcock
Polo player and aviator, born in Aiken, South Carolina, USA. Son of a 10-goal polo player, the highest ranking, he became an outstanding polo player by age 16. In World War 1 he volunteered to fly in the Lafayette Escadrille and was shot down behind German lines in March 1918. He escaped and made his way back to his squadron, which became a unit of the US Air Service by the end of the war. After g…
Tommy Lawton - Playing career, Later career, Bibliography
Footballer, born in Bolton, Lancashire, NW England, UK. A successful English centre-forward, his most famous days were with Everton and Arsenal, but he also served Burnley, Chelsea, Notts County, and Brentford. Like most of his generation, he lost almost seven years to World War 2, but his international record was a remarkable 22 goals in 23 matches. Tommy Lawton (October 6, 1919 - November…
Tommy Steele - Singer, Actor, Author and other talents, Family, Fanclub, Sources
Actor, singer, and director, born in London, UK. He achieved considerable fame as a pop singer in the 1950s and 1960s, made his stage debut in variety at the Empire Theatre, Sunderland in 1956, and in London at the Dominion Theatre in 1957. He played Tony Lumpkin in Goldsmith's She Stoops to Conquer at the Old Vic in 1960. The archetypal Cockney lad, he continued to appear in musicals during the 1…
Tommy Trinder - Life, Tommy Trinder - filmography
Comedian and actor, born in London, UK. He appeared in small-town variety shows, before making his name in the Band Waggon show at the London Palladium (1939). He went on to become a national favourite with his catch-phrase you lucky people, both as a stand-up comic in such revues as Happy and Glorious and Best Bib and Tucker, and as a leading man in such films as Sailors Three (1940), The Bel…
Tomoyuki Yamashita - Biography, Trial and controversy, Personal life, Further reading
Japanese soldier, born in Kochi, S Japan. He commanded a division in China in 1939, and in 1942 commanded the forces which overran Singapore. He then took over the Philippines campaign, capturing Bataan and Corregidor. Still in charge when MacArthur turned the tables in 19445, he was captured, tried for war crimes, and hanged. General Tomoyuki Yamashita (山下 奉文 Yamashita Tomoyuki) …
Tomsk - Education, Culture, Famous people, Tomsk Sister Cities
56°30N 85°05E, pop (2000e) 501 000. River-port capital of Tomskaya oblast, WC Siberian Russia, on R Tom; founded, 1604; major Siberian trade centre until bypassed by the Trans-Siberian railway in the 1890s; airfield; railway; university (1888); machinery, metalworking, chemicals, pharmaceuticals. Tomsk (Russian: Томск) is a city on the Tom River in the southwest of Siberian Federal…
tonality - Uses of the term, Vocabulary of tonal analysis, Characteristics, Theory of tonal music
The property of music which is written in a key, ie with a particular pitch as a point of aural reference (usually firmly established at the beginning and end) towards which other key centres gravitate. The theoretical corner-stones of tonality are the diatonic major and minor scales, in which pitches are related to a tonic, or key note, so that the intervals between any two degrees of the sca…
tone
In music, 1 the interval (equal to two semitones) between, for example, the first two notes of a diatonic scale, or doh and ray in tonic sol-fa. 2 The timbre of a voice or instrument. 3 US usage for note (pitch) in such contexts as 12-tone music, tone cluster, and tone row. In geography: In people: Tone may also refer to: …
Tonga - History, Politics, Geography, Economy, Demographics, Culture and diaspora, Sport
Official name Kingdom of Tonga, Tongan Pule'anga Fakatu'i 'o Tonga, formerly Friendly Islands Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga (Tongan for "south"), is an independent archipelago in the southern Pacific Ocean. The islands are also known as the Friendly Islands, the name given by Captain Cook because of the friendly reception he received. He happened to arrive at the time o…
tongue - Structure, Muscles of the tongue, Papillae and taste buds, Innervation of the Tongue
A highly mobile, muscular structure vital for the digestive functions of chewing, taste, and swallowing. In humans it is also important in speech, being essential for the production of all vowels and most consonants. It consists of a free front part within the mouth (horizontal at rest), containing numerous taste buds, and a more fixed back part in the oropharynx, which has accumulations of lympho…
Toni (Anton) Sailer
Alpine skier, born in Kitzbühel, W Austria. In 1956, he became the first man to win all three Olympic skiing titles (downhill, slalom, giant slalom). He was the world combined champion (1956, 1958) and the world downhill and giant slalom champion (1958). He later became an actor and singer, a hotel owner, and an investor in a textile business. Anton "Toni" Sailer (born November 17, 1935 in…
Toni Morrison - Morrison's early years, Promoting Black literature, Morrison's novels, Politics, Works, Quotations
Writer and editor, born in Lorain, Ohio, USA. She studied at Howard University (1953 BA) and Cornell (1955 MA), and taught English at Texas Southern University (19557) and at Howard (195764). Later posts include the State University of New York, Purchase (19712), Albany (19849), and Princeton (1989). She married Harold Morrison in 1958 (divorced 1964), and became a senior editor for Random…
tonic sol-fa - Members, Discography
A system of musical notation devised by John Curwen, who based it on the solmization system of Guido d'Arezzo, anglicizing the pitch names to doh, ray, me, fah, soh, la, te. These could be abbreviated to their initial letters, and furnished with other signs to indicate note-lengths, rests, and octave transposition. An ability to read the notation requires training in sol-fa, which is gained throug…
Tonk
Former princely state of present-day Rajasthan, NW India; formerly consisted of six separate areas in Rajasthan and C India, and was acquired (1798) by the Pathan chieftain Amir Khan; became part of the state of Rajasthan, 1948. If you searched for Tonk you may be looking for: …
tonsillitis - Causes, Complications
Acute or chronic inflammation of the tonsils, usually due to infection with streptococci. The condition usually responds to treatment with antibiotics. Removal of the tonsils (tonsillectomy) is now rarely required, and only for repeated or serious infection. Tonsillitis is an inflammation of the tonsils in the mouth and will often, but not necessarily, cause a sore throat and fever. …
tonsure - History, Tonsure today, Sources
The shaving of all or part of the head, to denote clerical or monastic status. It is still compulsory for certain monks and priests. Tonsure is the practice of some Christian churches, and some Hindu temples of cutting the hair from the scalp of clerics as a symbol of their renunciation of worldly fashion and esteem. The origin of the tonsure remains unclear but it certainly was…
Tony - Famous Anthonys
An annual award for theatrical achievement in New York City; named after US actress and director Antoinette Perry (18881946). It recognizes several categories within plays and musicals, including acting, direction, music, choreography, and design, as well as best play, best musical, and best revival. In Catholicism it can refer to: In politics it can refer to: In m…
Tony Bennett - Early life, World War II and after, First successes, A growing artistry, Years of struggle, Turnaround
Singer, born in Queens, New York City, New York, USA. He studied music and art at New York's High School of Industrial Art, but left at 16 to help support his family. He found work as a singing waiter in Italian restaurants before being drafted into the US Army in World War 2. Following his discharge in 1946, he began singing in local venues, and in 1949 was spotted by Pearl Bailey who invited him…
Tony Blair - Early life, Early political career, In opposition, Second term 2001 to 2005
British politician and prime minister (1997 ), born in Edinburgh, EC Scotland, UK. Educated in Edinburgh, he studied law at Oxford, and was called to the bar in 1976. He was elected Labour MP for Sedgefield in 1983, becoming his party's spokesperson on Treasury affairs (19857) and trade and industry (19878). He joined the shadow cabinet in 1988, becoming responsible for energy (1988), employ…
Tony Brown
Television host and producer, born in Charleston, West Virginia, USA. A journalist in Detroit, he joined National Educational Television's news magazine, Black Journal in 1970, later becoming dean of Howard University's School of Communications (19712). He lobbied to keep the show on the air, and as host and executive producer of Tony Brown's Journal (1978), he continued to look critically at is…
Tony Curtis - Biography, Filmography, Further reading
Actor, born in New York City, USA. After many small film parts early in his career, he proved he could play light comedy roles as in Some Like It Hot (1959) while also displaying his dramatic ability in The Boston Strangler (1968). His many films include The Vikings (1958), Spartacus (1960), The Great Impostor (1961), The Mirror Crack'd (1980), and The Continued Adventures of Reptile Man (1996). H…
Tony Dorsett
Player of American football, born in Rochester, Pennsylvania, USA. The first college player to rush for over 6000 career yards, and the 1976 Heisman Trophy winner at the University of Pittsburgh, he gained 12 739 yards in twelve professional seasons. Anthony Drew Dorsett (born April 7, 1954 in the Pittsburgh suburb of Rochester, Pennsylvania) is a former American football running back who …
Tony Greig - Up to the task, "Grovelled" by the West Indies, The Indian tour
Cricketer, born in Queenstown, SE South Africa. A good all-rounder, he captained England in Test matches, scoring 3599 runs and eight centuries. His great height enabled him to bowl sharp medium pace, and he took 141 Test wickets, twice taking ten in a match. He played a leading part in recruiting players from all Test countries to join the rival organization, World Series Cricket, being assembled…
Tony Hancock - Early life and career, Hancock's peak years, International dreams and introspection, Personal life, Biographies
Comedian, born in Birmingham, West Midlands, C England, UK. After a brief period as a civil servant, he enlisted in the RAF (1942). Overcoming extreme stage-fright he tried his hand as a stand-up comic with touring shows before making his professional stage debut in Wings (1946). Pantomimes, cabaret, and radio appearances in Educating Archie (1951) contributed to his growing popularity, and he mad…
Tony Harrison - Further reading
Poet, born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, N England, UK. After studying in Leeds, and teaching in Nigeria and Prague, he became known with The Loiners (1970) and the translation Palladas Poems (1975). His combination of classical technique and colloquial language has produced powerful effects in the open sequences Ten Poems from the School of Eloquence (1976) and Continuous (1981), also evident in his …
Tony Hillerman - Other novels, About Hillerman, non-fiction, by author
Writer, born in Sacred Heart, Oklahoma, USA. Although he was raised among the Pottawatomie and Seminole Indians and studied at an Indian boarding school, he was not a Native American. He attended Oklahoma State University (1943), the University of Oklahoma (1946 BA), and the University of New Mexico (1966 MA). He worked as a journalist in Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico (194863), lived in Albuqu…
Tony Hulman - Early life and entry into the family business, Making Clabber Girl a household name
Motor-racing executive, born in Terre Haute, Indiana, USA. In 1945 he purchased the Indianapolis 500 Speedway and, after extensive renovations to the facility, he promoted the annual 500 mi race into the largest sporting event in the world. Anton "Tony" Hulman, Jr. (February 11, 1901 - October 27, 1977) was a businessman from Terre Haute, Indiana and graduated from Yale University in 1924.…
Tony Jacklin - Senior wins, Results in major championships
Golfer, born in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, EC England, UK. He won the 1969 Open at Royal Lytham (the first British winner for 18 years), and in 1970 won the US Open at Hazeltine, MN (the first British winner for 50 years). He turned professional in 1962, and won the Jacksonville Open in 1968, the first Briton to win on the US Tour. A former Ryder Cup player (196780), he was appointed non-pl…
Tony Lock
Cricketer, born in Limpsfield, Surrey, SE England, UK. His left-arm bowling helped to make Surrey virtually unbeatable at county level in the 1950s. He played 49 Tests for England and took 174 wickets, taking 10 or more wickets in a match on three occasions. His bowling action came under suspicion, but he returned with a satisfactorily remodelled bowling method. He also played for Western Australi…
Tony McCoy
Jockey, born in Co Antrim, NE Northern Ireland, UK. He rode his first winner in England in 1994 and claimed a record 74 winners as a conditional jockey (19945). National Hunt Champion jockey since 1995, he broke Peter Scudamore's previous jumps record of 221 wins in a season by winning 253 (19978). In 2002 he broke the record for the number of winners in a season, 269, set on the Flat by Sir G…
Tony Pastor
Actor and manager, born in New York City, New York, USA. A performer and entrepreneur, he first appeared with Phineas Barnum. He worked successfully to clean up the image of vaudeville, banning the sale of liquor and getting rid of the cruder acts. He opened several theatres and introduced such stars as Weber and Fields and Lillian Russell, and ran the Fourteenth Street Theatre until his death. …
Tony Richardson - Filmography (Selected)
Stage and film director, born in Shipley, West Yorkshire, N England, UK. He studied at Oxford, and worked for the BBC before entering the theatre. His reputation was established with the Royal Court Theatre production of Look Back in Anger (1956), a play representative of the emerging generation of Angry Young Men. During the 1950s his experimental productions stimulated a revival of creative …
Tony Smith
Sculptor, painter, and architect, born in South Orange, New Jersey, USA. After suffering from tuberculosis when young, he studied art at the Art Students League (19336) and architecture at Chicago's New Bauhaus (19378). He was an apprentice to Frank Lloyd Wright (19389) and a practising architect in New York City (194060). He painted and worked on architectural commissions, taught at many …
Tony Trabert - Grand Slam singles finals, Sources
Tennis player, born in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. He won 10 Grand Slam tournaments during 19505, five in singles and five in doubles competition. Trabert was a standout athlete, a starter on the basketball team and 1951 University Intercollegiate singles championship winner at the University of Cincinnati. An extremely athletic right-hander who mostly played a serve and volley gam…
Tony Walton
Set and costume designer, born in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, SE England, UK. Dividing his career between London and New York, he designed for drama, musicals, ballet, opera, films, and television. Tony Walton (born Anthony John Walton, 24 October 1934) is an English Oscar, Tony and Emmy-winning set and costume designer. He has received many Oscar, Emmy and other nominations, including …
tool - Functions of tools, History
Any implement which is used to carry out a task. Early man made the first axes by sharpening flint. Stone tools were replaced from around 4000 BC by bronze and then iron tools, which were later used to build instruments and simple machines. The Industrial Revolution saw the introduction of machine tools, and mass production of goods became a possibility. Modern tools are now available for almost a…
toothwort
A parasitic perennial (Lathraea squamaria), native to Europe and Asia; stem white; flowers tinged dull purple, forming a 1-sided spike. It closely resembles the broomrapes, but is parasitic on roots of trees and shrubs, especially elm and hazel. (Family: Scrophulariaceae.) Toothwort (Lathraea) is a small genus of five to seven species of flowering plants, native to temperate Europe and Asia…
Toots Thielemans - Career, Influence, Partial discography
Jazz musician and composer, born in Brussels, Belgium. He was inspired to take up the guitar by compatriot Django Reinhardt, and the harmonica by Larry Adler. A performer of bebop and jazz, he appeared with Charlie Parker in Paris in 1949, toured Europe with Benny Goodman and Diana Washington in the 1950s, and appeared with Paul Simon and Peggy Lee. He became a favourite soloist of Quincy Jones, a…
topaz - Etymology and historical and mythical usage, Uses in jewelry
An aluminium silicate mineral (Al2SiO4(OH,F)2), occurring in acid igneous rocks, pegmatites, and veins, with a colour range including colourless, yellow, and blue. It may be used as a gemstone. Topaz is commonly associated with silicic igneous rocks of the granite and rhyolite type. It typically crystallizes in granitic pegmatites or in vapor cavities in rhyolite lava flows like those …
topography - As a textual description
The study of the physical characteristics of the Earth's surface (eg relief, soils, vegetation). A topographical map portrays information such as elevation and gradient through the use of symbols and special shading to show contours and spot heights. The older meaning of “topography,” going back to Roman and even Greek eras, is the detailed description of a place. Topographi…
topology - History, Elementary introduction, Mathematical definition, Some theorems in general topology, Some useful notions from algebraic topology
A generalization of geometry which studies the properties of shapes and space that are independent of distance. The usual map of the London Underground is an example of a topological diagram, for it shows the lines joining various stations, yet is not to scale. Topology developed very widely in the 20th-c, and can perhaps now best be described as the study of continuity. In many branches of mathem…
Torah - Structure, Production and usage of a Torah scroll, The Torah as the core of Judaism
The Jewish Law, most narrowly considered the Priestly Code found in the Pentateuch and said to have been given to Moses by God. The term was also often applied to the Pentateuch as a whole; and as the importance of the Prophets and Writings grew, it was sometimes used to describe them all as divinely revealed instructions and traditions. This written Torah was eventually supplemented in Pharisaic …
Torbay
50°28N 3°30W, pop (2001e) 129 700. Unitary authority (from 1998) in Devon, SW England, UK, formed in 1968; includes the resort towns of Torquay, Paignton, and Brixham; railway; tourism, horticulture, electronics. Torbay (IPA: [tɔːˈbeɪ]) is an east-facing bay, at the western most end of Lyme Bay in the south-west of England, situated roughly midway between the cities of Exeter and Pl…
Torborg Nedreaas - Bibliography, Prizes
Novelist, born in Bergen, SW Norway. She turned to writing late in life, after World War 2. A left-wing feminist, her books highlight social life and class struggle in Norwegian urban society. Especially powerful are (trans titles) Music from a Blue Well (1960) and At the Next New Moon (1971). Torborg Nedreaas (born November 13, 1906 in Bergen, Norway died June 30 1987) was a Norwegian auth…
tornado - Etymology, Definitions, Life cycle, Characteristics, Intensity and damage, Prediction, Detection, Climatology, Extremes, Tornado safety, Continuing research
A column of air rotating rapidly (up to 100 m/s, c.225 mph) around a very low pressure centre. Over the Great Plains of the USA they may develop from squall-line thunderstorms, and are common in spring and early summer. The mechanism of formation is not fully understood, but they are associated with low pressure systems, and resemble a dark funnel extending from the cloud base to the ground. Alt…
Toronto - Cityscape, Infrastructure
43°42N 79°25W, pop (2000e) 711 100, (metropolitan area) 3 358 000. Capital of Ontario province, Canada, on N shore of L Ontario, at the mouth of the Don R; largest city in Canada; French fort, 1749; occupied by the British, 1759; settled by United Empire Loyalist migrants from the American Revolution, 1793; named York; capital of Upper Canada, 1796; city and modern name, 1834; capital of Ont…
torpedo - History, Propulsion, Torpedo classes and diameters, Torpedoes used by various navies, Sources
A munition of naval warfare, in essence a guided underwater missile, equipped with a motor to propel it through the water and an explosive charge fused to detonate on impact with its target. The first practical torpedo dates from the middle of the 19th-c. In modern warfare, guided torpedoes are a key anti-submarine weapon, equipped with sonar-seeking heads which identify and track underwater sound…
Torquato Tasso
Poet, born in Sorrento, SW Italy. He studied law and philosophy at Padua, where he published his first work, a romantic poem, Rinaldo. After joining the court of the Duke of Ferrara, he wrote his epic masterpiece on the capture of Jerusalem during the first crusade, Gerusalemme Liberata (1581, Jerusalem Liberated). The poem is characterized by a historicreligious background, a running commentary…
Torquay - History of Torquay, Geography, Transport, Economy, Culture, Torquay in English culture, Demographics, Social issues in Torquay
50°28N 3°30W, pop (2000e) 61 300. Resort town in Torbay unitary authority, Devon, SW England, UK; 30 km/19 mi S of Exeter; centre for recreational sailing; railway; Torr Abbey (12th-c), Kent's Cavern; regatta (Aug); football league team, Torquay United (Gulls). Torquay (IPA: [tɔːˈki]) is a town in Devon, England. Torquay's name originates in it being the quay of the anc…
torque - Units
In mechanics, the ability of a force to cause rotation. Torque equals the product of the force with the perpendicular distance between the rotation axis and the line of action of the force; symbol ?; units Nm (newton.metre). In physics, torque can informally be thought of as "rotational force" or "angular force" which causes a change in rotational motion. The rotational analogues of force, …
torr
Unit of pressure; symbol torr; named after Evangelista Torricelli; defined via atmospheric pressure, a standard atmosphere having a pressure of 760 torr by definition; 1 torr equals the pressure of a column of mercury 1 mm high (to within one part in 7×106); 1 torr = 133·3 Pa (pascal, SI unit); still commonly used in vacuum physics. Example reading: 1 Pa = 1 N/m² ?= 10 at ?= 9.869…
Torres Strait - Geography, History
Channel between the Coral Sea (E) and the Arafura Sea (W), to the N of Cape York, Queensland, Australia; c.130 km/80 mi wide; discovered by Spanish explorer Luis Vaez de Torres, 1606; contains Torres Strait Islands, which may be remains of a land bridge linking Asia and Australia; annexed by Queensland in 19th-c; inhabited by Polynesians, Melanesians, Aborigines, pop (2000e) 6800; pearl culture…
tort - Liability, Defences and Remedies, Theory and Reform, Tort and Criminal Law, Tort by legal jurisdiction
A wrong (mediaeval Lat tortum wrong) which harms someone else, actionable in the civil courts of England and Wales. The usual remedies are damages and/or an injunction. In some instances, the tort may be waived, and the defendant required to account for profits gained through the wrong. The law of tort, as well as protecting individual rights to property damage and personal injury caused b…
tortoise - Partial species list, Further reading, Gallery
A land-dwelling reptile of order Chelonia; feet short, round, with short claws; toes not webbed; used especially for 41 species of family Testudinidae; native to tropical and subtropical regions (except Australasia); usually vegetarian. A tortoise is a land-dwelling reptile of the order Testudines. The giant tortoises of the Galápagos Islands helped Charles Darwin formulate his…
tortoiseshell cat - Patterns, Gallery of the various types
A British short-haired domestic cat; mottled coat of black, dark red, and light red (with no white); difficult to produce; almost always female (males rare and sterile); also known as calimanco or calico cat or clouded tiger. The name (often shortened to tortie) is also used for other breeds with mottled markings. The mix of colors results in a cat with patches of red and patches of black, …
torture - Aspects of torture, Torture devices and methods, Fiction, Other meanings of the word
In law, the infliction of severe physical or mental suffering, whether for punishment, intimidation, or to extract a confession for a crime. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) prohibits the use of torture, and it has been universally condemned. Since the early 19th-c, the use of torture in all European countries has been banned, but it is still widely used in many parts of the world,…
Toru?
53°01N 18°35E, pop (2000e) 205 000. Industrial river port and capital of Toru? voivodship, NC Poland, on R Vistula; railway; university (1945); synthetic fibres, electronics, wool, fertilizer; founded in 1231 by the Teutonic Knights; birthplace of Copernicus; Church of St John (13th-c), palace of the bishops of Kujawy (1693), castle (13th-c), ethnographical museum, burghers' manor (15th-c); me…
Torvill and Dean - Careers, Style and approach, Trivia
Figure skaters Jayne Torvill (1957 ) and Christopher Dean (1958 ), both from Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, C England, UK. They were world ice dance champions (19814) and Olympic champions (1984). Their highly acclaimed performances included an interpretation of music from Ravel's Bolero, and the musical, Barnum, which was choreographed by British actor Michael Crawford. At the height of their…
Toshiko Takaezu
Ceramicist, born in Pepeekeo, Hawaii, USA. She studied under Maija Grotell at Cranbrook, taught there and at other schools, and then at Princeton University (1966). In 1968 she established a studio in Quakertown, NJ. With her biomorphic forms of the 1950s, her explorations of sound by enclosing clay pebbles in pots, and the later closed cracked vessels, she drew on Zen ideas and abstract expressio…
totalitarianism - Hannah Arendt's thesis, Cold War-era research
In its modern form, a political concept first used to describe the USSR's communist regime and Italy and Germany's fascist regimes during the period between the two World Wars. It is difficult to distinguish empirically from related concepts such as authoritarianism and dictatorship, but certain common features can be identified. These relate to the use of power and the means of government employe…
totem - North American totem poles, Possibly totemic culture in ancient China, Totems in Zimbabwe
A word of North American Indian origin, widely used by social anthropologists and others to describe an animal or plant to which a particular clan or tribe has a special attachment. Some Australian Aboriginal tribes, for example, have the kangaroo as a totem, others the witchetty grub. Sometimes the totem may not be eaten; sometimes it must be eaten on special ritual occasions. The totem symbolize…
totem pole - Style, Meaning and purpose, Construction and maintenance, Property, Totem poles of note
An elaborately carved pole about 20 m/65 ft high, erected in front of houses, made by Pacific NW Coast American Indians. Totem poles depict the guardian spirits of kin groups and their leaders, and confer prestige upon their owners. Poles of all types share a common graphic style with carved and painted containers, housefronts, canoes, masks, intricately-woven blankets, ceremonial dress, …
Totila
King of the Ostrogoths (from 541). During the Gothic War he succeeded in winning back from the Byzantines large territories in C Italy. He defeated Belisarius and took first Rome in 546, and then Sicily. He was defeated at Senigallia and then at Gualdo Tadino by Narsete, and died while trying to escape. His life's work was the restoration of the Gothic kingdom in Italy and he entered upon t…
toucan - Toucans in advertising, Toucans in fiction, Species list
A largish bird with an enormous bill, native to the New World tropics; brightly coloured; bare coloured skin around eye; long tail; inhabits woodland; eats seeds, fruit, invertebrates, and small vertebrates. (Family: Ramphastidae, 42 species.) Toucans are near passerine birds from the neotropics. Toucans were used to advertise Guinness stout (using the slogan 'See what toucan do…
Toulon
43°10N 5°55E, pop (2000e) 176 000. Fortified naval port and capital of Var department, SE France; on Mediterranean Sea, 70 km/43 mi SE of Marseille; most important naval port in France; major naval station in World War 1; French fleet scuttled here in 1942, to prevent German capture; railway; episcopal see; shipbuilding, oil refining, armaments, chemicals, textiles; Gothic Cathedral of Ste-M…
Toulouse - Geography, History, Population, Government and politics, Sights, Economy, Culture
43°37N 1°27E, pop (2000e) 376 000. Capital city of Haute-Garonne department, S France; on R Garonne and Canal du Midi, 213 km/132 mi SE of Bordeaux; capital of former province of Languedoc; fourth largest city in France; road and rail junction; archbishopric; university (1229); Catholic Institute of Toulouse (1877); cultural and economic centre of S France; electronics, aircraft, armaments, …
Tour de France - History, Physical rigor, Classification jerseys, Stages, Culture, Doping, Statistics
The world's most gruelling bicycle race, first held in 1903 to advertise a cycling periodical. In 2005, 21 teams each with nine riders have to cover approximately 3390 km/2106 mi of mainly French countryside during a three-week period in July. The Tour is broken into eleven flat stages, six mountain stages, two individual time-trials, and one team time-trial. About 10 million people watch the ra…
Touraine - Geography, History, Sights, Famous natives, Famous non natives
Former province in C France, now occupying the department of Indre-et-Loire and part of Vienne; became part of France, 1641; known for its Huguenot silk-weaving trade; chief town, Tours. Traversed by the Loire and its tributaries the Cher, the Indre and the Vienne, the Touraine makes up a part of the Paris Basin. The TGV, which connects Tours with Paris in less than an hour, has made …
tourmaline
A complex borosilicate mineral containing sodium, calcium, iron, magnesium, and other metals, found in igneous and metamorphic rocks. It forms hard, dense, prismatic crystals, and may be used as a gemstone. The tourmaline mineral group is chemically one of the most complicated groups of silicate minerals. …
Tournai - History, Tourist Attractions, Festivities, Geology, People born in Tournai
49°52N 5°24E, pop (2000e) 68 800. Administrative and cultural town in W Hainaut province, W Belgium, on the R Scheldt, 22 km/14 mi E of Lille; bishopric; second oldest town in Belgium, founded 275 AD; railway; cement, machinery, foodstuffs, textiles (especially carpets), tourism; cathedral (11th12th-c, restored 19th-c) is a world heritage site. Tournai (in Dutch: Doornik in Latin: T…
Tours - Main sights, Language, City, Transportation, Miscellaneous
47°22N 0°40E, pop (2000e) 135 000. Industrial and commercial city, and capital of Indre-et-Loire department, WC France; between Loire and Cher Rivers, 206 km/128 mi SW of Paris; episcopal see, 3rd-c; grew up around tomb of St Martin (died in 397), becoming a place of pilgrimage and centre of healing; Huguenot silk industry in 15th16th-c; airport; road and rail junction; university (1970); …
Toussaint l'Ouverture - Early life, Rebellions and negotiations, Campaign in support of the French Revolution
Revolutionary leader, born a slave in Haiti (formerly St Domingue). In 1791, he joined the insurgents, and by 1797 was effective ruler of the former colony. He drove out British and Spanish expeditions, restored order, and aimed at independence. Napoleon sent a new expedition to Saint Domingue, and proclaimed the re-establishment of slavery. Toussaint was eventually arrested, and died in a French …
Tove (Marika) Jansson - Life and family, Painter and illustrator, Author, Comic strip artist, Jansson's cultural heritage, Bibliography
Writer of children's books, and artist, born in Helsinki, Finland. Her books for children, featuring the Moomintrolls and illustrated by herself, are as much appreciated by adults. They reached an international audience and she was the recipient of many literary prizes. In later years she wrote a number of books aimed at adults, such as Sommarboken (1972, The Summer Book). Tove Marika J…
Tower Bridge - Design, Nearby places, Trivia
The easternmost bridge on the R Thames, London, UK. The bridge can open to allow large ships in and out of the Pool of London. It was designed by Sir Horace Jones (181987) and Sir John Wolfe Barry (18361918), and opened in 1894. Tower Bridge is a bascule bridge in London, England over the River Thames. It has become an iconic symbol of London and is sometimes mistakenly called London Br…
Tower of London - History, Description, Crown Jewels, Location, In fiction
A palace-fortress started by William I as a wooden fortification in 1067 and replaced by him with one in stone (c.107797). Successive Norman, Plantagenet, and Tudor monarchs added to it until Edward I completed the outer wall, extending to around 7 ha/18 acres. The keep or White Tower is one of the earliest fortifications on such a scale in W Europe, begun by William I in 1078. The Armour Coll…
Townshend Acts
(1767) Taxes imposed by the British parliament on five categories of goods imported into the American colonies, after successful colonial resistance to the Stamp Act (1765). The Townshend Taxes likewise met resistance, and four categories were repealed in 1770. The fifth, on tea, remained in effect until the Boston Tea Party. The Acts are named after the British chancellor of the exchequer, Charle…
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A poison produced by a micro-organism, which causes certain diseases or disorders. Botulinum toxin from the bacterium Clostridium botulinum is one of the most powerful, deadly toxins known. Toxins from Salmonella typhi cause typhoid fever; toxins from Pasteurella pestis cause bubonic plague; toxins from Shigella dysenteriae cause dysentery. Toxins can also be secreted by plants and animals. …
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Human infection with Toxocara canis, a roundworm carried by dogs. Infection is acquired by eating dirt contaminated with roundworm eggs. The larvae migrate around the body causing disease in a variety of organs, notably the eye leading to blindness. Toxocariasis is an infection caused by the dog or cat roundworm, Toxocara canis or Toxocara cati, respectively. Toxocariasis occurs…
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The first university settlement (institutions through which universities provide support to deprived inner city communities), founded in E London in 1885. It was named after the social reformer and economist Arnold Toynbee (185283), who dedicated himself to improving the quality of life of the urban poor. Toynbee Hall is the original university settlement house of the settlement movement.…
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Social reformer and evangelist, born in Kobe, C Japan. A convert to Christianity, he was educated at the Presbyterian College in Tokyo, and at Princeton Theological Seminary in the USA. Returning to Japan, he became an evangelist and social worker in the slums of Kobe. He was a leader in the Japanese labour movement, helping to found the Federation of Labour (1918) and the Farmer's Union (1921), a…
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Tracey Emin - Early life, Britartist, Fame, Other works, Strangeland, School tapestry, Momart fire, Stuckism
Multimedia artist, born in London, UK. Her controversial entry for the 1999 Turner Prize, My Bed, a dishevelled bed with soiled sheets and debris, was later bought by art collector Charles Saatchi. In 2001 her solo exhibition, You Forgot to Kiss My Soul, opened at the White Cube Gallery in London. It included sculptures, embroidered blankets, drawings, photographs, a video, and some work i…
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Actress and singer, born in Slough, S England, UK. She attended London's Italia Conti Stage School, and went on to gain recognition as an impressionist in the comedy television programme Three of a Kind. Success took her to America and her own television programme, The Tracey Ullman Show, for which she won an Emmy in 1990. Tracey Ullman was born on December 30, 1959, in Slough, Berkshire, E…
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A succulent perennial with jointed, often trailing stems, native to the New World; leaves alternate, oval, stalkless; flowers 3-petalled, often white or blue, in small terminal clusters; named after John Tradescant the Younger, botanist and gardener to Charles I of England. Several species and cultivars, especially those with variegated leaves, are grown as house plants. (Genus: Tradescantia, 60 s…
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A religious or mystical belief in a world or state of being beyond the reach of human apprehension and experience. Transcendentalism was a group of new ideas in literature, religion, culture, and philosophy that emerged in the New England region of the United States of America in the early-to mid-19th century. Transcendentalism began as a protest against the general state …
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i don't know
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Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 classic horror novel about split personality is called what?
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Robert Louis Stevenson - The Greatest Literature of All Time
Robert Louis Stevenson
• The Master of Ballantrae (1889)
Also great:
• The Weir of Hermiston (1896)
Die young, leave a good body of work
Do people still grow up reading Robert Louis Stevenson? His adventures were staples of my own youth because my parents had some of his old books around the house, but I recall even then that most of my reading friends were into more current books in which long-past British and Scottish customs and expressions did not have to be puzzled out. Now in the era of Harry Potter, I suspect the exploits of tykes from centuries ago are not exactly engrossing for adolescents.
Of all Stevenson's once immensely popular novels, only Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde seems poised to remain a classic for eternity, mainly as a horror story. To a lesser degree his Treasure Island still lives as the archetypal pirate story, helped by repeated movie treatments.
Too bad really, because Stevenson wrote some wonderful stuff. Not only have previous generations of young and old thrilled to his tales, but he laid down many of the structures that have gone into making great popular fiction ever since. Many of today's "modern classics" are based on elements first popularized by Robert Louis Stevenson. He had an incredibly diverse, prolific and innovative output for a writer who died so young.
Stevenson suffered from tuberculosis since his childhood in Edinburgh and spent much of his time in bed as a youth, making up stories before he could read. He studied law at Edinburgh University but instead of practising as a lawyer he went abroad for his health and wrote travel pieces, essays and short stories for magazines. His first two books in 1878-79 were travel accounts. Other non-fiction based on his personal experiences followed, but in 1882 four stories he had written in the 1870s were published under the title New Arabian Nights. These fantastic and macabre tales are considered by many the earliest short stories of note in British literary history.
However Treasure Island (1883) was his first big popular success. His first novel began with a map of a "Treasure Island" he drew to amuse his stepson on a rainy day while on holidays. It grew into a serialized story in a youth periodical and then into book form to become the most beloved story of pirates and treasure-seeking adventure of all time, creating the enduring character of Long John Silver.
It was followed by the equally popular collection A Child's Garden of Verses (1885), including many delightful poems that have been set to music and come down to the present day. His second novel, Prince Otto (1885), was a psychological fantasy taking place in the fictional state of Gr�newald.
But Stevenson called on his own upbringing in Scotland for his next adventure in Kidnapped (1886). This is a sprawling thriller with a young orphan, David Balfour, battling piratical sailors, fleeing the law across the wild Highlands as a falsely suspected murderer, and maneuvering among scarcely understood political intrigues of the time. A lesser known romantic sequel, Catriona (sometimes called David Balfour), was produced in 1893.
The same year as Kidnapped, Stevenson published the famous novella (or long story) Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde , in which a personality is split by science into two—into the respectable Victorian doctor and the brutish hell-raiser Hyde. (Stevenson pronounced the first name like JEE-kyl, by the way, not JECK-le, who is part of another duo, Heckle and Jeckle.) Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is a story susceptible to many psychological interpretations, and perhaps Stevenson's most philosophically sophisticated fiction.
Around this time, Stevenson also wrote many shorter stories, often in a macabre vein recalling Edgar Allan Poe, including "The Body-Snatcher", and "Markheim", which takes Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment as model. Some of Stevenson's contemporaries, notably Arthur Conan Doyle , thought it would be for his short fiction that he would be remembered.
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde made Stevenson's fortune and he bought a South Seas island to which he retired to spend the rest of his days in quiet, writing, taking opium and sending letters to newspapers attacking British colonialism.
Many more stories, novels, memoirs and plays appeared over the next several years, including The Black Arrow (1888), an adventure set in the War of the Roses, and The Master of Ballantrae (1889), an adult tale of two brothers—one good and one evil—which some prefer as Stevenson's best.
The Wrong Box (1889) was co-written with his stepson, Lloyd Osbourne. It's a darkly comic tale of mistaken identity (made into a very funny movie in 1966 with Michael Caine, Dudley Moore, Peter Cook and Ralph Richardson).
His most acclaimed work of this time though is the novella The Beach of Fales� (1892), which was slashed by editors for its depiction of supposed island immorality.
One of the most noteworthy works of Stevenson's latter years is the last to be published during his lifetime, The Ebb-Tide (1894), also co-written with Osbourne. The novella presages both Joseph Conrad's Lord Jim and The Heart of Darkness , as well as incorporating some of the features of Stevenson's own adventure tales, though it is far darker and grislier than any of them. This great story has been made into several film and television features.
Stevenson was working on The Weir of Hermiston when he died of a brain hemorrhage, possibly as a result of his drug use, at age forty-four. Published posthumously and unfinished, this novel also is considered by some critics to be his masterpiece.
— Eric
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Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
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Erected in 1989, what large geometric glass structure serves as the main entrance to the Louvre Museum in Paris?
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Robert Louis Stevenson Books - Biography and List of Works - Author of 'A Child's Garden Of Verse'
Home > Authors > Robert Louis Stevenson books
Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis (Balfour) Stevenson (November 13, 1850- December 3, 1894), was a Scottish novelist, poet, and travel writer.
Stevenson was born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson in Edinburgh , Scotland. His father was Thomas Stevenson and grandfather was Robert Stevenson, both successful lighthouse engineers, and his mother was Margaret Balfour. He studied at Edinburgh Academy in his youth. His parents were both very religious. Robert gave up the religion of his parents while studying at the University of Edinburgh, but the teaching that he received as a child continued to influence him. He actually took up a branch of Christianity called Calvinism as his new religion in college.
Although ill with tuberculosis from childhood, Stevenson had a full life. He began his education as an engineer but, despite his family history, he showed little aptitude and soon switched to studying law. At the age of 18 he dropped the name Balfour and changed his middle name from Lewis to Louis (but retaining the original pronunciation); from this time on he began styling himself Rls . He turned to the law because of poor health, but he never practised. He ended his life as a tribal leader (called by his tribe Tusitala, meaning "storyteller" in Samoa) and plantation owner at his residence "Vailima" in Samoa, all this in addition to his literary career.
Stevenson's novels of adventure, romance, and horror are of considerable psychological depth and have continued in popularity long after his death, both as books and as films.
His wife Fanny Vandegrift Osbourne, whom he married in 1880, was a great support in his adventurous and arduous life.
Stevenson made several trips to the Kingdom of Hawaii and became a good friend of King David Kalakaua with whom Stevenson spent much time. Stevenson also became best friends with the king's niece Princess Victoria Kaiulani, also of Scottish heritage. Since the tragic deaths of both Stevenson and Kaiulani, historians have debated the true nature of their relationship as to whether or not they had romantic feelings for each other. Because of the age difference, such stories have often been discredited. In 1888, Stevenson travelled to the island of Molokai just weeks after the death of Father Damien . He spent twelve days at the missionary priest's residence, Bishop Home at Kalawao. Stevenson taught the local girls to play croquet. When Congregationalist and Presbyterian ministers began to defame Father Damien out of spite for his Catholicism, Stevenson wrote one of his most famous essays in defence of the life and work of the missionary priest.
Stevenson died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Vailima in Samoa, aged 44. In his will, he bequeathed his birthday to a little girl, Annie Ide, who had been born on Christmas Day.
Fiction
* Treasure Island (1883) His first major success, a tale of piracy, buried treasure, and adventure, has been filmed frequently. It was originally called The Sea-Cook.
* The Black Arrow: A Tale of the Two Roses (1883) An historical adventure novel and romance set during the Wars of the Roses. This novel presents the Wars of the Roses, as it were, in miniature.
* Kidnapped (1886) is an historical novel that tells of the boy David Balfour's pursuit of his inheritance and his alliance with Alan Breck in the intrigues of Jacobite troubles in Scotland. Catriona (1893), also known as David Balfour , is a sequel, telling of Balfour's further adventures.
* The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886), a short novel about a dual personality much depicted in Plays and films, also influential in the growth of understanding of the subconscious mind through its treatment of a kind and intelligent physician who turns into a psychopathic monster after imbibing a drug intended to separate good from evil in a personality.
* The New Arabian Nights (1882), a collection of tales.
* The Body Snatcher (1885), another influential horror tale.
* The Wrong Box , (1892), with Lloyd Osbourne, a comic novel of a tontine, also filmed (1966). A tontine is a group life-insurance policy in which the last survivor gets all the insurance. Both in the novel and in real life, it is an incentive to murder, and no longer legal in most countries.
* The Master Of Ballantrae (1888), a masterful tale of revenge, set in Scotland and America.
* Weir Of Hermiston (1896), novel, unfinished at his death, considered to have promised great artistic growth.
Poetry
* A Child's Garden Of Verses (1885), written for children but also popular with their parents. Includes such favourites as "My Shadow" and "The Lamplighter". Often thought to represent a positive reflection of the author's sickly childhood.
Travel writing
* An Inland Voyage (1878), travels with a friend in a "Rob Roy" canoe from Antwerp (Belgium) to Pontoise, just north of Paris.
* Travels With a Donkey in the Cévennes (1879), solo hiking in the mountains of Cévennes (south-central France), one of the first books to present hiking and camping as recreational activities. It tells of commissioning one of the first sleeping bags.
* The Silverado Squatters (1883), unconventional honeymoon trip to an abandonded mining camp in Napa Valley, California with his new wife Fanny and her son Lloyd.
* The Amateur Emigrant (written 1879-80, published 1895). An account of the first leg of his journey to California, by ship from Europe to New York. Andrew Noble (From the Clyde to California: Robert Louis Stevenson’s Emigrant Journey, 1985) considers it to be his finest work.
* Across the Plains (written in 1879-80 published in 1892). Second leg of his journey, by train from New York to California (then picks up with The Silverado Squatters).
Island literature
Although not well known, his island fiction and non-fiction is among the most valuable and collected of the 19th century body of work that addresses the Pacific area.
Non-fiction Works on the Pacific
* In The South Seas . A collection of Stevenson's articles and essays on his travels in the Pacific.
* A Footnote To History , Eight Years of Trouble in Samoa (1912)
Island fiction
* The Beach at Falesa, one of his darkest works, explores the relationship between white traders and islanders in a way that anticipates Conrad and Maugham.
* An Island Nights' Entertainment. Three great stories: The Bottle Imp , The Beach at Falesá and The Isle Of Voices .
* The Wrecker with Lloyd Osbourne
* The Ebb Tide with Lloyd Osbourne
Robert Louis Stevenson books
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Up until ceasing posts in March 2012 who had become the most followed active professional footballer (soccer player) on Twitter?
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Footballer Thomas Hitzlsperger comes out as gay | Daily Mail Online
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And Queens Park Rangers midfielder Joey Barton said: 'Thomas Hitzlsperger has shown a lot of courage today. Sad times when people have to wait till they retire from their chosen profession.'
Former Leeds United and US winger Robbie Rogers announced he was gay last year, and Hitzlsperger is the latest high-profile sports person to speak about their sexuality in public.
Tennis star Martina Navratilova came out publicly as gay in 1981 while John Amaechi was the first NBA (National Basketball Association) player in the US to openly admit to being gay in 2007.
Love life: Hitzlsperger pictured with his former partner Inga Totzauer at home in Sutton Coldfield in March 2002
Another announcement: Former Leeds United and US winger Robbie Rogers said he was gay last year
Ex-Wales rugby union captain Gareth Thomas, plus England and Surrey wicketkeeper Steven Davies, have both also come out in the last five years.
Olympic boxing gold medallist Nicola Adams topped the Independent's annual 'Pink List' poll of influential lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in November 2012.
'I want to move the discussion about homosexuality among professional sportspeople forwards'
Thomas Hitzlsperger
And last month Tom Daley revealed he was in a relationship with a man, while two other Olympic divers have previously come out.
Australian Matthew Mitcham announced he was gay in 2008 shortly before he won a gold medal at the Beijing Olympics.
And four-time Olympic diving champion Greg Louganis revealed he was gay following his retirement in 1995. The full interview with Hitzlsperger will be published in the Die Zeit newspaper on Thursday.
Chris Basiurski, chair of the Gay Football Supporters' Network, said: 'We really welcome this news.
Gay sports stars: Last month Olympic diver Tom Daley (left) revealed he was in a relationship with a man. And Olympic boxing gold medallist Nicola Adams (right) topped a list of influential LGBT people in November 2012
Early death: Former England Under-21 international Justin Fashanu was the first professional footballer in Britain to come out in 1990 before he took his own life eight years later, aged 37
‘It shows that we are moving one step closer to creating that atmosphere in football where players at all levels would be able to come out should they want to, safely and free from discrimination.
'In 2014 it shouldn't be an issue that a pro footballer is gay. Sadly it still is, therefore, huge credit to Thomas Hitzlsperger'
Jake Humphrey, BT Sport presenter
‘We hope that one day current players would feel able to come out and that eventually a player’s sexual orientation will not be a news story. But for now, we wish Thomas Hitzlsperger well.’
And a spokesman for campaign group Stonewall told BBC Sport today: 'It's fantastic that he has been brave enough to openly discuss his sexual orientation.
'Every sports star who is willing to speak out makes it just that little bit easier for gay players and fans, and we hope, a new generation of footballers will feel confident enough to be themselves.'
OTHER GAY SPORTS STARS WHO TOOK THE DECISION TO GO PUBLIC
Justin Fashanu (football) - Britain's first black footballer to command a £1million transfer fee was also the first top-flight player to publicly admit his homosexuality. He came out in 1990 - in the dressing room his sexuality was less of a secret, and a clash of personalities with Nottingham Forest manager Brian Clough contributed to his decline. After admitting he was gay, Fashanu struggled to reignite an already stuttering career, and retired in 1997, blaming his downfall on prejudice in the English game. He committed suicide in May 1998 aged 37.
Greg Louganis (diving) - The American won a silver medal at the 1976 Olympic Games and followed that with a brace of golds in 1984 and 1988. Louganis' autobiography, which spent five weeks at number one on the New York Times best-seller list on its release in 1995, detailed his rise to global prominence and subsequent decision to come out as a homosexual living with HIV.
Martina Navratilova (tennis) - The Czech-born nine-time Wimbledon champion came out publicly as gay in 1981, a short time after she was granted US citizenship. The decision hit her sponsorship revenues. ‘Prior to being a [US] citizen, I couldn't speak my mind about being gay,’ she said. ‘But since then I have pretty much said what I think, which has cost me dearly in endorsements.’
Donal Og Cusack (hurling) - The much-decorated Irish star is one of the leading lights of the fast-paced Gaelic game, and became the first elite Irish sportsman to reveal he was gay in his autobiography, 'Come What May', released last year. ‘Whatever you may feel about me or who I am, I've always been at peace with it,’ he wrote.
John Amaechi (basketball) - The American-born Briton was the first NBA player to openly admit to being gay in 2007. The 6ft 10in star used his autobiography, Man In The Middle, to make public his sexuality, and admitted afterwards the reaction from the public had been encouraging, saying: ‘I can't say there hasn't been any negative reaction at all, because there has. But I've been wildly overwhelmed by the positives.’
Gareth Thomas (rugby union) - Thomas, who was Wales' most-capped player and a former British and Irish Lions captain, publicly announced he was gay in December 2009 at the age of 35. He said: ‘I just want to thank everyone for the amazing response I have received, on behalf of me, my family and friends. I hope that by saying this I can make a big difference to others in my situation. But for now, I just want to focus on being a rugby player.’
Steven Davies (cricket) - The England and Surrey wicketkeeper became the first active professional cricketer to openly admit to being gay in February 2011. Davies, whose friends and family had known for five years and who had told his England team-mates the previous year, told The Sun: ‘I'm comfortable with who I am - and happy to say who I am in public. To speak out is a massive relief for me, but if I can just help one person to deal with their sexuality then that's all I care about.’ Davies, now 27, has played eight one-day internationals and five Twenty20 internationals for England.
Robbie Rogers (soccer) - Former Leeds winger and United States international Rogers revealed he was gay in February 2013 and at the same time announced his retirement from football at the age of 25. He wrote on his blog that he had been afraid of revealing his sexuality, adding: ‘Now is my time to step away. It's time to discover myself away from football.’ Four months after his announcement Rogers resumed his playing career by signing for the Los Angeles Galaxy.
Tom Daley (diving) - Daley, who won bronze in the men's 10 metre platform competition at the London 2012 Olympics, revealed in December 2013 that he was in a relationship with a man. The 19-year-old made the announcement in a self-made Youtube clip, saying: ‘Come spring this year my life changed massively when I met someone and they made me feel so happy, so safe and everything just feels great - and that someone is a guy. Of course I still fancy girls but right now I'm dating a guy and I couldn't be happier.’
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Joey Barton
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Roots of the dandelion plant can be used to make a drink very like?
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Footballer Thomas Hitzlsperger comes out as gay | Daily Mail Online
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And Queens Park Rangers midfielder Joey Barton said: 'Thomas Hitzlsperger has shown a lot of courage today. Sad times when people have to wait till they retire from their chosen profession.'
Former Leeds United and US winger Robbie Rogers announced he was gay last year, and Hitzlsperger is the latest high-profile sports person to speak about their sexuality in public.
Tennis star Martina Navratilova came out publicly as gay in 1981 while John Amaechi was the first NBA (National Basketball Association) player in the US to openly admit to being gay in 2007.
Love life: Hitzlsperger pictured with his former partner Inga Totzauer at home in Sutton Coldfield in March 2002
Another announcement: Former Leeds United and US winger Robbie Rogers said he was gay last year
Ex-Wales rugby union captain Gareth Thomas, plus England and Surrey wicketkeeper Steven Davies, have both also come out in the last five years.
Olympic boxing gold medallist Nicola Adams topped the Independent's annual 'Pink List' poll of influential lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in November 2012.
'I want to move the discussion about homosexuality among professional sportspeople forwards'
Thomas Hitzlsperger
And last month Tom Daley revealed he was in a relationship with a man, while two other Olympic divers have previously come out.
Australian Matthew Mitcham announced he was gay in 2008 shortly before he won a gold medal at the Beijing Olympics.
And four-time Olympic diving champion Greg Louganis revealed he was gay following his retirement in 1995. The full interview with Hitzlsperger will be published in the Die Zeit newspaper on Thursday.
Chris Basiurski, chair of the Gay Football Supporters' Network, said: 'We really welcome this news.
Gay sports stars: Last month Olympic diver Tom Daley (left) revealed he was in a relationship with a man. And Olympic boxing gold medallist Nicola Adams (right) topped a list of influential LGBT people in November 2012
Early death: Former England Under-21 international Justin Fashanu was the first professional footballer in Britain to come out in 1990 before he took his own life eight years later, aged 37
‘It shows that we are moving one step closer to creating that atmosphere in football where players at all levels would be able to come out should they want to, safely and free from discrimination.
'In 2014 it shouldn't be an issue that a pro footballer is gay. Sadly it still is, therefore, huge credit to Thomas Hitzlsperger'
Jake Humphrey, BT Sport presenter
‘We hope that one day current players would feel able to come out and that eventually a player’s sexual orientation will not be a news story. But for now, we wish Thomas Hitzlsperger well.’
And a spokesman for campaign group Stonewall told BBC Sport today: 'It's fantastic that he has been brave enough to openly discuss his sexual orientation.
'Every sports star who is willing to speak out makes it just that little bit easier for gay players and fans, and we hope, a new generation of footballers will feel confident enough to be themselves.'
OTHER GAY SPORTS STARS WHO TOOK THE DECISION TO GO PUBLIC
Justin Fashanu (football) - Britain's first black footballer to command a £1million transfer fee was also the first top-flight player to publicly admit his homosexuality. He came out in 1990 - in the dressing room his sexuality was less of a secret, and a clash of personalities with Nottingham Forest manager Brian Clough contributed to his decline. After admitting he was gay, Fashanu struggled to reignite an already stuttering career, and retired in 1997, blaming his downfall on prejudice in the English game. He committed suicide in May 1998 aged 37.
Greg Louganis (diving) - The American won a silver medal at the 1976 Olympic Games and followed that with a brace of golds in 1984 and 1988. Louganis' autobiography, which spent five weeks at number one on the New York Times best-seller list on its release in 1995, detailed his rise to global prominence and subsequent decision to come out as a homosexual living with HIV.
Martina Navratilova (tennis) - The Czech-born nine-time Wimbledon champion came out publicly as gay in 1981, a short time after she was granted US citizenship. The decision hit her sponsorship revenues. ‘Prior to being a [US] citizen, I couldn't speak my mind about being gay,’ she said. ‘But since then I have pretty much said what I think, which has cost me dearly in endorsements.’
Donal Og Cusack (hurling) - The much-decorated Irish star is one of the leading lights of the fast-paced Gaelic game, and became the first elite Irish sportsman to reveal he was gay in his autobiography, 'Come What May', released last year. ‘Whatever you may feel about me or who I am, I've always been at peace with it,’ he wrote.
John Amaechi (basketball) - The American-born Briton was the first NBA player to openly admit to being gay in 2007. The 6ft 10in star used his autobiography, Man In The Middle, to make public his sexuality, and admitted afterwards the reaction from the public had been encouraging, saying: ‘I can't say there hasn't been any negative reaction at all, because there has. But I've been wildly overwhelmed by the positives.’
Gareth Thomas (rugby union) - Thomas, who was Wales' most-capped player and a former British and Irish Lions captain, publicly announced he was gay in December 2009 at the age of 35. He said: ‘I just want to thank everyone for the amazing response I have received, on behalf of me, my family and friends. I hope that by saying this I can make a big difference to others in my situation. But for now, I just want to focus on being a rugby player.’
Steven Davies (cricket) - The England and Surrey wicketkeeper became the first active professional cricketer to openly admit to being gay in February 2011. Davies, whose friends and family had known for five years and who had told his England team-mates the previous year, told The Sun: ‘I'm comfortable with who I am - and happy to say who I am in public. To speak out is a massive relief for me, but if I can just help one person to deal with their sexuality then that's all I care about.’ Davies, now 27, has played eight one-day internationals and five Twenty20 internationals for England.
Robbie Rogers (soccer) - Former Leeds winger and United States international Rogers revealed he was gay in February 2013 and at the same time announced his retirement from football at the age of 25. He wrote on his blog that he had been afraid of revealing his sexuality, adding: ‘Now is my time to step away. It's time to discover myself away from football.’ Four months after his announcement Rogers resumed his playing career by signing for the Los Angeles Galaxy.
Tom Daley (diving) - Daley, who won bronze in the men's 10 metre platform competition at the London 2012 Olympics, revealed in December 2013 that he was in a relationship with a man. The 19-year-old made the announcement in a self-made Youtube clip, saying: ‘Come spring this year my life changed massively when I met someone and they made me feel so happy, so safe and everything just feels great - and that someone is a guy. Of course I still fancy girls but right now I'm dating a guy and I couldn't be happier.’
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i don't know
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Chittagong beach in Bangladesh is famous for?
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Chittagong Ship-breaking Yards – Bhatiari, Bangladesh | Atlas Obscura
See more things to do in Bangladesh »
Hundreds of meters long, ferrying millions of tons of goods across the globe, the sheer size of these immense vessels is awe inspiring. Construction of one such behemoth is a fascinating feat of engineering. However, the destruction and final resting place of these steel giants is even more intriguing.
Even when such a ship is not seaworthy anymore, and repairs are not economically viable, the raw material it is constructed from has some value. Nowadays ship-breaking yards tend to be located in third world countries, places far out of sight of the consumers whose supermarkets they helped supply, and where labor is cheap and environmental protection laws are lax.
There ships are chipped down bit by bit, usually by hand, and stripped of every last bit of value. Fauzdarhat, 20 kilometers northwest of Chittagong in Bangladesh, is where many of the world’s ships go to die.
Over twenty ship-breaking yards dot the 16 miles of coastline. It is an industrial wasteland of epic proportions, where thousands of workers are forced to scratch their meager existence out of these hulking steel ruins, working with rudimentary protection, risking injury and illness, poisoned by toxic fumes and exposure to asbestos and other hazardous materials.
Chittagong is but one of many such places. Gadani in Pakistan is perhaps even larger. Alang in Gujarat in India is another.
Environmental groups such as Greenpeace have tried to raise awareness of the threat that these ship-breaking yards pose to both the people employed in them and to the environment. There is some hope that public pressure will force major shipping companies to make greater use of so called “Green Ship Recycling” facilities in developed countries.
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Ship breaking
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Who was the last English monarch to win the throne on the battlefield?
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Chittagong Ship-breaking Yards – Bhatiari, Bangladesh | Atlas Obscura
See more things to do in Bangladesh »
Hundreds of meters long, ferrying millions of tons of goods across the globe, the sheer size of these immense vessels is awe inspiring. Construction of one such behemoth is a fascinating feat of engineering. However, the destruction and final resting place of these steel giants is even more intriguing.
Even when such a ship is not seaworthy anymore, and repairs are not economically viable, the raw material it is constructed from has some value. Nowadays ship-breaking yards tend to be located in third world countries, places far out of sight of the consumers whose supermarkets they helped supply, and where labor is cheap and environmental protection laws are lax.
There ships are chipped down bit by bit, usually by hand, and stripped of every last bit of value. Fauzdarhat, 20 kilometers northwest of Chittagong in Bangladesh, is where many of the world’s ships go to die.
Over twenty ship-breaking yards dot the 16 miles of coastline. It is an industrial wasteland of epic proportions, where thousands of workers are forced to scratch their meager existence out of these hulking steel ruins, working with rudimentary protection, risking injury and illness, poisoned by toxic fumes and exposure to asbestos and other hazardous materials.
Chittagong is but one of many such places. Gadani in Pakistan is perhaps even larger. Alang in Gujarat in India is another.
Environmental groups such as Greenpeace have tried to raise awareness of the threat that these ship-breaking yards pose to both the people employed in them and to the environment. There is some hope that public pressure will force major shipping companies to make greater use of so called “Green Ship Recycling” facilities in developed countries.
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i don't know
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In classical painting a putto (plural putti) is a baby what?
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Where did the idea that Cherubs were baby Angels originate? - Christianity Stack Exchange
Where did the idea that Cherubs were baby Angels originate?
up vote 9 down vote favorite
I know of no Scriptural basis for Cherubs being baby Angels, or in fact that any Angels are infants. Additionally I find no reference to Cupid who is depicted as a infant with wings and bow and arrows anywhere in the Bible? If anyone is aware of any such Scriptures please inform me.
4
Cupid is a Greek/Roman mythology. Nothing to do with Angels. No relation with Christianity, I think. – Mawia Nov 30 '13 at 18:55
up vote 7 down vote accepted
You are correct that the Bible does not consider angels to look like babies with wings. Angels sometimes appear in human form, or in some inexplicable and terrifying guise. Also, Cupid/Eros is part of classical mythology - and he is more typically an adolescent rather than a baby, though both images are possible. Generic "flying baby" images may represent nature spirits of some kind. This iconography was known to Renaissance artists via the survival of classical statuary, and adapted into Christian art. Its popularity at this time is largely due to the influence of Donatello, although there are many examples prior to him (Inventing the Renaissance Putto, Charles Dempsey, UNC Press 2001).
Properly speaking, the flying baby is a putto (plural putti). There are variants, like panisci who are the compatriots of the god Pan; spiritelli who are general nature spirits or fairies; and so on. They all generally play a supporting role, doing things like holding up garlands of flowers, playing miniature musical instruments, carrying important people on clouds, or just flitting around the edge of a painting; though there are also works where they are the subject. Important variants include the flying baby head (maybe with six wings, maybe with just two), and the cloudy/ghostly/translucent putto.
Here are a couple of examples of these. My first example is Madonna and Child with Seraphim and Cherubim by Andrea Mantegna , c. 1460. You can see that the background of the painting is entirely full of winged baby heads. They function here like an aureole (a sort of whole-body halo that surrounds particularly holy people); instead of abstract glowing rays, we have a mass of angels. Another incredibly famous example is the Sistine Madonna of Raphael, 1512. In an enlarged version of the image , it can be seen that the cloudy background is actually composed of angelic faces. The two putti at the bottom are more "conventional", and probably immediately recognizable. The background angels are part of the heavenly vision - transcendent and immaterial - while the foreground pair are a playful bridge between the painting-world and the exterior world. So in these examples, we see a spectrum of uses of the image, from alien to friendly.
Theologically - if there is any real theological justification behind artistic appropriation of classical myth - the portrayal of angels as children emphasizes their benevolence and innocence (ie, lack of sin). Simply put, they are meant to look cute. On the other hand, the flying heads are quite un-cute to my eyes: the adorable baby head is in an odd context, creating a striking dissonance which is suggestive of the sheer incomprehensibility of the Biblical angel, even if it's not a literal depiction. I'm thinking of the Ezekiel/Revelation kind of thing, which actually are cherubim, כְּרוּבִים. We can probably point to Donatello for the habit of showing angels as winged children, though to be fair his putti aren't as schmalzy as some more recent examples.
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Angel
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The Russian Sukhoi Company is famous for making what?
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putto, amorino Definition - Creative Glossary
Creative Glossary
General
putto, amorino definition
A putto (plural putti) is a plumb, often clotheless male child; such infants are frequently included in artwork from the 1400s. Sometimes putti have wings, but they are not the same as cherubim which are angels. Putti are non-religious in nature and represent a secular passion. When a putto is used to portray a cupid, it is referred to as an amorino. On the other hand, putto gradually came to be known as a symbol of God's omniprescence in Baroque art. In the ancient classical world of art, infants with wings where thought to impact people's lives. Putti were generally not used during the Middle Ages. However, during the 1420s a man named Donatello from Florence brought putti back in a big way and is credited with reinventing putti during the time of the Renaissance. He used putti in art with Christian messages, sometimes using them as angels playing music.
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i don't know
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Actor Tom Conti was found to descend from Napoleon Bonaparte after analysis of?
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Scottish lecturer may be 'grandfather of all Britons'
You are here: Home » Lifestyle » Scottish lecturer may be 'grandfather of all Britons'
Scottish lecturer may be 'grandfather of all Britons'
London, Jul 1, 2012,(PTI)
Meet the grandfather of all Britons: Ian Kinnaird, a 72-year-old retired lecturer of Scotland is directly descended from the first woman on Earth, who lived some 190,000 years ago, researchers claim.
Kinnaird, who undertook a DNA test to find out where his ancestors came from, was stunned when it was found that he inherits a genetic marker from his mother that traces his ancestry to an African lineage that has not been found before in Western Europe.
Researchers, who carried out the tests, said in genetic terms, the result meant that Kinnaird was a "thoroughbred", and could be described as the "grandson of Eve, or the grandfather of everyone in Britain".
They were so surprised by the results that they phoned Kinnaird, a widower who lives in the far north of Scotland, and told him that his mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), which passed through the female line, was 30,000 years old and only two genetic mutations removed from the first woman. Most men have a genome with around 200 mutations since the earliest humans.
"It is an astonishing result and means he could have been in the 'Garden of Eden'," said Alistair Moffat of St Andrews University and co-founder of the DNA project "Britain's DNA".
"It's further proof that even white Anglo-Saxon Protestants are descended from a black Eve," Moffat was quoted as saying by the Daily Telegraph.
The tests also showed that Kinnaird's "fatherline" is Scandinavian and he carries a YDNA marker which is found in a quarter of Norwegian men.
The DNA project has now tested 2,000 people across the UK and most have markers that trace their ancestry back up to 3,500 years. These defined them as descendants of various groups including the earliest Britons, the Ancient Irish, Vikings, hunter gatherers and cave painters.
The project aims to map Britain's "family tree" and has previously found that the actor Tom Conti shared an ancestor with Napoleon Bonaparte.
Speaking of the findings, Kinnaird, who taught at the North Highland College in Thurso, said he was interested in history but had no particular expectations when he paid 200 pounds for the test.
"I have led an unremarkable life until now but my computer has been red hot since I was told. This is a real gobsmacker," he said.According to researchers, Kinnaird's L1B1 genetic marker will also be carried by his 65-year-old sister Jean, a retired teacher, and the daughter she had at the age of 17.
Describing Kinnaird as a "remarkable" individual, Moffat said: "This lineage appears in Africa, in Senegal, but has never been seen in north-west Europe. It's likely to have reached Britain through the arrival of slaves in Liverpool."
He added: "A woman who might be called Eve and a man who might be called Adam really existed. Eve, the mother of all of us, lived around 190,000 years ago just as homo sapiens were evolving. Other women lived at the same time but only Eve's mtDNA survived
"Adam also lived in central Africa, perhaps only 140,000 years ago. Only his YDNA survived to father all of the male lineages on Earth."
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Human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup
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What was the previous brand-name of the Nissan automotive corporation?
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Scottish lecturer may be 'grandfather of all Britons'
You are here: Home » Lifestyle » Scottish lecturer may be 'grandfather of all Britons'
Scottish lecturer may be 'grandfather of all Britons'
London, Jul 1, 2012,(PTI)
Meet the grandfather of all Britons: Ian Kinnaird, a 72-year-old retired lecturer of Scotland is directly descended from the first woman on Earth, who lived some 190,000 years ago, researchers claim.
Kinnaird, who undertook a DNA test to find out where his ancestors came from, was stunned when it was found that he inherits a genetic marker from his mother that traces his ancestry to an African lineage that has not been found before in Western Europe.
Researchers, who carried out the tests, said in genetic terms, the result meant that Kinnaird was a "thoroughbred", and could be described as the "grandson of Eve, or the grandfather of everyone in Britain".
They were so surprised by the results that they phoned Kinnaird, a widower who lives in the far north of Scotland, and told him that his mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), which passed through the female line, was 30,000 years old and only two genetic mutations removed from the first woman. Most men have a genome with around 200 mutations since the earliest humans.
"It is an astonishing result and means he could have been in the 'Garden of Eden'," said Alistair Moffat of St Andrews University and co-founder of the DNA project "Britain's DNA".
"It's further proof that even white Anglo-Saxon Protestants are descended from a black Eve," Moffat was quoted as saying by the Daily Telegraph.
The tests also showed that Kinnaird's "fatherline" is Scandinavian and he carries a YDNA marker which is found in a quarter of Norwegian men.
The DNA project has now tested 2,000 people across the UK and most have markers that trace their ancestry back up to 3,500 years. These defined them as descendants of various groups including the earliest Britons, the Ancient Irish, Vikings, hunter gatherers and cave painters.
The project aims to map Britain's "family tree" and has previously found that the actor Tom Conti shared an ancestor with Napoleon Bonaparte.
Speaking of the findings, Kinnaird, who taught at the North Highland College in Thurso, said he was interested in history but had no particular expectations when he paid 200 pounds for the test.
"I have led an unremarkable life until now but my computer has been red hot since I was told. This is a real gobsmacker," he said.According to researchers, Kinnaird's L1B1 genetic marker will also be carried by his 65-year-old sister Jean, a retired teacher, and the daughter she had at the age of 17.
Describing Kinnaird as a "remarkable" individual, Moffat said: "This lineage appears in Africa, in Senegal, but has never been seen in north-west Europe. It's likely to have reached Britain through the arrival of slaves in Liverpool."
He added: "A woman who might be called Eve and a man who might be called Adam really existed. Eve, the mother of all of us, lived around 190,000 years ago just as homo sapiens were evolving. Other women lived at the same time but only Eve's mtDNA survived
"Adam also lived in central Africa, perhaps only 140,000 years ago. Only his YDNA survived to father all of the male lineages on Earth."
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i don't know
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As at 2012 the European Union comprises how many member states?
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Public Opinion analysis - Homepage - European Commission
Standard Eurobarometer 83
Standard Eurobarometer 83 survey (EB83), was carried out between 16 and 27 May 2015 in 34 countries or territories: the 28 European Union (EU) Member States, five candidate countries (the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkey, Montenegro, Serbia and Albania) and the Turkish Cypriot Community in the part of the country that is not controlled by the government of the Republic of Cyprus.
The survey includes topics such as the European political situation and the economy. It analyses how Europeans perceive their political institutions, both national governments and parliaments, and the EU and its institutions. It also examines whether EU citizens feel that their voice counts in the EU. It looks at the main concerns of Europeans at national and at European level and considers how respondents perceive the current economic situation, what they expect for the next twelve months and their opinions of the euro. Finally, it addresses the question of European citizenship, while the fifth part focuses on Europeans’ opinions on priority issues: investment, industry, energy, trade and migration.
Data protection
In January 2012, the European Commission proposed a comprehensive reform of data protection rules in the EU. The objective is to make data protection rules fit for the digital age by putting citizens back in control over of their personal data and simplifying the regulatory environment for business. The completion of this reform is a key priority for 2015 and a key enabler of the Digital Single Market project , which aims to empower European citizens and businesses to fully seize the opportunities of the digital economy.
The Eurobarometer survey, conducted in March 2015, asked 28,000 EU citizens what they think about the protection of their personal data. The overall conclusion of the survey shows that the protection of personal data remains a very important concern for citizens, as it was when the Commission presented the reform in 2012. Its outcome confirms the need to finalise the data protection reform.
Autonomous Systems
This Eurobarometer survey is about people's perception of robots, autonomous cars and drones. With these technologies becoming more mainstream, it is important to understand what people think and to assess the extent to which people will accept robots performing certain functions. It builds on a previous study conducted in 2012, and looks at ways in which attitudes may have changed over the last two years.
Introduction of the euro in the Member States that have not yet adopted the common currency
For this survey carried out in April 2015, some 7 000 respondents in the seven EU Member States that have yet to join the euro (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Croatia, Sweden) were interviewed by phone. Citizens from different social and demographic groups replied to a set of questions focusing on issues ranging from their perception of and support for the introduction of the euro in their country, to how well citizens felt informed about the common currency. Questions included how citizens saw the consequences for themselves, their country, and for those countries which already have adopted the euro. Other questions looked at how and where citizens wished to be informed and what type of information they considered most important.
This survey for the first time included Sweden, which joined the EU at least nine years prior to the other EU countries covered in this survey. Therefore, the average that comprises all seven countries should be compared to previous editions of this study with caution. Opinion now appears equally divided over the issue of whether or not to introduce the euro, as 49% of respondents are in favour and 48% are against. Support for the introduction of the euro in the individual countries varies considerably between 29% in the Czech Republic and 68% in Romania.
The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union
This Eurobarometer accompanies the Report on the Application of the Charter of Fundamental Rights. Questions asked concentrate on citizens' awareness of the Charter, its scope of application and the institutions that would be solicited in cases of non-respect of citizens' rights. The report presents the differences between EU countries, socio-demographic groups and the European average.
Qualitative survey about Public Opinion on Future Innovations, Science and Technology
This study aims to get a better understanding of Europeans’ opinion about the innovations brought about in society by science and technology. It tested a range of innovations that could be applied 15 years from now in the everyday life of citizens in Europe, and to understand participants’ preferences and reactions in this regard.
This study shows that citizens have different expectations with regard to the impacts of scientific and technological innovation. While positive about scientific and technological innovation generally, citizens hold the view that it can lead to unemployment and social exclusion.
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27
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Loss of temper or sudden uncontrollable rage is called metaphorically as 'the (what colour) mist'?
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From 6 to 28 members - European Commission
From 6 to 28 members
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From 6 to 28 members
From 6 to 28 members
From 6 to 28 members
The EU is a unique economic and political partnership between 28 European countries that together cover much of the continent.
It was created in the aftermath of the Second World War. The first steps were to foster economic cooperation: the idea being that countries who trade with one another become economically interdependent and so more likely to avoid conflict.
In 1951, six countries founded the European Coal and Steel Community, and later, in 1957, the European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy Community:
Belgium
Luxembourg
the Netherlands
A further 22 countries have since joined the EU, including a historic expansion in 2004 marking the re-unification of Europe after decades of division:
The history of the European Union
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After Slovenia, Croatia is the second country from ex-Yugoslavia to join the EU. The European perspective remains open to the entire Western Balkans region.
Two more countries from eastern Europe, Bulgaria and Romania, join the EU, bringing the number of member states to 27 countries.
Ten new countries join the EU: Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. This was the largest single enlargement in terms of people, and number of countries.
Austria, Finland and Sweden join the EU. The 15 members now cover almost the whole of western Europe.
Spain and Portugal become members
Membership of the EU reaches double figures when Greece joins. It has been eligible to join since its military regime was overthrown and democracy restored in 1974.
Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom join the European Union, raising the number of member states to nine.
The organisation founded in 1957 which is now known as the European Union, originally had six members: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
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The mariachi musical style/band belongs to which country?
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Best Mariachi Music - YouTube
Best Mariachi Music
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Uploaded on Mar 16, 2011
Mariachi is a genre of music that originated in the State of Jalisco, in Western Mexico. It is an integration of stringed instruments highly influenced by the cultural impacts of the historical development of Western Mexico. Throughout the history of mariachi, musicians have experimented with brass, wind, and percussion instruments. In addition, sociohistorical factors have influenced the repertoire in terms of the performance of diverse regional song forms as well as the evolution of the performance attire. Mariachi is important to the study of Mexican music because, as an ensemble created during the colonial period, it found its essence during the postcolonial era, blossomed during the nationalist era, and made a global impact during contemporary times. Throughout this development, particularly since the nationalist era, mariachi music has become emblematic of Mexican music by appropriating various Mexican regional song forms, experimenting in popular radio programs, appearing in the first Mexican films, and performing during presidential campaigns (Loza 1993, Turino 2003, Sheehy 2005, de la Mora 2006, Jáuregui 2007).
The term "Mariachi" is said to be an adaptation of the French word for marriage or wedding "mariage" as this type of musical formation used to play at such events. This traces from the 19th century during the reign of Maximilian I of Mexico (Archduke Maximilian of Austria) and the influence of Napoleon III over Mexico.
The mariachi ensemble generally consists of violins, trumpets, a classical guitar, a vihuela (a high-pitched, five-string guitar), a guitarrón (a large acoustic bass) and, on occasion, a harp or two. They dress in silver studded charro outfits with wide-brimmed hats. The original Mariachi were Mexican street musicians or buskers. Many mariachis are professional entertainers doing paid gigs in the mainstream entertainment industry. Professionals are normally skilled at more than one instrument, and they also sing. They sometimes accompany ranchera singers such as Vicente Fernandez or even pop star Luis Miguel. Although ranchera singers dress in a traje de charro (Charro suit), they are not mariachis. Besides the typical instrumentation, mariachi music, as well as many other forms of traditional Mexican music, is also noted for the grito mexicano, a yell that is done at musical interludes within a song, either by the musicians and/or the listening audience.
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Mexico
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Name the Bosnian Serb army commander tried at The Hague in 2012 for war crimes against Bosnia 1992-95?
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A Ballad of Linda Ronstadt, Mariachi Champion - The New York Times
The New York Times
Music |Once a Rock Star, Now a Matriarch of Mariachi
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SAN FRANCISCO
EVEN now, lounging around her apartment at the age of 62, wearing Mephisto slippers and a far-from-revealing hoodie, Linda Ronstadt is thinking back to a summer in Guadalajara when she was 12, and a light-haired Mexican boy named Mario.
“I would flirt with him,” she recalls wryly, her come-hither eyes and heart-shaped lips still echoing the days when she was decreed “Rock’s Venus” by Rolling Stone. “One night I heard music and ran to the window. I peeked through the curtain, and there was Mario with two taxis full of mariachis serenading me with firecrackers.”
To Ms. Ronstadt, whose roots are deeply embedded in Mexican soil, it was the ultimate seduction. “These are big-voiced songs, filled with the exuberance of nature, the fertility of the earth, love and romance,” she says of mariachi music, the focus of much of her artistic passion since she abdicated the throne of rock Venus-dom in the early ’80s. “They’re about growing the land, and romance blooming in that context. The songs are more complex sexually, I think, than the romantic love we grew up on.”
A mistress of self-reinvention who likens her resolve to “a Mexican crossed with a Sherman tank,” Ms. Ronstadt’s post-“Heart Like a Wheel” career has included pop standards with Nelson Riddle, Gilbert & Sullivan’s “Pirates of Penzance” onstage for Joseph Papp (she was nominated for a Tony), twangy Appalachia (with Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris), French Cajun (her recent “Adieu False Heart” with Ann Savoy) and of course, with “Canciones de Mi Padre,” mariachi — which reconnected her to her Tucson childhood as the granddaughter of a German-Mexican mining engineer and rancher whose mariachi band serenaded the populace from a now-defunct bandstand in the city’s central plaza.
Continue reading the main story
Today Ms. Ronstadt, whose zeal for eclecticism extends to her décor — a cross between the Hubbell Trading Post in Arizona and Mario Buatta — is transforming herself again, this time as the consulting artistic and educational director of the Mexican Heritage Plaza’s 17th Annual San Jose Mariachi and Latin Music Festival in San Jose, Calif. Next Saturday she will perform there with artists like Lila Downs and Aida Cuevas as part of a tribute to three dead mariachi divas, including her own musical heroine, Lola Beltran.
Photo
Linda Ronstadt has embraced the 17th Annual San Jose Mariachi and Latin Music Festival. Credit Josie Lepe/San Jose Mercury News
The event, which runs through Sept. 28, is one of dozens of mariachi festivals and conferences that have flourished around the country since the San Antonio International Mariachi Conference was founded in 1979. Since then the festivals have become a Latino cultural phenomenon, drawing thousands of fans annually to places like Tucson; Albuquerque; Fresno, Calif.; Wenatchee, Wash.; and the Hollywood Bowl. Most notably they have become a mecca for young Mexican-American musicians dressed in “trajes de charro,” traditional spangled outfits with butterfly-shaped ties and sombreros, who come for hands-on workshops with celebrity masters like Nati Cano and Randy and Steve Carrillo of Mariachi Cobre. For young mariachis it is the equivalent of studying guitar with Keith Richards and vocals with Mick Jagger.
“There’s a totally different energy exchanged,” Ms. Ronstadt says of the mariachi scene, which draws entire extended families, as opposed to single-generation rock audiences. “There’s not some drunk yelling out ‘Heat Wave’ when you were singing ‘Heart Like a Wheel.’ ”
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In conversation Ms. Ronstadt’s migraine-inducing intelligence can ricochet in a heartbeat from the long-chain amino acids found in nopal juice, used by traditional Mexican builders to fortify plaster, to the musical influence of Jiminy Cricket (“his falsetto was a killer”). She is no shrinking violet, having made international headlines in Las Vegas four years ago when she ran afoul of the Aladdin Resort & Casino management for calling the “Fahrenheit 9/11” director Michael Moore a “patriot.” (On Republicans her general stance is: You’re no good.)
Though its precise origins are sketchy, mariachi emerged in northwestern Mexican state of Jalisco in the late 19th century, sung by musicians who traveled from village to village for saints days and fiestas. During the Mexican revolution mariachi soldiers played corridas to Pancho Villa and other heroes; afterward the rousing melodies incorporating indigenous rhythms became a patriotic symbol of Mexican nationhood.
Despite its prominence, including the “singing charro” movies and radio broadcasts of the 1930s, the genre was viewed as slightly déclassé, its musicians as “human jukeboxes regurgitating whatever tune the customer requested,” in the words of Daniel Sheehy, acting director of the Smithsonian Latino Center and director of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings.
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Linda Ronstadt, in her San Francisco home, is serving as the consulting artistic and educational director of the Mariachi and Latin Music Festival. Credit Peter DaSilva for The New York Times
It was in America, unexpectedly perhaps, that the image began to change. Almost 30 years ago the San Antonio conference, spawned by the Chicano movement, helped legitimize the musicians as marquee performers and inspire inclusion of mariachi in national music education. Today some 500 public schools offer mariachi classes along with choir and orchestra.
“It was a cultural and educational breakthrough, putting a new frame around an old music and Mexican culture on the main stage of American society,” Mr. Sheehy said.
Ms. Ronstadt used her stardom to raise the profile of Mexican music. “Canciones de Mi Padre,” released in 1987 and her first album of traditional mariachi music, became the biggest selling non-English album in United States history at the time, with sales of more than two million copies. The next year it was adapted for a Broadway show, in which she appeared in full Mexican costume, complete with fake braids.
“She put us on center stage,” said Mr. Cano, 75, a national heritage fellow who recently performed with the mezzo-soprano Suzanna Guzmán and the Mexico City Philharmonic in Los Angeles. “After Linda mariachis became popular in concert halls, not just at the cantinas and the piñata parties.”
Through the music of her father and grandfather, Ms. Ronstadt seemed finally to inhabit herself, like Peter Pan finding his shadow. On the radio the soulful melodies of traditional mariachi ensembles still lie under the radar, though individual artists accompanied by mariachi bands, like Vicente Fernández, regularly top the Latin charts. For many Mexican-Americans, mariachi remains the emotional soundtrack of daily life, performed at baptisms, weddings, birthday parties, funerals.
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Performers at the mariachi festival this month have included Los Tigres del Norte, with fans. Credit Josie Lepe/San Jose Mercury News
“It wasn’t being played commercially,” observed José Ronstadt, Linda’s cousin, the festival M.C. and a Telemundo news anchor in Los Angeles. (He calls himself as “the talking Ronstadt.”) “But it was still being played in the heart.”
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The music emanates a sense of place, where young couples stroll arm in arm and dance under strings of lights in village plazas. “There’s a lot of homesickness in Mexican music, a profound yearning because of the need to migrate, which is why I relate to it so much,” Ms. Ronstadt said, sitting on her chintz sofa sipping tea, her drug of choice. “I left home when I was 17, and it was quite a wrench. I was homesick my whole life.”
To hear her talk about her girlhood memories — the smell of wool on the Navajo blanket she would lie on as she begged her parents to sing, her father on the guitar and her mother on the banjo — is almost to forget about Ms. Ronstadt’s other life. That’s the one with the platinums and Grammys, the much-publicized romances with George Lucas and Jerry Brown, the Annie Leibowitz photo of her flung across her bed in a harlot-red camisole that she now somewhat disdainfully calls the “sprawling picture.”
For Ms. Ronstadt being a rock star was something of an out-of-body experience, despite being one of her generation’s sexiest brunettes. She compares the Troubadour in West Hollywood, Calif., during the mid-’60s through the mid-’70s to the Weimar Republic in Germany, “when no one had a dowry, thus rendering virginity unimportant.” She continues: “Were we supposed to be earth mothers hoeing the garden and having babies, or be tough and knock back Southern Comforts like Janis Joplin? It was a hard thing to figure out.”
Unlike Bonnie Raitt, Joni Mitchell and Ms. Harris, contemporaries she reveres, Ms. Ronstadt was marketed as “this sexualized being, somebody else’s version of me walking around with my name,” she said. “It became a strange distortion. Eventually I had to put out the complete version of who I was.”
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In 1988 Ronstadt appeared on Broadway in Canciones de Mi Padre, based on her album of that name. Credit George Rose/Getty Images
She moved back to Tucson, literally and musically, adopting two children — Mary Clementine, now 17, and Carlos, now 14 — when she was in her early 40s. She has never married. “I’m very bad at compromise, and there’s a lot of compromise in marriage,” she says. “Even swans aren’t as monogamous as they say.”
She is not a having-it-all mom, deciding early to limit her touring so that Mary, who is into fashion design, and Carlos, who likes Rob Zombie and Motorhead, would not become “tour sausages.” In Tucson, where she grew up in a large musical family — the von Trapps with cactuses — she had hoped to give her children a life resembling her own, in which boys and girls rode ponies to the drugstore to buy a Coke. But that Tucson is long gone now. “People knew who my father was and who my grandfather was and whether they welshed on their deals,” she said. “That was very important to me. That’s very hard to establish now.”
So though she maintains a house in Tucson, she moved with the children back to her old neighborhood here in San Francisco, a place with sidewalks where she had lived during much of the ’80s. She keeps her recent Alma Award from the National Council of La Raza in the living room and her Grammys in the basement.
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She has been running around San Jose with gusto, a mariachi ambassador and talent nurturer whose recent presence at a community garden in a low-income neighborhood brought to mind Princess Grace in Monaco. (Only this princess asked the gardeners, “Does Monsanto come and break your legs if you save seed?”)
She has embarked on a mission to green the festival with seminars on traditional straw-bale construction and organic tacos, calling the prevalence of diabetes in the Latino community — she is borderline herself — a “murder machine.”
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Pepe Aguilar Credit Josie Lepe/San Jose Mercury News
In recent years the festival — which drew 40,000 people last year — and the nonprofit Mexican Heritage Corporation have engendered controversy among mariachis by expanding beyond the pure form to incorporate other Latin-music headliners. This year they include Ms. Downs, a Latin alternative artist; the norteño band Los Tigres del Norte; and Ersi Arvizu, a boxer-singer and product of the East Los Angeles sound. (Ms. Arvizu’s producer, Ry Cooder, will play backup.)
Marcela Davison Aviles, president and chief executive officer of the corporation, compared the mariachi festival to Mostly Mozart and said the genre “does not belong in a box, like some precious art object viewed from afar.”
It was Ms. Aviles, a Harvard and Stanford law graduate who grew up in Tucson, who brought in Ms. Ronstadt, hoping she would do for the festival what Plácido Domingo did for the Los Angeles Opera. (Both women were presented at the Tucson Cotillion, “but I went to Timothy Leary, and Marcela went to Harvard,” Ms. Ronstadt said.)
The singer herself, a voluminous reader, argues that mariachi has historically been “about roots and branches.” She is an unabashed fan of younger artists like Ms. Arvizu and Ms. Downs.
She continues to be involved in humanitarian groups like the Samaritan Patrol along the border in her beloved Sonoran Desert, where she cleans feet and applies bandages. “If there was a plane crash killing 100 people in the desert, there’d be an outcry,” she said. “But 100 people dying on foot? They don’t care.”
Even as she plans six shows this year and a new album with Ms. Savoy, the festival seems to be a funnel for her mile-a-minute mind as she spins ideas about green building workshops, sustainable agriculture demonstrations and a little eco-Mexico with organic green onions, fresh juices and guitarmakers from Paracho, in the Mexican state of Michoacán.
Touring the community garden in East San Jose the other day, chatting away about nitrogen in the soil amid rustling corn, Doña Linda was in her element.
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“At this point in my life, I’m not as single-mindedly focused on music,” she said. “I’m really focused on how do you stop erosion.”
Correction: September 28, 2008
An article and a picture caption last Sunday about Linda Ronstadt’s involvement in a mariachi festival in San Jose, Calif., misstated the name of the event. It is the 17th Annual San Jose Mariachi and Latin Music Festival, not the 17th Annual International Mariachi and Latin Music Festival. The article also misspelled the surname of a festival performer. She is Ersi Arvizu, not Arvisu.
A version of this article appears in print on , on Page AR1 of the New York edition with the headline: Once a Rock Star, Now a Matriarch Of Mariachi. Order Reprints | Today's Paper | Subscribe
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i don't know
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What Latin term refers (literally) to a writer or composer's 'great work'?
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Latin phrases glossary and listing - common and interesting Latin expressions, terminology, translations, meanings, origins glossary, usage in legal, business, science and English language
(with) the defendant being absent
(legal term) - in the absence of the accused
a capite ad calcem
thoroughly/completely/from top to bottom - more loosely expressed 'from head to toe'
Achilles (Achilles heel)
ancient Greek hero
weakness - (a Greek word used in Latin - the metaphor refers to the legend of the hero Achilles, as a baby held by the heel and dipped into the river Styx by his mother Thetis to make him immortal, leaving his heel vulnerable, such that when shot there by an arrow he died, hence the 'Achilles heel' or simply 'Achilles' is a person's main weakness)
acta est fabula
the drama has been acted out
it's all over/it's finished/the end
A.D. (anno domini)
in the year of the Lord
denotes that the year is since Christ's birth in the Julian and Gregorian calendars - contrasting with B.C. (Before Christ), which signifies years 'Before Christ', which are counted backwards - there is no zero year
ad hoc
improvised/devised/applied spontaneously or purely for the purpose ('just for this')
a fortiori
all the more so, with greater reason
ad hominem
personally directed - (as when criticizing someone)
ad infinitum
ad lib (ad libitum)
with freedom
freely, improvised, spontaneously created - now most commonly an instruction or freedom to 'improvise' in performance, communication
ad litteram
precisely/according to the 'letter of the law'
ad nauseam
to the point of causing nausea/unbearably tedious
a priori / a posteriori
from what comes before/ after
(these terms mainly refer to philosophical or mathematical assertions) - an 'a priori' fact is self-evident, known without need of direct specific experience/evidence (for example 'snow is cold') - an 'a posteriori' fact is based on observed evidence or experience, etc (for example snow fell in Ireland on [a particular date])
ad referendum (ad ref)
aged... or 'of the age...' (precedes the age of someone/something)
affidavit
he/she has declared under oath
a sworn statement made voluntarily by a person, recorded by a qualified person, usually for legal purposes, such as admission in a court case
agenda (agenda sunt or agendum est)
things that must be moved forward
list of items for a meeting, order of discussion, set of aims, motivational factors - agenda now has a wide range of meanings, after initially referring to a meeting schedule
Aiax/Ajax
a metaphor for size and stength
Albion
the ancient Greek word for Britain
alia iacta est / iacta alia est
the die is cast
the die is cast - beyond the point of possible return, fully committed come what may - see the die is cast and cross the Rubicon in cliches origins - the phrase is attributed to Julius Casear, 49BC, on his invasion of Rome from Gaul - as with many other Latin phrases the 'i' of iacta is alternatively a 'j', so that the word was/is jiacta (although some say Caesar spoke this phrase in Greek anyway..)
alias dictus (alias)
otherwise known as/also known as/aka
alibi
elsewhere
a submission or claim, typically supported by proof/evidence, that an accused person was at a different place from the scene and time of a crime
alieni generis
of a different kind/of another type
alpha
A (the letter)
denotes the first of something, for example alpha-male (dominant male), or alpha-test (the initial release of technology/software among developers, prior to finalizing specification/features and beta-test, being final testing among users)
alma mater
Master of Arts/MA/AM/(higher university degree)
aureo hamo piscari
to fish with a golden hook
'money talks'/money gets results
Aurora Borealis
goddess of the northern dawn
the 'Northern Lights' atmospheric display, at certain times in the night sky far north - Aurora is the Roman goddess of the dawn - Borealis meaning northen in Latin is taken from the Greek Boreas, god of the north wind - Aurora Australis is literally 'goddess of the southern dawn', and refers to the 'Southern Lights' (being the equivalent phenomenon in the southern hemisphere) - australis means southern in Latin
australis
the origin of the name Australia - from 'terra australis', southern land
ave Maria
beware, caution, take care, attention/beware of the dog
caveat
a stipulation, condition, warning, exclusion, limit, etc - typically in formal contracts, also in verbal agreements
caveat emptor
buyer beware/responsibility is with buyer
caveat venditor
seller beware/responsibility is with seller
cerebrum
brain
front part of brain - considered advanced compared with early human brains and additional to animal brains - hence cerebral refers to intellectual rather than emotional or physical thought/behaviour/effect
certiorari
to be made certain
a writ issued by a higher court for documents from a lower court for the purpose of reviewing the lower court process/decision
cetara desunt
parts of the (written/created) work have not been found (despite research)
ceteris (caeteris paribus)
all other things being equal
assuming that no external factors alter the central question/point, conditional on there being no effect from variable external elements - (a qualifying statement establishing fixed conditions around a proposition, to enable a firm argument to be made)
citius altius fortius
motto of the modern Olympic games
confer (cf.)
compare (with)/see also (as appears widely in dictionaries, etc)
circa (ca. or c.)
about/approximately/roughly (referring to a quantity, date, time, etc)
codex
cogito ergo sum
I think therefore I exist
I think therefore I exist, or I think therefore I am - (originally recorded by French philosopher René Descartes, 1596-1650 - in Discourse on the Method, part IV, 1637-44, written mostly in French but with parts in Latin)
coitus interruptus
withdrawal before ejaculation (for contraception or other reason)
coitus more ferarum
sex in the way of wild beasts
(medical/humorous reference to) 'doggy style' sexual intercourse - historians assert that the expression in its Latin form was used in ancient Rome
compos mentis
in full possession of mental powers, sane (cf. non compos mentis)
con (contra)
cornu copiae
horn of plenty
cornucopia/abundance (from various Greek legends, most popularly: The baby Zeus, hiding from his baby-eating father Cronus, was suckled as an infant by a goat/nursemaid, Amalthea. Zeus, having the strength of a god, accidentally broke off one of Amalthea's horns, which he then endowed with the power to produce unending nourishment (and anything else desired) for its owner
corrigenda
(draws attention to) corrections required in a manuscript before publishing
cui bono/malo?
who will gain/lose?
who stands to benefit/lose (from a particular action/situation)? - expressions in criminal investigation or other speculation - in attempting to reveal motive/responsibility
cum grano salis
with a grain of salt
take (a comment) with a grain of salt/add a note of caution to a comment (in Roman times and more recent history too, salt was very valuable and symbolic of something not to regard lightly - Roman soldiers were paid in salt - salarium - hence the expression 'worth his salt' (someone is worthy of his/her wage)
(summa/magna) cum laude
traditionally highest/2nd, and 3rd grades in a US university degree
curriculum vitae
the course of (one's) life
a resume or job/personal history/(commonly abbreviated to CV)
cursor
positional marker on an electronic display
de bonis asportatis
old legal term for larceny, which has largely been superseded by the term theft
de bono et malo
(of a decision) come what may/for good or bad/'whatever'
decimus
from which 'decimate' originates - strictly
de dicto / de re
of (the) word / of (the) thing
(technical clarification of the nature of a statement so as to differentiate) - the wording of the statement/(as distinct from) the thing that the statement refers to - these are two contrasting terms used in philosophical discussion/works differentiating between the form of the statement and what the statement refers to - (while quite subtle and technical, these two terms are useful in highlighting the difference between the qualities of a statement as distinct from the truth or otherwise of what the statement seeks to convey) - for example many children's statements can be criticized 'de dicto', while being brilliant 'de re' - (note that there are more complex applications of these terms)
de die in diem (diem ex die)
from day to day
continuously/day in, day out/without a break
de facto
of fact
in reality/in practice (especially contrasted with something which exists in in a lesser way theory or in law, see de jure/iure)
dei gratia
by the grace of god
by the grace of god (traditionally implying a divine right, such as a monarch's title/status)
de jure (de iure)
(to be) utterly/helplessly/hopelessly in love (with someone/something)
divide et impera
divide your opponents to defeat them (a maxim adopted and popularized by Machiavelli)
doce ut discas
teach in order to learn
docendo discimus
we learn something by teaching it to others
doctus cum libro
having knowledge without practical experience
Domine, dirige nos
Lord/God, direct us (God is our guide) - traditional official motto of London
Dominus vobsicum/Dominus tecum
God be with you (plural)/God be with you (singular)
God be with you (all)/God be with you (to an individual) - a traditional way to say farewell or goodbye
dramatis personae
the persons of the drama
cast of characters (in a play or film, or situation, etc)
dum spiro spero
while I breathe, I hope
while there is life in me I can still hope
dum tacent clamant
though they are silent they cry aloud
their silence speaks volumes (usually referring to silence being an effective admission or indication of guilt or fault)
dum vita est spes est
while there is life there is hope
while there's life there's hope
dura mater
tough mother
(medical/biological term for) the outer membrane of the brain and spinal cord - the Latin term is itself derived from an earlier fuller Arabic term, loosely 'thick mother of the brain'
ecce homo
behold the man
considered by advocates, and represented by artists, of biblical history, as the words of Pontias Pilate in presenting Jesus Christ to the crowd after flagellation prior to crucifixion
ecce signum
behold the sign
look at the proof - examine the evidence - the proof is in front of you, so look at it
e contrario
on the contrary - actually, the opposite is true
editio cum notis variorum
edition with various notes
a technical academic/scholar term referring to a version of text which contains different interpretations and notes and comments from experts
editio princeps
the first printed edition (of a book especially)
e.g. (exempli gratia)
for the sake of example
for example, or for instance
emeritus
a soldier who has served his time honourably/honorably and earned his discharge
denoting the title holder (for example a professor) has retired and retains the title (plus the word 'emeritus') as a mark of having served with distinction - the original meaning derives from soldiers in the Roman army, from the verb 'mereri', to earn
emerita
(a relatively modern adaptation of the conventional emeritus male/general form above)
e pluribus unum
one out of (from) many
one (big thing) made from many smaller parts - motto of the USA
ergo
therefore
therefore - and so it follows that.. (linking a cause or situation with a result or conclusion)
errare humanum est
to err is human
people occasionally naturally make mistakes - popularized by Alexander Pope's 'An Essay on Criticism' which stated 'To err is human; to forgive, divine' - this is an acceptance of human weakness
et al (et alii/et aliae/et alia)
and others (abbreviation - male/female/neuter full versions)
and other men/women/factors (et al is the abbreviation - et alii is 'and other men'; et aliae is 'and other women'; et alia is 'and other things' - traditionally speech etiquette suggested that "...educated people do not ever actually say 'et al', instead they say 'and others'...")
etc (et cetera)
and so on - typically replacing potentially additional items in a listing of similar factors
et nunc et semper
ex astris scientia
from the stars, knowledge
'From the Stars, Knowledge' - a contrived retrospective Latin expression created as the maxim of the Starfleet Academy in the film/TV franchise Star Trek.
ex cathedra
from the chair
with authority - refers to statements made by experts, or claimed to be (cathedra referred to a teacher's chair before it more famously meant the Pope's chair)
excud (excudit)
he/she who struck this (made by)
made by... a traditional printer's or engraver's term preceding the name of the creator/maker/writer
ex dolo malo (ex dolo malo non oritur actio)
an action (in court) does not arise from fraud
a Latin legal term equating to 'fraud' - deriving distortedly from the full original sense that a court action cannot be viable if based on a fraud
excelsior
exeat
let him/her go forth
permission to be absent - traditionally an exeat granted permission for a priest to leave a monastery - the term also extended to absence from a university
exempli gratia (e.g.)
for the sake of example
for example, or for instance
ex facie
from the face
a legal term used typically when referring to an obviously unreliable document - the term in this context equates to 'obviously' or 'needing no further examination'
ex gratia
payment or reward given freely without obligation
exit
a single actor leaves the stage
ex libris
from the library of... (owner's name)
ex mero motu
out of pure simple impulse
spontaneously - (implication being no external influence)
ex nihilo nihil fit
ex parte
from a party
from one side only - only one side is represented at a legal hearing (the other side is absent)
ex pede Herculem
from the foot, a Hercules
from a small sample the whole thing can be estimated - an early principle of extrapolation or projection, said to derive from Pythagoras' calculations in estimating the size of Hercules from his foot size, in turn inferred from the scale of the Olympia stadium
experto credite
trust one who has the experience - from experience a person has credibility
ex post facto
from what happens afterwards
knowledge or law after an event applied retrospectively to the event - similar to 'with the benefit of hindsight', or the sense of 'knowing now what we did not know then'
exuent / exuent omnes
they go out / they all go out
they leave the stage - stage direction terminology
ex ungue leonem
from a claw, the lion
from a small sample the whole thing can be estimated - equating to ex pede Herculem
ex uno disce omnes
from a small sample the whole thing can be estimated - equating to ex pede Herculem
facta non verba
actions speak louder than words
actions speak louder than words - judge by deed not what is said
fecit (F.)
he/she made (it)
made by... (creator's name) - traditional term used by artists/makers - separately F may stand for 'filius', meaning 'son'
felo de se
traditional additional title of English/British monarchs, given by the Vatican - often abbreviated to FD
floruit (fl)
he/she flourished
when a historical character was most productive/active - used in biographical information, especially if birth/death dates are unknown, the 'fl' symbol appears with the year(s) of his/her prominence
fons et origo
the source and origin (of something)
fronti nulla fides
appearances can be deceptive - or 'don't judge a book by its cover'
fugit hora
time flies - time passes quickly
genius loci
the atmosphere of somewhere including its influence on visitors
grammatici certant
grammarians dispute (are disputing)
experts are discussing (a case/matter/dispute) - this refers to situations that are subject to official review before a decision or resolution is made
gratias tibi ago
a warning before telling an awful or upsetting description/report
iacta / jacta alea est
the die is cast
the die is cast - the decision/commitment is made and irreversible (see the die is cast in cliches origins)
ianuis / januis clausis
behind closed doors (referring to a legal hearing or court or meeting)
ibid. (ibidem)
in the same place
in the same source referenced in the previous entry - (an academic referencing mechanism to save space and unnecessary repeating of the same detail when citing sources)
id. (idem)
the same author (as previously referenced) - an academic space-saving device used in citing authors
(i.e.) id est
that is (to say more clearly...)
in other words, in more detail, or to say more clearly and fully.. (this very common term is often misused in place of 'e.g.' (for example), whereas 'i.e.' means that clarification of a previous point is to follow
in medias res
into the middle of things
the way a dramatic work such as a play or story begins
INRI (Iesus [Jesus] Nazarenus Rex Iudaeoreum [Juaeoreum])
Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews
Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews -
ignorantia legis neminem excusat
ignorance of the law does not excuse
ignorance of the law is no defence/defense for breaking the law
ignorantia non excusat
ignorance does not excuse
ignorance is not an excuse (for wrong-doing) - the implication is that a person's moral code should not have to rely on specific instruction to avoid wrong deeds
in absentia
in (one's) absence
denotes action against or award to someone in their absence, for whatever reason - for example criminal convictions and academic awards
in aertenum
in articulo mortis
in the grasp of death
(a statement made) at the point of death - traditionally statements made 'in articulo mortis' have at times been considered additionally believable because the person had nothing to gain at that stage from lying - alternative to 'in extremis'
in camera
in private - typically court/legal proceedings which exclude public and press
incipit
denoting the start of old/ancient texts
(bis/ter/quater) in die (b.i.d./t.i.d./q.i.d.)
(twice/three times/four times) in a day
medical abbreviations - (for example instructions for taking tablets)
in dubio (in dubio pro reo )
in doubt, for the accused
the defendant has the benefit of the doubt - innocent until proven guilty
in esse
actually existing - contrasting with 'in posse'
in extenso
in full
word for word, fully and entirely - referring to a text or paper of some sort, emphasize there has been no edit/removal
in extremis
in end
at death - at the point of (a person's) death - alternative to 'in articulo mortis' - mostly significant in assessing reliability of statements made by the deceased in relation to a case
in fine (i.f.)
at the end of (a stated reference or page, etc)
in flagrante (in flagrante delicto)
in flaming crime
(caught) in the act (of wrong-doing) - often referring to the discovery of sexual liaisons and adulterous relationships
in foro
in itself (an alternative to 'per se' - by itself)
in situ
in its natural location (contrasting with 'in vitro' - in glass [a glass test-tube])
instante mense (inst.)
in the present month
(substitute term for whatever the current month is - (for example "...your letter of 5th inst. refers...) - ult = last (month); prox = next (month)
in statu quo
in the state in which
(slightly different to 'status quo' - in statu quo refers to a situation at a specified time, relative to a subsequent or prior different situation, rather like saying 'in statu quo [the situation/condition/state] in the 1970s...' or 'in statu quo [the situation/condition/state] before the business was floated...' )
inter alia
among other things, included in other considerations
inter alios
among other people, included within a wider groups of people
inter nos
between us, among ourselves, between ourselves
inter pares
between our peer group (of a discussion or circulated notes)
inter se
lis sub judice/iudice (sub judice)
lawsuit before the judge
loco citato (loc. cit.)
place cited (work)
in the work/place/source previously referenced - (a referencing note used by scholars/writers/academics, to avoid repeating entire sources)
locum tenens (locum)
deputy, substitute, temporary replacement (for example of a doctor)
locus classicus
place classic (work)
authoritative work/source/extract/text, the generally most highly regarded source (a referencing note referring to a work considered highly authoritative)
locus delecti
scene of the crime, crime scene
locus in quo
place in question (where the incident in question happened)
loquitur (loq.)
(script note that) a person speaks - (a dramatic/stage direction)
lucri causa
gain cause
for the sake of (monetary) reward/gain/enrichment - in hope of financial reward - 'profit driven' - motivated by money
magister artium (M.A.)
Master of Arts - university degree - also abbreviated reversed, AM
magna cum laude
second honors/honours university degree (see cum laude)
magnum opus
the/a major work of a creative (writer, composer, etc)
major
great, significant - major/maior is the Latin comparative of magnus, great
mala fide
in bad faith - fraudulent - (contrasting with 'bona fide')
male captus, bene detentus
wrongly captured, properly detained
(controversial legal principle asserting that) improper arrest should not prevent proper detention and trial - (the principle is not universally enforceable)
malesuada fames
crime (that is) produced by hunger - (see Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs )
malo animo
equating and evolving to the legal phrase 'with malice aforethought'
malum in se / malum prohibitum
wrong in itself / wrong according to law
(legal terms differentiating that something is) inherently wrong / wrong in law - (for example an ambulance which jumps a red light en route to an accident is committing an offence which is 'malum prohibitum', but not 'malum in se')
mandamus
(a legal writ) instruction from a higher court to a lower court
manu propria (m.p.)
(signed) by own hand
(old rare term indicating that a signature was made) by the signatory's own hand - (where a signature is missing, or a printed document contains a copy of a signature)
mea culpa
I am responsible for the problem - acknowledgment of guilt or blame
media
middle (plural)
media now means various things in English, notably the news and information industries ('mass media'), and ways or materials for communicating in the broadest sense - the origin is Latin, from the singular word medium, meaning middle, which caused the word to evolve in English to refer to an agency or means of doing something (the sense of a body or mechanism between two parties, acting as a tool, enabler, conduit, translator, communicator)
medicinae doctor (M.D.)
designation of a university degree and doctor of medicine, a general practitioner (GP)
membrum virile
memo (memorandum est)
it must be remembered (that..)
a written/audio or other note - (to self or more commonly others in a work group) - a 'memo' was the pre-internet age standard quick recorded paper communication between work people, typically from a manager to subordinates, or fellow-managers or superior staff - before desktop computers, memos were typically hand-written or dictated by managers and typed and copied using carbon paper (pre-1970s), later photocopiers (pre-1990s), by typists/secretaries - these intensive production methods ensured that old-style paper memos were generated and circulated in relatively tiny volumes compared to the billions of modern emails
mens sana in corpore sano
sound mind, sound body
sound in mind and body
mirabile dictu/visu
mobile vulgus
movable public
fickle group/people/crowd (referring to the whimsical changing nature and opinions/reactions of the general public or an audience - this is the derivation of the word 'mob')
modus operandi
method or process for a task or activity/service
modus vivendi
way of living
arrangement between people of differing needs, notably when living or working together, a compromise enabling cooperation
mox nox in rem
soon night (so), to business/work
do it, get it done, act now, 'JFDI'
multum in parvo
much in little
many good things in something small - (a general term for something compact or small which has extensive great qualities)
M M (mutatis mutandis)
changed as had to be changed
altered accordingly - (for example referring to changes having been made that were required to meet new circumstances or law)
nemine contradicente ('nem con')
no one contradicting
unanimously - 'nem con' is a commonly used term in meetings containing votes, where the motion or decision is agreed/passed with no objection (a less common term is 'nemine dissentiente', no one dissenting)
ne plus ultra
no obstacle, no objection, nothing wrong (so proceed, permit, licence, etc)
nil carborundum
This is false Latin, originating in the British army as a comment on authority/commanders, taken to mean 'Don't let the bastards grind you down', however it is not real Latin. The expression is structured on the basis of the famous quote from Horace's 'Odes', I:vii:27 'Nil desperandum Teucro duce' - 'Do not despair with Teucer as your leader' - there are variations of the expression; all are false Latin)
nil per os / non per os (n.p.o.)
nothing by mouth
(medical term) - 'nil by mouth' - no food/drink/anything for this patient to be consumed by mouth
nolens volens
non compos mentis
not of sound mind
not in possession of full mental powers, mentally unstable/unreliable, (less formally) not thinking straight, contrasting logically with 'compos mentis'
non liquet
(it is) not proven
legal term meaning that a judgment is not possible due to legal ambiguity or inadequacy - also interpreted to mean 'not clear' and 'not evident'
non obstante
notwithstanding, nevertheless, in spite of
non prosequitur
he does not proceed
judgment in favour/favor of a defendant when the plaintiff fails to act within a legal time limit
non sequitur
it does not follow
a statement/conclusion which is not actually proven or demonstrated by the preceding evidence/argument/justification - an inadequately supported claim
nota bene (N.B.)
note well, take note, attention - (introducing and emphasizing what follows)
nudum pactum
a nude pact
invalid agreement - (legal term for a contract made with insufficient financial or other consideration, so making it non-binding and unenforceable)
nunc pro tunc
now for then
retrospective, back-dated, retroactive (referring to the effective date or application of an agreement or contract or award, etc)
obiter dictum/dicta
incidental remark/remarks
an incidental/aside remark by a judge having no effect on the matter in hand, but which may influence future related issues
oculus dexter (O.D.) / oculus sinister (O.S.)
right eye / left eye
abbreviations used by Ophthalmology (medical attention for eyes)
olet lucernam
(it) smells of the lamp
a negative assessment of a creative work for having taken too long to produce, or being over-worked (the metaphor referring to working late through the night and 'burning the midnight lamp')
omnia vincit amor
post hoc, ergo propter hoc
after this, therefore (it is assumed) because of this
(acknowledgment of) the potentially flawed logic in assuming a causal link between a situation/event and one which follows it (usually in the absence of any better information)
post meridiem (pm)
afternoon, evening (see 'ante meridiem', [am])
post mortem
autopsy, examination of corpse to determine case of death
post mortem auctoris (p.m.a.)
after the death of the author
legal term typically used in connection with intellectual property rights - (for example copyright generally expires a given period after the creator's death)
post script (PS)
a footnote written after the preceding message but before sending, PS
prima facie
at first sight
at first appearing, on initial evidence - (a legal term referring to initial yet potentially or arguably sufficient evidence)
pro bono publico (pro bono)
for the public good
pro forma
for form (formality)
as a matter of formality, a standard document - (originally in law a formal process which did not necessarily serve practical purpose, and this sense evolved top extend to documents, and then to standard documentation)
pro parte
(typically referring to) part of (a group)
pro rata/rate
proportionately, in proportion - (in the same ratio, whether less or more)
pro se
to defend oneself in court without formal legal representation - alternatively 'pro per'
pro tempore (pro tem)
temporarily, for the while, a temporary situation, replacement, etc
punctatim
QED (quod erat demonstrandum)
which was to be demonstrated
proof/evidence has been provided as intended - this is the proof - (traditionally appended to a mathematical solution)
quantum
amount
a required or allowed quantity - (for example a debt payable) - also used in various latin phrases to mean 'as much as' - more scientifically quantum in physics means: 'a discrete quantity of energy proportional in magnitude to the frequency of the radiation it represents'
quid nunc?
what now?
what now? - also the derivation of the traditional English word 'quidnunc', meaning a gossip or overly inquisitive person
qui docet discit
a good way to learn something is to teach it to someone else
quid pro quo
something for something (else)
something which is given in return for another thing - (loosely refers to an exchange, a reciprocal arrangement, an agreed deal or swap, in the same spirit as 'you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours'
quieta non movere
leave settled things to be - let sleeping dogs lie
qui scribit bis legit
who writes, twice reads
writing something is more memorable than merely reading it - i.e. if you write something you will will remember it better than simply reading it - (a learning/teaching method and maxim)
qui tacet consentit
who is silent consents
remaining silent or failing to respond may be taken as agreement - the concept has real practical effect, and also to a degree influence in legal situations too
quod erat demonstrandum (QED)
which was to be demonstrated
proof/evidence has been provided as intended - this is the proof - (traditionally appended to a mathematical solution)
qoud est (q.e.)
quod vide (q.v.)
which see
see (for explanation, clarification, comparison, or interest a relevant cross-referenced point - (most commonly abbreviated, 'q.v.', in scholarly/academic works - the term essentially directs a reader to more detail elsewhere in the same work about the word/phrase given with 'q.v.')
quorum
of whom
a specified minimum number of members, directors or delegates, etc., required for an official assembly (such as a parliament or council or board of directors or committee member, etc) to be able to conduct its affairs, for example take votes and make decisions - the term entered English in the 15th/16th century, from the full Latin phrase used at the start of commissions for committee members, "quorum vos ... unum esse volumus," loosely meaning, "of whom we specify that ... be one"
rara avis
rare bird
an unusual thing of person - the derivation of the metaphor 'rare bird' - (first recorded and popularized in Latin by Juvenal, in Satires, vi:165 - "rara avis in terris nigroque simillima cygno" - "a rare bird in the lands, and very like a black swan")
ratum et consummatum
confirmed and completed
(in church law) a consummated marriage - a marriage that has not yet been consummated is merely 'ratum tantum' (confirmed only, and can be dissolved, 'super rato'
re
thing
regarding, concerning, relating to... (the term precedes the name of a subject which is to be discussed or described, etc - from the full Latin form 'res', 'thing')
rebus sic stantibus
things thus standing
as things/matters stand, in the current situation - (normally a legal statement prefacing the fact or assertion that a point of law remains effective or in force
recto / verso
right / left
right/left pages of a book - from the full forms 'recto folio' and 'verso folio' 'on the right leaf' and 'on the left leaf'
regnat populus
regina/rex
queen/rex
denoting the queen/king or crown, notably in legal cases equating to the state versus another party, e.g., Regina v. Smith
requiescat in pace (R.I.P.)
(may he/she) rest in peace
rest in peace (singular) - the plural (may they rest in peace) is 'requiescant in pace'
res ipsa loquitur
the thing itself speaks
self-evidently, obviously, the facts/circumstances speak for themselves - (a legal term referring to self-evident proof of something)
salus populi suprema lex esto
the good of the people is the supreme law
people's welfare must come first (in governance and business, etc) - the expression is translated in various similar ways, and used as a maxim/motto by many civil/state/services authorities to mean that the priority of governance is the health/needs of ordinary people ('the greater good') - the expression origin is usually attributed to Roman philosopher and politician Cicero's work De Legibus (bk III: III; viii), as 'Ollis salus populi suprema lex esto'.
salvo errore et omissione (s.e.e.o.)
save for error and omission
traditional caveat (as would be inserted by a bookkeeper or auditor) featuring in formal statements of financial accounts
scientia est potentia
scilicet (scire licet)
one is permitted to know
namely, that is to say, i.e. - prefaces an explanation or clarification - scilicet is the Latin abbreviated form of scire licet
scripsit/sculpsit
denoting author/sculptor - the term appears after the writer's name on the work
semper fidelis/idem
always faithful/always the same or unchanging
sensu lato / sensu stricto
in the wide sense / in the strict sense
seq. (sequens, sequentes, or sequitur)
the following
the following - to introduce a remark or list, like the words: 'as follows' - the word sequitur has the additional alternative meaning: 'it follows logically', or 'therefore'
seriatim
in (a) series
one of a series, part of/in a series - a scholarly or technical academic term referring to a published work which is part of a series
sic
thus, so
as used/written originally - denotes that the word or phrase which precedes 'sic' is quoted exactly as originally used/written/spelled by the quoted source - typically used within a quoted passage or extract to indicate that a misspelling or poor grammar or wrong word was in the source material
sine die
without a day
until an unspecified time/date/day, no date has been set (for another meeting or resumption) - typically referring to the status of discussions/meetings, that there is no date agreed for further action
sine loco (s.l.) / sine anno (s.a.) / sine nomine (s.n.)
without place / date / without a name
without place / date /author or publisher - normally referring to a referenced book or paper for which place / date of publication / author or publisher are unknown - (these terms may becombined with the word 'et', and, for example 'sine loco et anno', without place and date
sine mora
sine prole
without children
childless, no children, or the legal term 'without issue' - often referring to a deceased person who had no offspring
sine qua non
an absolutely necessary requirement or condition, an indispensable factor
solidus nummus
(Roman) solid coin
in English money history the S in LSD (pounds shillings pence) derived from the Roman coin 'Solidus' (prior to 1387 in English translations shown as 'Solidy', and also shown more recently in English as 'Solidi' and 'Solidii', being Latin plural versions) - the Solidus was originally an Imperial Roman coin introduced by Constantine (c.274-337AD), so called from the full Latin 'solidus nummus', meaning solid coin - the L and D in LSD also derived from Latin terms 'libra' and 'denarius'
socius criminis
uphold previous ruling/decision - apply precedent
status quo
current situation, normality, conditions unchanged
status quo ante
situation as was/before (an event)
stereo
solid
hi-fi system or reproduced sound of at least two speakers/channels - initially adopted into English referring to a surround-sound effect, evolving to mean two different channels combining to produce a double-sided sound effect
stet
let it stand
a proof reading/editing term which instructs the printer or designer to ignore the edit in question - (equating to an instruction to reinstate the original part, i.e., before the edit - for example to reverse the crossing out or alteration of a word) - stet is from the Latin word stare, stand
sub judice/sub iudice
under a judge
under consideration by a judge/court (and therefore not to be discussed or published - this refers to a legal case or facts within a case, and seeks to avoid any influence or prejudice on the process
sub nomine
refers to the name of the person/party taking action - 'in the name of'
sub poena
under penalty
a writ requiring a person to appear in court - originally fully under penalty of a fine/imprisonment/etc., so that the potential punishment would appear after the words sub poena, which is nowadays usually rendered as a single word, subpoena
sub rosa
under the rose
in secret, behind closed doors, privately - (referring to proceedings of some sort - the legal term is an old metaphor based on the rose being once a symbol of secrecy)
sub verbo (s.v.)
under the word
under the word/heading, a referencing term directing the reader to information contained beneath the word entry or heading in question elsewhere in the publication, for example as in a dictionary - used as 's.v. [word/heading]' = see the information under [word/heading]'
sui generis
unique, in a class/classification of its own, utterly distinctive and original
sui juris/iuris
of his/her own volition
able to take responsibility - equating to asserting that a person was legally responsible for his/her action
summa
traditional term for the summary of a subject in a printed/text work
summa cum laude
with highest distinction/praise
highest distinction (referring to a university degree qualification award) - see 'cum laude' and 'magna cum laude', respectively the 3rd and 2nd highest grades
suo jure/iure
independently, in one's/its own right
suo moto/tempore
by own motion/in own time
spontaneously/in one's or its own time
supra/vide supra
see above - scholarly technical term simply directing the reader to the text above
terra firma
firm land
solid earth, dry land (as different to the sea or waters or air) - typically referring to being safely or surely on land, for example 'back on terra firma' (after a plane or sea journey, or parachute leap)
usus est magister optimus
practice is the best teacher
practice makes perfect
ultra vires
beyond the powers
beyond (one's/its) legal powers - typically legally referring to a court or official body which acts outside of its limits/authority
ut infra/supra
an alternative way(s) of reading/interpreting a document or work
variorum
of various people
denoting comments/interpretations by various people, or denoting a publication which contains different interpretations/readings of the original work - consequently a variorum or variorum edition refers to a publication which provides variant readings/interpretations of, and comments by different scholars on, a work of some sort
veni, vidi, vici
I came, I saw, I conquered
victory was easy - a confident claim of a supposedly simple speedy triumph, attributed to Julius Caesar telling of his defeating Pharnaces, King of Pontus, 47BC (not his invasion of Britain as some believe) - according to Seutonius this motto was carried ahead of Caesar's advancing forces in subsequent campaigns, mainly to emphasize the speed of victory - in modern renderings the claim may also imply nonchalance, casualness, ease, arrogance, etc
verbi gratia (v.gr. or VG)
for the sake of a word
for example
vis inertiae
power of inaction
power of inertia - a much under-rated strategic concept by which the impulse to react to provocation/threat is resisted - and instead a positive decision is made to take no action - which can produce surprisingly better results than reacting aggressively and quickly without much thought for the consequences - the notion of 'vis inertiae' recognizes the fact that often provocative/threatening situations tend to subside or implode, as history commonly tells
viva voce
orally - typically refers to an oral/spoken examination
vixit
he/she lived (for a number of years) - common gravestone term
vox pop (vox populi)
voice of the people
comments from the general public, public opinion - 'vox pops' is now a common media term referring to impromptu interviews with members of the public
ultra
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Magnum opus
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What is the international dialling code for Australia?
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Latin phrases glossary and listing - common and interesting Latin expressions, terminology, translations, meanings, origins glossary, usage in legal, business, science and English language
(with) the defendant being absent
(legal term) - in the absence of the accused
a capite ad calcem
thoroughly/completely/from top to bottom - more loosely expressed 'from head to toe'
Achilles (Achilles heel)
ancient Greek hero
weakness - (a Greek word used in Latin - the metaphor refers to the legend of the hero Achilles, as a baby held by the heel and dipped into the river Styx by his mother Thetis to make him immortal, leaving his heel vulnerable, such that when shot there by an arrow he died, hence the 'Achilles heel' or simply 'Achilles' is a person's main weakness)
acta est fabula
the drama has been acted out
it's all over/it's finished/the end
A.D. (anno domini)
in the year of the Lord
denotes that the year is since Christ's birth in the Julian and Gregorian calendars - contrasting with B.C. (Before Christ), which signifies years 'Before Christ', which are counted backwards - there is no zero year
ad hoc
improvised/devised/applied spontaneously or purely for the purpose ('just for this')
a fortiori
all the more so, with greater reason
ad hominem
personally directed - (as when criticizing someone)
ad infinitum
ad lib (ad libitum)
with freedom
freely, improvised, spontaneously created - now most commonly an instruction or freedom to 'improvise' in performance, communication
ad litteram
precisely/according to the 'letter of the law'
ad nauseam
to the point of causing nausea/unbearably tedious
a priori / a posteriori
from what comes before/ after
(these terms mainly refer to philosophical or mathematical assertions) - an 'a priori' fact is self-evident, known without need of direct specific experience/evidence (for example 'snow is cold') - an 'a posteriori' fact is based on observed evidence or experience, etc (for example snow fell in Ireland on [a particular date])
ad referendum (ad ref)
aged... or 'of the age...' (precedes the age of someone/something)
affidavit
he/she has declared under oath
a sworn statement made voluntarily by a person, recorded by a qualified person, usually for legal purposes, such as admission in a court case
agenda (agenda sunt or agendum est)
things that must be moved forward
list of items for a meeting, order of discussion, set of aims, motivational factors - agenda now has a wide range of meanings, after initially referring to a meeting schedule
Aiax/Ajax
a metaphor for size and stength
Albion
the ancient Greek word for Britain
alia iacta est / iacta alia est
the die is cast
the die is cast - beyond the point of possible return, fully committed come what may - see the die is cast and cross the Rubicon in cliches origins - the phrase is attributed to Julius Casear, 49BC, on his invasion of Rome from Gaul - as with many other Latin phrases the 'i' of iacta is alternatively a 'j', so that the word was/is jiacta (although some say Caesar spoke this phrase in Greek anyway..)
alias dictus (alias)
otherwise known as/also known as/aka
alibi
elsewhere
a submission or claim, typically supported by proof/evidence, that an accused person was at a different place from the scene and time of a crime
alieni generis
of a different kind/of another type
alpha
A (the letter)
denotes the first of something, for example alpha-male (dominant male), or alpha-test (the initial release of technology/software among developers, prior to finalizing specification/features and beta-test, being final testing among users)
alma mater
Master of Arts/MA/AM/(higher university degree)
aureo hamo piscari
to fish with a golden hook
'money talks'/money gets results
Aurora Borealis
goddess of the northern dawn
the 'Northern Lights' atmospheric display, at certain times in the night sky far north - Aurora is the Roman goddess of the dawn - Borealis meaning northen in Latin is taken from the Greek Boreas, god of the north wind - Aurora Australis is literally 'goddess of the southern dawn', and refers to the 'Southern Lights' (being the equivalent phenomenon in the southern hemisphere) - australis means southern in Latin
australis
the origin of the name Australia - from 'terra australis', southern land
ave Maria
beware, caution, take care, attention/beware of the dog
caveat
a stipulation, condition, warning, exclusion, limit, etc - typically in formal contracts, also in verbal agreements
caveat emptor
buyer beware/responsibility is with buyer
caveat venditor
seller beware/responsibility is with seller
cerebrum
brain
front part of brain - considered advanced compared with early human brains and additional to animal brains - hence cerebral refers to intellectual rather than emotional or physical thought/behaviour/effect
certiorari
to be made certain
a writ issued by a higher court for documents from a lower court for the purpose of reviewing the lower court process/decision
cetara desunt
parts of the (written/created) work have not been found (despite research)
ceteris (caeteris paribus)
all other things being equal
assuming that no external factors alter the central question/point, conditional on there being no effect from variable external elements - (a qualifying statement establishing fixed conditions around a proposition, to enable a firm argument to be made)
citius altius fortius
motto of the modern Olympic games
confer (cf.)
compare (with)/see also (as appears widely in dictionaries, etc)
circa (ca. or c.)
about/approximately/roughly (referring to a quantity, date, time, etc)
codex
cogito ergo sum
I think therefore I exist
I think therefore I exist, or I think therefore I am - (originally recorded by French philosopher René Descartes, 1596-1650 - in Discourse on the Method, part IV, 1637-44, written mostly in French but with parts in Latin)
coitus interruptus
withdrawal before ejaculation (for contraception or other reason)
coitus more ferarum
sex in the way of wild beasts
(medical/humorous reference to) 'doggy style' sexual intercourse - historians assert that the expression in its Latin form was used in ancient Rome
compos mentis
in full possession of mental powers, sane (cf. non compos mentis)
con (contra)
cornu copiae
horn of plenty
cornucopia/abundance (from various Greek legends, most popularly: The baby Zeus, hiding from his baby-eating father Cronus, was suckled as an infant by a goat/nursemaid, Amalthea. Zeus, having the strength of a god, accidentally broke off one of Amalthea's horns, which he then endowed with the power to produce unending nourishment (and anything else desired) for its owner
corrigenda
(draws attention to) corrections required in a manuscript before publishing
cui bono/malo?
who will gain/lose?
who stands to benefit/lose (from a particular action/situation)? - expressions in criminal investigation or other speculation - in attempting to reveal motive/responsibility
cum grano salis
with a grain of salt
take (a comment) with a grain of salt/add a note of caution to a comment (in Roman times and more recent history too, salt was very valuable and symbolic of something not to regard lightly - Roman soldiers were paid in salt - salarium - hence the expression 'worth his salt' (someone is worthy of his/her wage)
(summa/magna) cum laude
traditionally highest/2nd, and 3rd grades in a US university degree
curriculum vitae
the course of (one's) life
a resume or job/personal history/(commonly abbreviated to CV)
cursor
positional marker on an electronic display
de bonis asportatis
old legal term for larceny, which has largely been superseded by the term theft
de bono et malo
(of a decision) come what may/for good or bad/'whatever'
decimus
from which 'decimate' originates - strictly
de dicto / de re
of (the) word / of (the) thing
(technical clarification of the nature of a statement so as to differentiate) - the wording of the statement/(as distinct from) the thing that the statement refers to - these are two contrasting terms used in philosophical discussion/works differentiating between the form of the statement and what the statement refers to - (while quite subtle and technical, these two terms are useful in highlighting the difference between the qualities of a statement as distinct from the truth or otherwise of what the statement seeks to convey) - for example many children's statements can be criticized 'de dicto', while being brilliant 'de re' - (note that there are more complex applications of these terms)
de die in diem (diem ex die)
from day to day
continuously/day in, day out/without a break
de facto
of fact
in reality/in practice (especially contrasted with something which exists in in a lesser way theory or in law, see de jure/iure)
dei gratia
by the grace of god
by the grace of god (traditionally implying a divine right, such as a monarch's title/status)
de jure (de iure)
(to be) utterly/helplessly/hopelessly in love (with someone/something)
divide et impera
divide your opponents to defeat them (a maxim adopted and popularized by Machiavelli)
doce ut discas
teach in order to learn
docendo discimus
we learn something by teaching it to others
doctus cum libro
having knowledge without practical experience
Domine, dirige nos
Lord/God, direct us (God is our guide) - traditional official motto of London
Dominus vobsicum/Dominus tecum
God be with you (plural)/God be with you (singular)
God be with you (all)/God be with you (to an individual) - a traditional way to say farewell or goodbye
dramatis personae
the persons of the drama
cast of characters (in a play or film, or situation, etc)
dum spiro spero
while I breathe, I hope
while there is life in me I can still hope
dum tacent clamant
though they are silent they cry aloud
their silence speaks volumes (usually referring to silence being an effective admission or indication of guilt or fault)
dum vita est spes est
while there is life there is hope
while there's life there's hope
dura mater
tough mother
(medical/biological term for) the outer membrane of the brain and spinal cord - the Latin term is itself derived from an earlier fuller Arabic term, loosely 'thick mother of the brain'
ecce homo
behold the man
considered by advocates, and represented by artists, of biblical history, as the words of Pontias Pilate in presenting Jesus Christ to the crowd after flagellation prior to crucifixion
ecce signum
behold the sign
look at the proof - examine the evidence - the proof is in front of you, so look at it
e contrario
on the contrary - actually, the opposite is true
editio cum notis variorum
edition with various notes
a technical academic/scholar term referring to a version of text which contains different interpretations and notes and comments from experts
editio princeps
the first printed edition (of a book especially)
e.g. (exempli gratia)
for the sake of example
for example, or for instance
emeritus
a soldier who has served his time honourably/honorably and earned his discharge
denoting the title holder (for example a professor) has retired and retains the title (plus the word 'emeritus') as a mark of having served with distinction - the original meaning derives from soldiers in the Roman army, from the verb 'mereri', to earn
emerita
(a relatively modern adaptation of the conventional emeritus male/general form above)
e pluribus unum
one out of (from) many
one (big thing) made from many smaller parts - motto of the USA
ergo
therefore
therefore - and so it follows that.. (linking a cause or situation with a result or conclusion)
errare humanum est
to err is human
people occasionally naturally make mistakes - popularized by Alexander Pope's 'An Essay on Criticism' which stated 'To err is human; to forgive, divine' - this is an acceptance of human weakness
et al (et alii/et aliae/et alia)
and others (abbreviation - male/female/neuter full versions)
and other men/women/factors (et al is the abbreviation - et alii is 'and other men'; et aliae is 'and other women'; et alia is 'and other things' - traditionally speech etiquette suggested that "...educated people do not ever actually say 'et al', instead they say 'and others'...")
etc (et cetera)
and so on - typically replacing potentially additional items in a listing of similar factors
et nunc et semper
ex astris scientia
from the stars, knowledge
'From the Stars, Knowledge' - a contrived retrospective Latin expression created as the maxim of the Starfleet Academy in the film/TV franchise Star Trek.
ex cathedra
from the chair
with authority - refers to statements made by experts, or claimed to be (cathedra referred to a teacher's chair before it more famously meant the Pope's chair)
excud (excudit)
he/she who struck this (made by)
made by... a traditional printer's or engraver's term preceding the name of the creator/maker/writer
ex dolo malo (ex dolo malo non oritur actio)
an action (in court) does not arise from fraud
a Latin legal term equating to 'fraud' - deriving distortedly from the full original sense that a court action cannot be viable if based on a fraud
excelsior
exeat
let him/her go forth
permission to be absent - traditionally an exeat granted permission for a priest to leave a monastery - the term also extended to absence from a university
exempli gratia (e.g.)
for the sake of example
for example, or for instance
ex facie
from the face
a legal term used typically when referring to an obviously unreliable document - the term in this context equates to 'obviously' or 'needing no further examination'
ex gratia
payment or reward given freely without obligation
exit
a single actor leaves the stage
ex libris
from the library of... (owner's name)
ex mero motu
out of pure simple impulse
spontaneously - (implication being no external influence)
ex nihilo nihil fit
ex parte
from a party
from one side only - only one side is represented at a legal hearing (the other side is absent)
ex pede Herculem
from the foot, a Hercules
from a small sample the whole thing can be estimated - an early principle of extrapolation or projection, said to derive from Pythagoras' calculations in estimating the size of Hercules from his foot size, in turn inferred from the scale of the Olympia stadium
experto credite
trust one who has the experience - from experience a person has credibility
ex post facto
from what happens afterwards
knowledge or law after an event applied retrospectively to the event - similar to 'with the benefit of hindsight', or the sense of 'knowing now what we did not know then'
exuent / exuent omnes
they go out / they all go out
they leave the stage - stage direction terminology
ex ungue leonem
from a claw, the lion
from a small sample the whole thing can be estimated - equating to ex pede Herculem
ex uno disce omnes
from a small sample the whole thing can be estimated - equating to ex pede Herculem
facta non verba
actions speak louder than words
actions speak louder than words - judge by deed not what is said
fecit (F.)
he/she made (it)
made by... (creator's name) - traditional term used by artists/makers - separately F may stand for 'filius', meaning 'son'
felo de se
traditional additional title of English/British monarchs, given by the Vatican - often abbreviated to FD
floruit (fl)
he/she flourished
when a historical character was most productive/active - used in biographical information, especially if birth/death dates are unknown, the 'fl' symbol appears with the year(s) of his/her prominence
fons et origo
the source and origin (of something)
fronti nulla fides
appearances can be deceptive - or 'don't judge a book by its cover'
fugit hora
time flies - time passes quickly
genius loci
the atmosphere of somewhere including its influence on visitors
grammatici certant
grammarians dispute (are disputing)
experts are discussing (a case/matter/dispute) - this refers to situations that are subject to official review before a decision or resolution is made
gratias tibi ago
a warning before telling an awful or upsetting description/report
iacta / jacta alea est
the die is cast
the die is cast - the decision/commitment is made and irreversible (see the die is cast in cliches origins)
ianuis / januis clausis
behind closed doors (referring to a legal hearing or court or meeting)
ibid. (ibidem)
in the same place
in the same source referenced in the previous entry - (an academic referencing mechanism to save space and unnecessary repeating of the same detail when citing sources)
id. (idem)
the same author (as previously referenced) - an academic space-saving device used in citing authors
(i.e.) id est
that is (to say more clearly...)
in other words, in more detail, or to say more clearly and fully.. (this very common term is often misused in place of 'e.g.' (for example), whereas 'i.e.' means that clarification of a previous point is to follow
in medias res
into the middle of things
the way a dramatic work such as a play or story begins
INRI (Iesus [Jesus] Nazarenus Rex Iudaeoreum [Juaeoreum])
Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews
Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews -
ignorantia legis neminem excusat
ignorance of the law does not excuse
ignorance of the law is no defence/defense for breaking the law
ignorantia non excusat
ignorance does not excuse
ignorance is not an excuse (for wrong-doing) - the implication is that a person's moral code should not have to rely on specific instruction to avoid wrong deeds
in absentia
in (one's) absence
denotes action against or award to someone in their absence, for whatever reason - for example criminal convictions and academic awards
in aertenum
in articulo mortis
in the grasp of death
(a statement made) at the point of death - traditionally statements made 'in articulo mortis' have at times been considered additionally believable because the person had nothing to gain at that stage from lying - alternative to 'in extremis'
in camera
in private - typically court/legal proceedings which exclude public and press
incipit
denoting the start of old/ancient texts
(bis/ter/quater) in die (b.i.d./t.i.d./q.i.d.)
(twice/three times/four times) in a day
medical abbreviations - (for example instructions for taking tablets)
in dubio (in dubio pro reo )
in doubt, for the accused
the defendant has the benefit of the doubt - innocent until proven guilty
in esse
actually existing - contrasting with 'in posse'
in extenso
in full
word for word, fully and entirely - referring to a text or paper of some sort, emphasize there has been no edit/removal
in extremis
in end
at death - at the point of (a person's) death - alternative to 'in articulo mortis' - mostly significant in assessing reliability of statements made by the deceased in relation to a case
in fine (i.f.)
at the end of (a stated reference or page, etc)
in flagrante (in flagrante delicto)
in flaming crime
(caught) in the act (of wrong-doing) - often referring to the discovery of sexual liaisons and adulterous relationships
in foro
in itself (an alternative to 'per se' - by itself)
in situ
in its natural location (contrasting with 'in vitro' - in glass [a glass test-tube])
instante mense (inst.)
in the present month
(substitute term for whatever the current month is - (for example "...your letter of 5th inst. refers...) - ult = last (month); prox = next (month)
in statu quo
in the state in which
(slightly different to 'status quo' - in statu quo refers to a situation at a specified time, relative to a subsequent or prior different situation, rather like saying 'in statu quo [the situation/condition/state] in the 1970s...' or 'in statu quo [the situation/condition/state] before the business was floated...' )
inter alia
among other things, included in other considerations
inter alios
among other people, included within a wider groups of people
inter nos
between us, among ourselves, between ourselves
inter pares
between our peer group (of a discussion or circulated notes)
inter se
lis sub judice/iudice (sub judice)
lawsuit before the judge
loco citato (loc. cit.)
place cited (work)
in the work/place/source previously referenced - (a referencing note used by scholars/writers/academics, to avoid repeating entire sources)
locum tenens (locum)
deputy, substitute, temporary replacement (for example of a doctor)
locus classicus
place classic (work)
authoritative work/source/extract/text, the generally most highly regarded source (a referencing note referring to a work considered highly authoritative)
locus delecti
scene of the crime, crime scene
locus in quo
place in question (where the incident in question happened)
loquitur (loq.)
(script note that) a person speaks - (a dramatic/stage direction)
lucri causa
gain cause
for the sake of (monetary) reward/gain/enrichment - in hope of financial reward - 'profit driven' - motivated by money
magister artium (M.A.)
Master of Arts - university degree - also abbreviated reversed, AM
magna cum laude
second honors/honours university degree (see cum laude)
magnum opus
the/a major work of a creative (writer, composer, etc)
major
great, significant - major/maior is the Latin comparative of magnus, great
mala fide
in bad faith - fraudulent - (contrasting with 'bona fide')
male captus, bene detentus
wrongly captured, properly detained
(controversial legal principle asserting that) improper arrest should not prevent proper detention and trial - (the principle is not universally enforceable)
malesuada fames
crime (that is) produced by hunger - (see Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs )
malo animo
equating and evolving to the legal phrase 'with malice aforethought'
malum in se / malum prohibitum
wrong in itself / wrong according to law
(legal terms differentiating that something is) inherently wrong / wrong in law - (for example an ambulance which jumps a red light en route to an accident is committing an offence which is 'malum prohibitum', but not 'malum in se')
mandamus
(a legal writ) instruction from a higher court to a lower court
manu propria (m.p.)
(signed) by own hand
(old rare term indicating that a signature was made) by the signatory's own hand - (where a signature is missing, or a printed document contains a copy of a signature)
mea culpa
I am responsible for the problem - acknowledgment of guilt or blame
media
middle (plural)
media now means various things in English, notably the news and information industries ('mass media'), and ways or materials for communicating in the broadest sense - the origin is Latin, from the singular word medium, meaning middle, which caused the word to evolve in English to refer to an agency or means of doing something (the sense of a body or mechanism between two parties, acting as a tool, enabler, conduit, translator, communicator)
medicinae doctor (M.D.)
designation of a university degree and doctor of medicine, a general practitioner (GP)
membrum virile
memo (memorandum est)
it must be remembered (that..)
a written/audio or other note - (to self or more commonly others in a work group) - a 'memo' was the pre-internet age standard quick recorded paper communication between work people, typically from a manager to subordinates, or fellow-managers or superior staff - before desktop computers, memos were typically hand-written or dictated by managers and typed and copied using carbon paper (pre-1970s), later photocopiers (pre-1990s), by typists/secretaries - these intensive production methods ensured that old-style paper memos were generated and circulated in relatively tiny volumes compared to the billions of modern emails
mens sana in corpore sano
sound mind, sound body
sound in mind and body
mirabile dictu/visu
mobile vulgus
movable public
fickle group/people/crowd (referring to the whimsical changing nature and opinions/reactions of the general public or an audience - this is the derivation of the word 'mob')
modus operandi
method or process for a task or activity/service
modus vivendi
way of living
arrangement between people of differing needs, notably when living or working together, a compromise enabling cooperation
mox nox in rem
soon night (so), to business/work
do it, get it done, act now, 'JFDI'
multum in parvo
much in little
many good things in something small - (a general term for something compact or small which has extensive great qualities)
M M (mutatis mutandis)
changed as had to be changed
altered accordingly - (for example referring to changes having been made that were required to meet new circumstances or law)
nemine contradicente ('nem con')
no one contradicting
unanimously - 'nem con' is a commonly used term in meetings containing votes, where the motion or decision is agreed/passed with no objection (a less common term is 'nemine dissentiente', no one dissenting)
ne plus ultra
no obstacle, no objection, nothing wrong (so proceed, permit, licence, etc)
nil carborundum
This is false Latin, originating in the British army as a comment on authority/commanders, taken to mean 'Don't let the bastards grind you down', however it is not real Latin. The expression is structured on the basis of the famous quote from Horace's 'Odes', I:vii:27 'Nil desperandum Teucro duce' - 'Do not despair with Teucer as your leader' - there are variations of the expression; all are false Latin)
nil per os / non per os (n.p.o.)
nothing by mouth
(medical term) - 'nil by mouth' - no food/drink/anything for this patient to be consumed by mouth
nolens volens
non compos mentis
not of sound mind
not in possession of full mental powers, mentally unstable/unreliable, (less formally) not thinking straight, contrasting logically with 'compos mentis'
non liquet
(it is) not proven
legal term meaning that a judgment is not possible due to legal ambiguity or inadequacy - also interpreted to mean 'not clear' and 'not evident'
non obstante
notwithstanding, nevertheless, in spite of
non prosequitur
he does not proceed
judgment in favour/favor of a defendant when the plaintiff fails to act within a legal time limit
non sequitur
it does not follow
a statement/conclusion which is not actually proven or demonstrated by the preceding evidence/argument/justification - an inadequately supported claim
nota bene (N.B.)
note well, take note, attention - (introducing and emphasizing what follows)
nudum pactum
a nude pact
invalid agreement - (legal term for a contract made with insufficient financial or other consideration, so making it non-binding and unenforceable)
nunc pro tunc
now for then
retrospective, back-dated, retroactive (referring to the effective date or application of an agreement or contract or award, etc)
obiter dictum/dicta
incidental remark/remarks
an incidental/aside remark by a judge having no effect on the matter in hand, but which may influence future related issues
oculus dexter (O.D.) / oculus sinister (O.S.)
right eye / left eye
abbreviations used by Ophthalmology (medical attention for eyes)
olet lucernam
(it) smells of the lamp
a negative assessment of a creative work for having taken too long to produce, or being over-worked (the metaphor referring to working late through the night and 'burning the midnight lamp')
omnia vincit amor
post hoc, ergo propter hoc
after this, therefore (it is assumed) because of this
(acknowledgment of) the potentially flawed logic in assuming a causal link between a situation/event and one which follows it (usually in the absence of any better information)
post meridiem (pm)
afternoon, evening (see 'ante meridiem', [am])
post mortem
autopsy, examination of corpse to determine case of death
post mortem auctoris (p.m.a.)
after the death of the author
legal term typically used in connection with intellectual property rights - (for example copyright generally expires a given period after the creator's death)
post script (PS)
a footnote written after the preceding message but before sending, PS
prima facie
at first sight
at first appearing, on initial evidence - (a legal term referring to initial yet potentially or arguably sufficient evidence)
pro bono publico (pro bono)
for the public good
pro forma
for form (formality)
as a matter of formality, a standard document - (originally in law a formal process which did not necessarily serve practical purpose, and this sense evolved top extend to documents, and then to standard documentation)
pro parte
(typically referring to) part of (a group)
pro rata/rate
proportionately, in proportion - (in the same ratio, whether less or more)
pro se
to defend oneself in court without formal legal representation - alternatively 'pro per'
pro tempore (pro tem)
temporarily, for the while, a temporary situation, replacement, etc
punctatim
QED (quod erat demonstrandum)
which was to be demonstrated
proof/evidence has been provided as intended - this is the proof - (traditionally appended to a mathematical solution)
quantum
amount
a required or allowed quantity - (for example a debt payable) - also used in various latin phrases to mean 'as much as' - more scientifically quantum in physics means: 'a discrete quantity of energy proportional in magnitude to the frequency of the radiation it represents'
quid nunc?
what now?
what now? - also the derivation of the traditional English word 'quidnunc', meaning a gossip or overly inquisitive person
qui docet discit
a good way to learn something is to teach it to someone else
quid pro quo
something for something (else)
something which is given in return for another thing - (loosely refers to an exchange, a reciprocal arrangement, an agreed deal or swap, in the same spirit as 'you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours'
quieta non movere
leave settled things to be - let sleeping dogs lie
qui scribit bis legit
who writes, twice reads
writing something is more memorable than merely reading it - i.e. if you write something you will will remember it better than simply reading it - (a learning/teaching method and maxim)
qui tacet consentit
who is silent consents
remaining silent or failing to respond may be taken as agreement - the concept has real practical effect, and also to a degree influence in legal situations too
quod erat demonstrandum (QED)
which was to be demonstrated
proof/evidence has been provided as intended - this is the proof - (traditionally appended to a mathematical solution)
qoud est (q.e.)
quod vide (q.v.)
which see
see (for explanation, clarification, comparison, or interest a relevant cross-referenced point - (most commonly abbreviated, 'q.v.', in scholarly/academic works - the term essentially directs a reader to more detail elsewhere in the same work about the word/phrase given with 'q.v.')
quorum
of whom
a specified minimum number of members, directors or delegates, etc., required for an official assembly (such as a parliament or council or board of directors or committee member, etc) to be able to conduct its affairs, for example take votes and make decisions - the term entered English in the 15th/16th century, from the full Latin phrase used at the start of commissions for committee members, "quorum vos ... unum esse volumus," loosely meaning, "of whom we specify that ... be one"
rara avis
rare bird
an unusual thing of person - the derivation of the metaphor 'rare bird' - (first recorded and popularized in Latin by Juvenal, in Satires, vi:165 - "rara avis in terris nigroque simillima cygno" - "a rare bird in the lands, and very like a black swan")
ratum et consummatum
confirmed and completed
(in church law) a consummated marriage - a marriage that has not yet been consummated is merely 'ratum tantum' (confirmed only, and can be dissolved, 'super rato'
re
thing
regarding, concerning, relating to... (the term precedes the name of a subject which is to be discussed or described, etc - from the full Latin form 'res', 'thing')
rebus sic stantibus
things thus standing
as things/matters stand, in the current situation - (normally a legal statement prefacing the fact or assertion that a point of law remains effective or in force
recto / verso
right / left
right/left pages of a book - from the full forms 'recto folio' and 'verso folio' 'on the right leaf' and 'on the left leaf'
regnat populus
regina/rex
queen/rex
denoting the queen/king or crown, notably in legal cases equating to the state versus another party, e.g., Regina v. Smith
requiescat in pace (R.I.P.)
(may he/she) rest in peace
rest in peace (singular) - the plural (may they rest in peace) is 'requiescant in pace'
res ipsa loquitur
the thing itself speaks
self-evidently, obviously, the facts/circumstances speak for themselves - (a legal term referring to self-evident proof of something)
salus populi suprema lex esto
the good of the people is the supreme law
people's welfare must come first (in governance and business, etc) - the expression is translated in various similar ways, and used as a maxim/motto by many civil/state/services authorities to mean that the priority of governance is the health/needs of ordinary people ('the greater good') - the expression origin is usually attributed to Roman philosopher and politician Cicero's work De Legibus (bk III: III; viii), as 'Ollis salus populi suprema lex esto'.
salvo errore et omissione (s.e.e.o.)
save for error and omission
traditional caveat (as would be inserted by a bookkeeper or auditor) featuring in formal statements of financial accounts
scientia est potentia
scilicet (scire licet)
one is permitted to know
namely, that is to say, i.e. - prefaces an explanation or clarification - scilicet is the Latin abbreviated form of scire licet
scripsit/sculpsit
denoting author/sculptor - the term appears after the writer's name on the work
semper fidelis/idem
always faithful/always the same or unchanging
sensu lato / sensu stricto
in the wide sense / in the strict sense
seq. (sequens, sequentes, or sequitur)
the following
the following - to introduce a remark or list, like the words: 'as follows' - the word sequitur has the additional alternative meaning: 'it follows logically', or 'therefore'
seriatim
in (a) series
one of a series, part of/in a series - a scholarly or technical academic term referring to a published work which is part of a series
sic
thus, so
as used/written originally - denotes that the word or phrase which precedes 'sic' is quoted exactly as originally used/written/spelled by the quoted source - typically used within a quoted passage or extract to indicate that a misspelling or poor grammar or wrong word was in the source material
sine die
without a day
until an unspecified time/date/day, no date has been set (for another meeting or resumption) - typically referring to the status of discussions/meetings, that there is no date agreed for further action
sine loco (s.l.) / sine anno (s.a.) / sine nomine (s.n.)
without place / date / without a name
without place / date /author or publisher - normally referring to a referenced book or paper for which place / date of publication / author or publisher are unknown - (these terms may becombined with the word 'et', and, for example 'sine loco et anno', without place and date
sine mora
sine prole
without children
childless, no children, or the legal term 'without issue' - often referring to a deceased person who had no offspring
sine qua non
an absolutely necessary requirement or condition, an indispensable factor
solidus nummus
(Roman) solid coin
in English money history the S in LSD (pounds shillings pence) derived from the Roman coin 'Solidus' (prior to 1387 in English translations shown as 'Solidy', and also shown more recently in English as 'Solidi' and 'Solidii', being Latin plural versions) - the Solidus was originally an Imperial Roman coin introduced by Constantine (c.274-337AD), so called from the full Latin 'solidus nummus', meaning solid coin - the L and D in LSD also derived from Latin terms 'libra' and 'denarius'
socius criminis
uphold previous ruling/decision - apply precedent
status quo
current situation, normality, conditions unchanged
status quo ante
situation as was/before (an event)
stereo
solid
hi-fi system or reproduced sound of at least two speakers/channels - initially adopted into English referring to a surround-sound effect, evolving to mean two different channels combining to produce a double-sided sound effect
stet
let it stand
a proof reading/editing term which instructs the printer or designer to ignore the edit in question - (equating to an instruction to reinstate the original part, i.e., before the edit - for example to reverse the crossing out or alteration of a word) - stet is from the Latin word stare, stand
sub judice/sub iudice
under a judge
under consideration by a judge/court (and therefore not to be discussed or published - this refers to a legal case or facts within a case, and seeks to avoid any influence or prejudice on the process
sub nomine
refers to the name of the person/party taking action - 'in the name of'
sub poena
under penalty
a writ requiring a person to appear in court - originally fully under penalty of a fine/imprisonment/etc., so that the potential punishment would appear after the words sub poena, which is nowadays usually rendered as a single word, subpoena
sub rosa
under the rose
in secret, behind closed doors, privately - (referring to proceedings of some sort - the legal term is an old metaphor based on the rose being once a symbol of secrecy)
sub verbo (s.v.)
under the word
under the word/heading, a referencing term directing the reader to information contained beneath the word entry or heading in question elsewhere in the publication, for example as in a dictionary - used as 's.v. [word/heading]' = see the information under [word/heading]'
sui generis
unique, in a class/classification of its own, utterly distinctive and original
sui juris/iuris
of his/her own volition
able to take responsibility - equating to asserting that a person was legally responsible for his/her action
summa
traditional term for the summary of a subject in a printed/text work
summa cum laude
with highest distinction/praise
highest distinction (referring to a university degree qualification award) - see 'cum laude' and 'magna cum laude', respectively the 3rd and 2nd highest grades
suo jure/iure
independently, in one's/its own right
suo moto/tempore
by own motion/in own time
spontaneously/in one's or its own time
supra/vide supra
see above - scholarly technical term simply directing the reader to the text above
terra firma
firm land
solid earth, dry land (as different to the sea or waters or air) - typically referring to being safely or surely on land, for example 'back on terra firma' (after a plane or sea journey, or parachute leap)
usus est magister optimus
practice is the best teacher
practice makes perfect
ultra vires
beyond the powers
beyond (one's/its) legal powers - typically legally referring to a court or official body which acts outside of its limits/authority
ut infra/supra
an alternative way(s) of reading/interpreting a document or work
variorum
of various people
denoting comments/interpretations by various people, or denoting a publication which contains different interpretations/readings of the original work - consequently a variorum or variorum edition refers to a publication which provides variant readings/interpretations of, and comments by different scholars on, a work of some sort
veni, vidi, vici
I came, I saw, I conquered
victory was easy - a confident claim of a supposedly simple speedy triumph, attributed to Julius Caesar telling of his defeating Pharnaces, King of Pontus, 47BC (not his invasion of Britain as some believe) - according to Seutonius this motto was carried ahead of Caesar's advancing forces in subsequent campaigns, mainly to emphasize the speed of victory - in modern renderings the claim may also imply nonchalance, casualness, ease, arrogance, etc
verbi gratia (v.gr. or VG)
for the sake of a word
for example
vis inertiae
power of inaction
power of inertia - a much under-rated strategic concept by which the impulse to react to provocation/threat is resisted - and instead a positive decision is made to take no action - which can produce surprisingly better results than reacting aggressively and quickly without much thought for the consequences - the notion of 'vis inertiae' recognizes the fact that often provocative/threatening situations tend to subside or implode, as history commonly tells
viva voce
orally - typically refers to an oral/spoken examination
vixit
he/she lived (for a number of years) - common gravestone term
vox pop (vox populi)
voice of the people
comments from the general public, public opinion - 'vox pops' is now a common media term referring to impromptu interviews with members of the public
ultra
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i don't know
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Cape Verde was until independence a territory of which European country?
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HISTORY OF CAPE VERDE
List of subjects | Sources | Feedback HISTORY OF CAPE VERDE
HISTORY OF CAPE VERDE
Enjoy the Famous Daily
The Slave Coast: 15th - 19th century
From the viewpoint of European history the Guinea Coast is associated mainly with slavery. Indeed one of the alternative names for the region is the Slave Coast. But the link is entirely the result of the arrival of Europeans in the 15th century. Before that period the slave trade , centuries old in the interior of Africa, is not yet a significant feature of the coastal economy. The change occurs after the Portuguese reach this region in 1446.
The Portuguese use slave labour to grow cotton and indigo in the previously uninhabited Cape Verde islands . They then trade these goods, in the estuary of the Geba river, for slaves captured in local African wars and raids. The slaves are sold in Europe and, from the 16th century, in the Americas.
The local African rulers in Guinea, who prosper greatly from the slave trade, have no interest in allowing the Europeans any further inland than the fortified coastal settlements where the trading takes place. The Portuguese presence in Guinea is therefore largely limited to the port of Bissau.
For a brief period in the 1790s the British attempt to establish a rival foothold on an offshore island, at Bolama. But by the 19th century the Portuguese are sufficiently secure in Bissau to regard the neighbouring coastline as their own special territory.
It is therefore natural for Portugal to lay claim to this region, soon to be known as Portuguese Guinea, when the European scramble for Africa begins in the 1880s.
Britain's interest in the region has declined since the ending of the British slave trade in 1807. So Portugal's main rivals are the French, their energetic colonial neighbours along the coast on both sides - in Senegal and in the region which now becomes French Guinea. The Portuguese presence in Guinea is not disputed by the French. The only point at issue is the precise line of the borders. This is established by agreement between the two colonial powers in two series of negotiations, in 1886 and 1902-5.
Colonial rule: 1886-1874
As with the other Portuguese territories in Africa ( Angola and Mozambique ), Portugal exercises control over only a small coastal area of Portuguese Guinea when first laying claim to the whole region as a colony. For the next three decades there are costly and continuous campaigns to suppress the local African rulers. By 1915 this process is complete, enabling Portuguese colonial rule to progress in a relatively unruffled state - until the emergence of nationalist movements all over Africa in the 1950s.
In 1956 the PAIGC or Partido Africano da Independencia da Guiné ê Cabo Verde (African Party for the Independence of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde) is founded by Amílcar Cabral, who comes from the Cape Verde islands.
In 1961, when a purely political campaign for independence has made predictably little progress, the PAIGC adopts guerrilla tactics. Although heavily outnumbered by Portuguese troops (approximately 30,000 Portuguese to some 10,000 guerrillas), the PAIGC has the great advantage of safe havens over the border in Senegal and Guinea, both recently independent of French rule. By 1971 the PAIGC controls most of the interior of the country, confining the Portuguese to the coastal and estuary towns.
In 1972 Cabral sets up a government in exile in Conakry, the capital of neighbouring Guinea . Here, in 1973, he is assassinated outside his house - just a year before a coup in Portugal dramatically alters the political situation.
The new government in Lisbon is disinclined to prop up Portugal's collapsing and by now very expensive empire. All the Portuguese colonies in Africa are rapidly granted their independence.
Portuguese Guinea is the first, in September 1974. Portuguese East Africa follows in June 1975, taking the new name Mozambique. The republic of Cape Verde is established in July. And Angola, in the middle of civil war, becomes independent in November 1975.
Independence: from1974-1975
Portuguese Guinea and the Cape Verde islands become separately independent , in 1974 and 1975, as the republics of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde. Leading members of the PAIGC provide the two presidents - Cabral's brother (Luis Almeida de Cabral) in Guinea-Bissau, and Aristides Pereira in Cape Verde.
The original intention on both sides is to merge the new states, but Cape Verde changes its view after Luis Cabral is ousted in a coup in Guinea-Bissau in 1980. Pereira changes the name of his party from PAIGV to PAICV (Partido Africano da Independencia da Cabo Verde).
Pereira remains president of a one-party state, politically non-aligned but retaining strong links with Portugal, until a democratic system is introduced in a new constitution in 1990. In multiparty elections held in 1991 an opposition party, the MPD (Movement for Democracy), defeats the ruling PAICV.
The MPD leader, Antonio Mascharenas Monteiro, becomes president and is re-elected in 1996.
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Portugal
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As at 2012 the official 'authorised version' of the Holy Bible is also known by what monarch's name?
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Capo Verde - definition of Capo Verde by The Free Dictionary
Capo Verde - definition of Capo Verde by The Free Dictionary
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Capo+Verde
Also found in: Thesaurus , Encyclopedia , Wikipedia .
Cape Verde
Cape Verde
(vûrd)
An island country of the Atlantic Ocean west of Senegal. The islands were settled by the Portuguese in the mid-15th century, became a colony in 1495 and an overseas province in 1951, and gained independence in 1975. Praia, on São Tiago Island, is the capital.
Cape Ver′de·an (vûr′dē-ən) adj. & n.
Cape Verde
(vɜːd)
n
(Placename) a republic in the Atlantic off the coast of West Africa, consisting of a group of ten islands and five islets: an overseas territory of Portugal until 1975, when the islands became independent. Official language: Portuguese. Religion: Christian (Roman Catholic) majority; animist minority. Currency: Cape Verdean escudo. Capital: Praia. Pop: 531 046 (2013 est). Area: 4033 sq km (1557 sq miles)
Cape` Verde′
(vɜrd)
n.
an island republic (Cape` Verde′ Is′lands) in the Atlantic, W of Senegal in W Africa: formerly an overseas territory of Portugal; gained independence in 1975. 405,748; 1557 sq. mi. (4033 sq. km). Cap.: Praia.
Cape` Ver′de•an (ˈvɜr di ən) n.
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i don't know
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What is the cube root of 343?
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Cube Root Calculator
Cube Root Calculator
Share this Calculator & Page
Calculator Use
Use this calculator to find the cube root of positive or negative numbers. Given a number x, the cube root of x is a number a such that a3 = x. If x positive a will be positive, if x is negative a will be negative. Cube roots is a specialized form of our common radicals calculator .
Example Cube Roots:
The 3rd root of 64, or 64 radical 3, or the cube root of 64 is written as \( \sqrt[3]{64} = 4 \).
The 3rd root of -64, or -64 radical 3, or the cube root of -64 is written as \( \sqrt[3]{-64} = -4 \).
The cube root of 8 is written as \( \sqrt[3]{8} = 2 \).
The cube root of 10 is written as \( \sqrt[3]{10} = 2.154435 \).
The cube root of x is the same as x raised to the 1/3 power. Written as \( \sqrt[3]{x} = x^{\frac{1}{3}} \). The common definition of the cube root of a negative number is that
(-x)1/3 = -(x1/3).[1] For example:
The cube root of -27 is written as \( \sqrt[3]{-27} = -3 \).
The cube root of -8 is written as \( \sqrt[3]{-8} = -2 \).
The cube root of -64 is written as \( \sqrt[3]{-64} = -4 \).
Cube roots (for integer results 1 through 10)
Cube root of 1 is 1
Cube root of 8 is 2
Cube root of 27 is 3
Cube root of 64 is 4
Cube root of 125 is 5
Cube root of 216 is 6
Cube root of 343 is 7
Cube root of 512 is 8
Cube root of 729 is 9
Cube root of 1000 is 10
To calculate fractional exponents use our calculator for Fractional Exponents .
References
[1] Weisstein, Eric W. "Square Root." From MathWorld -- A Wolfram Web Resource. Cube Root
Additional reading on cube roots:
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7
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The Beau Sancy, sold at a Geneva auction in 2012 for £5.3m, is a?
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Cube Root of a Rational Number |The cube root of a number is denoted by ∛.
(i) Since (2 × 2 × 2) = 8, we have ∛8 = 2
(ii) Since (5 × 5 × 5) = 125, we have ∛125 = 5
Method of finding the cube root of a given number by factorization
To find the cube root of a given number, proceed as follows:
Step I. Express the given number as the product of primes.
Step II. Make groups in triplets of the same prime.
Step III. Find the product of primes, choosing one from each triplet.
Step IV. This product is the required cube root of the given number.
Note: If the group in triplets of the same prime factors cannot complete, then the exact cube root cannot be found.
Solved Examples of Cube Root using step by step with explanation
1. Evaluate the cube root: ∛216
Solution:
By prime factorization, we have
216 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 3 × 3
= (2 × 2 × 2) × (3 × 3 × 3)
Therefore, ∛216 = (2 × 3) = 6
2. Evaluate the cube root: ∛343
Solution:
By prime factorization, we have
343 = 7 × 7 × 7
3. Evaluate the cube root: ∛2744
Solution:
By prime factorization, we have
2744 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 7 × 7 × 7
= (2 × 2 × 2) × (7 × 7 × 7).
Therefore, ∛2744 = (2 × 7) = 14
Cube Root of a Negative Perfect Cube
Let (a) be a positive integer. Then, (-a) is a negative integer.
We know that (-a)³ = -a³.
Therefore, ∛-a³ = -a.
Thus, cube root of (-a³) = -(cube root of a³).
Thus, = ∛-x = - ∛x
Find the cube root of (-1000).
Solution:
We know that ∛-1000 = -∛1000
Resolving 1000 into prime factors, we get
1000 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 5 × 5 × 5
= (2 × 2 × 2) × (5 × 5 × 5)
Therefore, ∛1000 = (2 × 5) = 10
Therefore, ∛-1000 = -(∛1000) = -10
Cube Root of Product of Integers:
We have, ∛ab = (∛a × ∛b).
For example:
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i don't know
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Albedoza or albedo refers to a surface's what?
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The albedo effect and global warming
The albedo effect and global warming
The long term trend from albedo is of cooling. Recent satellite measurements of albedo show little to no trend.
Climate Myth...
It's albedo
"Earth’s Albedo has risen in the past few years, and by doing reconstructions of the past albedo, it appears that there was a significant reduction in Earth’s albedo leading up to a lull in 1997. The most interesting thing here is that the albedo forcings, in watts/sq meter seem to be fairly large. Larger than that of all manmade greenhouse gases combined." ( Anthony Watts )
The Unsettled Science of Albedo
“Clouds are very pesky for climate scientists…”
Karen M. Shell, Associate Professor, College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, writing about cloud feedback for RealClimate
Albedo is a measure of the reflectivity of a surface. The albedo effect when applied to the Earth is a measure of how much of the Sun's energy is reflected back into space. Overall, the Earth's albedo has a cooling effect. (The term ‘albedo’ is derived from the Latin for ‘whiteness’).
The basic principle is analogous to strategies employed by people who live in hot places. Building are finished with white exteriors to keep them cool, because white surfaces reflect the sun’s energy. Black surfaces reflect much less. People wear light colours in summer rather than dark ones for the same reason.
The Earth’s surface is a vast patchwork of colours, ranging from the dazzling white of ice and snow, to the dark surfaces of oceans and forests. Each surface has a specific effect on the Earth’s temperature. Snow and ice reflect a lot of the sun’s energy back into space. The darker oceans absorb energy, which warms the water. Oceans help keep the Earth warm because they absorb a lot of heat (approximately 90%). This warming increases water vapour, which acts as a greenhouse gas and helps to keep temperatures within ranges humans have largely taken for granted for millennia.
A Cloudy Outlook
It isn’t just the Earth’s surface that has a reflective quality. Clouds also reflect sunlight, contributing to the cooling effect of albedo. They also contribute to warming at the same time, because they consist of condensed water vapour, which retains heat.
And if clouds complicate matters, so too do the seasons. Every year, albedo peaks twice. The first peak occurs when the Antarctic sea-ice is at its winter maximum. The second peak, which is larger, occurs when there is snow cover over much of the Northern Hemisphere.
Albedo also changes due to human interaction. Forests have lower albedo than topsoil; deforestation increases albedo. Burning wood and fossil fuels adds black carbon to the atmosphere. Some black carbon settles on the surface of the ice, which reduces albedo.
Albedo and Global Warming
The most significant projected impact on albedo is through future global warming. With the exception of Antarctic sea-ice, recently increasing by 1% a year, nearly all the ice on the planet is melting. As the white surfaces decrease in area, less energy is reflected into space, and the Earth will warm up even more.
The loss of Arctic ice is of particular concern. The ice is disappearing quite fast; not only is albedo decreasing, but the loss triggers a positive feedback. By exposing the ocean surface to sunlight, the water warms up. This melts the ice from underneath, while man-made CO2 in the atmosphere warms the surface. Humidity also increases; water vapour is a powerful greenhouse gas. More ice therefore melts, which exposes more water, which melts more ice from underneath…
This loop fuels itself, the effect getting more and more pronounced. This is a good example of a positive feedback. Increased water vapour also has another effect, which is to increase the amount of cloud. As mentioned already, clouds can increase albedo (a negative feedback), but also warming (a positive feedback).
Measuring Albedo
The albedo of a surface is measured on a scale from 0 to 1, where 0 is a idealised black surface with no reflection, and 1 represents a white surface that has perfect reflection.
Taking measurements of something with so many variables and influences is clearly going to be a challenge. Satellite data is constrained by the orbit of the satellite. Clouds can be hard to distinguish from white surfaces.
Indirect measurement may also be problematic. The Earthshine project investigated a phenomenon where light reflected by Earth illuminates the dark side of the moon. By measuring the brightness, the amount of albedo - reflectivity - could be estimated.
The project reported a counter-intuitive finding. The Earth’s albedo was rising, even as the planet was warming. This seems contradictory, as Anthony Watts was quick to note when he voiced his sceptical argument in 2007. If higher albedo was having a cooling effect, how could global warming be taking place?
Tricky Business
Science constantly seeks to improve itself. The first Earthshine paper ( Palle 2004 ) claimed to have discovered a very significant cooling effect through a big increase in global albedo.
The results were problematic. They flatly contradicted the NASA CERES satellite observations, and the discrepancy became the subject of investigation. In 2004, a new telescope was installed at the Big Bear observatory, where the project was located. It became evident that the original analysis was in inaccurate. Once corrected, the Earthshine project and the satellite measurements were more consistent.
Figure 1: Earth albedo anomalies as measured by earthshine. In black are the albedo anomalies published in 2004 (Palle 2004). In blue are the updated albedo anomalies after improved data analysis, which also include more years of data ( Palle 2008 ).
Over a five-year period, scientists found that albedo did increase slightly. Since 2003 the CERES satellite records shows a very slight reduction.
Figure 2: CERES Terra SW TOA flux and MODIS cloud fraction for 30S–30N between March 2000 and February 2010 ( Loeb et.al. 2012 - PDF)
Global versus Local
There are contradictory assessments of current trends in global albedo, possibly because the changes and effects are small. Research is being conducted into the role of clouds, both as forcings and feedbacks, and the role of albedo in cloud formation.
Recent research indicates that global albedo is fairly constant, and having no material effect on global temperatures. Local effects may be more pronounced. Loss of albedo in the Arctic could heat the water sufficiently to release methane stored in ice crystals called clathrates. (Methane is a greenhouse gas far more potent than CO2).
Loss of albedo in the Arctic will accelerate warming across adjacent permafrost, releasing methane. Melting permafrost may reduce its albedo, another positive feedback that will accelerate warming. Ocean warming from reduced Arctic albedo will also accelerate melting at the edges of the Greenland ice cap, speeding up sea level rise.
Conclusions
Albedo is a subject needing a lot more research. It’s an important feature of our climate, and a complex one. It is not yet possible to make definitive statements about what the future may hold. In fact, it is a good example of the ‘unsettled’ nature of climate change science.
We know the planet is warming, and that human agency is causing it. What we cannot say yet is how climate change is affecting albedo, how it might be affected in the future, and what contribution to climate change - positive or negative - it may make.
Basic rebuttal written by GPWayne
Last updated on 23 October 2016 by gpwayne. View Archives
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Reflectance
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What word, from French and Portuguese etymology meaning 'raised', in different variants refers to various peoples around the world who are born locally, of foreign origin?
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The albedo effect
The albedo effect
Posted on 5 November 2009 by John Cook
Change to the Earth's albedo is a powerful driver of climate. When the planet's albedo or reflectivity increases, more incoming sunlight is reflected back into space. This has a cooling effect on global temperatures. Conversely, a drop in albedo warms the planet. A change of just 1% to the Earth's albedo has a radiative effect of 3.4 Wm-2, comparable to the forcing from a doubling of CO2. So is it unreasonable to wonder if albedo might have something to do with this global warming caper?
Albedo trends before 2000
There are various factors that affect the Earth's albedo. Snow and ice are highly reflective so when they melt, albedo drops. Forests have a lower albedo than open land so deforestation increases albedo (but for the record, no, chopping down all our forests is not the solution to global warming). Aerosols have a direct and indirect effect on albedo. The direct effect is by reflecting sunlight back into space, cooling the Earth. The indirect effect is when aerosol particles act as a cloud condensation nucleus, affecting the formation and lifetime of clouds. Clouds in turn influence global temperatures in various ways. They cool the climate by reflecting incoming sunlight but can also warm the climate by trapping outgoing infrared radiation from the surface.
All these factors are considered when adding up the various radiative forcings that drive climate. Changes in land use are calculated from historical reconstructions of cropland and pastureland changes. Combinations of satellite and surface-based observations allow us to determine trends in aerosol levels as well as cloud albedo effect.
Figure 1: Globally and annually averaged radiative forcing ( Chapter 2 of the IPCC AR4 ).
What we observe is that of the various albedo forcings, cloud albedo is the most dominant effect. The long term trend is that of cooling with a radiative forcing from 1850 to 2000 of -0.7 Wm-2.
Albedo trends since 2000
One method to determine the Earth's albedo is to measure earthshine. This is sunlight reflected from the Earth and then reflected from the Moon back to the nighttime Earth. Earthshine has been measured at the Big Bear Solar Observatory since November 1998 (with some measurements in 1994 and 1995). Figure 2 shows changes in albedo calculated in Palle 2004 from reconstructed satellite data (black line) and Earthshine measurements (blue line).
Figure 2: Albedo anomalies reconstructed from ISCCP satellite data (black) and Earthshine-observed albedo anomalies (blue). The right hand vertical scale shows negative radiative forcing (eg - cooling) ( Palle 2004 ).
The data in Figure 2 is problematic. The black line, reconstructed from ISCCP satellite data, "is a purely statistical parameter that has little physical meaning as it does not account for the non-linear relations between cloud and surface properties and planetary albedo and does not include aerosol related albedo changes such as associated with Mt. Pinatubo, or human emissions of sulfates for instance" ( Real Climate ).
Even more problematic is the spike in albedo around 2003, shown by the blue earthshine line. This is in sharp contrast to satellite measurements which showed little to no trend over the same period. To put this in perspective, consider the Pinutabo volcanic eruption in 1991 which spewed aerosols into the atmosphere. These aerosols reflected incoming sunlight, causing a negative radiative forcing of 2.5 Wm-2. This led to a dramatic drop in global temperatures. The earthshine data indicated a radiative forcing of nearly -6 Wm-2 which should've caused a precipitous drop in global temperatures. No such drop occured ( Wielicki 2007 ).
In 2008, the reason for the discrepancy was discovered. The Big Bear Solar Observatory installed a new telescope in 2004 to measure earthshine. With the new and improved data, they recalibrated their old data and updated their earthshine albedo results ( Palle 2008 ). Figure 3 shows the old albedo data (black) and the updated albedo (blue). The anomalous 2003 spike disappears. Nevertheless, a trend of increasing albedo remains from 1999 to 2003.
Figure 3: Earth albedo anomalies as measured by earthshine. In black are the albedo anomalies published in 2004 (Palle 2004). In blue are the updated albedo anomalies after improved data analysis, which also include more years of data ( Palle 2008 ).
How accurate is the earthshine method in determining global albedo? For starters, the method doesn't give a global albedo estimate. It covers about one third of the Earth at each observation occasion and certain areas can never be ‘‘seen’’ from the measurement site. Furthermore the measurements are sparsely sampled in time, and only made in a narrow wavelength band of 0.4 to 0.7 µm ( Bender 2006 ).
In contrast, satellite data such as CERES is a truly global measure of the Earth’s reflected shortwave radiation, including the effects of all atmospheric and surface properties. It covers a broader spectrum than earthshine (0.3–5.0 µm). Loeb 2007a compares 4 independent sets of satellite data: CERES, MODIS, MISR and SeaWiFS. Albedo as measured by CERES shows no long term trend from March 2000 to June 2005. They also find "remarkable consistency" between the 4 satellite results.
Figure 4: Monthly anomalies in global mean CERES SW TOA flux and MODIS cloud fraction ( Loeb 2007b ).
So albedo has had an effect on global temperatures - mostly a cooling effect on long term trends. As for recent albedo trends, earthshine data shows increasing albedo from 1999 to 2003 but little to no trend from 2003. Satellites show little to no trend since 2000. The radiative forcing from albedo changes in recent years appears to be minimal.
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i don't know
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What royal house immediately followed the reign of England's King Richard III?
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Royalty.nu - English Royal History - The Royal House of York
The Royal House of York
Books About the Yorkist Kings
Unless otherwise noted, these books are for sale at Amazon.com . Your purchase through these links will result in a commission for the owner of the Royalty.nu site.
The House of York
The Yorkists: The History of a Dynasty by Anne Crawford. Examines the truth about the controversial Yorkist kings, including the celebrated murders of young King Edward V and his brother.
Richard, Duke of York: King by Right by Matthew Lewis. Biography of the third Duke of York, whose unquenchable desire for the throne ignited the Wars of the Roses. He was the father of Edward IV and Richard III.
On the Trail of the Yorks by Kristie Dean. Explores the places associated with members of the royal York dynasty, including cathedrals, castles, battlefields and manor houses.
Cecily Neville
Cecily Neville: Mother of Kings by Amy License. Biography of the mother of English kings Edward IV and Richard III.
Queen By Right by Anne Easter Smith. Novel about Cecily Neville, mother of kings Edward IV and Richard III. History remembers Cecily facing an attacking army while holding the hands of her two young sons. This book reveals how she stepped into her destiny, beginning with her marriage to Richard, Duke of York. Together they faced personal tragedies and deadly political intrigue. Click here for other novels by Anne Easter Smith.
Red Rose, White Rose by Joanna Hickson. Fiction. The powerful story of Cecily Neville, torn between the two sides of the War of the Roses, told through the eyes of Cecily and her half-brother Cuthbert.
King Edward IV
Edward IV by Charles Ross and Ralph A. Griffiths. Biography from the Yale English Monarchs series.
Edward IV by Michael Hicks. Biography of the first Yorkist king. Assessment of Edward IV is inextricably bound up not only in the record of his reign, but also his baleful legacy. This book explores how his reputation has changed.
Edward IV: The Summer King by A. J. Pollard. In 1461, Edward Earl of March, a handsome 18-year old, usurped the English throne from Henry VI. His reign brought economic and industrial expansion, but he squandered his talents in a frenzy of excess.
Edward IV by Hannes Kleineke. Biography. Was Edward a vain and self-indulgent playboy, or was his life cut tragically short, preventing him from establishing the 'new monarchy' associated with Henry VII?
Edward IV and the Wars of the Roses by David Santiuste. The most effective general of the Wars of the Roses, Edward IV died in his bed, undefeated in battle. This book examines his military role and the war in which he played a vital part.
Eleanor: The Secret Queen by John Ashdown-Hill. Argues that 15th century king Edward IV secretly married Eleanor Talbot and therefore his marriage to his official wife, Elizabeth Woodville, was bigamous.
Elizabeth Woodville & Her Family
Elizabeth: England's Slandered Queen by Arlene Okerlund. Biography of King Edward IV's wife, Elizabeth Woodville. She has traditionally been portrayed as a scheming opportunist, but this book depicts her as an adored wife, distraught mother of the two lost Princes in the Tower, and innocent queen slandered by politicians.
Elizabeth Woodville by David Baldwin. The wife of Edward IV has been championed and vilified by five centuries of historians, dramatists, and novelists. This biography examines what she was really like.
Elizabeth Woodville: The Real Story of the 'White Queen' by David MacGibbon. Biography of the exceptionally beautiful, influential wife of King Edward IV. First published in 1938.
Edward IV & Elizabeth Woodville: A True Romance by Amy License. When the tall, athletic Edward of York married a widow five years his elder, it was to prove an unpopular decision. This book reassesses the queen and her husband.
The Last Knight Errant: Sir Edward Woodville and the Age of Chivalry by Christopher Wilkins. The first full biography of a pivotal figure in English history. Sir Edward (brother of Elizabeth Woodville), carved out an important role for himself in the 15th century, but his reputation suffered at the hands of King Richard III.
The Women of the Cousins' War: The Duchess, the Queen, and the King's Mother by Philippa Gregory, David Baldwin, and Michael Jones. An illustrated look at the lives of three women during the Wars of the Roses: Jacquetta, Duchess of Bedford; Elizabeth Woodville, wife of Edward IV; and Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII.
The Woodvilles: The Wars of the Roses and England's Most Infamous Family by Susan Higginbotham. In 1464, King Edward IV revealed his secret marriage to Elizabeth Woodville, a beautiful widow. The controversial match brought Elizabeth's large family into the thick of the Wars of the Roses.
Fiction
The White Queen by Philippa Gregory. A novel about Elizabeth Woodville, wife of Edward IV. First book in the Cousins War series. Followed by The Lady of the Rivers , about Jacquetta of Luxembourg; and The Kingmaker's Daughter , about Anne Neville; and The White Princess , about Elizabeth of York, wife of Henry VII.
The King's Grey Mare by Rosemary Hawley Jarman. Novel about Elizabeth Woodville, queen of King Edward IV. Beautiful beyond belief, she becomes the tool of her evil mother, who is determined that her daughter should sit on the throne of England. Fiction.
The Princes in the Tower: Did Richard III Murder His Nephews, Edward V & Richard of York? by Josephine Wilkinson. This study returns to the original sources, presenting a new theory about what really happened and why.
The Lost Prince: The Survival of Richard of York by David Baldwin. Did Richard, Duke of York, the younger of the Princes in the Tower, survive his imprisonment? This book suggests that Richard Plantagenet, an unusually well-educated bricklayer who died in 1550, might have been the lost prince.
Richard III and the Princes in the Tower by Gerald Prenderghast. The fate of Richard III's vanished nephews, Edward V and Richard of York, remains controversial. This book examines their possible fates.
Fictional Accounts
A Secret Alchemy: A Novel by Emma Darwin. Tells the story of the Princes in the Tower through the eyes of their mother, Elizabeth Woodville; her brother Anthony; and a modern historian.
To the Tower Born: A Novel of the Lost Princes by Robin Maxwell. This fictional account tells the story of the lost princes through the eyes of a printer's daughter and her friend Elizabeth of York, sister of the little princes.
The Lost King: Richard III and the Princes in the Tower by Alison Prince. Children's book. A fictional look at the brief reign of Richard III, told through the eyes of his nephews' nursemaid. What really happened to the Princes in the Tower? Was Richard responsible?
King Richard III
Richard the Third by Paul Murray Kendall. This respected biography ignores Tudor accounts depicting King Richard III as an archvillain and instead portrays him as the man he was, leaving moral judgements to the reader.
Richard III: The King in the Car Park by Terry Breverton. This biography places Richard in the context of his times and assesses the likelihood of other candidates put forward to have killed his nephews, the Princes in the Tower.
Richard III: The Road to Leicester by Amy License. Why did England's Richard III seize the throne? Did he murder the Princes in the Tower? This book provides an introduction to the controversial king.
Richard III: England's Black Legend by Desmond Seward. Biography. The author argues that Shakespeare's Richard is closer to reality than the image of a betrayed hero favoured by his modern defenders.
Richard III, The Young King to Be by Josephine Wilkinson. The first of a two-volume biography. It concentrates on Richard's early life, from his birth in 1452 to his marriage to Anne Neville.
Richard III & His Era
Richard III by Michael Hicks. This study strips away propaganda to rescue Richard from his critics and supporters alike, examining Richard's life in its 15th century context.
Richard III by David Baldwin. An in-depth study of the controversial king's dealings with his contemporaries.
Richard III by David Hipshon. Explores Richard III's reign and the controversies surrounding it in the context of the period.
Richard III by Charles Ross. Assesses the king within the context of his violent age and explores why he usurped the throne, the belief that he ordered the murder of the Princes in the Tower, and the death of the Yorkist dynasty with Richard himself.
Richard III: From Contemporary Chronicles, Letters and Records by Keith Dockray and Peter Hammond. First published in 1988 as Richard III: A Reader in History and republished in 1997 as Richard III: A Source Book, this book has been rewritten to incorporate recent scholarship.
The Betrayal of Richard III: An Introduction to the Controversy by V. B. Lamb, revised by Peter Hammond. This survey the life and times of Richard III examines the contemporary evidence for the events of his reign. The original edition was first published in 1959; this revised edition was published in 2015.
The History of King Richard III by Sir Thomas More. Much of what is known about Richard III stems from this biography by Thomas More (who was executed during the reign of Henry VIII). Focusing on the final years of Richard's life, More describes a man corrupted by the thrill of power.
Richard III's Death, Grave, and Remains
Richard III and the Death of Chivalry by David Hipshon. Bosworth was the last English battle in which the monarch relied on feudal retainers. Power politics led to the king's death on the battlefield, the death of chivalry, and the end of the Middle Ages.
The Bones of a King: Richard III Rediscovered by the Greyfriars Research Team. The official behind-the-scenes story of the discovery of Richard III's remains, based on the research of the specialists directly involved.
The Last Days of Richard III and the Fate of His DNA by John Ashdown-Hill. A detailed exploration of Richard's last 150 days, his burial, and the construction of his tomb. This fully revised and expanded edition includes the discoveries of the Leicester dig where the king's skeleton was found.
The King's Grave: The Discovery of Richard III's Lost Burial Place and the Clues It Holds by Philippa Langley and Michael Jones. Written in alternating chapters, with Richard's 15th century life contrasting with a 21st century eyewitness account of the search and discovery of his body.
Digging for Richard III: The Search for the Lost King by Mike Pitts. The story of the archaeology behind the dig that found the remains of Richard III, told through photographs, diagrams, and firsthand accounts.
Other Richard III Topics
Richard III: A Royal Enigma by Sean Cunningham. Reproduces key surviving documents from the king's short reign, including letters in Richard's own hand and extracts from official papers. The original sources are woven together by a brief narrative history of the reign. Fully illustrated in color.
Richard III and the Murder in the Tower by Peter A. Hancock. In 1483, William, Lord Hastings was hustled from a meeting of the Royal Council and executed on Tower Green. This book sheds light on that mystery, reveals the key role of William Catesby in Richard III's ascent to the throne, and provides an explanation for the fate of the Princes in the Tower.
The Family of Richard III by Michael Hicks. The Wars of the Roses were quarrels within the Plantagenet family. The York dynasty won the first war, but the Yorkist establishment shared in Richard III's destruction. This book concludes with an analysis of Richard's DNA and his 'family' as it exists today.
Richard III: A Ruler and His Reputation by David Horspool. This biography examines what we know of Richard's life and the way his reputation has been formed and re-formed over centuries.
The Mythology of Richard III by John Ashdown-Hill. Was Richard III abnormal, a tyrant, a serial killer? What is the truth about his marriage and his last days? This book unravels the web of myths.
Richard III's 'Beloved Cousyn': John Howard and the House of York by John Ashdown-Hill. Examines why Howard chose to support Richard, what secrets he knew about Edward IV, and what he had to do with the fate of the 'Princes in the Tower'.
The World of Richard III by Kristie Dean. A journey through the landscape of Richard's time, including castles, cathedrals, manor homes, and chapels, with photographs, floor plans, and images.
Richard III: A Study of Service by Rosemary Horrox. About the king's servants.
Fiction About Richard III
The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman. Novel about the life of Richard III. Even if you don't share Penman's view of Richard as a saintly innocent, this is an entertaining book and an excellent introduction to the historical figures of the era.
This Time by Joan Szechtman. Time-travel story in which England's King Richard III attempts to unravel the mysteries of the modern world and undo the damage done to his reputation through 500 years of history.
The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey. Novel in which a 20th century detective investigates Richard III's alleged murder of the Princes in the Tower. Read my review of the book here .
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Tudor
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Anthropomorphism refers to giving or attributing what qualities to something?
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Richard III Society | RICHARD III | HIS LIFE
A Brief Biography and Introduction to Richard's Reputation
by Wendy E.A. Moorhen
What follows is a brief factual biography of Richard III which provides links to more in-depth articles and papers on his life, career and reputation.
Boyhood
Fotheringhay Castle by Julian Rowe,
reproduced by kind permission of Peter Hammond Richard Plantagenet was born on 2 October 1452 at Fotheringhay Castle in Northamptonshire, the youngest son of Richard, Duke of York, and his wife, the former Cecily Neville. York, a cousin to the reigning King Henry VI, held senior government positions but was unpopular with the Lancastrian regime. York's disputes led to his early death at the Battle of Wakefield on 30 December 1460. His eldest son, Edward, seized the throne of England in March the following year and defeated the Lancastrians at Towton on 29 March.
Middleham Castle ©Geoffrey Wheeler The young king Edward IV now assumed responsibility for the upbringing of his younger siblings who had hitherto experienced an unsettled childhood. The elder son, George, was created duke of Clarence and the younger, Richard, was created duke of Gloucester at the age of eight and entered the household of his cousin, Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, to begin his education as a nobleman. This took place primarily at the earl's Yorkshire estates of Middleham and Sheriff Hutton.
Meanwhile, King Edward clandestinely married a Lancastrian widow in 1464 and thus began to alienate Warwick, his most powerful ally, who had favoured a political match with a European princess. Over the next five years the relationship between king and 'over-mighty' earl deteriorated until civil strife was resumed in 1469 and the following year Edward was driven into exile. One of the causes of their dispute was the marriage of Warwick's elder daughter to Clarence without the king's permission.
The Young Duke
The Battle of Barnet © Geoffrey Wheeler Richard accompanied Edward to the continent and on their return to England in 1471 the eighteen-year-old duke was given command of the vanguard at the Battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury. These battles were resounding Yorkist victories and both Warwick and the Lancastrian heir, Prince Edward of Wales, were killed. The former king, Henry VI, died a few days later in London.
Richard now assumed the responsibilities of his position. He had been admiral of England since 1461 and he was now appointed constable. King Edward granted Richard many of Warwick's forfeited estates and the following year the duke married Warwick's younger daughter Anne, who was the widow of Prince Edward who was killed at Tewkesbury.
The Battle of Tewkesbury © Geoffrey Wheeler The couple took up residence in the north of England , which King Edward effectively entrusted to his brother, and Richard was created Warden of the West Marches of Scotland. Richard took his duties seriously and held the north against any Scottish incursions. In 1476, Duchess Anne gave birth to their only child, who became known as Edward of Middleham.
During the remaining years of his brother's reign, Richard of Gloucester rarely left the north. Two such occasions included the invasion of France in 1475 and attending the parliament of 1478 when their brother Clarence was attainted for treason and privately executed. In the summer of 1482, Richard invaded Scotland at King Edward's behest. He was accompanied by the Scots king's brother, the duke of Albany. Richard and Albany marched as far as Edinburgh before Richard strategically withdrew over the border.
April - July 1483
On 9 April 1483 King Edward died, a few days short of his forty-first birthday. There had been no time to prepare for a transition of power and the heir, another Edward, was twelve years old. Factions were immediately formed, each believing that they had an important role to play in the government of England. There was the queen and her extensive family; the old nobility, represented in the former king's Council, which included the late king's friend and chamberlain, William, Lord Hastings; and his surviving brother, Richard, who was appointed the lord protector.
Ludlow Castle At the time of his father's death, the new king was at Ludlow under the tutelage of his maternal uncle, Earl Rivers. The queen sent for them to come to London and for the king to be crowned without delay. Lord Hastings possibly sent messengers north to inform Richard of his brother's death and urge that he come immediately to London. Richard was joined on his journey south by the duke of Buckingham, a distant cousin. At Northampton, Richard and his followers met and arrested Earl Rivers. Richard then moved on to Stony Stratford where the king was resting, made three further arrests and escorted his nephew to London.
The queen, on hearing of these events, withdrew to sanctuary in Westminster Abbey with her family. Edward V arrived in London on 4 May, the day for which his coronation had been planned, and the event was rescheduled for 22 June. Richard and the Council continued with the preparations for the coronation and with the governance of the country, but on 13 June Richard announced that a plot against him had been discovered and accused Lord Hastings of being the instigator. The latter was immediately executed and Archbishop Thomas Rotherham, Bishop John Morton and Thomas, Lord Stanley, were arrested.
On 16 June the young king's brother, Richard, Duke of York left sanctuary in Westminster Abbey and joined his brother in the royal apartments at the Tower. On 22 June Dr Ralph Shaa, brother of the mayor, declared to the citizens of London, that King Edward IV's marriage to Elizabeth Woodville was illegal. This was because of a pre-contract of marriage between Edward IV and Lady Eleanor Butler and the clandestine nature of the king's marriage to Elizabeth Woodville. The children of the marriage were declared illegitimate, and therefore barred from succession to the throne of England. Within four days Richard was acclaimed king of England.
Richard the King
King Richard III was crowned, together with his wife Anne, on 6 July at Westminster Abbey. Shortly afterwards the couple began a progress around the country which ended in York with the investiture of their son Edward as prince of Wales. In the autumn of 1483, however, King Richard suffered a serious set-back. His former supporter, the duke of Buckingham, became involved in a rebellion, based primarily in the west country and Kent. Although swiftly repressed, the effects were far-reaching and King Richard now began to rely more on his northern supporters, placing them in the offices left vacant by the rebels.
The rebellion had been supported by a scion of the House of Lancaster, the exiled Henry Tudor, a descendant of King Edward III through his son John of Gaunt's legitimised Beaufort family. Tudor had assumed the role of representative of the Lancastrian line and had become the focus for disaffected English nobles and gentry.
On Christmas Day 1483, in Rennes Cathedral, Henry Tudor declared his intention of marrying King Edward IV's eldest daughter, the Lady Elizabeth, when he became king of England. He then spent the next eighteen months planning his invasion.
King Richard meanwhile called his first, and only, parliament in January 1484. The legislation covered three main areas, the ratification of Richard as king, the passing of acts of attainder against the October rebels and the passing of a number of acts designed to reform part of the legal system.
King Richard's reign was overshadowed by the threat of Tudor's invasion and by personal loss. Near the anniversary of the death of his brother, King Edward, Richard's son died and the king and queen shut themselves in their apartments at Nottingham Castle to mourn their loss. Richard's queen died less than a year later on 16 March 1485.
Artwork from The Battle of Bosworth by Graham Turner
© Osprey Publishing Ltd www.ospreypublishing.com The long-awaited invasion came on 7 August 1485 when Tudor landed at Milford Haven in Wales. King Richard mobilised his forces and on 22 August king and invader joined battle at Bosworth Field in Leicestershire. Despite Richard's superior army, the battle was lost when the king was slain after Sir William Stanley turned traitor in favour of his step-nephew, Henry Tudor, and led his forces into the battle on Tudor's side. Richard Plantagenet was the last king of England to die on the battlefield.
Reputation
The victor of Bosworth was to establish his own dynasty but his genealogical claim to the throne was both tenuous and cadet. It may also have been illegal without an act of parliament to amend Henry IV's legitimisation of his Beaufort siblings who were barred, together with their descendants, from inheriting the throne. Tudor wisely decided to claim the throne by right of conquest but was cognizant of the need to take every opportunity of enhancing his own reputation at the expense of his predecessor. Richard's actions and behaviour were the subject of attention and scrutiny and were presented, in the weeks and years after his death, as those of a wicked and unscrupulous tyrant.
Hastings' Windsor Stall Plate
© Geoffrey Wheeler During his own lifetime, however, Richard's reputation was high, the loyal brother of Edward IV who administered the north of the realm and defended the country against the Scots. The premature death of Edward IV led to a national crisis in which Richard emerged as king. With the benefit of hindsight, historians have generally interpreted the fateful events of 1483 in the light of Richard being a calculating usurper. There are, of course, some contemporary criticisms and rumours about Richard but these are inevitable in view of his high profile. The decisive arrests of Rivers and others thus appear as pre-emptive acts to gain control of Edward V. The fact was that Richard had not been officially informed of his brother's death and that his sister-in-law sought to crown her son with unseemly haste, an act which would have reduced Richard's power to rule the king despite his appointment as Protector. Once crowned, Edward V would have ruled through his Council, the composition and performance of which could be manipulated by the Woodville faction.
Richard's next decisive act was based on the revelation of a plot and the execution of its alleged leader, Hastings. Traditional historians have accused Richard of inventing the plot in order to rid himself of Edward V's staunchest supporter. However, documents are extant which demonstrate that Richard was aware of the conspiracy before taking action, sought to obtain re-enforcements to support his protectorship and conducted a mop-up operation to neutralise other conspirators, all of which suggest that Richard was suppressing a genuine plot. The declaration of the illegality of Edward IV's marriage to Elizabeth Woodville has been interpreted as a convenient excuse for Richard to overturn his nephew's succession and it was indeed a timely discovery. However, the legality of Richard's actions and of the 'precontract' dispute are still the subjects of academic debate.
Once Richard was crowned and his nephews bastardised, the young princes were no longer an important factor at the Ricardian court. Their 'disappearance', however, led to the greatest controversy surrounding King Richard - did he kill his nephews?
Signature with motto of King Richard.
Redrawn by Piat Design Accusations of infanticide, however, were not enough for the historians seeking to defame the dead king. The death of Richard's own wife came under suspicion with hints of him murdering her with poison, of murdering her former husband after the battle of Tewkesbury, of murdering King Henry VI, and even of his own brother Clarence, despite his treason being confirmed by the act of attainder passed by King Edward IV's own parliament. By the time the Elizabethan playwright William Shakespeare penned what was to become one of his most popular and frequently performed plays, The Tragedy of King Richard III, the works of the anonymous Croyland Chronicler, John Rous, Bernard André, Polydore Vergil, Sir Thomas More, Edward Hall, Richard Grafton and Raphael Holinshed had been written. Shakespeare followed their tradition and presented his anti-hero as the murderous, deformed tyrant so well known to theatre, television and cinema audiences.
Within a few years of its first production a backlash against the 'traditionalist' version of King Richard's history was written by Sir George Buck although it remained unpublished for some years. Later in the sixteenth century, Richard's fate as the archetypal villain was sealed when John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough is reputed to have said 'I take my history from Shakespeare' despite the fact that Richard's villainy was so over the top that the character has failed to gain acceptance as a real and identifiable person with many audiences.
The Great Debate, as the study of Richard's reputation became known, truly began in the seventeenth century when Horace Walpole wrote his Historic Doubts and rattled the cages of the traditionalists. That debate is not yet over, with the majority of the British historical academic community still promoting Richard as an infanticide. Some academics have acknowledged that Richard was a talented administrator and that he cannot be held responsible for the deaths of Henry VI and his son, but their overall assessment is still that of an evil and avaricious man. This shift in his reputation has now led to new claims of avarice, in that his motivation for taking the throne is said to be found in his fear of losing the Neville inheritance.
Gaining a re-evaluation of Richard's reputation entails the painstaking task of examining the primary and Tudor sources and assessing his actions, both as duke and king, against the background of his times, his contemporaries, his predecessors and his successors. The art of rhetoric, so beloved of one of Richard's greatest critics, Sir Thomas More, comes into play as the interpretation of his actions, such as his 1484 legislation, which has been described as either 'enlightened' or 'divisive', depends on the writer's orientation. There is no clear evidence that Richard was guilty or innocent of his so-called 'crimes', but historians, whether detractors or sympathisers, must work with the information derived from the sources and endeavour to present a balanced view of this controversial figure.
The most comprehensive study of Richard's posthumous reputation has been carried out by the Society's former chairman, the late Jeremy Potter, and published as Good King Richard?
Reproduced by kind permission
of the Society of Antiquaries. The 'how to …' hand-books, so popular in our own time, which cover a vast array of skills, behaviours, activities, etc. are not new. In the fifteenth century, books abounded advising rulers on what was expected of them, such as 'mirrors' of princes or histories that gave shining examples of how a prince should behave. Richard III owned a number of such books and it appears he accepted the writers' teachings.
In a paper presented by Anne Sutton at the Society's symposium held in 1984 at Jesus College, Cambridge (and subsequently published in Lordship, Loyalty and Law), she puts forward a very strong case that Richard, both as duke and king, followed the principles laid down for a prince and that he can be viewed as 'a perfect prince'. The following is a brief summary of some of those arguments. First, what were the requisite virtues?
From The Declamation of Noblesse '… to be a curious searcer for our weal publyque, merry at home, laborious outward, besy to atteyne science, pyteous of them which has necessyte, namely to my fader, moder & kynne, welbyloued of my neyghbours, true to my frendes, obeysaunt & devoute in thynges relygious'.
In De Regimine Principum by Aegidius Colonna, a pupil of St Thomas Aquinas, Colonna's prince should be prudent, dignified but sympathetic, truthful, energetic, just but tempered with mercy, courageous but not rash, moderate in all things, magnanimous and munificent in his undertakings, a generous but careful rewarder of the deserving, he should love honour, be humble and friendly while commanding respect, have an equal as his wife with whom he shares secrets and above all love the common good and the welfare of the state.
John Gower summed up the virtues as truth, largesse, love of justice, pity, and chastity in marriage.
William Langland in The Vision of Piers Plowman presents 'a compelling image of a harmonious society bound together by law, loyalty and love'. Loyalty was a virtue that Richard embraced enthusiastically and included in his personal motto 'loyalté me lie'.
The theme in all of these works is the personal virtue of the prince. In the middle ages public morality was the extension of private morality. 'The king's will had to be controlled by a desire to serve the good of the community, the "common weal", and by obedience to the rule of natural law'. In the coronation oath the ideals of good rule are reduced to four basic clauses 'maintain the church, administer justice, uphold the laws of England, and defend your subjects' and the oath was translated into English for the first time at King Richard's coronation.
The Church
Reproduced by kind permission of
the artist. www.studio88.co.uk Through the medium of sermons the church encouraged the rich to fulfil their obligations and help the poor. Richard's good intentions in this area are well documented. He promoted the court that became the Court of Requests where the poor could present their suits at Westminster. In Glamorgan, where he held considerable land, Richard attempted to reform the administration system within his lordship, and T.B. Pugh commented Richard 'had a genuine concern for the welfare of its inhabitants.'
Of Richard's personal piety a little can be gleaned from his library, which included a bible and his own book of hours. There is also evidence of devotion to the saints and he presented a jewelled calvary containing relics of St Peter to York Minster. As a prince Richard was obliged to make an outward show of piety and he created a number of religious foundations, such as the collegiate church at Middleham.
The education of the clergy was also an interest and in 1477 he made a grant to Queens' College Cambridge to support four priests studying theology. The priests were charged to pray for Richard and his family, and rather poignantly, friends and associates who had died at the battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury. Richard appears to have had a genuine interest in learned clergy and in education.
During his royal progress following his coronation he stayed at Magdalen College, Oxford, and listened to learned disputations. Richard was surrounded by senior clergy whose reputations stood high, such as Bishop Thomas Langton and John Russell, Bishop of Lincoln, was his chancellor.
The Knight
Reproduced by kind permission of
the artist. www.studio88.co.uk The chivalric code encompassed the ideals of protecting the weak, fighting for justice, keeping the peace, serving the common weal and rejected evil behaviour. Hand-books and romances, like those for princes, were in circulation, such as De Re Militari, a copy of which Richard commissioned, and Lull's Order of Chivalry dedicated by Caxton to Richard. Preparing for knighthood was part of Richard's education and from a young age he held the chivalric post of constable of England. As constable he had his own court of law which included the overseeing of the heralds, and ordinances for their good behaviour have been attributed to Richard. He obviously had a keen interest in their work, and as king he founded the College of Arms.
A practical demonstration of Richard's military leadership, where he displayed the qualities of discipline and moderation, can be found in the Scottish campaign of 1482, described by Dr Norman MacDougall as a 'competent campaign' Richard was granted money to pay for an army of 20,000 for only four weeks and for 1,700 men for a further two weeks. He succeeded in capturing Berwick, marching to Edinburgh, which he occupied, controlled his army so they did not sack the city and returned to England within the timeframe.
The Law
As both a magnate and administrator the law played an important role in Richard's affairs. As king it was to assume the greatest significance. Social harmony was the ultimate goal of the 'perfect prince', and the right and fair regulation of society by a recognition of mutual obligations between the different sections of the community, such 'as rich and poor, buyer and seller, citizen and foreigner, lord and liegeman' was enforced by law. As his brother's representative in the north Richard's ducal council became a source of arbitration and Richard showed concern for peaceful arbitration and judicial solutions.
Westminster Hall When he left the north and appointed his nephew, the earl of Lincoln, as his successor, the ducal council became the Council of the North and its responsibilities and conduct were the subject of a set of articles. As an administrative institution it survived into the seventeenth century which perhaps bears testament to Richard's skill and foresight as an adminstrator.
Richard's parliament of 1484 , apart from attending to the business of the king's title and the October rebellion, passed legislation which led Sir Francis Bacon to describe Richard as 'a good lawmaker for the ease and solace of the common people'. For example, Richard was concerned with the problem of corrupt and lazy officials and some of the statutes dealt with this problem. Richard's policy throughout his career was to set standards whereby officials were educated and sufficiently wealthy in order for them to be less vulnerable to corruption. At a session in the Star Chamber Richard personally brought to the attention of his justices connivance at altering a court record, the reporter of the session states that Richard was 'perturbed' that such cases should arise.
Marriage
Middleham by Graham Turner.
Reproduced by kind permission of the artist. www.studio88.co.uk A stable private life was acknowledged as desirable by the mentors of princes and indeed the problems surrounding King Edward's marital arrangements were directly responsible for Richard's elevation to kingship. They provided Richard with a moral claim to the throne. Although little is known about the relationship between Richard and his wife, Anne Neville, their mutual grief at the loss of their son in 1484 and the fact that his two illegitimate children appear to have been begotten before his marriage, perhaps indicate the stability of Richard's own marriage.
Conclusion
Dr Sutton concludes her paper with three contemporary comments on Richard's policy as Duke and as King by Dominic Mancini, Thomas Langton, Bishop of St David's, and Von Poppelau, a German knight, which can be found in Richard by his contemporaries .
Further reading
A curious searcher for our weal public': Richard III, Piety, Chivalry and the concept of the 'Good Prince' by Anne F. Sutton.
Richard III, Loyalty, Lordship and Law edited by P.W. Hammond, London 1985. Revised edition 2000 and published by the Richard III and Yorkist History Trust. These are the proceedings of the 1983 Symposium. Available from the Society's Bookshop.
Richard III's Books by Anne F. Sutton and Livia Visser-Fuchs. Gloucester 1997
The Hours of Richard III by Anne F. Sutton and Livia Visser-Fuchs. Gloucester 1990
Glamorgan County History: Volume 3 The Middle Ages edited by T.B. Pugh. Cardiff 1971. p. 203
Richard III and James III by Norman MacDougall. Richard III Loyalty Lordship and Law edited by P.W. Hammond, see above.
by Lynda Pidgeon based on an article by Mary O'Regan
Introduction
Medieval life was dominated by the Church. The year was shaped by the religious festivals of Easter, Christmas and Saints Days. While daily life was structured around the seven sacraments of baptism, confirmation, mass, penance, ordination, marriage and extreme unction. Until the Reformation in the sixteenth century there had only been the one Church, of which the Pope was Christ's representative on earth and salvation could only be found through the Church.
Canterbury Cathedral The Church ministered to the spiritual and religious needs of the laity, provided hospitals for the sick, hostels for travellers, relief for the poor and education. As well as addressing peoples spiritual and social needs the church also acted as a court dealing with such matters as marriage disputes and witchcraft. Clerics also became involved in politics providing administrators for the state, many of whom held high office in the king's council.
With such wide ranging involvement in the daily lives of people, it can be difficult to assess the extent to which people were genuinely pious or were simply following customary practices which gave them acceptance in their community.
Influences on Richard's Religion
St Brigid of Sweden It is probable that Richard was influenced by his mother, Cecily, Duchess of York, who was considered one of the most saintly laywomen of her generation. In her later years she is known to have devoted most of her day to religious matters. Cecily was a follower of the devotio moderna, a regime of devotion put forward by Gerard de Groot of Flanders, in which lay practitioners built their lives around worship, prayer, study and contemplation. Their personal devotions focussed on the works of famous mystical writers, such as Mechtild of Hackeborn. She was a thirteenth-century Cistercian nun whose mystical visions were written down in her lifetime as Liber Specialis Gratie, sometimes called 'The Book of Ghostly Grace'.
St Caterine of Sienna Cecily owned a copy of this book and was also known to be interested in the lives of St Catherine of Siena and St Brigid of Sweden.
Richard's older sister Margaret, Duchess of Burgundy, was also influenced by their mother's religious interests. Cecily taught her to set aside regular hours for prayer contemplation and reading. When Margaret became duchess of Burgundy she made contact with leading theologians and reformers in the Low Countries, giving generously to the church to found convents and build churches and monasteries. Margaret's foundations were also practical; the convent she founded at Binche provided a hospital, orphanage and school for girls.
Richard's Religious Books
Richard's Religious Books We may have an indication of Richard's religious tastes, and possibly his spiritual life, in his personal library. It has been estimated that 'of the eleven books that he probably owned only four can be called devotional' (Sutton and Visser-Fuchs, p.84), a Book of Hours, relatively simply written and decorated. For Scripture he owned an English translation of the New Testament and an English verse paraphrase of the Old Testament. Like his mother he had The Book of Special Grace of Mechtild of Hackeborn, for meditation. The book also bears the name of his wife Anne Neville, and might as easily reflect her religious tastes. Meditation demands solitude and freedom from interruption, something more easily attained by an aristocratic woman than a man, especially one engaged in a busy public life, such as Richard was, as both duke and king.
Much has been made of the fact that Richard owned an English New Testament translated by John Wycliffe, raising the question that he was sympathetic to Lollard ideas. However the copy owned by Richard was an earlier, orthodox translation by Wycliffe to which no taint of heresy was attached. It is not known how easily Richard read and understood Latin, but an interest in reading the Gospels in the vernacular suggests an intention to absorb its message as perfectly as possible.
Richard III's Prayer
Richard's Prayer It is Richard Ill's Book of Hours that has borne the weight of later conjectures concerning Richard's piety. In particular a prayer that was added to the book after it came into Richard's possession. This has been closely analysed in the hope of throwing light on everything from his spiritual life to his mental health. Richard's own circumstances have been taken to be directly relevant to words and phrases used in the prayer, as if it were composed with the king in mind, however texts of it have been found dating from the fourteenth century, and originating in places as far apart as Italy, Catalonia and Burgundy. It is a long prayer, designed for use by anyone in distress, anxiety, infirmity or affliction of any kind. The prayer seems to have been particularly valued by other medieval rulers: known owners of books containing it include Alexander, Prince of Poland, Maximilian I, Frederick of Aragon, and successive Dukes of Burgundy. Recitation of the prayer on thirty successive days was enjoined, in the belief that God would then turn the supplicant's troubles to 'joy and comfort.'
Without additions peculiar to a single owner, the normal contents of a Book of Hours were, principally, formal prayers of the Church designed for public recitation but suitable also for private use. The main constituent was the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a simpler, shorter version of the Divine Office, making it suitable for laypeople to pray either alone or with a companion. Like the Divine Office it was divided into sections corresponding to hours of the day: Matins, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, Nones, Vespers and Compline.
If Richard III used his Book of Hours regularly he would have made himself conscious of God continually during the day. In addition the book contained many prayers directed to and praising the Virgin Mary. Devotion to the Mother of God was popular among both clergy and laity at all times during the Middle Ages, and there is no reason to think that Richard III was any exception.
His Religious Donations
According to John Rous in his Anglica Historia, 'King Richard was praiseworthy for his building, as at Westminster, Nottingham, Warwick, York and Middleham, and many other places, which can be viewed. He founded a noble chantry for a hundred priests in the cathedral of York, and another college at Middleham. He founded another in the church of St Mary of Barking, by the Tower of London, and endowed the Queen's College at Cambridge with 500 marks annual rent.'
Jonathon Hughes suggests that Richard had an 'excessive preoccupation with chantry masses… He was responsible for ten chantry or collegiate foundations (apart from his patronage of Queen's College, Cambridge) and he distributed a stream of largesse to religious houses, parish churches, houses of friars, chapels and chantries'. He adds that many of Richard's gifts were small and mostly given in the north, where he established most of his foundations.
St Mary & St Akelda Church, Middleham Richard's surviving, and best known collegiate foundation is that at Middleham. On 21 February 1478 he obtained a licence to found and endow the college, which was to be served by a dean, six chaplains, five clerks and six choristers. As well as providing prayers for himself, his wife and son, prayers were to be offered for his surviving siblings, the king and queen, and his mother. Masses were also to be said for the soul of his father and his deceased brothers and sisters. However the college was not only to serve as a house of prayer, it was to contribute towards the better education of the clergy and improve services in the locality. The same licence also gave Richard permission to endow a college at Barnard Castle, comprising a dean and twelve priests. The endowment was valued at 400 marks per annum, twice the size of Middleham. All of these foundations would have been overshadowed by Richard's plan to establish a college of 100 priests at York Minster in 1483.
While Richard may have been concerned about his own soul, his was not a unique preoccupation. What his grants also demonstrate is his concern for the poor or those who lived in remote areas, and that they should have the benefit not only of a priest but one who was educated. If he was concerned for his own soul he was also concerned for the souls of his people, especially those in the north.
Conclusion
Sutton and Visser-Fuchs place Richard firmly in his time: 'Richard's religion was that of the later middle ages, humanised, fervent and personal within the strong and controlling framework of the church.' They assess from the known facts about him that 'his private piety was no different from that of his contemporaries, although his sorrows and cares may have been greater than most people's. He directed his attention to the same things: he, too, adopted favourite saints to be his patrons and intermediaries with God and had particular objects of veneration.'
Richard left no spiritual or other writings which would help us. But he owned religious books, whose character leads one to suppose that they were for use rather than ornament. He founded colleges and chantries and he gave alms generously in comparison to others. He probably, prayed every day, and no doubt attended Mass and other services of the church regularly. We know he had a confessor, so he will have received the Sacrament of Penance regularly too. As far as we can judge, Richard fulfilled his obligations and more, and for a medieval prince that was remarkable.
Books Consulted
• The Piety of Cecily, Duchess of York: A Study in Late Mediaeval Culture' by C.A.J. Armstrong in For Hilaire Belloc, ed. Douglas Woodruff (1942).
Further Reading
• The Medieval Church in Manuscripts, Justin Clegg, British Library, 2003
• The Hours of Richard III, Anne Sutton and Livia Visser-Fuchs, Stroud, 1990
• Richard III's Books, Anne Sutton and Livia Visser-Fuchs, Stroud, 1997
• Richard III, Charles Ross, 1981, pbk.1988
• Margaret of York Duchess of Burgundy 1446-1503, Christine Weightman, Gloucester, 1989
• The Religious Life of Richard III Piety and Prayer in the North of England, Jonathan Hughes, Stroud, 1997
• British Library Harleian Maunuscript 433, 4 volumes, eds., Rosemary Horrox & P.W. Hammond, London, 1982
• Richard III and the Princes in the Tower, A.J. Pollard, Stroud, 1991
Artillery. From The Battle of Bosworth by Graham Turner
© Osprey Publishing Ltd. www.ospreypublishing.com A number of pieces of direct evidence survive for Richard III's personal interests, the 'things he liked'. Most personal of all, perhaps, is his 'confession' in his letter to Louis XI, King of France, who had presented him, in 1480 when he was still duke of Gloucester, with a 'great bombard', the largest and most expensive gunpowder weapon available at the time. Richard thanked the king in a letter and added 'I have always taken and still take great pleasure in artillery and I assure you it will be a special treasure to me'. There was, of course, nothing unusual in a twenty-six-year-old nobleman being fascinated by such weapons: they were part of the most up-to-date military technology of the day.
Crusade
We gain intimate information of a different nature about Richard's interests from the account of the Silesian traveller, Nicolas von Popplau, who met the king in the spring of 1484. Von Popplau reports how Richard was able to express admiration at his guest's mastery of the Latin tongue; praises the choir employed by the king as 'the sweetest music he had ever heard', describes the magnificence of the king's meal and the great ceremony that accompanied it, but also his graciousness to his guest. Their conversation, which almost made the king forget to eat, was wide ranging: it went from the Latin origin of the name of Pontefract to the exact date of the annual ceremony of feet washing on Maundy Thursday. The king asked von Popplau about continental princes and their affairs, and about the Turks in particular. Having been told how the king of Hungary had recently gained a great victory over them, Richard enviously exclaimed: 'I would like my kingdom and land to lie where the land and kingdom of the king of Hungary lies, on the Turkish frontier itself', and continued: 'Then I would certainly, with my own people alone, without the help of other kings, princes or lords, completely drive away not only the Turks, but all my enemies and opponents!'. His enthusiastic remark shows his confidence in his own military abilities as well as his awareness of the international situation, which made it impossible to create an alliance between the ever-squabbling princes of western Europe and organise a concerted attack on the Turks. The general impression of Richard that we get from von Popplau's account is that of a magnificent and thoughtful princely host, who took a great interest in many, diverse matters.
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Jewellery
The Middleham Jewel Another indication of what Richard liked can be found in the will of Sir John Pilkington, a long standing servant of the house of York. He left a special bequest to Richard of his 'great emerald set in gold' which, during Sir John's lifetime, Richard had admired so much that he offered 100 marks (£66 13s. 4d.) for it. In the same context should be mentioned one of those prejudices, or rather 'myths', about Richard III which have sprung up over the years: the curious idea that he was a 'fop', a dandy. This is based on the misunderstanding, by several generations of historians, of the contents of the surviving Great Wardrobe accounts, which list among other things the materials needed for the robes worn by the fifteenth-century kings. These may appear unusually sumptuous but in fact merely illustrate the standard norms of a medieval court and its splendours.
Books
Richard's Religious Books Finally and most importantly there is Richard's undoubted liking for books. His surviving 'library' is a remarkable collection, covering most medieval interests and fields of knowledge, except medicine, law, and theology. Striking is the fact that he put his name in his books, not as common a practice in his day as one might think. The bias of his collection, if there is one, is towards history and the history books together covered nearly everything from mythical beginnings to his own day: the story of Troy by Guido delle Collone and the lives of the British kings by Geoffrey of Monmouth, both in Latin (St Petersburg, Saltykov-Shchedrin State Public Library MS Lat. F IV 74 and 76), a chronicle of England, in Latin, covering the period from the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons to the coronation of King John in 1199 (Cambridge, Corpus Christi College MS 96), and a history of France, in French, covering the period 1270-1380. Five of his books were religious/devotional: his book of hours (London, Lambeth Palace Library MS 474), a collection of Old Testament stories in verse (Longleat House, Library of the Marquess of Bath, MS 257), the New Testament in English translation, an unusual book for a prince to own at the time (New York, Public Library, MS De Ricci 67), a life of St Katherine in Latin by the Italian Pietro Carmeliano (Richard's own copy does not survive) and the English translation of work of St Mechtild of Hackeborn, which may have been his wife's (London, British Library, MS Egerton 2006). On military and chivalric matters he had an English translation of Vegetius' De re militari, a standard work on the training of soldiers and warfare in general (British Library, MS Royal 18 A xii), Ramon Lull's Order of Chivalry, a manual on knighthood translated and printed by William Caxton in 1484, William Worcester's Boke of Noblesse and his Documents on the War in France, a treatise and a set of documents advertising the renewal of the war in France (British Library MS Royal 18 B xxii, and Lambeth Palace Library MS 506), and several rolls of arms. To these can be added a number of genealogical rolls and the most famous of medieval 'mirrors for princes' Giles of Rome's De regimine principum in Latin (Lambeth Palace, MS Arc. L 40.2 / L 26). Unusual texts, probably owned by Richard, were a collection of letters on statecraft ascribed to the Sicilian tyrant Phalaris, edited by Pietro Carmeliano (Dublin, Trinity College, MS 429).
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Manuscript and Print
There are several interesting general aspects to Richard's collection of books: he had no preference for manuscript over print, and did not demand that all his books were new, or sumptuously decorated. Through the quirks of survival his collection includes one of merely two surviving copies of the English translation of Mechtild of Hackeborn's Book of Special Grace, the only extant copy of a prose translation of the romance of Ipomedon (Library of the Marquess of Bath, MS 257), the only manuscript copy of Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia regum Britanniae known to have belonged to a medieval king of England, and one of the two surviving texts of the Prophecy of the Eagle with a particular Commentary, which was added to the Historia. The proportion of romances in Richard's collection was unusually high: Lydgate's Siege of Thebes, Chaucer's Knight's Tale and Clerk's Tale, the Prose Ipomedon, (all in the marquess of Bath's ms.) the Prose Tristan in French (British Library, MS Harley 49).
Caxton was at the height of his production during Richard's brief reign and dedicated his Order of Chivalry to the king, and most important of all in the context of printing: when Richard's parliament took measures to control alien workers and their goods in England, books and their makers were specifically exempted. There can be little doubt that among the kings of England, of any period, Richard's interest in books and the booktrade is unusual and remarkable.
Sources
• Anne F. Sutton, '"A Curious Searcher for our Weal Public": Richard III, Piety, Chivalry and the Concept of the "Good Prince"', in Richard III. Loyalty, Lordship and Law, ed. P.W. Hammond, London 1986, repr. 2000.
• Anne F. Sutton, 'The Court and its Culture', in John Gillingham, ed., Richard III. A Medieval Kingship, London 1993.
• Anne F. Sutton and Livia Visser-Fuchs, Richard III's Books. Ideals and Reality in the Life and Library of a Medieval Prince, Stroud 1997.
Richard by his Contemporaries
Richard's Military Reputation
In 1471 King Edward was determined to regain his throne and he joined battle against his cousin and former ally, the earl of Warwick, at Barnet. The vanguard was led by the eighteen-year-old Richard and his success was recorded in the poem On the Recovery of the Throne by Edward IV:
The duke of Glocetter, that nobill prynce,
Yonge of age and victorius in batayle,
To the honour of Ectour [Hector] that he myghte comens,
Grace hym folowith, fortune, and good spede.
In 1475 King Edward mounted an expedition to France but quarrelled with his ally and brother-in-law, the duke of Burgundy, and made peace with the French king. Richard appeared to have hoped for a glorious campaign on the lines of Henry V's in 1415 and it was recorded that:
Original artwork by Gerry Hitch
'king of England was accommodated by the King of France with whatever he wanted, even to the very torches and candles. The Duke of Gloucester, the King of England's brother, and some other persons of quality, were not present at this interview, as being averse to the treaty; but they recollected themselves afterwards, the Duke of Gloucester waited on the king our master at Amiens.'
Following Richard's campaign to Scotland in 1482, his brother, King Edward IV, wrote to Pope Sixtus IV thus:
'Have resolved to state what was achieved this summer in Scotland, that the truth may be known. Thank God, the giver all good gifts, for the support received from our most loving brother, whose success is so proven that he alone would suffice to chastise the whole kingdom of Scotland. This year we appointed our very dear brother Richard Duke of Gloucester to command the same army which we ourselves intended to have led last year, had not adverse turmoil hindered us. … The noble band of victors, however, spared the supplicant and prostrate citizens, the churches, and not only the widows, orphans, and minors, but all persons found there unarmed.'
Richard as 'Good Lord'
The King. Original artwork by Gerry Hitch From the Mayor and the Council of the city of York (1476) for his support:
'The saide day and tyme by the forsaide Maire and Counsaile it was holie agreed and assented that the Duk of Gloucestre shall for his grete labour of now late made unto the kinges good grace for the conservacion of the liberties of this Citie, that he shalbe presented at his commyng to the citie with vj swannes and vj pikes'.
In his role as a 'good lord' Richard would have been asked to act as an executor. One such example is found in the will of Sir John Pilkington who came from an influential northern family:
'… Item I will that my son Edward beforwith after my dethe be had to my lorde of Gloucestre and my lorde Chambrelane, hertly beseching thame as they will in my name sesuch [beseech] the king is goode grace that myn executors may have the wardeshipp and mariege of my said son … I lowly and hertly besuche my lorde of Gloucestre and my lorde Chambrelane, that they will, at the reverence of God, by myn executors …'
Richard's Reaction on the Death of George, Duke of Clarence
In 1478 Richard's brother George, duke of Clarence, was arrested by the king and tried for treason, found guilty and privately executed. Dominic Mancini, an Italian who visited England in 1483, wrote about Richard's reaction:
'At that time Richard, duke of Gloucester, was so overcome with grief for his brother, that he could not dissimulate so well, but that he was overheard to say that he would one day avenge his brother's death.'
Original artwork by Gerry Hitch
'I trust to God sune, by Michelmasse, the Kyng shal be at London. He contents the people wher he goys best that ever did prince; for many a poor man that hath suffred wrong many days have be relevyd and helpyd by hym and his commands in his progresse. And in many grete citeis and townis wer grete summis of mony gif hym which he hath refusyd. On my trouth I lykyd never the condicions of ony prince so wel as his; God hathe sent hym to us for the wele of us al …'
John Rous of Warwick recorded in the Rous Roll:
'The moost myghty prynce Rychard … all avarice set asyde, rewled hys subiettys in hys realme ful commendabylly, poneschynge offenders of hys lawes, specially extorcioners and oppressors of hys comyns, and chereschynge tho that were vertues, by the whyche dyscrete guydynge he gat gret thank of God and love of all his subiettys ryche and pore and gret laud of the people of all othyr landys a bowt hym.'
Richard was concerned about justice, both for the individual and its administration. A Year Book reports one of his most famous acts, when he called together all his justices and posed three questions concerning specific cases. This record provides an idea of Richard's comprehension of and commitment to his coronation oath to uphold the law and its proper procedures.
The second question was this. If some justice of the Peace had taken a bill of indictment which had not been found by the jury, and enrolled it among other indictments 'well and truly found' etc. shall there be any punishment thereupon for such justice so doing? And this question was carefully argued among the justices separately and among themselves, … And all being agreed, the justices gave the King in his Council in the Star Chamber their answer to his question in this wise: that above such defaults enquiry ought to be made by a commission of at least twelve jurors, and thereupon the party, having been presented, accused and convicted, shall lose the office and pay fine to the King according to the degree of the misprision etc.'
William Caxton, the printer, dedicated his translation of Raymond Lull's Order of Chivalry to King Richard:
' … And thus thys lytyl book I presente to my redoubted, naturel and most dradde soverayne lord, kyng Rychard kyng of Englond and of Fraunce, to thende that he commaunde this book to be had and redde unto other yong lordes, knyghtes and gentylmen within this royame, that the noble ordre of chyvalrye be herafter better used & honoured than hit hath ben in late dayes passed. And herin he shalle do a noble & vertuouse dede. And I shalle pray almyghty God for his long lyf & prosperous welfare, & that he may have victory of al his enemyes, and after this short & transitory lyf to have everlasting lyf in heven where as is joy and blysse, world without ende, Amen.'
Richard's death was poignantly recorded in the minutes of the Council of York:
' … king Richard late mercifully reigning upon us was thrugh grete treason of the duc of Northfolk [sic] and many other that turned ayenst hyme, with many other lordes and nobilles of this north parties was piteously slane murdred to the grete hevynesse of this citie …'
A Posthumous Accolade
Richard III. Original artwork by Gerry Hitch This accolade for Richard comes from an unexpected source. In 1513 Lord Dacre, Warden of the Western Marches, wrote a letter which was summarised in the Letters and Papers of Henry VIII. Dacre seemed to feel intimidated by the reputations of Richard and the earl of Northumberland resulting from a raid they had made into Tevydale in the 1480s, which Dacre was expected to repeat. Nine years later, he is still concerned at their exploits in a letter to Wolsey who responds that, as they took effectual measures to punish and repress offenders, he hopes Dacre will obey his wholesome and friendly admonition and acquire, 'as good a character as they did'.
Further Reading
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Richard's Death
Bob Woosnam-Savage of the Royal Armouries will contribute to this section when his research, in conjunction with the University of Leicester Archaeological Services on King Richard's skeleton, is complete.
Ricardian Burial Myths & the Discovery of Richard III's Body
by Dr John Ashdown Hill
How do you find the lost body of a medieval monarch? First, you need to know …
… where he was buried!
What Richard's tomb might have looked like The tomb was probably set in place in the summer of 1495.
Traditionally, popular accounts of this tomb described it as a cheap memorial, but this was untrue. Full accounts for the cost of the tomb do not survive - but the accounts we do have showed that it cost at least as much as the tomb which Richard's mother, Cecily Duchess of York, commissioned for herself.
However, alabaster does not weather well when exposed to the elements. Once the church of the dissolved priory became roofless in 1538, the alabaster royal tomb would have started to decay. Later, around the end of the sixteenth century the site was redeveloped by Alderman Herrick of Leicester as his garden. He must have removed any remaining traces of the alabaster tomb and erected his inscribed pillar in its place. No trace of either the Richard III's alabaster tomb or of Herrick's pillar was discovered during the 2012 excavation.
Richard III's Epitaph
Texts published in the seventeenth century claimed to be the epitaph from Richard III's alabaster tomb. The texts were in Latin, but one of the publications included a somewhat inaccurate translation in seventeenth-century English. Based on the language of the translation, many historians dismissed the epitaph as a fabrication.
In the course of my research I discovered that manuscript texts of the epitaph survived, one of which dated from before the Dissolution (so it could have been directly copied from Richard's tomb). The epitaph concentrated on praising Henry VII's generosity - but it was also fairly polite about Richard III, and acknowledged his bravery. The 2012 dig found no obvious trace of the epitaph. However, brass letters were discovered near Richard's grave site, which probably came from a late medieval tomb inscription (or inscriptions).
• You can see Dr John Ashdown Hill's presentation at The Society's Leicester Conference held on the 2nd March 2013.
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What is the food-shaped nickname of the London 2012 Olympics velodrome stadium?
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London 2012 Olympics: delight and dismay as cyclists enter the Velodrome - Telegraph
London 2012 Olympics: delight and dismay as cyclists enter the Velodrome
For the first five days of the London Games the Olympic Velodrome has been a place apart.
Philip Hindes, Jason Kenny and Sir Chris Hoy, above, won the men's team sprint at the Velodrome, but fans reacted angrily to the earlier disqualification of Victoria Pendleton and Jessica Varnish Photo: Getty Images
By Paul Kelso , at the Olympic Velodrome
1:16AM BST 03 Aug 2012
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Located away from the brash retail facade of the Westfield centre and across the River Lea from the eyesore of Coca-Cola’s gaudy red beat box, it was an island of serenity surrounded by meadow flowers and untroubled by spectators.
On Thursday all that changed as it became a place of pilgrimage for the new army of fans drawn to Britain’s most successful Olympic sport.
Clad in Union flags and face paint, the spectators passed through the airlock doors to find a venue in the very image of British cycling.
They came seeking British gold and at the very end they got it, but they could not have anticipated an evening of such drama or controversy, as the building and athletes were let down by an insulting lack of information from Olympic officials.
Refined and understated, brilliant and ground-breaking, it is the star of the Olympic Park, purpose-built for of the stars of Beijing seeking to cement their reputations on home ground. Welcome to the velodrome.
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02 Aug 2012
Welcome to the pleasuredome.
While the Olympic Stadium and the troublesome Aquatics Centre have bust budgets and defied easy legacy, the design and construction of the £93 million velodrome has proceeded with the serenity of one of Dave Brailsford’s crack quartets.
In architecture and atmosphere it is the outstanding venue of the Games so far. The sweep of its white roofline and the amber pine walls have been compared to “a Pringle”, which seems a cheap nickname for a building of such elegance.
Designed by Michael Taylor of Hopkins Architects, a keen cyclist, it is based on a bicycle, and is intended to be as efficient as the sleek pursuit teams that christened the track in competition.
Taylor was there as it opened, anxious to see his baby mature into adulthood. With a meticulousness that Brailsford would recognise, he whipped a thermometer from his bag to check that the ambient air temperature was at the 28C demanded to make a track constructed of Siberian pine run as fast as possible. It was, and the times proved it.
Victoria Pendleton and Jessica Varnish set a world record in the first race, and by the end of the night there had been five more, including one for the British men’s team pursuit squad.
Such attention to detail is evident in every square inch of a building that is every bit as large as the Aquatics Centre but feels light as a feather. Both buildings employ ambitious curves in their roofs, but while the Aquatics Centre’s roof is supported by 11m struts, the velodrome’s is held aloft by slender 36mm cables.
One of Taylor’s innovations was to introduce natural light into the arena for both practical and philosophical reasons. Opaque panels in the roof bring the outside in, and windows around the circumference were meant to let kids peer in and be inspired by the riders belting round the banked track and be inspired.
They will, but only after the Games. The Olympic Broadcast Service, the dictatorial television arm of the IOC, has demanded that all windows and panels be blacked out for the Games.
The official reason is that glare from the sun could affect picture, but the effect is to prevent anyone without a ticket from peering in.
The OBS appears to have it in for cycling. For the second time in the Games its coverage of was woeful.
After the information-free shambles of the men’s road race, her it failed to show replays of the incident that led to Pendleton and Varnish being disqualified for around 15 minutes, leaving spectators and viewers bemused.
For the 6,000 spectators inside it was bemusing, but it did not contribute to an evening that ended with the golden flourish they had dreamed of. Even a venue as sleek as the velodrome needs athletes and fans to bring it to life, and neither disappointed.
We have become used to the manic commitment of British fans at these Games, and those in the velodrome maintained the standard. With the stands hugging the banked ribbon of track, they leaned in and roared their appreciation at the first sight of the British women, straining the stays of Taylor’s roof cables when they set a world record in their first race.
The delight turned to dismay when Pendleton and Varnish were disqualified, and boos rang around the stadium. To the enormous credit of the spectators, their anger was short-lived.
Despite being treated as the least important people in the arena, they played along with the stadium announcer’s Mexican waves and puckered up for the ‘Kiss Cam’ as they awaited Sir Chris Hoy’s elevation to the top tier of Olympic achievement.
When it came there was no need for artificial atmosphere. A world record from the British team pursuit squad was a rollocking warm-up for the bedlam that greeted Hoy’s gold medal in tandem with Philip Hindes and Jason Kenny.
As the crowd roared the trio on in pursuit of their French opponents the stands became an animated mosaic of red, white and blue that brought a beautiful building to glorious life.
The roar that greeted victory rang eardrums, and cemented the bond between Britain’s cyclists, their fans, and their new home.
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Pringle
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Skintight architecture: the London 2012 Olympic Velodrome - Hugh Pearman
Hugh Pearman
Writing on and around architecture
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Line of beauty
Skintight architecture: the London 2012 Olympic Velodrome
Back in July 2005, when London won the 2012 Olympics, I was more than a little sceptical. Much better for our nearest rival Paris to have got it, I reasoned, big public projects like this in Britain always go bad. Given all the trouble and expense and controversy we’d just had building the new Wembley stadium, I couldn’t see the British Olympics saga being anything other than miserable. And now look. The first big venue for 2012, the velodrome, is finished and will be launched in a whirl of speeding bicycles on Tuesday (Feb 22). It’s the best possible introduction to the Games because this is one hell of a good building. What on earth went right?
Despite doomsayers like me back in ’05, six years later the 500-acre Olympic project in Stratford, East London, is looking reasonably shipshape. We’ve had our fun laughing at the logo, at the mandatory silly mascots (Cyclops-eyed aliens Wenlock and Mandeville, in case you’d forgotten) and at Mayor Boris’s privately-funded folly, the 374-foot (115m) observation tower-cum-sculpture by Anish Kapoor and engineer Cecil Balmond known as the ArcelorMittal Orbit. This misbegotten fairground ride is unfortunately now being built, close to the main stadium. Overall, we’ve been through the usual business of the rising costs – the budget now stands at £9.3 billion, compared to the breezily optimistic original estimate of £2.4 billion at the time of the bid. But let’s be fair: the latest government figures suggest that it’s now coming in well under that final budget figure.
Of course it is utterly mad to do all this just for a few weeks of sports frenzy, but then again the whole project was sold on the notion of “legacy” – what remains for you and me and everyone else, afterwards. This comes down to a nicely landscaped riverside park with lots of housing and offices pushing against it, better public transport links, restored cleaner waterways and some permanent sports venues, including the matter of West Ham taking over and converting the main athletics stadium. London has thought more about, and spent more on, what will happen after the Games than any previous host city. Others are now pitching in: there’s a new proposal to build a huge indoor winter sports centre (architects Gensler) on the site of the unlovely Olympics media centre. We must be on our guard. In a little-remarked land grab last year the Olympic Legacy Company nabbed about ten per cent of what was planned to be post-Games parkland, and earmarked it for upmarket housing instead. We don’t want any more of what is to be called the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park to be whittled away like this.
One thing is clear: of the permanent sporting venues, the best is the velodrome, placed towards the northern end of the site. This is to be the centrepiece of a permanent ‘velopark’, in total costing £105m. It is such a refreshingly good building. Selected in a 2007 competition run by the Olympic Delivery Authority, its judging panel included multiple gold medal-winning cyclist Sir Chris Hoy, Tate Gallery director Sir Nicholas Serota, and Sunand Prasad, then president of the Royal Institute of British Architects. They chose wisely. The velodrome is designed by Mike Taylor of Hopkins Architects – that’s the Sir Michael Hopkins known for Glyndebourne opera house, some of the better stands at Lord’s cricket ground, the Portcullis House building at Westminster with its cavernous tube station beneath, the Inland Revenue HQ in Nottingham and much else besides.
The Velodrome looks right when you see it from a distance, set on a slight mound with its jaunty twin-peaked cap of a roof, and it goes on looking right when you get up close to its angled cedar-clad façade, and walk into its impressive, daylit interior. Sports buildings obviously have to be tough and this one is, but too often tough means clumsy, means coarsely-detailed. Not here. Compared with much else on the Olympic site, the velodrome is positively delicate.
The hallmark of a Hopkins building is the clear expression of how it is made, what is holding it up. Way back, this was called high-tech. It traces its roots back to the Crystal Palace, Regency glasshouses, even prefabricated timber Tudor farmhouses. But Hopkins and his team long ago diverged from the bolt-together aesthetic of Meccano-like mainstream modern high-tech. They like timber and masonry when it’s properly put together, and can produce some heavy-looking buildings, as the necessarily fortified Portcullis House demonstrates. But they have an equal interest in lean, lightweight structures. The Velodrome comes from this side of the Hopkins brain. It is light and it looks light, hovering above the landscape on a ribbon of glass. But it is also a very taut building. Taylor says that his inspirations were the mechanisms of a racing bicycle, and the skin-tight kit the cyclists wear. Working with Chris Wise of Expedition Engineering, he designed it to cling as closely as possible around the banked oval of track inside.
Visually, you get this at once. We’re used to delays between outside and inside, a succession of lobbies and corridors before you get to the heart of the action. Not here. Even standing outside, you can immediately see right into the arena through the glass perimeter wall – though the arrival of various accommodation ‘pods’ around the interior has cut down on the intended transparency somewhat. As soon as you are through the sliding doors, there is the circuit, laid out before you. But there’s a surprise. Looking at that Pringle-shaped roof from outside, you imagine it must faithfully follow the shape of the cycling track, lifting at the ends. Actually it is set at right angles to it. This allows most of the 6,000 seats to go either side of the straights. Why? Because the rake of the banked track at the ends has to be steeper than the rake of the seating could ever be. So unless you are right up against the edge of the track at these points, you wouldn’t see anything. They have kept a thin line of seats around the ends for atmosphere, but most of the cheering spectators will be stacked up on the sides, where you gaze across the start-finish line.
The key to the delicacy of the whole place is that virtuoso roof. You don’t get beams, trusses, or columns. All you get is a draped net of slender steel cables, criss-crossing each other and clamped together. Pale plywood roof sections and bands of skylights are slotted into the big gaps between the cables. The whole thing is strung from a surprisingly slender steel ring beam running right round the edge of the roof. The effect is less that of a bicycle wheel, more of a warped tennis racket. The roof was laid out, winched into place and made watertight without the need for any scaffolding. It’s half the weight of a roof over a conventional velodrome.
This building is all about balance. The outwardly-sloping structure keeps the roof tensioned, and in turn the roof helps hold up leaning structure. But you don’t need to know anything at all about how it works to appreciate the end result. This is one of those rare buildings where architecture and engineering combine seamlessly. Unlike, I should say, Zaha Hadid’s Aquatics Centre at the southern end of the site. Watching that difficult swooping form being built with its incredible tangle of heavy steel girders, I appreciated the poised nature of the velodrome all the more.
It is sheathed in timber – Western Red Cedar – on the outside as a reminder of the track itself which is made of long thin strips of Siberian pine nailed together. It’s like some Futurist vision of speed and movement, this twisting loop of track, somehow all the better for being made in such a hand-crafted way. I looked underneath the track (strictly out of bounds usually), to find that it is supported by big wooden zig-zag joists of the kind you’d more usually find in your attic.
There is some invisible clever stuff going on here too. Track cyclists like warm, thin air: spectators like things cooler. That division of atmospheres has been achieved, in one big room, largely by natural means. Services engineers BDSP are behind this. Vents beneath the seats draw cool air in from outside. The track geometry and the air conditions are meant to make it the fastest velodrome in the world.
Here’s a strange thing, though. Normally in a sporting arena you focus your gaze on the middle. In an athletics stadium we’re used to all kinds of events taking place on the field as well as the running round the track. In a velodrome, however, the centre – an empty sea of blue at the moment – offers little other than the sight of cyclists waiting, or warming up and down, their back-up crews, and a lot of officials. Instead, your focus is a series of moving figures on the ribbon of the track. It’s like multi-point perspective. This matters because it means spectators become much more aware of the building as they follow the riders round. It’s all about movement of the eye across surfaces. The backdrop, then is important. This building understands that.
There are not many post-Olympic buildings that stand the test of time. The 1972 Munich Olympics stadium by Frei Otto and Gunter Behnisch – interestingly, also with a cable-net roof – is one. Others include the large and small sports domes for the 1960 Olympics in Rome by the great engineer Pier Luigi Nervi. In Beijing, the undeniably spectacular if ludicrously over-engineered 2008 ‘Bird’s Nest’ stadium by architects Herzog and de Meuron has become a tourist attraction in itself. The London 2012 velodrome is too understated to achieve that, but it’s got the same kind of seemingly effortless class and – being in a park surrounded by bike trails – should become popular.
Oh, and there’s this. The open-air velodrome from the 1948 Olympics, at Herne Hill in South London, still exists. Neglected for many years, it is now being brought back to life. Off the back of the 2012 commission, Hopkins’ Mike Taylor has drawn up a scheme to revitalise it. I just like the symmetry of this, together with the long-term thinking. Thanks to the cyclists, I’m starting to feel a lot better about our Olympics now.
Text © Hugh Pearman. Photos © Hugh Pearman and Richard Davies. Fuller version of article first published in The Sunday Times, February 20, 2011.
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Caputo '00' flour, fior di latte, and San Marzano plum tomatoes are typical authentic ingredients of what traditional food?
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Neapolitan Pizza like a Master Pizzaiolo
Handmade Neapolitan Pizza – by yours truly!
I recently took a really fun and cool pizza making class to learn the secrets of making a true Neapolitan Pizza (Vera Napoletana) with the Food Bloggers NYC Meetup Group sponsored by Vimbly.com.
Culinary Bad Boy & Nicole Garguilo
The class was held at 180 Neapolitan Eatery in Little Italy and taught by Culinary Event host Nicole Garguilo and Food Network Star “Culinary Bad Boy” Chef Chris Nirschel .
Class having a blast making dough
NYC Food Bloggers Meetup Group
We sat around a big table in a private room upstairs and learned the techniques, traditions and passions behind producing a perfectly thin crispy Neapolitan pizza while sipping on Italian wines and making new friends.
Making Pizza Dough
We learned the intricacies behind making and kneading our own dough accustom to the Neapolitan style by making wells of flour filled with yeast water and the patient process of kneading using only 2 fingers as the dough slowly came together by kneading, mixing and adding more flour and water.
Chef Chris throwing dough
We watched Chef Chris toss pizza dough in the air and even tried it ourselves (too fun!).
Chef Chris demonstrating how to sauce the pizza
We then made our own Margherita sauce made with San Marzano tomatoes from Italy, and topped off the pizzas with cubes of fresh cow’s milk Mozzarella and fresh basil before our pizzas were thrown delicately into a 900 degree oven on a pizza peel to reveal a perfectly crispy gorgeous pizza of bubbly cheesy goodness.
Prepping our Pizzas
Layer the dough with sauce…
San Marzano Tomato Sauce, Fresh Mozzarella & Basil
Add some delicious Fresh Cow’s Milk Mozzarella and Basil…
Good Times constructing our pizzas
Patiently waiting for the oven…
Pizzas ready for the Wood-fired oven
Look. At. This. Masterpiece. Creation.
And let the deliciousness devouring begin.
Good Times
The story behind Neapolitan pizza goes like this: In June 1889, a Neapolitan tavern owner Raffaele Esposito served the Queen of Italy, Margherita of Savoy, a special dish named in her honor. The wood-fired Flatbread was topped with Melted Mozzarella, Tomato Sauce and Basil leaves, symbolizing the colors of the Italian Flag. The Queen was so pleased with her meal that she had a wood-fired “flat-bread oven” built into the palace. And history was made.
Pizzaiolo at 180
The art behind making a perfect, true Neapolitan pizza has become a standard practice with strict rules of approval. The Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana is a non-profit official governing association in Italy that maintains the standards and regulations of all Pizzaioli and Establshments serving Vera Napoletana Pizza. It was founded in Naples in 1984 by the oldest and well-known Neapolitan pizzaioli, and according to the “rules” proposed by them, there are specific ingredients and techniques that must be used to pass the official Italian seal of approval.
The Perfect Neapolitan Pizza
So just what are the secrets behind making that crispy crust with gooey cheese and succulent sauce? Here’s a few secrets from Restaurateur/Chef and native New Yorker, Nick Accardi of Tavola in Hell’s Kitchen:
Measure by weight rather than volume to get the perfect water to flour ratio for your crust. Many elements can change the density of ingredients such as age, storage temperature, or environmental climate. Measuring by weight assures the perfect hydration ratio.
Use double zero (type 00) flour which is a highly refined flour that has been milled to a standard “00” and completely free of bran or germ.
Use natural Neapolitan yeast or brewer’s yeast, sea salt and water. (New York City tap water is the BEST secret ingredient in making the perfect pizza dough!)
Keep yeast refrigerated and check the expiration date on the package to make sure it’s fresh.
The dough must be kneaded by hand or with a low-speed mixer.
Allow the dough to rise for 24 hours at room temperature. The bare minimum standard is 6 hours (after mixing let the dough rise for 2 hours, then hand cut and roll into small balls, let rise for 4 more hours).
After the rising process, the dough must be formed by hand without the help of a rolling pin or other machine, and may be no more than 3 millimeters (0.12 in) thick. Use your hands to gently work the dough from the center outward.
Use San Marzano tomatoes, which grow on the volcanic plains to the south of Mount Vesuvius , for the pizza sauce like a bona fide pro (easy to find in grocery stores or Italian markets).
Vera Napoletana Pizza must be made using only fresh, all-natural, non-processed ingredients including Fior di Latte (Cow’s Milk) or Bufala Mozzarella, fresh basil and drizzled with real Extra Virgin Olive Oil. You can find Genuine imported EVOO also at Italian markets such as Eataly or Tavola in NYC.
Less is More: Don’t drown a pizza in sauce and toppings. The most delicious pies use smaller portions of the highest quality of fresh ingredients.
A thin crust is the signature trait of Neapolitan pizza. While having a wood fired oven at home is not common these days, making your crust as thin as possible will allow for fast cooking time, which intensifies and seals in the flavors of each ingredient. Note: The Associazione Vera Pizza Napoletana requires the thickness of the crust to be 1-2 cm.
The pizza must be baked for 60-90 seconds in a 905°F stone oven with an oak-wood fire. When cooked, it should be crispy, tender and fragrant.
There are three official variants to Neapolitan pizza: Pizza Marinara, which is made with tomato, garlic, oregano and extra virgin olive oil, Pizza Margherita, made with tomato, sliced mozzarella, basil and extra-virgin olive oil, and Pizza Margherita Extra made with tomato, mozzarella from Campania in fillets, basil and extra virgin olive oil.
Neapolitan Pizza being devoured
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Pizza
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Chicago's Thin Pizzas, A to Z: Best Chicago Pizza
Tavern-style thin from Villa Nova, in Stickney
I realize there are pizza joints on nearly every corner in practically every neighborhood and suburb in Chicagoland. When a metropolis of some seven million people spreads across the plains, they sprout like tribbles on the Starship Enterprise. But I didn’t have all year, and my doctor was already warning me about the acid reflux I was suffering from due to all of those tomatoes, so initially, I whittled my list of pizza joints down to about 30 places. Some were based on my own research, and unfortunately, some were based on the over eager fan clubs of others, who more than likely had some type of connection – either financial or family – to the place in question. But I also took recommendations from trusted followers and colleagues, and in the end, wound up with a list of 76 pizzerias that I just had to try; about 50 of them specialized in thin pizza. I tried to triangulate reviews and comments with critical, unemotional assessments, so that I could know that the place I was visiting indeed had merit.
Based on the pizzas I tried, the thin categories – as I’ve defined them for the Pizza Quest – are as follows:
- Tavern-style: thin, crispy, almost cracker-like crust; square-cut
- Artisan Thin: unique, artisan-made toppings, long ferment time for dough that contains higher percentage of water; usually a puffy, blistered edge, or cornicione
- Thin: You know what this is already
- Neapolitan: 00 flour, San Marzano tomatoes, wood-burning brick oven, fior di latte (domestic mozzarella) or buffalo mozzarella imported from Italy
I’ve listed every one of the places here alphabetically, so as not to reveal my top 5 lists just yet; those will be forthcoming in the days ahead. In all cases, the name of the restaurant is also the link to their website. A note on methodology: if the place specialized in Neapolitan-style, or had a more artisan approach, I would always order the margherita as a baseline; if they were anything else, I would always order a small, half pepperoni-half sausage as a baseline. I felt this approach would allow me to compare and contrast without comparing wildly different styles of pizza with too many types of toppings to consider. For more information on my methodology, see my initial Pizza Quest post . You can also check out my off-the-cuff findings from my Instagram account, just search #ChicagoPizzaQuestThin. But first, a map pinpointing every thin pizza I tasted in Chicagoland:
812 Church St., Evanston; 224-307-2803
Style: Neapolitan/Thin
You choose Neapolitan, crispy or gluten-free crust; then choose base of margherita, bianca, marinara or verde (pesto); ordered a Neapolitan crust with margherita base ($6.85)
Neapolitan style margherita at 800 Degrees, in Evanston
This California-based chain just opened in Evanston a few weeks ago, and in some ways, it’s like a more upscale Blaze Pizza concept: you make a few choices (crust, style, toppings) and then their pizzaiolo/teenager cooks it in their giant, wood-burning (as opposed to Blaze’s gas-fired) oven in a few minutes. (They also have an impressive gelato case, fyi). I liked how my pizza looked as it emerged, the misshapen cornicione, the leopard spotting/splotching and the fresh blobs of mozzarella notwithstanding; every pizza gets a gentle sprinkling of coarse sea salt around the middle as well, just before serving, but even that couldn’t save a dough that was both tough and dense. I can’t imagine the fermentation process is more than 12 hours or overnight. It just didn’t have any of the chewy character you would expect. Also, I would suggest adding more salt to the dough before baking, rather than trying to save it after it comes out of the oven. My friend and I left the edges of the crust on the plate, both somewhat disappointed this was a truly bland pizza. But for $7, hey, the perfect remedy for a college kid on a budget.
6431 W. 127th St., Palos Heights; 708-897-0003
Style: Thin
Ordered: Margherita ($9.99)
Margherita Pizza at AneMone Caffe in Palos Heights
The name of this Greek/Italian diner is somewhat misleading. But first, some background. It’s a family operation, led by a Greek and an Italian, hence the hearty breakfasts with Greek yogurt, frothy frappes and baklava. The Italian side features sandwiches, antipasti and a half-dozen or so pizzas, all baked in a wood-burning oven. They launched an aggressive campaign to get me to pay them a visit, touting their “Neapolitan” pies. You can imagine how psyched I was to hopefully discover a hidden gem in a restaurant wasteland. I knew there was trouble when our server (one of the owners) asked if I wanted an American or Italian-style margherita. Uh oh. Seeking the Italian ideal, our pizza was whisked out about three minutes later, but what landed on our table was a far cry from what you would call “Neapolitan.” One lonely basil leaf sat next to a tiny ball of fresh mozzarella at the pie’s epicenter; scattered throughout the mid-region, decent-sized blobs of fior di latte, but everything rested on a thin, crispy crust with none of the chew that a Neapolitan demands nor the “leopard spotting” around or underneath. There was no fermentation, little, if any cornicione around the perimeter, and a serious lack of complexity or textural contrast. When I asked the owner about this, he admitted this was not a Neapolitan pie, per se, but he had no choice: in the first few months after opening, locals demanded shredded mozzarella instead of circular orbs, and couldn’t understand why their pizzas drooped in the middle, telling their servers their pizzas were underdone. How sad. I understand if it’s your business, you want people to be happy. But compromising your ideals to the point where you have to serve something that’s actually not Neapolitan (despite the name on the front door), just to keep the customers happy, is a sacrifice that seems too extreme for a true pizzaiolo.
5663 N. Clark St.; 773-944-1492
Style: Neapolitan
Ordered margherita, approx. 12” ($12.95)
Margherita Pizza at Antica in Andersonville
This Andersonville restaurant underwent a minor remodeling – adding a bar and fixing the tin ceiling – but the wood-burning oven at the center of the restaurant is still the centerpiece. Opting for a basic margherita, my standard barometer in any Neapolitan joint, I enjoyed chewing the center of the pie, redolent with luscious tomato sauce and large, wide swaths of fresh mozzarella, but the crust – especially the outer rim, or cornicione, was quite tough, and I couldn’t see any leopard spotting on the perimeter or the undercarriage. You can see in the picture how tight and dense it is, and a far cry from the fluffy, puffy, air pocket-filled wonders at Pizza East and Spacca Napoli. I didn’t dislike this pizza, I was just disappointed by it.
2205 W. Montrose Ave.; 773-588-1550
5624 N. Broadway; 773-784-1550
Comes in 10”, 14” and 18”; got a 10” Queen Margherita at Montrose location ($10)
Margherita Pizza at Apart in Chicago
Several people told me this was a dark horse, and that I would be pleasantly surprised. They do sell quite a few specialty pies, with several combinations of toppings, but I went with the margherita since it was the first item listed. My first concern: the slices of fresh tomato (slightly out of season, or maybe purchased from a store) scattered all over the super thin-and-crispy pie. The cracker-like crust – kind of like Candlelight’s – was o.k., but the thinly-applied sauce, desperately needing salt, was just bland. There were generous blobs of fresh mozzarella and quite a few fresh basil leaves rained over the diameter, but they couldn’t save a pizza that suffered from boredom. Even some olive oil across the top would have helped. If you’re in a rush, and the kids are demanding something, anything, right now, then getting a 10” pulled from their Baker’s Pride oven only takes about five minutes. But if you’re really hunting for great, conversation-worthy thin crust, move along.
105 W. 1st St., Elmhurst; 630-782-5800
Style: Thin/Tavern
Ordered small half sausage-half pepperoni ($12.95)
Sausage + Pepperoni Pizza at Armand’s in Elmhurst
This family favorite was a mainstay in Elmwood Park for decades. In 1956, the owners took over the Victory Tap there, and started serving pizza. Ironically, a new concept in the Yorktown Mall, called Armand’s Victory Tap, is a throwback, and a nod to their roots. So when I asked the manager what style of thin they had, he replied “thin,” but really, this is more of a tavern-style pizza, with a super-thin, cracker crust that borders on crunchy, thanks to the handfuls of cornmeal that are tossed on the base of the oven deck, to keep it from sticking (and thus find themselves on the bottom, much like at Barnaby’s). Whole, canned tomatoes are ground in-house then topped with oregano and parmesan to order. Sliced, whole milk mozzarella is featured on every pie. “My grandfather discovered a long time ago that shredded mozz clumps up and the cheese levels vary depending on who is making the pizza,” said Mark Cecola, the grandson of original owner Mike Caringella. “One guy has a bigger hand, one guy is more generous. It’s human error and it’s hard to regulate, so we use so many slices per pizza to cover evenly and melt evenly, creating a really nice melted top.” The sausage is mild – a result of coarsely-ground pork butts with fennel and red pepper from their butcher on Taylor Street – while the pepperoni is more assertive; cheese is slightly browned in spots on the top and biting into a square-cut slice, you get a hint of maltiness (dough has flour, extra virgin olive oil, yeast and tiny bit of shortening and rises overnight), plus the slightest amount of sweetness from the tomato sauce, which is applied as thinly and delicately as a painter brushing a canvas.
18162 Harwood Ave., Homewood; 708-798-8050 – several other locations
Style: Thin
Ordered 10” thin, half pepperoni-half sausage ($11.50)
Sausage + Pepperoni Pizza at Aurelio’s in Homewood
Since 1959, families have been piling into the soaring, barn-like structure, hung with Tiffany lamps and old photos of Homewood VIPs. Located just a few yards from the Metra line, the restaurant has its charms. My colleague at ABC 7 – Ben Bradley – is a proud local boy, always touting Aurelio’s alleged superiority when I see him in the hallways. With 42 locations – mostly in the suburbs, downstate and even a few in Florida, Georgia and Las Vegas – I knew that I would have to visit the mothership in Homewood where it all started, in order to get the most accurate assessment. We ordered the usual – half sausage, half pepperoni – and I remembered to ask about using the “old oven,” a reference to the stone deck oven vs. the quicker conveyor belt oven that Ben is always saying makes the difference. About 10 minutes later we were served a small circular pie on a wire cooling rack (triangle cut, since it was a small), a nice even golden brown hue across the entire bottom, with tiny, blueberry-sized sausage balls on top. Since the company is so big, they can’t make the sausage in-house anymore, so they simply purchased their sausage supplier. Sadly, there is hardly any detectable flavor in that sausage, hardly a whisper of fennel or even a note of garlic. There is a slightly raised ridge on the outer edge of the pizza (kind of like Pizano’s), which holds in the well-done baked cheese crisp that reminded me a little bit of Pequod’s. A bit of dried oregano is scattered over the top, but the thing that sunk this pie (and my dining companion agreed) was a crazy amount of salt. Whether it was in the cheese or the thinly-sliced pepperoni, or quite possibly the sausage that’s trucked in, after one slice I was reaching for my water. Aurelio’s is one of the best examples of the theory of birthplace preeminence, aka PIGUE Syndrome, that is, the best pizza in the world is the Pizza I Grew Up Eating. I can imagine generations of Little League teams and dance recitals and birthdays here, all gobbling up this thin crust and co-mingling it with their fondest memories later in life. But come here as an unbiased eater, just seeking some really good pizza, and you’ll leave far less satisfied.
114 S. Washington St., Hinsdale; 630-654-4600
Style: Thin
Got a small margherita from the “brick oven” ($9)
Margherita Pizza at Baldinetti’s in Hinsdale
I just didn’t get this place. The owner, and most of his extended family, kept telling me on Facebook that I just had to visit (without informing me that they were the owners). Unless you truly believed you had a remarkable product, why go through all of this? He assured me via a Facebook post (again, as an anonymous poster) that “Baldinelli pizza in downtown Hinsdale has a Neapolitan pizza too. A must try.” When I asked if it was legit – the wood-burning oven, 00 flour, San Marzano tomatoes, long ferment of wet dough, he responded, “Yes. 00 flour, Grande mozzarella, San Marzano tomatoes, and long fermented dough. Steve, this place is good.” Well, I respectfully disagree. The pizza I had would never be considered even remotely Neapolitan. Everything – including the cheese – slid right off; there was no brick oven, but rather, a large stainless steel box behind the prep line, gas fired. The cheese tasted funkier than it should have and the tomatoes couldn’t have been San Marzanos (if they were, I’d give hell to my vendor for switching them out), they just tasted like the out-of-season variety you find at Jewel in November. The biggest offense was the crust, which any self-respecting Neapolitan fan would agree just had no business being in a conversation about Neapolitan anything. Funny enough, I had just come from Parkers’ in Downers Grove that morning – a VPN certified Neapolitan pizza place – and if you look at their picture vs. this one, you’ll see what I mean.
960 Skokie Blvd., Northbrook; 847-498-3900
Style: Tavern
Got a small, half sausage-half pepperoni ($10)
Sausage + Pepperoni Pizza at Barnaby’s in Northbrook
Talk about PIGUE (Pizza I Grew Up Eating) Syndrome, after I posted a picture following my unannounced visit, Facebook and Instagram lit up with breathless melancholy. “I went there all throughout high school,” and “been going there for 20 years” came the reactions to my nattily-crimped thin, tavern-style pizza. No question it’s a good pie (although despite North Shore myth, they do not make a cornmeal crust, they simply use cornmeal – as many other places do – beneath the pizza to keep it from sticking to the oven deck). There are now a few other locations on the North Shore and in the NW ‘burbs, but of course everyone still claims the original in Northbrook is center of the pizza universe, and just like I insisted I visit the original Aurelio’s in Homewood, if I was going to get the true Barnaby’s experience, I would have to visit the Northbrook mothership. The sausage side (covered in cheese) was respectable – it’s a proprietary recipe made by Scala’s since Day 1, and has since passed to Battaglia – much more so than the weak, mass-produced pepperoni (placed on top of the cheese). The crust is what you’re coming here for: thin, crispy and when you take a bite, the sound is actually audible. That’s a pretty good sign. I saw some air pockets in the cutaway section of the pie, indicated there might be some fermentation, or at least a decent period of resting for the dough. The sauce is innocuous; I didn’t hate it, I didn’t love it, I don’t really remember it. Is this the Best Tavern-Style Crust in the region? Probably not. Is it worth a detour if you’re heading down the Edens and you feel the urge to devour a pizza? Sure. There’s a reason generations of families have been coming here since 1968, but that’s also the reason so many people who grew up on the North Shore still think, incorrectly, this is the best the region has to offer. (Interesting note: of all of the places we called to get additional information, Barnaby’s was the most secretive. No comment on cheese, dough, sauce or process).
110 E. Pearson St.; 312-266-3110
Style: Artisan Thin
About 10 specialty pizzas; tried margherita ($13)
Margherita Pizza at Bar Toma in Chicago
This massive, Mag Mile restaurant – owned by Levy Restaurants and fronted by chef Tony Mantuano – was closed for part of the summer, undergoing a major rennovation. They moved their two giant wood-burning brick ovens up to the front space, all the better for tourists to more easily see the live fire cooking as they pass by the window, on their way to/from Water Tower Place or the Hershey’s store. Part of the redesign features new menus and a new giant mural on a brick wall, claiming the restaurant made the list of “one of the best pizza places in America” and more importantly, in that coveted list, they were “the only one in Chicago,” which I found absolutely stunning. Then I read the attribution, which was from Food & Wine Magazine. I know some of the editors there, but c’mon guys (and gals), no offense to Levy, but really, was it that your exhaustive search through Chicago yielded not one other destination-worthy pizza joint? Or was it more likely a case of, gee, I’ve only got a few hours in town; what’s the most convenient pizza place near my hotel?
Bar Toma’s pizzas aren’t bad. They have about a dozen or so with plucky, tongue-in-cheek names like The Gold Coaster and Pineapple Express. As is the rule on this quest, if they do a classic margherita, I gotta get it. The outer ridge, or cornicione, wasn’t half bad – there were some decent little air pockets and some scattered blistering from the high heat oven (although not the leopard spotting you want to see). There’s also the slightest tang from the fermented dough. The middle, however, was less impressive: a veritable lake of mozzarella, melted into the pie like an impressionist painting (interesting note: GrubHub lists fior di latte, perhaps from the old menu, but the new menu simply says “fresh mozzarella”); there is very little sauce to speak of. It’s a cheese pizza served from a killer oven. I loved all of the giant, fresh basil leaves, but there was something missing here, and I think it was that magical hybrid of chew, char, salt, cheese, tomato and herb, all co-mingling perfectly. A ratio issue perhaps? This pizza is a safe bet for the tourist hoards sure to drop-in looking for a tasty snack, but I’m not sure it rises to the level of best-in-class. As for that Food & Wine listing, well, I can think of a few other destination-worthy pizza joints in our fair city that belong there, but as usual, no one asked me.
1763 Freedom Dr., Naperville; 630-799-6860
also locations in Lombard and Wheaton, and soon in Lincoln Park
Style: Thin
Got a 12” Neapolitan ($11)
Margherita Pizza at Bricks in Naperville
This mini-chain has roots in the Western suburbs, and it’s extremely convenient if you suddenly get the urge for a pizza while cruising down Interstate 88 or just doing some shopping in the nearby malls. During lunch, office workers pop in to grab a fast, fairly tasty pizza made to-order, then baked in an enormous, round, copper, wood-burning oven. The pizza has a nice, light crust – not much of an outer lip – and is mottled with blackened bits of char underneath; there are fairly decent splotches of fresh mozzarella and the middle isn’t wet, like a lot of “Neapolitan-style” pizzas. Unlike traditionalists, they also scatter a chiffonade of basil around the surface, rather than placing four giant leaves down. The sauce, however, was a big disappointment on my visit. Under seasoned to the point where I almost asked for a salt shaker, it tasted nothing like the vibrant, bursting-with-acidity tomato sauces I’ve had at places like Freddy’s and Pizza Barra.
2548 N. Clark St.; 773-404-0200
Style: Thin/NYC Style
Offer thin, thick and stuffed, but claim that NYC style is their focus. Got a small half pepperoni-half sausage ($17.34 – among the most expensive for size)
Sausage + Pepperoni Pizza at Cafe Luigi’s in Lincoln Park
I just don’t get this place. Several readers were claiming how it was the best thin crust in the city, imploring me to go try it. To them I say: how very sad that you still think this is among the city’s best thin crusts. If you like greasy orange, floppy slices with flavorless dough, supporting crumbled sausage or pepperoni that is most likely unwrapped from a plastic package off the back of a Sysco truck, and you need something to soak up the alcohol after bar time, then by all means, go go go to Luigi’s. If, however, you want to eat great thin crust, read on.
7452 N. Western Ave.; 773-465-0087
Style: Tavern
Got a small, half sausage-half pepperoni ($9.78)
Sausage + Pepperoni Pizza at Candlelite in Rogers Park, Chicago
Candlelite has been a family favorite for more than 60 years. Clearly, if you grew up in Rogers Park, you or your friend’s Little League game, dance recital or birthday party ended up here, to dive into some traditional Chicago tavern-style (cracker thin) crust. The sports bar got a major renovation several years ago, and the night I was in, a family was celebrating a woman’s 97th birthday. I had only been once before, and was hoping for something along the lines of a Vito & Nick’s, or even a Barnaby’s, but was sadly underwhelmed. Like so many pizzas out there, they are now made by cooks or teenagers who don’t have the same pride as, say, the original owner, and thus, are usually hurried out or served underdone, like mine was (if you look closely, you can still see the strands of mozzarella that haven’t even melted yet. Had I sent it back it wouldn’t have improved a cracker crust that, frankly, had no flavor; the sausage seemed inconsequential. This pizza is all cheese, and if it’s underdone, with a minimal amount of sauce, the experience is just depressing. “You gotta get it well-done,” said more than a few readers on Facebook afterward. Sure, now you tell me. But tell that to the unsuspecting shmoop who just wants a good pizza and isn’t privy to inside information. This sort of thing happened frequently when I was on the Italian Beef Quest a few months ago. People would say I ordered wrong, or the regular guy wasn’t there or they still haven’t trained their staff, but to that I say, why isn’t it consistent? If the product is supposedly so good, and so legendary, how about making it the same way you did 30 years ago (Johnnie’s, Original Mr. Beef, Vito & Nick’s) rather than make excuses?
7419 W. Irving Park Rd.; 773-804-9024
Style: Thin
They also offer deep dish and stuffed, as well as panzerotti, but specialize in thin, as they have a wood-burning, brick oven; 12”, 14”, 16”, 18” – got both a small margherita as well as a half sausage-half pepperoni ($16).
Sausage + Pepperoni Pizza at Caponie’s in Belmont Heights
I’m sure the Association Against Italian American Stereotypes would take issue with Caponie’s interior decorator. The Belmont Heights trattoria has more pictures of mobsters than an Untouchables Tour. Tony, Fredo, Michael – they’re all here up on the walls, led of course, by the big black-and-white of Alfonso himself at the entrance. The other notable piece of equipment here is the large, wood-burning oven, at the back of the dining room, across from the bar, baking pizzas at around 800 degrees. They specialize in thin crust, but there is a notable difference between the baseline – a Margherita Napoletana – and their other thin crust options. The margherita was uniformly thin, with barely any cornicione; the chew non-existent; it was more cracker than real crust, with hardly any black spots below. Topped with a fair amount of plum tomato sauce and generous blobs of fresh mozzarella, it was sprinkled, inexplicably, with dried basil (!!). But when we ordered a second pizza, made more traditionally, with sausage and pepperoni, it arrived on a much more interesting dough (Ceresota flour, salt, yeast, oil, sugar and proofed overnight), slightly blistered, yeasty and chewy, with a decent amount of heft and a fair number of air pockets inside the edge. Why didn’t they use this same dough for their marg? I couldn’t quite understand our server, but it had something to do with them cutting the dough in half to make an ultra-thin pizza, which made no sense. Their ratio of crust-to-cheese was spot-on (they use a Wisconsin whole milk mozzarella) and both the sausage and pepperoni had great flavor (both from MC Foods on Harlem Ave.). I managed to eat two slices, despite my one slice rule (often flouted). Now, if they could only use this dough (and fresh basil) when they made their margherita, we’d be onto something a little more special. (Note: their website has never been updated, so despite the hours listed, best to call ahead; they typically don’t open until 5 p.m.)
8820 S. Commercial Ave.; 773-768-7242
Style: Thin
They offer x-tra thin, thin, double dough, deep dish and stuffed, but they insisted they are known for their thin. Got a small 10” half pepperoni-half sausage ($11.70)
Sausage + Pepperoni Pizza at Capri’s in South Chicago
Yet again, duped by loyal fans and/or the business itself, which likely engineered a lobbying effort that worked (sort of). It did get me in the door – and you need to know if it’s the take-out only or the “dining room” – a ramshackle, dimly-lit room featuring four hard booths, a pay phone, a TV and an Eagle Exhaust swimsuit calendar; for a second, I thought I was going to really get to discover something unique, located in a restaurant no man’s land in the 8800 South block of Commercial (3000 East!). But this thin pie was like so many others in Chicago: an overabundance of cheese completely obliterating the imperceptible, tiny pieces of sausage, all resting on a bland, oddly soft-ish crust with practically no flavor (certainly no crunch), save for the cheese grease that somehow made it past the thin layer of canned tomato sauce.
1321 W. Grand Ave.; 312-226-2625
3705 N. Southport
All pizzas 16” – got a half sausage/half pepperoni ($16.25); Margherita ($15)
Sausage + Pepperoni Pizza at Coalfire in West Town
Priding themselves on their oven, fed by coal and reaching floor temps of 800-900 degrees, up to 1200 degrees higher up, this West Town favorite recently opened a second location in Lakeview on Southport Avenue. A few years ago, they upgraded their toppings by using some sausages (specifically the Calabrian ‘nduja) from Publican Quality Meats, and things improved quickly. The pizzas arrive with a nicely charred cornicione with odd-shaped nooks and crannies; there’s a good one-inch border of nothing but crust. But I thought the dough on both pizzas was far too thin, in fact, underneath the pies, there was barely any blistering. I recall earlier pies being far more complex, with a good chew, but these were sadly lacking. The sausage, however (from N’duja Artisans) had a nice bite to it, with the slightest amount of heat; we couldn’t stop eating it. The margherita isn’t a true Neapolitan, in that it’s too wide and too evenly thin across the entire diameter. Five giant basil leaves, each carefully placed over the large blobs of stark white fresh mozzarella added aroma. Sadly, the slices on this visit were limp, lacking any chew or character – as if they had been deprived of important fermentation time. But their sauce is wonderful – a purée of California plum tomatoes from Modesto (Alta Cucina); low-moisture cow’s milk mozzarella doesn’t kick off as much water as so many other pizzas in the region, and prevents super-sogginess.
1252 N. Damen Ave.; 773-442-7238
Style: Neapolitan American East Coast/thin
14” and 18” – Got 14” margherita ($14)
Margherita Pizza at Craft in Wicker Park
Everything at Craft screams “farm to table” and they attempt to highlight the ingredients, like the fact their sausage is made by Anichini Bros., but they’re light on details for the other items on the menu, rarely, if ever, listing their provenance. They may want to tweak the name to Craft Dough, since the dough is the real star here. Using Harvest King Winter Wheat flour, they told us the dough gets a 48-hour proof, then a cold rise, but when I asked the cook on the day I visited, he said it gets a three-day proof. Either way, it develops incredible texture and a nice, even chew, despite the fact it emerges from a standard Baker’s Pride steel gas oven, with stones on the deck (much like the late, lamented Great Lake, which produced great pies despite the electric oven) and they only take a few minutes to bake. The margherita was excellent – they combine vibrant Italian plum tomatoes and a bit of tomato paste to intensify the sauce – and the fresh, whole milk shredded mozzarella is combined with some fresh mozz, as well as Pecorino Romano and Grana Padano, to give the pie some zing. There are also quite a few fresh basil leaves and a healthy drizzle of olive oil, and each slice was a thing of beauty, holding its shape and integrity without drooping. Does it need the whole milk mozz? Probably not, but since they prefer crafting their own style, it goes with the territory.
17704 Oak Park Ave., Tinley Park; 708-633-1144
Style: Thin/Tavern-style
Got a small, half sausage-half pepperoni ($12); they also make deep dish.
Sausage + Pepperoni Pizza at Cuzin’s in Tinley Park
The only reason I schlepped to Tinley Park (and believe me, it’s a schlep) was because I got a very sincere note from Bernie Laskowski. The South Side native used to work at The Pump Room and mk, as well as the Park Grill. He said he had opened a tiny neighborhood bar with his cousin, and was pretty proud of the pizza they were making. He should be proud, although I managed to avoid the Buffalo version and the chicken BBQ pizzas. As I gazed up at the giant screen TVs, looking over at the roped-off video poker games, my friendly server set down before me a pie with generous pieces of housemade, sweet Italian sausage bursting with fennel, putting it in rare company. His sauce – again, like so many on the South Side – was both thickish, deep red and slightly sweet (a sweetened tomato paste?); it has two components: crushed and ground tomatoes. “We add basil when tempering the sauce,” said owner Dennis Suglich. “It’s the way we grew up with it on the South Side. The key is not to put on too much sauce so it doesn’t overwhelm everything else.” Fresh, whole milk mozzarella from California (shredded in-house) covered pretty much everything, both sausage and lean pepperoni, but not exceedingly so; there was still a good ratio in each bite. The kitchen really lays on the pepperoni – mine was layered one on top of another like the shingles on a roof, and managed to pack a slightly hot bite. As for the dough, it comes from a high-gluten flour that gets a warm rise, then a second rise overnight in the cooler. Pizzas are gas-fired in an old stone deck oven at about 500-600 degrees for 10 minutes. Would I drive 30 minutes out of my way for this pizza? Probably not. But if I lived in the Southland, I’d probably make this my go-to if I wanted to watch a big game and grab a bite.
193 E. Butterfield Rd., Elmhurst; 630-782-5700
Style: Thin
Ate small, half sausage-half pepperoni ($12.25)
Sausage + Pepperoni Pizza at DiLeo’s in Elmhurst
This was my first experience getting pizza punk’d. That’s the only rationale I can come up with why someone would even think for a minute this pizza was worth a trek. Surely, it was suggested by the friends/family of the ownership. Way too much cheese that slides right off of a crust fit for the Cardboard Hall of Fame. Absolutely no flavor to speak of in either the dough or the toppings, which is why they must be overloading it with cheese. I took three bites then tossed the rest in the garbage.
1551 N. Wells St., (312) 202-0302
Style: Neapolitan
Ate margherita ($15)
Margherita Pizza at Dinotto in Old Town
Thank you Reenie O’Brien King! I was getting dozens of recommendations during the Quest, and King’s – imploring me to check out Dinotto – made a strong case for their Neapolitan. First, the beautiful red tiled, wood burning oven, custom-built in Naples, sits in the back of the open kitchen, like a new Ferrari the owners get to take for a spin every few minutes. “The oven is very heavy and very big,” said owner Dino Lubbat. “When it showed up, we couldn’t get it through the front door, so we had to unpack it in the street.” The pizzas that emerge from it are nicely-blistered throughout, showing nice leopard spotting and have a wonderful chew. That’s probably due to the Caputo 00 flour used to make their daily dough, with a minimum 24-hour warm rise, but typically 36 to 48 hours. “The recipe changes according to humidity levels,” said Lubbat. “We make it two days before and wait for it to rise, but if it’s too busy, you just go through [the 24-hour rise] and keep making more.” They buy curds from a Wisconsin farmer, then make their mozzarella balls in house each day. Hand-crushed San Marzanos are drained slightly, providing a zippy, brightly acidic tomato sauce that I couldn’t stop eating. More importantly, the texture of the triangular slices was spot-on – the middles were appreciably wet (like any self-respecting Neapolitan should be) but not to the point of soupiness, like Spacca Napoli in the early days. I had already eaten a few slices of pizza prior to my visit here on this particular day, but I had no problem eating half of our margherita. Would I like a little the edges to attain more stature and heft, with the accompanying air pockets? Sure. But I wouldn’t let that stop me from eating another pizza here.
43 E. Ohio St.; 312-521-8700
Style: Neapolitan
Standard pies about 12” – classic margherita ($14)
Margherita Pizza at Eataly in River North
There are several stations or restaurants to choose from inside the massive, 60,000 square foot behemoth in River North, so naturally, I visited the La Pizza & La Pasta up on the 2nd floor. My margherita emerged from their wood burning ovens looking (and tasting) like someone was in a hurry. Yes, there was decent blistering and leopard spotting, but not only was the interior edge of the dough slightly wet and chewy, one side of the pie actually lacked tomato sauce. Fresh mozz was throw on haphazardly and barely a note of basil was detected. I know kitchens have “off” nights, but if you’re going to carry the mantle of Batali & Bastianich, you better improve the training and quality control procedure. A picture is worth a thousand words.
445 W. Lake St., Addison; 630-628-0088
Style: Neapolitan
Got a margherita ($10.75)
The margherita at Elio Pizza on Fire in Addison
I had been to this location a few years ago, doing a story for ABC 7, and figured since the sister restaurant of the same name was just awful (and has since closed, I believe), I owed it to Elio Bartolotta to give his flagship location another try. He rests his dough for less 24 hours, in the refrigerator, so as you can see, there isn’t very much yeast activity going on in the cornicione, and few air pockets. The pizza is also very evenly cooked around the perimeter, bordering on crispy, and there is no leopard spotting; he says he cleans the deck of the oven after every use, which is one of the reasons the undercarriage is also pretty splotch-free. I wish the dough had more character and chew, frankly. Despite the fact he uses both fior di latte and bufala mozzarella, as well as the usual San Marzano tomatoes and a drizzle of olive oil, the few scattered shards of basil can’t save a pizza crust that is simply not craveable. There is not enough salt in the edge either, at least for my taste. At least he keeps one tradition intact: not cutting the pizza, unless you ask for it. “The Italian people don’t like it cut up, but the Americans want it cut into slices,” he says.
3719 N. Harlem Ave.; 773-295-5697
Style: Neapolitan
All pizzas 12” – got the margherita ($12.95)
Margherita Pizza at Forno Rosso in Dunning
Nick Nitti has been a student of Neapolitan pizza for some time, and when I interviewed him a few years ago for ABC 7, I recall him telling me how he looked up to (and visited) gurus like Chris Bianco in Phoenix, before deciding to open his own place in the Dunning neighborhood on the northwest side (he’s planning on opening a second location on West Randolph soon). “A lot of people say their pizza is Neapolitan these days. I have friends who get really angry over it – how could you govern anything like that?” says Nitti. “I like to keep it very traditional.” Typically, tradition means 75 seconds in the oven in Italy, but “here, customers just want that extra 10 seconds that makes a world of difference,” says Nitti.
His Caputo 00 flour is used to make a dough that rests a minimum 24 hours, and never sees a refrigerator. The cornicione here is magical and majestic: slightly charred from the heat of his wood-burning, Stefano Ferrara beehive brick oven, which is made with biscotto di Sorrento (cookies of the soil) from Mount Vesuvius. It burns up to 1000 degrees with average temps of around 800 – 900 degrees. That means pizzas arrive slightly blistered, covered in generous blobs of fresh, imported Italian fior di latte from La Mozzarella, flown in twice a week (drained and sliced) and a half dozen fresh basil leaves. The tomato sauce – San Marzano Italian Pomodoro tomatoes milled by hand with sea salt – is simple, fresh and evenly applied. The drained mozz, thin sauce application and extra 10 seconds in the oven result in slices that hold their shape when lifted. The bottom crust has a decent amount of char, as does the undercarriage, while the perimeter is soft-yet-chewy. Take a look inside that crust – you’ll see air pockets, revealing a decent amount of fermentation; this is a crust you want to finish off. One note: this is a fragile creation. Don’t get it to-go or you’ll miss the entire experience. Eat it as soon as it hits your table!
1600 S. 61st Ave., Cicero
Style: Thin
There are several types of pizzas sold here, including their legendary Sicilian-style, which is listed under the “thick” category in this Pizza Quest. But in terms of thin, they offer a few types, like a rectangular sheet of margherita ($19) or a more standard round pizza. I got one of each.
Sausage + Pepperoni (top) and Margherita Pizza (bottom) at Freddy’s in Cicero
The margherita is typically sold by the slice ($3) but getting a full sheet will feed a small army. It’s a different dough than the one they use for the Sicilian, and the key is fermentation – at least a day and a half. Baked in a giant, 60 year-old Blodgett deck oven, the pizza emerges charred on the edges and bubbling in the middle, with more fior di latte than most delis have in their entire cheese section. Basil is sprinkled liberally, and the sauce, made from California tomatoes, is obviously homemade. I liked this pizza. It’s not really a classic VPN or DOC Neapolitan, but the owners – who just returned from a trip to Naples – say that locals sometimes don’t want one of those soggy/wet pizzas, and prefer something with more heft. This certainly delivers. Same goes for their “thin” pizza, which beats most other thins in town. The slices are puffy and generous, and the toppings are solid, but still, the bottom crust retains crispness, and one of the reasons you find yourself reaching for another piece, is that slight tanginess and sourness that comes from a pre-fermentation, called a biga – used in ciabatta doughs - which is fed with flour, water and salt and left to proof for a couple of hours. There are also some interesting little air pockets here, which lend the pizza even more character and chew. Their sausage is made for them by Greco, while the cheese is strictly whole milk mozzarella from Wisconsin.
9655 Grand Ave., Franklin Park; 847-451-0100
Style: Tavern
Thin, Thick and Stuffed offered, but thin is what they’re known for. Sizes come in 10”, 12”, 14”, 16”, 18” and 20”. We opted for 12” thin, half pepperoni-half sausage ($12.25)
Sausage + Pepperoni Pizza at Gianni’s in Franklin Park
Located almost across the street from Grand Stand Pizza, we came in during lunch, when most people were getting the daily buffet. This tavern-style pie arrives with just a few air pockets, a result of a dough that had been mechanically rolled out and baked in an electric oven. The chew was just o.k., but not the cracker crust I was hoping for. The cheese blend had an orange hue, hiding tiny knobs of tasty, juicy sausage that was pretty mild. Good if you’re hungry and just came from the softball game.
9718 W. Grand Ave., Franklin Park; 847-451-1155
Style: Tavern
Thin, Double Dough, Pan and Stuffed come in 12”, 14”, 16”, 18” and 20”
Got a 12” thin, half sausage-half pepperoni ($12.50)
Sausage + Pepperoni Pizza at Grand Stand in Franklin Park
In what must be some sort of “pizza row,” this section of Grand Avenue had a number of pizza joints, clearly a sign of the Italian immigrants who’ve settled here over the years. The owners are Cubs fans – the pictures of players past and present grace one of the walls – and the thin pies emerging from the Blodgett gas-fired ovens are standard Chicago tavern-style. Ours had more chew than say, Villa Napoli, but the precision of the circumference (a perfect circle) is made by hand and rolled on an electric roller, then cut by hand with a pizza cutting wheel; on our visit, we felt there might have been excessive rolling which could have rendered the dough – like many tavern-styles – too tough. The Greco sausage is a standout, torn into rough chunks beneath the layer of mozzarella, but the sauce is insignificant and while it’s certainly a pleasant pie to enjoy if you live close by, I wouldn’t schlep 30 minutes and deal with navigating traffic for it.
1433 N. Dayton St.; 312-642-6700
Style: Thin
Comes individual (lunch only), medium, large, jumbo, family, party, stadium, super stadium. Got a medium half sausage-half pepperoni ($13.45)
Sausage + Pepperoni Pizza at Italian Pizza Kitchen in Lincoln Park
I really thought I had a discovery on my hands with this one. Walking up Halsted, near the British School, I saw the sign tucked way back along Dayton. With a name like “Italian Pizza Kitchen” it had to be great, right? Once I saw it was mostly a slices-to-go place with a second location in Roselle, IL, I should have probably bolted, but I soldiered on. Total fail. Not only was there too much of the three-cheese blend over the top, obliterating any possible flavor that might have emerged from the proteins, the bigger crime was the dough. Run through the sheeter four too many times and lacking salt, oil or anything that might impart flavor, each bite was like chewing a salt-free Saltine. Congrats IPK, you’re officially in my bottom three.
7411 W. Madison St., Forest Park; 708-771-7476
Style: Tavern
Got a small, half pepperoni-half sausage ($14.50)
Sausage + Pepperoni Pizza at Jimmy’s in Forest Park
Jeff “The Sandwich King” Mauro tipped me off to this casual family restaurant, where Fenwick High pennants and Hawks jerseys are the main decorating accents. He insisted I give it a try, saying it was the real deal for tavern-style pizzas in the region. Since Mauro is a local boy – there are several newspaper clippings tracking his career on the Food Network, laminated and hung on the wall – I was afraid that his PIGUE Syndrome would get the best of him. It did. There are tidy little sausage balls with o.k. flavor; the pepperoni is indistinguishable, barely registering beneath the über-salty cheese blend. The crust? Meh. Very average without any discernable chew or crunch. I think Jeff is a great guy, and there’s no doubt he’s talented when it comes to sandwich assembly (I look forward to his Pork & Mindy’s shop near my house), but I’d leave the pizza recommendations to someone else.
4127-4129 W. Lawrence Ave.; 773-725-1812
Style: Tavern
Thin or Double Dough; known for thin, so got a medium, half sausage-half pepperoni ($13.45)
Sausage + Pepperoni Pizza at Marie’s in Albany Park
Talk about a throwback. You almost expect the ghost of Studs Terkel to belly-up next to Nelson Algren at the bar. The vintage mirrors showing the Chicago skyline and the decorative ceiling lights over the bar, casting shadows on the red vinyl booths would be right at home in a Mad Men revival (if Matthew Weiner had grown up near Pulaski and Lawrence). It’s all about the thin crust here, which many of my readers stated matter-of-factly was the best in town. I take exception, and like most of the pizzas in Chicago, chalk it up to nostalgia. Our pizza arrived nicely well-done, so there were no puddles of grease, and the sausage was top-notch – you could see the fennel seeds. But like most tavern-style pies, the dough is simply a sturdy vehicle for transporting the cheese, sauce and meat to your pie hole. It’s so sturdy, in fact, that it doesn’t absorb anything – not sauce, not cheese and certainly not the fat that’s been rendered from the sausage. This is the difference between long fermented, hand-tossed-and-formed pizza, and the shortcut mechanically-formed pies you see in most bars. Sure, it’s nostalgic (there’s a reason they’ve been in business for 75 years) and it even tastes pretty good with a few beers, but I’m not sure it changed my life, and it certainly wouldn’t cause me to send an out-of-towner here.
6654 W. Archer Ave.; 773-586-2828
Style: Thin/Tavern
Ordered: Small half sausage, half pepperoni ($9.88)
Sausage + Pepperoni Pizza at Obbie’s in Garfield Ridge
Cruising down Archer Avenue, the long, diagonal commercial street the runs down the Southwest Side of the city, parallel to the Stevenson Expressway, you see plenty of Mexican taquerias and Polish restaurants. I had several readers tell me that Obbie’s was a must; a favorite in the neighborhood. They sort of laughed at us when we called ahead and asked to eat-in (it’s carryout only) and when we did walk in, we saw five guys just completely focused, rolling out dough, toppings large discs of it with tomato sauce, filling pans with homemade sausage and checking on pizzas in the enormous rotating deck ovens. The phone kept ringing and people kept streaming in and out, and it was only 5 p.m. on a Thursday. We took our small pie outside to the car, opened up the tailgate and plopped it down, tearing the paper bag off, revealing a bubbly, cheesy disc, embedded with nice little irregular balls of sausage and thin, slightly spicy pepperoni. The bottom of the crust had that telltale sign of slightly blackened corn flour, giving it a nice texture; the crust itself, however, proved a tad too soft; there was absolutely no chew here, and I think if you wait the 10 or 15 minutes it takes to get home until you eat it, you’ll have an even soggier bottom. The only remedy would be to eat it as soon as it comes out of the oven, but I’m not sure how practical that is, and how much fun is it to eat in your car?
4849 W. 95th St., Oak Lawn; 708-425-6262
Style: Thin/Tavern
Got a small “thin and crispy” half sausage-half pepperoni ($14.60); they also have regular thin, deep dish and stuffed.
Sausage + Pepperoni Pizza at Palermo’s on 95th in Oak Lawn
For more than 35 years, Palermo’s has been a Southside institution, serving the same local families, watching their children grow up, then go on to college. Lasagna, pasta and pizza are their calling cards. Popping in unnoticed on a Wednesday afternoon, the brick-arched dining room with grapevine wallpaper was pretty quiet. Tony Bennett crooned on the speakers. My server said without a doubt “thin and crispy” was their specialty, so I ordered the usual half-and-half. 15 minutes later, after spending time in their rotating bread ovens set to 525 degrees, he set a beautifully crisp, square-cut pizza in front of me, set on top of a cooling rack that was placed over the pizza pan. This elevation keeps that bottom crust crisp, just like the Japanese tonkatsu houses do for their breaded-and-fried pork cutlets.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen tomato sauce this red. It was almost like tomato paste, and like so many other South Side joints, it had a hint of sweetness (definitely a regional differentiation within Chicagoland); the only thing they’d confirm was that they use San Marzanos, but they insisted the recipe was a secret. However, I did have a reader chime in after they heard me on the radio this morning: “The sweetness comes from grape jelly. I swear, it’s grape jelly – a friend used to work there and found the secret to their sweetness.” Hmmm. The sausage – made in-house from 100% pork butt – was hidden beneath a substantial (but not overwhelming) layer of oregano-flecked part-skim shredded mozzarella and cut into large, amorphous hunks. It tasted very good. I ate about three pieces, including a good edge slice, so I could really taste the cracker-thin crust. Made from a combo of whole wheat and all-purpose flour, with just a 12 hour warm rise, it’s quite different from Vito & Nick’s, but still, worth a try. I hesitate to call it tavern-style, since it’s served in a proper restaurant with a wine list and uniformed waiters, but there’s no denying that square-cut, thin, light-as-a-cracker-crisp crust – a true hallmark of the Chicago tavern-style.
3702 N. Broadway (entrance on Waveland); 773-472-620o; also locations in Park Ridge and Evanston
Style: Neapolitan
Several specialty pies available, including ones with burrata and buffalo mozz, but went with basic margherita ($13)
Margherita Pizza at Panino’s in Wrigleyville
Panino’s also has locations in Evanston and Park Ridge, but the city location is really two different restaurants within one. On the Broadway side (facing the mall), it’s a standard-issue thin and deep pizza joint, as well as by-the-slice, with pies baked in gas-fired ovens. On the Waveland side, a completely different personality emerges. Here, it’s Panino’s Pizzaiolo, a reference to the fact they are putting their Neapolitan hats on, and indeed, the giant red tiled, Stefano Ferrara wood-burning oven (700 degrees on the deck, 1000 degrees in the dome) has a “master pizzaiolo” spelled out in white tiles, indicating they take the pizzas a tad more seriously here. The key is their mother starter, a strain of yeast that is recycled and re-used, integrated and “fed” with more water and flour, then kneaded and aged, left to ferment, developing serious air pockets within the dough. It gets a three-day cold rise. “It’s totally different than using standard instant dry yeast,” said owner Bruno Brunetti. “It adds texture and flavor.” Just last week, in fact, their pizza with burrata cheese took #1 in the National Pizza trials in Ohio, which means their pizzaiolo won a trip to Italy where he’ll compete in The World Pizza Games (may the ovens be in your favor).
The raw dough is topped with healthy blobs of Galbani fresh mozzarella that have been drained overnight, plus zesty tomato sauce containing imported Italian plum tomatoes, lightly ground, with evoo and salt. As tradition dictates, a few basil leaves are added, along with a drizzle of olive oil. The margherita emerges with beautifully charred edges as well as blackened splotches above and below; there is good chew here, with wonderful texture and a homey, misshapen cornicione. “Many places are stuck on this 90-second cooking thing,” said Brunetti. “We know for a fact that there’s no possible way you can cook raw tomato and dough in 90 seconds – it just doesn’t happen. Our dough needs just a little more than usual to add crispness and more char.” My only complaint is not enough salt in the dough, because after you worked your way to the edge, and got past the last bits of cheese and sauce, the resulting plain crust just didn’t have the same craveability as versions at Spacca Napoli, Forno Rosso or even Stella Barra. That said, it’s still one helluva delicious pizza.
1000 31st St., Downers Grove; 630-960-5700
Style: Neapolitan
Margherita ($11.50)
Margherita Pizza at Parkers in Downers Grove
To abide by my previous rule about not checking out restaurants that happen to have pizza ovens, I can’t go into much detail. But the reason I checked out this sprawling suburban restaurant that actually specializes in seafood, was due to the fact they have a VPN (Vera Pizza Napoletana) certified Neapolitan pizza, which is sort of like a D.O.C. rating, in that the organizing body in Italy says essentially that this pizza meets their strict culinary standards (dough, flour, sauce, cheese, oven, etc.). A few years ago, Serious Eats tackled this subject , and wrote a very funny, geeked-out response to VPN-rated places, saying many of them may check off the boxes, but in the end, aren’t really that great. Purists won’t mind how wet and soggy the middle is, but I’m not a fan. The cornicione, however, does look (and taste) pretty good. #leopardspotting
2679 N. Lincoln Ave.; 773-248-0168
Style: Tavern
Thin or Pan options, in 12”, 14” or 16”; had a 12” half sausage-half pepperoni ($12.30)
Sausage + Pepperoni Pizza at Pat’s in Lincoln Park, Chicago
The legend that is Pat’s – I remember hitting it up on Sheffield, across from The Vic – has always been about its thin crust. When the pie arrives at your table on a stainless steel disc, you can tell immediately how thin it is. Almost caramelized on the edge, the pizza is nicely browned and blackened all over its undercarriage. In an interesting architectural note: the sausage side was covered with cheese, while the pepperonis rested above the cheese. That part-skim shredded mozz is baked until it’s nice and golden, but there was so much of it, it dominated the entire piece. Sauce was hardly notable, but I liked how it was spread all the way to the edge. The crust is where Pat’s excels: so perfectly crispy, almost like eating a salty cracker that had been dipped in cheesy tomato sauce. Made from King wheat flour each morning, it rises one day, then it’s refrigerated at the end of Day 1; warmed then rolled to size on Day 2, then back to the fridge, where it rises a third day and is used on the Day 4. I can’t think of another pizza joint in town doing a consistent 72-hour rest. Baked in a 4-shelf, rotating Faulds gas oven, you can actually hear when you bite into the crust, which is rare among thin crust and tavern-style competitors.
1927 W. North Ave.; 773-772-4422
Style: New Haven Thin
Ordered large half pepperoni-half sausage ($20.49)
Sausage + Pepperoni Pizza at Piece in Wicker Park
Piece has won several awards for its beer, and rightly so. Its pizza, however, suffers from an identity crisis. They claim they serve New Haven-style pizza, which means a thin, oblong pie, topped with oregano, tomato sauce and some grated Pecorino Romano. Mozzarella is considered a topping, like sausage or pepperoni, except in New Haven, Connecticut, you’re more likely to find a white pie topped with littleneck clams (this was the style many readers told me to get – the white with clams, as it hews to the East Coast inspiration, but remember, unless it’s a Neapolitan, I had to get the same order: half sausage-half pepperoni). The other distinguishing feature of a New Haven pie is a coal-fired oven, along the lines of Frank Pepe’s or Sally’s Apizza. Piece, however, strays often from this New Haven mandate, and brings in celebrity guests like “Hot Doug” Sohn, to collaborate on things like the “Atomic Pizza.” Honestly, my biggest issue was with the crust. When I ate at Frank Pepe’s, I recall not only an oven the size of a school bus, filled with coal, I can still picture (and taste) that charred edge, misshapen cornicione and great chew that can only come from super high heat and a fairly moist dough that’s allowed to rest for some fermentation.
Unfortunately, Piece’s ovens never get that hot, and for whatever reason, their crust just isn’t nearly as craveable. Most friends at the table would stop just short of finishing off their crust edges, one of the surest signs there’s an issue. (I can imagine the forlorn look on a pizzaiolo’s face, seeing all of those uneaten crust edges scattered on the plates coming back to the kitchen, like a pasta chef at Scarpetta seeing plate after plate of barely-touched short rib agnolotti). Toppings are fine here, but after seven minutes on the table, the crust becomes significantly tougher, and unless you’re really hungry, I’m betting most of those thin, triangular pieces are going to end up in the refrigerator, to see another midnight snacking opportunity down the road.
Six locations; I went to 2056 W. Division St.; 773-252-1777
Style: Deep and Thin
Thin comes in medium or large; I got a medium, half sausage-half pepperoni
Sausage + Pepperoni Pizza at Pizano’s
Does anyone still put a lot of stock in brands that were “voted the best _______ by the Oprah Show”? Apparently the O (or more likely, her producers) really liked Pizano’s thin crust several years ago, so they’re running with it. This thin was certainly the thickest of its kind, mainly because the edges are slightly higher on the sides. In fact, it looks as if it’s a thicker pie from the side, but when you pick up a piece, you can see that it’s truly thin. The crust is dynamite. Same version you’d find in their thick pie (which I also tried, and preferred) – slightly crispy, a tad buttery and rich, but not too heavy. Clearly homemade. The Wisconsin whole milk mozzarella is applied with a heavy hand, always covering the fine Anichini sausage or zesty pepperoni. One thing I wished there was more of was the crushed and whole tomato sauce. Like a lot of thin pies I ended up tasting, they skimp on the sauce in favor of covering up the ingredients with a mountain of cheese (even though it was baked to a nice golden brown in spots, courtesy of the Blodgett deck ovens that are kept at 600 – 650 degrees).
3011 Butterfield Rd, Oak Brook; 630-861-6177
Style: Artisan thin
Also sells Chicago thin and deep dish, but specializes in coal-fired artisan thin
Margherita at Pizza Barra in Oak Brook
Rich Labriola knows dough. The guy built his eponymous bakery, sold it, and has since moved on to licensing UCLA’s Stan’s Donuts, which is quickly gobbling up retail space around the city. His namesake café has kept humming along in a semi-fancy Oak Brook strip mall, and last year, he opened up a branch off of Michigan Avenue. Even though they have a pizza oven at both, and they manage to churn out good Neapolitan-style pies, I decided not to include them as part of the Quest, since I had made a rule early on about prohibiting restaurants that didn’t focus on pizza (otherwise this Quest would never end; sorry Piccolo Sogno, Balena and Quartino). Labriola recently took over a vacant space near the Oak Brook location, setting up his pizza fantasyland. He recruited Chris Macchia, a Coco Pazzo vet, and the two have spent the past year or so stuffing their faces with various crusts, trying to come up with something truly unique.
The massive restaurant offers three types of pizza: thin, Chicago deep dish and their signature: a coal-fired artisan pie that emerges from the brick ovens with some of the most beautiful corniciones in the tri-state area, the result of a 48-hour pre-fermentation process, or biga, and a really wet (75% water) ciabatta-like dough, plus olive oil. As much as I like Coalfire downtown, this is the kind of dough I want putting up an eight-minute fight in the blistering heat – it’s got a great open crumb, lots of air pockets, plenty of olive oil-kissed blistering around the top and a puffiness that allows for a good, hearty chew. The middle is still as thin as can be, supporting any number of artisan toppings, roasted vegetables or even ‘nduja from West Loop Salumi. Their “basic” margherita-style isn’t a margherita at all (although I had them make me one, just for comparison sake). It’s called a Dante, and it has some of the freshest Bianco organic tomatoes, seasoned with olive oil, salt and basil, spread across the middle, seasoned with a bit of fresh marjoram. The giant blobs of cheese are really a blend of a few sheep’s milk cheeses (I found them a little too barnyard-y) but that crust…oh that crust. Definitely a pizza you’ll be devouring no matter what’s on top.
3256 W. 55th St.; 773-776-1075
Style: Thin
Got a small (10”) half sausage-half pepperoni ($8.95)
Sausage + Pepperoni Pizza at Pizza Castle in Gage Park
There was quite a bit of love for the Castle, located in the Gage Park neighborhood, on the city’s Southwest Side. It’s hard not to adore it – the kitchen is small, but certainly not any smaller than the dining area, which is basically a counter against the window (it’s mostly takeout). Chicago allegiances are on display – they have giant framed posters of da Bears, Hawks, Cubs and Sox hung directly in front of the pizza counter, where they top their dough with some of the better toppings around. Both the sauce and sausage were especially good. Unfortunately, I had a feeling after seeing the guy run the dough through the mechanical sheeter a number of times, that it would essentially squeeze all of the flavor and texture/gluten out of it. It did. As much as I liked the toppings, the bland bottom crust sunk it for me.
113 – 125 N. Green St.; 312-521-8000
Style: Artisan Thin
Got a margherita, about 12” ($16)
Margherita at Pizza East, in The Soho House (West Loop)
It says something when the standard, house margherita uses buffalo mozzarella, but this pizza and antipasti restaurant in the Soho House – one of the three options open to the public – really loves its wood-burning ovens. There are several tempting toppings here (burrata, anchovies, black truffle) but for the purposes of this study, we stuck with the basic, entry level margherita. Let’s talk crust for a second. I don’t know if it’s the German flour or the long fermentation, but this crust was divine. Actual air pockets for a change, evenly salted and offering one of the best chews of any cornicione in town. Sadly, the middle diameter, where all of the sauce and cheese live, is a tad too small, ratiowise, and is certainly overshadowed by the high and round edges. Each slice does tend to hold its shape, a remarkable achievement considering the middle is so thin; they must drain their mozz otherwise everything would droop considerably. If I could merge the interior qualities of Forno Rosso or da Nella with this outer crust, we’d be pretty close to perfection.
1707 W. Division St.; 773-993-1351
Style: Thin
Small, Medium, Large or slices; got a small half pepperoni-half sausage ($7.70)
Sausage + Pepperoni Pizza at Pizza Metro in Wicker Park
This West Town/Wicker Park pizza shop specializes in “Roman-style” pizza, which simply means a rectangular pie (like Pizza Rustica) but it looks and feels more like a tavern pizza, with its thin, square-cut pieces; they emphasize their specialty pies with potato and rosemary, or ones simply with anchovy. There are just a few seats at the counter inside, and it took all of 13 minutes to get my small, which was really the perfect size for one relatively hungry person. The crust is seriously thin, almost like a Vito & Nick’s, and the crumbled sausage, buried beneath a snow drift of cheese, certainly had me coming back for extra slices. The pepperoni is standard stuff, but I liked how simple and yet tasty this pizza was, especially how good the ratio of toppings-to-cheese-to-crust was. Not a bad option if you’re nearby and craving a snack, but also not quite up to the caliber of the city’s top tier thin joints.
3908 N. Sheridan Rd.; 773-404-8955
Style: Thin
Half or Whole; got a half with half sausage-half pepperoni ($10.25)
Sausage + Pepperoni Pizza at Pizza Rustica in Lakeview
Served on a wooden pizza peel, the Rustica pizza has a beautifully crisp edge that continues underneath the pizza, resulting in extremely delicious bites. The dough is created with 00 flour and gets fermented in a warm rise, is patted down, then rests again and punched down a second time before spread out in pans for the final rise – about 3.5 hours total, plus a “secret process” they wouldn’t divulge. The housemade fennel-laced sausage – made from pork shoulder and seasoned with thyme, garlic, parsley and white wine – was a pleasure to eat, roughly crumbled and buried beneath a perfectly respectable layer of mozzarella that comes from a small Wisconsin producer and is shredded in-house (you can ask for fresh mozz as well); it comes nicely browned in splotches. We thought this pizza lacked any discernible amount of sauce, however, which might have helped it a bit (the basis is Italian San Marzanos). The pizzas take about seven minutes to bake in their Imperial convection ovens, set to 450 degrees.
1708 W. Belmont Ave.; 773-525-0600
Style: Neapolitan-ish/Thin
Got a small (11”) margherita ($13) and a small half sausage-half pepperoni; also comes in large (16”)
Sausage + Pepperoni at Pizzeria Serio in Lakeview
They make a very big deal about their gas-fired, brick oven dome at Serio, and they want you to know they are serious about their pizza, even though the oven is gas-fired, not wood-fired. I actually thought the margherita held up pretty well, when removed from the pie the slice was pretty stiff, not wet (interesting, because they use a Grande fresh mozz, which tends to have more moisture than the mozz they use at Craft, their sister restaurant). Despite a slightly sweeter-than-normal sauce, consisting of Alta Cucina whole, peeled plum tomatoes from California, there was decent char and chew, with lots of nice little air pockets in the dough, which indicated either a fair amount of fermentation, a wetter-than-normal dough, or both. “We use a higher heat and a quicker cook time,” said owner Scott Toth, who uses a 50/50 blend of high and low protein/gluten flours, with a cold rise of 48 to 72 hours. “You definitely get char if you’re doing it right, but it’s hard to get a nice crispy bottom all the way through.” The Anichini Bros. sausage-pepperoni version had a ton of oregano on top (ease up guys), but I was really struck by how good the chew was on this version, and while it was soft enough to enjoy, there was also a decent amount of crispiness on the outer rim, giving it a pretty enjoyable textural contrast. Who says you need wood to make a good pizza?
1443 W. Fullerton Ave.; 773-281-6600
Style: Neapolitan
Got a margherita ($12.99)
Margherita at Pizzeria da Nella in Lincoln Park, Chicago
What a pleasure it was devouring this pizza. I’m sure the ones topped with arugula or prosciutto are equally as enjoyable, but just inhaling the smell of the dough – made from imported 00 Italian flour, with an 8-12 hour rise (depending on season) – baked to exact specs in the handmade, wood-burning oven that averages 800 degrees, forming one of the city’s best Neapolitan pies with a textbook cornicione…mmm. These pies are nicely charred above and below, and I loved how the middle was just thick enough to withstand the blobs of domestic whole milk fior di latte mozzarella and fresh tomato sauce made from San Marzanos. Rather then falling over limp at the first touch, the pieces actually held their shape as I brought them to my mouth. That chew! One of the hallmarks of a great pizza – and a compliment to the pizzaiolo – is not only when you finish off the interior, but devour the entire slice, all the way to the edge.
404 N. Milwaukee Ave., Libertyville; 847-367-4992
Style: Artisan Thin
Got a margherita ($13)
Margherita at Pizzeria DeVille in Libertyville
I had been to this place once before, during lunch, but was told that they don’t really make anything from their main menu featuring the wood-burning oven, until dinner; naturally, I had to go back. The lineup is impressive: homemade sausage (excellent, by the way), sopresatta, whipped ricotta…the usual artisan lineup of goodies. I started with a margherita (called the Queen’s Pizza here), featuring Grande fior di latte from Wisconsin, tomato sauce that combines Rao’s NYC tomatoes – consisting of Italian cherry tomatoes – as well as San Marzanos, plus fresh basil. The key, of course, is that dough, made from a 50-50 blend of Caputo 00 and King Arthur’s Sir Galahad flour, plus a little bit of dough from the day before; it gets a cold fermentation overnight, then formed into balls and sits another day or so, resulting in a 48 – 72 hour total rest time. “When we’re slow, it nears that 72-hour mark,” said owner John Durning. “That’s my favorite, when it gets a little sour, it adds such a nice flavor.”
The dough emerges from the wood-burning Mugnaini oven beautifully charred and knobby, with an impressive undercarriage of blackened but not overdone crust. This is most likely due to the fact the temperature inside the oven averages 800 degrees on the deck, 1100 degrees in the dome. There is a nice chew to the edge – perhaps not as salty as it could be – but still, definitely craveable to the point I ate almost three pieces. I also tried a half sausage-half sopresatta, and sadly, this version was drowning in cheese (my server insisted it was the same fior di latte as in the margherita, but I find that hard to fathom, as it would have jacked up the food cost by 100%). The cheese for pizzas other than the margherita is, according to Durning, an rBGH-free mozzarella from Wisconsin Natural Direct. I thought it obliterated this pie, which was sort of depressing, considering the quality of the Purely Gourmet sausage ground in-house with red wine, fennel, garlic and allspice; his cured meats, like the sopresatta, come from Creminelli Meats in Utah, but mine was hidden beneath the milky, melted blanket. Regardless, this is a must-visit if you’re in the area, as I’ve had a hard time finding wood-burning ovens this far north in Chicagoland that produce pies of this caliber.
434 W. Ontario St.; 312-944-4340
Style: thin/tavern
Small half pepperoni-half sausage ($17)
Sausage + Pepperoni Pizza at Pranzi in River North
Definitely off the radar for most pizza aficionados, Pranzi is located in a no-man’s land on West Ontario, near Reza’s, in an area known more for martinis and shots than decent pie. They do offer pan, as well as extra thin, but our server told us the thin is their specialty. We also tried a margherita, which needed salt in the worst way, but had our usual half sausage (purchased from Greco) and half pepperoni. The cheese is actually a blend of provolone and mozzarella, and while it was typically greasy, I didn’t love the crust. I shouldn’t say I disliked it, it just didn’t pull me back for more. If you’re out late, and you’re in the area and you’re craving pizza, Pranzi is a fine choice. Would I tell you to drive 10 miles out of your way for it? Probably not.
1924 W. Chicago Ave.; 773-645-4949
Style: Thin (via the Quad Cities)
Got a small half sausage-half pepperoni ($16)
Sausage + Pepperoni Pizza at Roots in West Town
I’d be willing to bet I’m the only food writer in town who has actually logged time in the QC (although it’s often referred to as the Quint Cities, since East Moline has become its own little micro Metropolis, thanks to John Deere HQ, but I digress). I lived there in the early 90s, and while I have fond memories of standing in line for ice cream at Whitey’s after devouring the matzo ball soup at the Duck City Bistro in Davenport, I don’t really recall a distinctive local pizza style. Roots is sort of a sports bar-meets-neighborhood hang – large booths, TVs, you’ve seen it a million times – and they go all-in on the QC style, the most unique element being the dark roasted malt that’s used in the dough. Other “Quad City style” hallmarks allegedly include hand-tossing the dough, using a thin sauce and top quality ingredients (they make their own sausage) and cutting the pies with scissors (?) but honestly, the only difference I detected was that dough. When you first encounter this pizza, you’re met with the aroma of oregano, which you can see resting like so many boats on Lake Geneva, in a lake of thick, melted cheese. Slightly spicy crumbled sausage rests beneath it all (a tad spicier than most) and underneath, enough light and dark cornmeal flecks to make it look like an everything bagel. In fact, if you bite the outer crust, where there isn’t any cheese or sauce, the dough tastes like a crispy bagel or pretzel. Not that that’s a bad thing, but I’m just not one of those folks who craves this sort of pizza. Like Freddy’s, it’s one of the thicker “thin” pizzas in Chicago, with a pretty puffy outer ring. But the problem is if that outer rim gets a little overdone, as mine was, it just tastes like burnt bagel, and again, that might be what they’re going for in Rock Island, Bettendorf or Moline, but I’d rather go up the street to Craft for a different interpretation.
1201 W. Grand Ave.; 312-666-3444
Style: Thin
Thin or Regular, comes in 8”, 10”, 12”, 14” or 16”; got a 12” half sausage-half pepperoni
Sausage + Pepperoni Pizza at Salerno’s in West Town
This family-friendly restaurant in West Town has been around since 1966 – they have another location in Oak Park. Pizzas take about 25 minutes, but they’re worth the wait. Normally, smaller pizzas are cut into wedges, but if you get a 12” or larger, they cut it into squares, a la tavern-style. The crust here differed from many of the usual tavern-style pizzas, in that it actually had some dimension and some cracker-like qualities. They let the raw dough sit in the mixer, uncovered, for a few hours, allowing for a warm rise; after punching down the dough, they transfer it to a cooler where it continues to rise overnight. It wasn’t one solid mass throughout, but rather, contained tiny layers of delicate crust inside, and you could actually chew it; it also absorbed the zesty tomato sauce (California plum tomatoes) and the shredded provolone-mozzarella blend, which, incidentally, covered the entire pizza like a shiny yellow shield. Pepperoni had a slight bite to it, but the mild, homemade sausage was the star. Even though I had tasted six pizzas previous to this one on that particular day, I still managed to eat a full three pieces, which says a lot. They bake their pies in a gas-fired, rotating deck oven that can hold up to 80 pizzas at a time, baked at 550 degrees. “Electric does not cook it,” says owner Pete Lia. “We tried, but it doesn’t cook the meat, so we turned back to gas. Michael Jordan used to tell me, ‘you make the best pizzas in the world. Not just Chicago, the world!’” Take that, Oprah.
1456 W. George St.; 773-327-1127
Style: Tavern
Got a small half sausage-half pepperoni ($10.50)
Sausage + Pepperoni Pizza at Side Street Saloon in Lakeview, Chicago
“If you win the lottery, do they pay you all at once, or do you get it in installments?” asked the older gentleman sitting at the bar one afternoon at the Side Street Saloon. The afternoon news was on one TV, ESPN on the other, and with the exception of the bartender and my friend and I, the place was empty. There are, of course, dozens, if not hundreds of neighborhood taverns like this, and it’s what makes Chicago so damn wonderful. Sure, you’re in a big city (in Lake View, to be exact) but walking into a joint like this in the middle of the day you could just as well be in Kenosha or Escanaba. Tempting as the pool table was, we opted for a small pizza (our third of the day). When it hit the table, I was reminded of both Northbrook’s Barnaby’s (crimped edges) as well as Pizano’s (butter crust), although the crust here is made with white flour and is left to rest overnight. The sausage, from Greco & Sons, was pleasant, the pepperoni slightly greasy, as it sat in a pool of slightly underdone melted mozzarella. Since it’s baked in an electric oven at 500 degrees, my recommendation would be to ask to have it well done. My friend liked both of the toppings, and I could easily see polishing one off as I played pool or watched TV, contemplating the machinations of the Illinois Lottery system on a quiet Tuesday afternoon.
Got margherita ($14)
Margherita Pizza at Sono Wood Fired in Lincoln Park
Listed on the menu with just fiore di latte and basil, the basic pie here reveals quite a bit. First of all, it’s an unapologetic Sicilian pie; they don’t claim to make a Neapolitan-style, and the dough is only fermented a day. I wish it was more than that, because once you chew from the tip to the outer edge – which is pretty dense and thin – you reach a sauceless crust that is lacking in both chew and flavor. There needs to be salt here and I dare say something more than just crispy texture. Honestly, the middle is where the excitement is, but I found myself leaving the edges remaining on the plate, which is never a good sign.
Style: Neapolitan
Got a margherita ($12.50)
So much has been said about Jonathan Goldsmith’s Ravenswood pizzeria, most of it glowing, of course, since he lectures frequently, travels to Italy regularly, and has made the art and tradition of Neapolitan pizza his mission since he opened on the quiet corner of Sunnyside and Ravenswood 10 years ago this winter. All of the hallmarks are here: the 00 flour, the 24-hour rise, bufalina and fior di latte cheeses (plus a blend of Parmesan and Sardinian Pecorino), oozing and creamy-sweet, placed haphazardly about the hand-formed spheres, and the imported San Marzano tomatoes, crushed into sweet/acidic oblivion; the tell-tale crust – puffy and blistered with leopard spotting on the cornicione as well as the undercarriage – with a remarkable chew that comes from a long fermentation; the final flourish – a healthy perimeter drizzle of olive oil imported from Vesuvio.
Early on, I had always felt the centers were too thin and too wet (I know true Neapolitans adore this tomato-cheese puddle) and while I enjoyed the cornicione, I rarely praised the interior. Things have changed (Goldsmith says the recipe has been tweaked) and those droopy interiors are a thing of the past. The dough has a little bit more structure these days, and the other dozen or so pizzas all feature top-quality arugula, prosciutto, sausage and rapini. For those who remember my consternation at having to choose the best Italian beef between the Original Mr. Beef in Homer Glen and Johnnie’s in Elmwood Park, I’m faced with a similar conundrum here: Forno Rosso and Spacca Napoli both make excellent pizzas, and if blindfolded, I’m not sure I could tell the difference.
1954 N. Halsted St.; 773-634-4101
Style: Artisan Thin
Got a margherita ($13.95)
Margherita Pizza at Stella Barra in Lincoln Park
With locations in Hollywood, Santa Monica and Bethesda, MD, this Lincoln Park sibling to Summer House Santa Monica is part of the Lettuce Entertain You empire. Chef Jeff Mahin oversees both menus, and has created a pretty lovely lineup of pies that take a more farmer’s market approach. Among the homemade sausage and fresh mozzarella, you’ll also spot fennel pollen, fresh ricotta and peppery arugula, plus an outstanding mushroom pie with truffle oil, but I digress. The star here is the crust, and I can’t overstate its importance enough here. Too many pizza fans rave about places that have substandard crusts I wouldn’t serve at a 6 year-old’s birthday party, mainly due to misguided loyalty, and I’m sure those same fans will berate me for touting a pizza joint in Lincoln Park that has leather couches and hand-crafted cocktails. But if you consider yourself a pizza lover, you have to give this crust a try. It’s everything I want in a chew: salty, slightly textured (is that cornmeal on the bottom?) with an enormous cornicione, revealing air pockets the size of edamame beans, proving this dough gets a lot of rest and time to develop its signature flavor. Even after eating a few pizzas that day, I still managed to eat the entire piece – a compliment to the person who did the baking. Mahin says the dough begins with 100% organic California wheat (red & white) from a farm less than 200 miles away from their California location. The high ash content in the red wheat yields subtle notes of cinnamon. The dough is fermented about 36 hours, half of the time in a bulk ferment, portioned with a unique “jar system” and when near completion, it’s transferred to the fridge. “This lets the dough create its own ecosystem to build a complexity of flavors,” said Mahin.
The middle of the pizza is also impressive, with its sturdiness, despite its width: only a millimeter or two, and yet, able to hold up the fresh mozzarella thats been weighted down overnight to remove excess moisture. His tomato sauce had more intensity than most, as if the kitchen had first reduced it and cooked it down, before adding it to the dough. Mahin says he begins with organic California tomatoes with no citric acid (they’re not preheated before canning); they’re pulsed in-house. “Tomatoes grow sour when overcooked,” he said. “We want sweet and vibrant with a little tang.” That means they’ll cook it with stems of herbs used for other purposes in the kitchen, plus fennel, garlic and peppercorns, strain it through cheesecloth, rest it for three days (squeezing daily) then adding extra virgin olive oil to it on Day 3.
Mahin says he tried coal, wood and started with gas, but moved to electric which provides more consistent heat – the coils heat fast and stay hot. They take about 15 minutes at 540 degrees. My only complaint: not enough cheese. Believe me, I’ve bemoaned the overkill on many pizzas in town, where they rely too heavily on cheese (looking at you, Art of Pizza), but Stella was a little weak with the fresh mozz, and needs to bump it up about 20%. That said, get thyself to the corner of Halsted and Armitage and dive into one of Chicago’s best artisan thin crust pizzas.
2210 N. California Ave.; 773-276-5625
Style: Thin
Got a half sausage-half pepperoni ($21)
(Note: whole pies come in one size – about 20”; there is also a pretty brisk by-the-slice program. Cash only.)
From the fine folks who brought you Simone’s in Pilsen, this recycled DIY aesthetic showing old Twilight Zone episodes behind the bar puts their pizza program front-and-center. As you peer in through the front window, you can see the pizza guys tossing their dough to get ready to make a ton of pies that will eventually be sold by-the-slice. I wasn’t interested in slices (that’s a different Quest) so I opted to go with a whole pie, as usual, half sausage-half pepperoni. There are plenty of other whack-a-doodle options here, including Thai cream cheese sauce, curry, serranos, beet bruschetta – but for this Quest, I had to stick to either basic margheritas or the half-and-half rule. My friend and I literally let out an audible gasp, as our server placed a comically large 20” pizza in front of the two us. Even if we hadn’t been planning to try other pizzas on this day, I would have been bringing plenty home.
First, just look at this beauty: on the pepperoni side, wide circles covering every possible bit of real estate; on the other side, crumbled, beautifully seasoned sausage from Anichini Bros (a spicy-garlic mix) that doesn’t fight with the melted provolone-whole milk mozzarella cheese blend; everything is tucked into a sauce consisting of diced and pureed tomatoes. Beneath it all, a delicate, cornmeal-flecked, high-moisture dough that gets a minimum two to three-day rise, maintaining a crispy edge, unlike, say, Piece, which has a superior oven, but clearly, not a better dough recipe. Each of these giant, hand-tossed pies are placed into a Rotoflex rotating, gas-fired, stone deck oven, set to a constant 600 degrees.
3656 N. Central Ave., 773-736-1429
Style: Tavern
Ate small half sausage-half pepperoni ($13.75)
Sausage + Pepperoni Pizza at Trattoria Porretta in Portage Park
I took a beating on this one, mainly because several people came forward early on, telling me to visit, after they’d seen some of my other recent pizza posts. I’ve tried to avoid visiting restaurants that also happen to make pizza (I’m trying to make this Quest all about pizza places) but Porretta certainly qualifies, as its been slinging pies for decades. At first, it was people like @forzapizza, who initially wanted me to promote his pizza map/website, then slyly recommended I visit Porretta, not telling me until later, it was actually his family’s business. But then others followed, so I figured I would give it a try. The person on the phone told me they are known for their thin. I ordered the usual half and half, but got stuck in traffic and arrived 10 minutes after the pizza had been finished. Does this disqualify it? The pizza was still plenty warm, but three elements caused me to put it into my second tier: 1) The dough was simply sad; no chew, no crunch, no distinctive flavor that would make me want to devour it all. 2) The sauce bordered on too sweet, like something you’d have at a national pizza chain. 3) They don’t even use whole milk mozzarella, but rather, Sorrento brand provolone. Can you see the picture accompanying this summary? It looks – and tastes – like 80% of the tavern-style thins out there. As @knutson2 chimed in on Instagram: “I used to live down the street from there. Made the mistake once. Horrid pizza.”
I did like their sausage, however. Somewhat juicy and buried beneath the oregano-sprinkled cheese, it comes from Joseph’s Finer Meats. But I couldn’t get over #1 – 3 as stated above, and it just didn’t do anything for me. I should have known there would be vitriol to follow. “I’m appalled by this so called reviewers [sic] critique…” began one angry fellow (nevermind that all my post said was “sad crust & sweet sauce can’t be saved by awesome sausage.”) And then the obvious revealed itself: “I am a fourth generation Porretta patron…” he went on to scold. Well, of course you are. There’s no way anyone who had been on this quest would have objectively ranked Porretta in their top 5, or even top 10, but there’s something about longevity (and PIGUE Syndrome) that somehow makes people think restaurants get immunity from criticism. You know what? Geja’s has been around for decades, do you still like going there and leave smelling like burnt oil and chocolate? There are plenty of restaurants that have had loyal customers for generations, and that’s amazing – I’m sincere when I say ‘good for them’ – but that doesn’t mean I’m going to suddenly give them a pass. I didn’t grow up eating this pizza, so I don’t care how invested the regulars are. My only concern is: does it taste amazing? Do the flavors burst? Did they get the ratio right? Is the crust craveable? Would I tell my best friends to drive 45 minutes to eat this? In this case, the answers to all of the above: no.
1245 Chicago Ave., Evanston; 847-475-2400
Style: Artisan Thin
Got a margherita ($15)
Margherita at Union Pizza in Evanston
Not a ton of comments here, but certainly this place is on pizza fans’ radar. One of the most impressive ovens on the Quest, the earthen/clay dome looks like the one the Hobbits prepare their meals in. The pizzas here take just a few minutes, since they come from a wood-burning hearth, but this was one of the most Jekyll and Hyde pizzas I’ve seen: the top looks just beautiful – full of freshly-torn basil and large discs of fresh mozzarella. Underneath, however, is an all-white, underdone crust that doesn’t do the top any favors. An extremely small cornicione indicates a short resting time (or a dough that’s not wet enough before baking), and results in a dense chew. It didn’t take a pizza scholar to analyze the undercarriage and discern it needed at least another minute or two; that just shows whomever was manning the pizza oven that night needs a bit more training with the peel.
8546 W. Lawrence; 708-456-5022
Style: Tavern
Menu offers thin, pan and stuffed, but they said specialty is thin, so got a 14” (medium), half pepperoni-half sausage, for $13
Sausage + Pepperoni Pizza at Villa Napoli in Norridge
Tucked away in an unremarkable Norridge strip mall, next to a liquor store, this no-frills joint has been around since 1984, so I figured there was a good reason a few readers suggested I visit. The vinyl booths and red-and-white-checkered tablecloths are vintage, and I loved seeing pictures of the owner with Frankie Valli and Tony Esposito behind the front counter. The only reason I can guess why people implored me to try this place was nostalgia. The crust – pressed through a machine enough times to render it completely tough – was as hard as cardboard. We loved the homemade sausage, and I would have been happy eating that with some of the greasy mozzarella and homemade tomato sauce and calling it a day. But each square slice brought with it that impossible-to-chew crust, which just made me feel bad for the people who were raving about it, because they clearly have never had pizza with a beautiful texture. A somewhat sheepish Brian Roman sent me a message on Facebook privately a few weeks after my visit, then later wrote this more public post on my page: “I grew up on Villa Napoli pizza, loved it and recommended it for your list. Unfortunately the other night I must sadly agree with your negative assessment of it – especially the poor tasteless crust. I hope they can bring it back as so many people I know love/loved it.”
6821 W. Pershing Rd., Stickney; 708-788-2944
Also locations in Lockport, New Buffalo, MI and Chesterton, IN
Style: Tavern
12”, 14” or 16”; Got a small, half sausage-half pepperoni ($12.55)
Sausage + Pepperoni Pizza at Villa Nova in Stickney
I have no idea if there is a connection between the Universitas Villanovana in Philadelphia and this Stickney legend, which has been specializing in thin, tavern-style pies since 1955. What I do know – after having experienced more than my fair share of slightly underdone pizzas on this Quest, is that you have to order it “well done,” otherwise the bottom dough remains a tad too soggy and underdone (why can’t the kitchens of these places – Pizza Castle, Aurelio’s, Beggars, etc. just bake them long enough so that there doesn’t need to be a special order?) Oh, but that edge! That glorious, crispy, cracker-like edge… it’s a remarkable thing, and results from an overnight rest and then a pass or two through the dough sheeter to get it super thin. It’s topped with beautifully melted part-skim mozzarella and Pecorino Romano, and I’d recommend their fennel-jammed sausage which is formed into tiny meatballs and placed as meticulously as a jeweler around the pie, dusted with oregano. The sauce – like many of the South and Southwest Side joints – leans a bit sweeter and darker (their comes from a full red purée via Stanislas in California), but I don’t think it would turn off a purist from elsewhere. Baked in a 475 degree, rotating oven, this is what Chicago pizza was a half century ago, and remains so, in many pockets of the city today.
(Note: several followers and readers told me I had to specify the doneness of my pie, after I thought it was a tad underdone. I’m not a fan of special orders, since first-timers won’t be armed with this information. The kitchen told me customers order “regular,” “brown,” “crispy,” or “well done” (is this a steakhouse?). I told the owner, Stanley Adamczyk about this insider info. He replied a few days later: “I have ordered retraining on the proper preparation of the pizza center, and lectured my managers on cooking them,” so hopefully this issue will resolve itself for first-timers.)
8433 S. Pulaski Rd.; 773-735-2050
Style: Tavern
Small or large; we had a large half sausage-half pepperoni ($15.65)
Sausage + Pepperoni Pizza at Vito & Nick’s in Ashburn
There’s a reason they’ve been in business since 1932, and it’s not just the nostalgia on the walls. PBR and Old Style are on tap, the vinyl booths are still turquoise and the formica tables have the worn patina of a faded era. Families in Hawks T-shirts, grandparents celebrating birthdays and softball teams have made Vito & Nick’s their go-to pizza joint for generations, and I can see why. The pizza crust is ultra-thin, still bearing the blistered burn marks from the hot spots in the giant Blodgett deck ovens that are kept at a constant 450 – 475 degrees. There is a thin sheath of semolina scattered across the bottom edge to prevent sticking. The harmony (yes, I said harmony) between the mozzarella (from Joliet’s Mancuso), chunky, whole fennel seed sausage made in-house (they go through one to 1.5 tons of pork each week) and the zesty tomato sauce is a pleasure to eat; thankfully they haven’t gotten lazy like so many others who simply pile on the cheese and call it a day. This is pizza with balance, not overkill, and since it’s so thin, you could easily polish off a large with a friend a few PBRs, and still have change left for the jukebox (cash only, no delivery).
Kristine Sherred contributed reporting for this story
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i don't know
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What international jewellery/jewelry corporation is headquartered at 727 5th Avenue, Manhattan, New York City, US?
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Tiffany & Co. - Contact Us
Contact Us
Common Stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange with the symbol TIF .
Stockholder Inquiries
Individual stock records, address changes or dividend payments.
Computershare (which acquired BNY Mellon Shareowner Services)
480 Washington Boulevard
Jersey City, New Jersey 07310-1900
888-778-1307 or 201-680-6578
212-230-5301 or [email protected]
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To access Tiffany investor information by phone, call 1 800 843 0110. Use the following keypad numbers.
1 - Get Tiffany's delayed stock quote information.
2 - Request faxed or mailed copies of printed materials.
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4 - Request for Tiffany's catalogue.
5 - Access Stockholder services.
# - Return to the main menu.
To Order the Latest Annual Report
Call Mark L. Aaron, 212-230-5301, or click here to order online.
To look at most recent earnings and dividend press releases, Tiffany & Co.'s Annual Reports and other financial information, click here .
Questions for the Investor Relations Department can be submitted through the form below. Fields marked with an * are required.
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Tiffany & Co.
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Online auction of a vial of which deceased US president's blood, lost from a lab after a 1981 assassination attempt, was cancelled after family protest in 2012?
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Tiffany & Co Shopping Guide
By Heather Cross
Updated July 01, 2016.
Want to see The Tiffany Diamond in person? Or re-enact a scene from Breakfast at Tiffany's? One of New York City's legendary stores, Tiffany & Co. is located on Fifth Avenue and 57th Street and is a popular destination for New York City visitors. It first opened on October 21, 1940 and has been impressing both shoppers and window gazers ever since.
About Tiffany & Co.
The firm of jewelers that eventually became Tiffany & Co first formed in Manhattan in 1937 by Charles L. Tiffany and John B. Young at 237 Broadway. They added another partner, Jabez Ellis, in 1941 but Tiffany bought out Young and Ellis in 1953 and the name became Tiffany and Company. Over the years the business slowly moved north as the city's wealth did also, until it opened in its present location in 1940.
This world famous store sells high-quality jewelry, china and crystal. While many items might cause sticker-shock, there are also a selection of less expensive items (key chains, money clips, etc.) that make great New York City souvenirs and gifts.
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Beware! The 5 Most Common Travel Scams
Even if you can't afford to make a purchase, you can make like Holly Golightly from Breakfast at Tiffany's and window shop. This is an excellent store for browsing, with so many of the goods in glass displays throughout the store. While many "window shoppers" just look at the displays on the main floor, it's worth it to work your way to the back of the store to ride the elevators upstairs to see some of the additional areas -- they are far less crowded and allow you to really savor the Tiffany's experience.
You will find yourself in good company if you visit this store just to browse, but if you want to purchase, there are lots of salespeople on hand to help you try on your favorite baubles and make an informed decision. Tiffany's has a wonderful
Visitors won't want to miss the chance to see the 128 karat Tiffany Diamond, which is normally displayed on the Main Floor of the Fifth Avenue flagship store. On the Mezzanine level, visitors to the Patek Philippe Salon will see a collection of important and historic watches on display. During the holiday season, the store is decked out both inside and out and well worth a visit.
Tiffany & Co. Details
Address: 727 Fifth Avenue (57th St.)
Subway: N/R/Q to 59th St/5th Ave; E/M to 53rd St/5th Ave; F to 57th St
Phone: 212-755-8000
Hours: Monday-Saturday: 10-7; Sunday: 12-6
Services: Tiffany's offers personal shopping services, as well as in-store diamond consultations. Call 800-518-5555 for more information or to make an appointment.
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i don't know
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Which film originated the obsession/jealousy term 'bunny boiler'?
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'Bunny boiler' - the meaning and origin of this phrase
Bunny boiler
An obsessive and dangerous female, in pursuit of a lover who has spurned her.
Origin
The expression 'bunny boiler' derives from the 1987 film Fatal Attraction, written by James Dearden and Nicholas Meyer. The plot centres around Alex Forrest (Glenn Close) obsessively pursuing her ex-lover Dan Gallagher (Michael Douglas). The phrase comes from the plot device whereby Forrest, in a fit of frenzied jealousy, boils her erstwhile lover's daughter's pet rabbit. Gallagher's suspicions should have become aroused earlier, when Forrest was trying to persuade him to meet her, and she said "Bring the dog, I love animals... I'm a great cook."
At the time that the phrase first came into general use it referred to someone unable to remain rational at the end of a romantic relationship. Very quickly that usage became moderated and it came to be used, often with some degree of irony, in much less extreme situations. Any needy, possessive or even just mildly annoying woman is now liable to be described as a 'bunny boiler'.
One of the more evocative phrases that has established itself in the language in recent years.
The phrase is the modern equivalent of the woman referred to in the expression ' Hell has no fury like a woman scorned ' which, in the competition for 'best-known phrases attributed to Shakespeare that were actually by someone else', runs ' music has charms to soothe the savage breast ' into a close second place. Both these phrases were coined by William Congreve in 1697, in the play The Mourning Bride. For reasons that I'll leave others to explain, it is only women who are thought to become unhinged by being what is now graphically known as 'being dumped'. There's no male equivalent of 'a women scorned' or a 'bunny boiler'.
As 'bunny boiler' is a recent phrase with such a clear source we are able to trace how it has found its way into popular use. It wasn't directly from the film, as the epithet isn't used in the dialogue or in any of the advertising blurb used to promote it. As to who coined it, that's not clear, although it may well have been Glenn Close. The first use of it in print is from an interview Close gave to the US magazine the Ladies' Home Journal, reported in the Dallas Morning News on 6th December 1990:
"There's nothing like portraying a psychopathic bunny-boiler to boost one's self-esteem, Glenn Close tells Ladies' Home Journal."
Popular phrases that have found their way into the language since the emergence of the Internet appear first in online discussion groups, blogs and online newspapers. The earliest large archive of online colloquial messages is that of USENET groups, but 'bunny boiler' isn't found there until 1994, nor does it appear more than once or twice in the archives of US or British newspapers before that date.
The section of the public that most enthusiastically adopted the term into its language was street-wise young adults - not a group that would normally be expected to read the Ladies' Home Journal. The phrase became a commonplace on TV reality shows and soap operas; for example, in an August 2004 piece by Danielle Lawler and Emma Cox about the UK TV show Big Brother, headed Big Brother: Bunny Boiler,we find:
And the love-struck Geordie has already warned her boyfriend Stuart Wilson's army of female fans to stay away. She hissed: "I can be an extremely jealous girlfriend ... and Stu won't even be looking at another girl when he comes out. I can see how people think I'm a bunny boiler."
If the phrase were a commercial product then marketing people would say that it reached its target audience in 1994. It certainly saw a sudden and widespread use from then onwards and became a commonly used phrase. Fatal Attraction was released in 1987 and Close referred to the phrase in 1990. Newly coined terms appear to spread in the community like viruses and, like flu viruses, they float around in the populace until they reach a threshold of infected cases, above which they spread rapidly. It appears that 'bunny boiler' got to that point sometime in 1994.
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Fatal Attraction
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Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was the ruthless dictator of which African nation for 23 years, before its 2011 uprising?
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Fatal Attraction; Other Desert Cities – review | Stage | The Guardian
Fatal Attraction; Other Desert Cities – review
Haymarket; Old Vic, London
Natascha McElhone excels as the classic film thriller's bunny-boiler but the transition to stage is disappointing; the Old Vic offers a more convincing American family drama
Mark Bazeley, Kristin Davis and Natascha McElhone in Fatal Attraction. Photograph: Donald Cooper
Saturday 29 March 2014 20.05 EDT
First published on Saturday 29 March 2014 20.05 EDT
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Fatal Attraction , the 1987 film – a stylish thriller and international hit starring Glenn Close and Michael Douglas – was variously interpreted. Was it the story of a psychically damaged woman who sets out to destroy the married man with whom she had a brief affair? Or was it the story of a man who assumed he could enjoy sex without consequence, who risked family happiness for casual lust? And which of the two was most morally culpable? The horrific ending, in which the wife kills her rival, outraged feminists and was a victory for married America – its improbable message is that the domestic castle is indestructible.
Now the screenwriter, James Dearden, understandably ambivalent about the ending Hollywood ordered, has reworked his script for the theatre with the intention of giving the debate more of the ambiguity it deserves. It is an interesting but not even-handed undertaking, because Alex, the femme fatale, remains unbalanced. She is no longer the movie's murderous sea-monster rising up half drowned from a bath, but edges ever closer to Madam Butterfly – not a healthy role model but her favourite opera.
Trevor Nunn brings a smooth operator's touch to the evening but even his direction cannot meet all the challenges involved in the shift from cinema to stage. The difficulty is that the narrative feels skeletal without the fleshing out of a generously roaming camera. In the film, we are filled in on a loving, middle-class home within the first two minutes: a labrador, a boy watching TV, a warm, shambolic New York apartment. On stage, we start with a minimalist New York bar, outlined in turquoise neon (slick design by Robert Jones) in which the original encounter between Dan and Alex feels forced. This story was always about not knowing when to stop and something of this has got into Dearden's rewrite. Many embellishments are pointless, one or two melodramatic.
Any temptation to cut the famous bunny scene (from which the term "bunny-boiler" originated) has been resisted. And Nunn here goes the whole hog – or rabbit. The audience gasps with pleasure when a real white bunny makes its stage debut but its demise in a large pan, a modern witch's cauldron, seems more farcical than harrowing.
The production's greatest strength is its casting. Natascha McElhone is tremendous as Alex – with a disturbed radiance and looking, in scarlet patent boots and velvet wrap, like a sensational butterfly – her face working hard. When she and Dan first meet, he asks: "Do you always get what you want?" and, like the sun going in, her face chills. She answers: "Most of the time… " She makes sure you see the damage in her, recognise that this femme fatale might prove fatal to herself. Most importantly, she combines power and weakness, shows how her craziness makes sense – her arguments no more easy to dismiss than she is.
Here are some of the things the affair brings to Dan: 1) a ripped shirt, 2) a bloody jowl, 3) a hangover, 4) the unquestioning acquisition of a country house to please his wife and salve his conscience, 5) A baby in the making. Mark Bazeley is elegant and self-possessed but his Dan has to deliver flimsy self-commentaries – not easy. He is his own master of ceremonies. A convincing Kristin Davis has a less demanding role as his wholesome wife, Beth, secure enough in her marriage not to feel any need to be interesting.
It is a tantalising evening which leaves many questions studiedly unanswered. How do we know another person? Is hate based on fear? Why would anyone risk throwing away a happy life – family and career? I am only sorry they did not take a different risk and set the play in London.
Martha Plimpton in Other Desert Cities at the Old Vic, London. Photograph: Johan Persson
Jon Robin Baitz's Other Desert Cities is also set in America – a high-functioning drama about a dysfunctional family, seamlessly directed by Lindsay Posner. It describes family conflict – domestic and political – and involves more polished talk than direct feelings. Brooke (played with a mix of casualness and urgency by Martha Plimpton) has come to Palm Springs for a Californian Christmas with her Republican parents, once Hollywood actors. She does not approve of their politics and imports into their elegant house the family memoir she has written – a time bomb. The play raises questions about emotional copyright: who owns the family story? The Old Vic's reconstituted theatre in the round turns out to be perfect for the vicious family circle.
Peter Egan as Lyman, father and ambassador, is affecting – a man who appears to have chosen never to think about the suicide of his son (reported to have been involved in the fire-bombing of a US army recruitment office). Sinéad Cusack plays the mother, Polly, with languid bigotry – a Jew turned wasp and ready to sting. Clare Higgins is a brilliantly observed, comic Silda, her reluctantly sober alcoholic sister in a garish kaftan. And Daniel Lapaine is excellent as Trip, a surviving son and thwarted peace-maker who offers the wise thought that on your last day alive (this might be one for the characters in Fatal Attraction to ponder): "All that will matter is how you loved."
Star ratings (out of 5)
Fatal Attraction ***
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i don't know
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With what offence was Rebekah Brooks, former editor of The Sun and News of the World newspapers, charged in spring 2012?
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MURDOCH MAFIA GOON COULSON HELD OVER TOMMY SHERIDAN PERJURY INQUIRY
Andy Coulson held in Tommy Sheridan trial perjury inquiry
Prime Minister David Cameron's former director of communications Andy Coulson has been detained by police investigating allegations of perjury.
Mr Coulson, 44, was detained at his home in the Dulwich area of London at 06:30 by seven officers from Strathclyde Police. He has been held on suspicion of committing perjury at the trial of former MSP Tommy Sheridan in 2010. Mr Coulson is being taken to Glasgow, where he will be questioned. A police spokeswoman said: "Officers from Strathclyde Police's Operation Rubicon team detained a 44-year-old man in London this morning under section 14 of the Criminal Procedure Scotland Act 1995 on suspicion of committing perjury before the High Court in Glasgow." Mr Coulson is not under arrest. In Scotland a suspect is detained on suspicion of an offence unlike in England and Wales where a suspect is arrested. Mr Coulson has not been charged.
Mr Coulson gave evidence at the perjury trial of former Scottish Socialist MSP Tommy Sheridan in 2010. Sheridan was awarded �200,000 in damages from the News of the World in 2006 after it printed allegations that he had committed adultery and visited a swingers' club.
Heated exchanges
Tommy Sheridan Tommy Sheridan was released in January from a three-year jail term for perjury After the court action, the former MSP and his wife Gail were charged with perjury. She was acquitted during the subsequent trial but Mr Sheridan was convicted in December 2010. He has since been freed after serving just over a year of a three-year sentence.
Mr Coulson was called to give evidence at Sheridan's trial as he was editor of the News of the World between 2003 and 2007. During heated exchanges with Sheridan, who represented himself at the trial, Mr Coulson denied being involved in, or aware of, any illegal activities, including phone hacking. At the time of his two-day appearance, he was employed as Prime Minister David Cameron's director of communications. Mr Coulson resigned from that post in January 2011, saying coverage of the News of the World phone hacking scandal had "made it difficult to give the 110% needed in this role".
Police dossier
In July 2011, he was arrested by Metropolitan Police investigating the News of the World hacking scandal and later released on bail. The solicitor for Mr Sheridan, Aamer Anwar, said he had taken a dossier of information to Strathclyde Police in July last year and the force had since mounted a robust operation to investigate allegations of perjury during his client's trial. Mr Anwar (now writing for Murdoch's scumbag Sun) said Mr Coulson must be afforded the presumption of innocence.
Tommy Sheridan perjury conviction 'unsafe', claims MP Tom Watson
MURDOCH MAFIA TRIED TO BLACKMAIL SELECT COMMITTEE
Met told to investigate claim that MPs were targeted to gather dirt for intimidation plot that was ordered from outside the newsroom
Detectives carrying out the multimillion-pound investigation into illegal newsgathering techniques at Rupert Murdoch's British newspaper group have been asked to investigate whether it attempted to blackmail politicians. The alleged plot centres on News International's apparent efforts to warn off MPs on a parliamentary committee from disproving its discredited defence that phone hacking was the work of a single "rogue reporter".
According to the former senior News of the World journalist Neville Thurlbeck, News International ordered the Sunday paper's reporters to scour the private lives of MPs on the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee in 2009. At the time, Mr Murdoch's company was mounting what it now admits was a mistakenly "aggressive" response to allegations that the interception of voicemail messages was rife at its headquarters in Wapping, east London. On the advice of the parliamentary authorities, the Labour MP Tom Watson has now asked the Metropolitan Police to investigate the allegation. According to Mr Thurlbeck, reporters were told by those in "deepcarpetland" to obtain evidence of affairs or gay relationships. The aim, he claimed, was to "to find as much embarrassing sleaze on as many members as possible in order to blackmail them into backing off from its highly forensic inquiry into phone hacking". In a letter � a copy of which has been obtained by The Independent � to the Deputy Assistant Commissioner leading the Met's inquiries into News International, Sue Akers, Mr Watson wrote: "If these allegations are found to be true, it suggests there was a conspiracy to blackmail."
Mr Watson, a member of the committee put under surveillance by News International, said: "I have evidence that I was put under covert surveillance in September 2009 by the private investigator Derek Webb, as well as Mazher Mahmood and an accomplice. Mr Thurlbeck may not be aware of this. I would, therefore, urge you to investigate Mr Thurlbeck's claims in order to establish whether any offence was committed." The Met launched an inquiry into alleged computer hacking at The Times earlier this year in response to a letter from Mr Watson. Yesterday the Met said it was unable to comment on the MP's latest request. The Leveson Inquiry � where former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair will appear today � has been investigating the power wielded behind the scenes by News International. While blackmail would be a significant deepening of the criminal inquiries enveloping NI, former News of the World reporters have spoken in the past about their use of "leverage" to secure the co-operation of people about whom the paper had embarrassing information.
Mr Thurlbeck, the former chief reporter, disclosed the alleged operation against MPs in comments to Mr Watson that the MP included in his co-authored book, Dial M for Murdoch. Mr Thurlbeck said that an "edict" had been passed to reporters to "find out every single thing you can about every single [committee] member: who was gay, who had affairs, anything we can use." In the New Statesman this month, he added that the NOTW's journalists had been so concerned about the exercise that they did not carry it out, but went further than he had previously about its intent. He wrote: "At the height of the hacking scandal, News of the World reporters were dispatched round the clock... the objective was to find as much embarrassing sleaze on as many members as possible in order to blackmail them into backing off from its highly forensic inquiry into phone hacking."
In his letter to Ms Akers, dated 9 May, Mr Watson wrote: "I think it is important that I write to make you aware of new information published by Neville Thurlbeck.... The comments concern the blackmail of members of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, and will be of interest to you given Mr Thurlbeck's previous arrests." Mr Thurlbeck, arrested on suspicion of phone hacking, remains on police bail. News International made no comment on Mr Watson's letter.
MURDOCH MAFIA MOLL REBEKAH BROOKS STATEMENT ON BEING CHARGED VIDEO
MURDOCH MAFIA MOLL REBEKAH BROOKS HAS BEEN CHARGED 15 MAY 2012 VIDEO
CPS ON REBEKAH BROOKS CHARGES WITH TWO MORE ARRESTED ON BUNGS VIDEO
MURDOCH MAFIA MOLL BROOKS CHARGED AT LEWISHAM POLICE STATION VIDEO
VILE POLITICAL SYSTEM PROPPED UP BY A VILE MEDIA SYSTEM
Barclay brothers (Daily Telegraph), Jonathan Harmsworth (Daily Mail), Richard Desmond (Daily Express ),
Rupert Murdoch (Ex-News of the World, The Sun and Times) and BBC's Danny Cohen
As we have been exposing for a very long time and well before the Leveson inquiry, the media mafia consisting of wealthy royalist warmongering press barons like the Barclay brothers(Daily Telegraph), Jonathan Harmsworth (Daily Mail), Richard Desmond (Daily Express ) and the godfather Rupert Murdoch (Ex-News of the World and The Sun) all play a major part in promoting the utter scum, dregs and filth of the earth as suitable candidates come election time.
Even the BBC, who we have tried to obtain information via FOI requests , as to the percentage of air time they spend promoting the three main political parties, who have all been implicated in massive fraud and deception.
Despite that the BBC continue to provide the propaganda that ensures NO OTHER party gets airtime on our own personally funded public broadcaster thanks to the total control of the media by the United Grand Lodge of England and the royal parasites main henchman the Duke of Kent. They are all behind the extremely flawed democracy that ensure the total control of every political party the SHEEPLE are forced to vote for come election time and who will NEVER allow any other party an opportunity to break the vile political system as it stands at present.
This was well proven when the Murdoch mafia took down Tommy Sheridan in Scotland, who was leader of the only alternative to the political mafia, the Scottish Socialists. Murdoch's masonic henchmen used every trick in the book to smear Sheridan and his wife and Sheridan ended up in jail thanks to the Scottish judiciary and legal mafia aiding and abetting Murdoch to block any viable alternative to the mobsters running UK politics for their own , the royals and their masonic henchmen's financial elitist money system.
MURDOCH MAFIA'S EX-NOTW MOLL AND THE TORY SCUM POLITICAL MAFIA PALS VIDEO
TAX DODGING HARMSWORTH OWNER OF DAILY RAG AT LEVESON INQUIRY
Tax dodging royalist fascist Harmsworth owner of the Daily Scum at Leveson inquiry demanding no shackles for his vile form of royalist bullshit.
Don't shackle free press, says Mail chairman
Self-regulation protects newspapers from political interference, Lord Rothermere tells the Leveson Inquiry The Press Complaints Commission should not be replaced by a bureaucratic �box-ticking� system of newspaper regulation, the Daily Mail�s proprietor said yesterday. Viscount Rothermere, Chairman of the Daily Mail and General Trust, which owns the Mail and Mail on Sunday, said he �passionately� believes that some form of self-regulation is the best way to protect newspapers from political interference and ensure a genuinely free Press.
He told the Leveson Inquiry that he opposed the idea of legislation to set up a Press equivalent of the Financial Services Authority. He said: �I think that if you take authority and responsibility away from the people that should have that authority and responsibility, if you try to create a body which takes a box-ticking mentality to this issue, then you devolve authority and responsibility, and that�s quite a dangerous place to go. �You could end up in a situation like the FSA, where you have more and more regulation with more and more box-ticking, without people really focusing on the matters which really count.�
Lord Rothermere said editors of his newspapers have complete editorial independence and he would never seek to influence the content of his titles. He said: �Our newspapers have a long tradition of holding politicians, the police, the media, officials and public servants in all walks of life to account in the public interest. The Daily Mail�s campaign for justice for Stephen Lawrence, for which the paper received the Campaign of the Year award, and which contributed to the paper winning Newspaper of the Year, is one example, but there are many others. �We allow our editors to make editorial decisions without reference to commercial considerations.
�I was always brought up to believe that specialists should do their job and that it�s the job of the proprietor to enable them to do that and to protect them. �So I feel that it�s my job to protect the independence of editorial. That�s my position and that�s where I get my authority from.�
'Our newspapers have a long tradition of holding politicians, the police, the media, officials and public servants in all walks of life to account in the public interest'
Viscount Rothermere, Chairman of the Daily Mail and General Trust
HOW ABOUT THE ROYAL PARASITES AND THEIR MASONIC HENCHMEN HARMSWORTH REGULARLY PROVIDES BULLSHIT FOR?
He added: �In order to be an effective newspaper publisher you have to be an outsider. It means it�s sometimes very hard to make friends and keep them, but that is the cost of doing the job properly. �I think my family have always had a tremendous pride in the newspapers that our company produces and in the journalists that produce them. �That is something I care very deeply about and which my predecessors did also.�
Lord Rothermere, formerly a cross-bench peer, recounted a number of social meetings with politicians but said he barely discussed work with them because he preferred to keep business discussions separate from personal matters. �I think it is very important in my role not to exhibit partisan political views. It would put undue pressures on my editors to support a view they think I might have. I don�t want to influence them by inference,� he said.
The never ending royalist bullshit from Harmsworth's Daily Rag
SCANDAL - INSIDE THE MURDOCH MEDIA EMPIRE VIDEO
It has been called "The Murdoch Spring". A modern democracy freed from the grip of a foreign press baron by one astonishing newspaper story. For 30 years Rupert Murdoch has held sway over British Prime Ministers and politicians of all stripes have sought his favour. In Britain he controls 40 percent of the press, and a major television station. In the United States he owns The Wall Street Journal, The New York Post, the Fox television network, the Fox News on cable and the film studio Twentieth Century Fox. But when Britain's Guardian newspaper revealed that Murdoch journalists had hacked the phone of murdered schoolgirl, Milly Dowler, while police and family desperately searched for her, British politics was transformed in an instant. And now Murdoch's dynasty is under threat not from outside competition, but from shocking accounts of bribery, blackmail, and invasion of privacy. Scandal: Inside The Murdoch Empire is the remarkable story of the battle over the future of News Corporation, Rupert Murdoch's reputation and his family's fortunes.
This film reveals how Murdoch used his papers to vanquish those who got in his way. The tabloid term for it is "Monstering". Michael Wolff, who has written the latest authorized biography of Murdoch believes that, "Reward and punishment is how this company works, and that's essentially the business model. And that's what newspapers are for him. They are the means with which you reward and which you punish News International." British Labour MP Tom Watson, who keenly questioned Murdoch at a Parliamentary hearing was himself put under surveillance by a private eye employed by , in what he believes was an effort at intimidation. "I'd say, the people were outside my flat again. There's that funny man on the motorbike. I think I might be followed." Mark Lewis, the lawyer for the Dowler family and over 80 other phone hacking victims, also discovered that he and his family had been put under surveillance by Murdoch's British company. "I've seen the video of my ex-wife and my daughter who was fourteen. I've seen a video that was found in News International's English offices." Politicians, who once genuflected before him, now snap at Murdoch's heels. The Government has been tainted by the scandal. The country's two top police chiefs have had to resign. His top executives have been arrested. On March 13 2012, Rebekah Brooks, the former News of The World and Sun editor, was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, as part of the inquiry into allegations of phone hacking. Brooks was also previously arrested in July of last year on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications. On March 14th, 2012 Neville Thurlbeck, former News of the World chief reporter was also arrested again on suspicion of intimidation of a witness and encouraging or assisting an offence. Both are out on bail.
RT'S SELECTIVE DISMISSAL OF SECRET CABALS USING HAND PICKED COMMENTATORS VIDEO
MEDIA ADVERTS PORTRAY MEN AS WIMPS AND WOMEN AS AGGRESSORS VIDEO
Decide if you want to buy a car from Fiat with this sort of ad?
MURDEROUS EMPIRE OF MURDOCH AND HIS MASONIC HENCHMEN
CRIMINAL MURDERING EMPIRE OF MURDOCH, HIS MASONIC HENCHMEN AND THE UNDERMINING OF DEMOCRACY.
We have continued to state that Tommy Sheridan was deliberately and methodically destroyed by Rupert Murdoch and his freemason henchmen like Jonathan Rees and who was also behind the murder, with an axe through his head, of Daniel Morgan. Why the freemasons and criminal thugs running the London met police have not arrested the Murdoch mafia is beyond belief and the fact Murdoch had most of the corrupt murdering met cops in his pocket.
Tommy Sheridan perjury conviction 'unsafe', claims MP Tom Watson
Tommy Sheridan was released in January from a three-year jail term for perjury
Former MSP Tommy Sheridan was wrongly convicted of committing perjury during his defamation action against the News of the World, a Labour MP has claimed. Tom Watson, a member of the committee probing phone-hacking, said the jury had not been "in full possession of the facts" and the judgment was "unsound". Mr Sheridan was awarded �200,000 in damages after winning his defamation case against the newspaper in 2006.
He was later jailed for three years for committing perjury during that case. The former Scottish Socialist Party leader was released in January this year after serving just over 12 months of his sentence.
Damages award
The 48-year-old has always maintained his innocence and plans to appeal against his conviction. News Group, which owned the now defunct News of the World, has challenged the �200,000 damages award to Mr Sheridan. That action was put on hold during the former MSP's perjury trial. It has since been postponed again pending an investigation by Strathclyde Police into phone hacking and other alleged illegal practices at the News of the World and firms owned by Rupert Murdoch.
I am writing to Alex Salmond recommending that he set up a an inquiry by the Scottish Parliament into how and why MSPs were targeted�
Tom Watson MP Culture Committee
The culture committee, of which Mr Watson is a member, issued its report into the affair on Tuesday. The cross-party group concluded that Rupert Murdoch "is not a fit person to exercise the stewardship of a major international company". The committee was split six to four on its report, with Conservative members refusing to endorse it and branding it "partisan". Speaking after the publication of the report, Mr Watson said matters which had emerged during the committee's investigation had cast doubt on Sheridan's conviction.
Mr Watson said: "Former member of the Scottish Parliament, Tommy Sheridan, lost his liberty on a majority verdict of a jury not in full possession of the facts. "He received a three year prison sentence - I believe the judgement is unsound. "If Rupert Murdoch really is sorry then he will order an urgent review of the information his company provided to the jury in the Sheridan case."
Inquiry call
Mr Watson added: "Now that we know that the former first minister of Scotland (Jack McConnell) was also a target of hacking, I am writing to Alex Salmond recommending that he set up an inquiry by the Scottish Parliament into how and why MSPs were targeted." Reacting to the culture committee's report, Mr Sheridan said it was clear that his perjury conviction was unsafe as it was based on "evidence that was untrue and evidence that was not complete". "News International failed to deliver the information which they were asked to deliver to a court of law in Glasgow," he said.
A jury took a very narrow decision, by eight votes to six, to find me guilty of a crime that I know I'm not guilty of�
Tommy Sheridan
Mr Sheridan claimed he has been briefed regularly by Strathclyde Police on Operation Rubicon, which is investigating allegations of phone hacking, breach of data protection and perjury. He said: "There will be a report in future and there may even be court cases in the future. "I don't want to say too much. What I do want to say is that this report has found the Murdochs unfit to run a fish and chip shop never mind run a big media organisation."
On calls for a Holyrood hacking inquiry, the former MSP said: "About three years ago, I called for the Scottish Parliament to investigate phone hacking of members of the Scottish Parliament because I said three years ago that my phone was hacked. "I said three years ago that a listening device was found in my car. A lot of people said I was off my head and that I was making it up. "They're not saying that now because the truth is beginning to come out."
On his conviction, Mr Sheridan added: "A jury took a very narrow decision, by eight votes to six, to find me guilty of a crime that I know I'm not guilty of. "They were misinformed. They were misled. I think they were deliberately misled. That may be for a jury in the future to decide. The fact is the conviction against me is unsafe."
ITN NEWS APOLOGY FOR OVERDOSING SUBSCRIBERS WITH ROYAL BULLSHIT
SCUMBAG ZIONIST RICHARD DESMOND BEHIND PROMOTION OF ROYAL PARASITES
CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE
Where would the Royal parasites be without their zionist mason lackeys like scumbag Richard Desmond (Express and OK) creating the vast propaganda that the likes of the other EVIL press barons Rupert Murdoch (Ex News of the World and vile Sun) and Jonathan Harmsworth (Daily Mail) produce in never ending royalist bullshit?
The world is waking up from the brainwashing of the masses and how billionaire royal parasites are promoted as if they are some sort of force for good. Elevated to superstar status for being only ONE thing , the descendants of the most ruthless murdering bastards on the face of the earth. Richard Desmond fills every paper stand with his nauseating Royalist propaganda to make us believe these parasites deserve our deference while we remain enslaved to their vile system of law that assures their privilege, vast wealth and with their notorious masonic murdering henchmen, especially in the ranks of the London met who are expert at assassinating anyone who does NOT conform to their evil system of control.
Here are just a few interesting facts about Richard Desmond.
In 2010, Desmond was ranked the equal-57th richest man in Britain according to the Sunday Times Rich List, with a net worth of �950 million. He was once again listed on the 2011 Sunday Times Rich List, with his fortune still at �950 million. He was born in North London into a Jewish family, the youngest of three children.His father, Cyril, was at one time managing director of cinema advertising company Pearl & Dean (who had a complete monopoly of advertising in cinemas).
After buying Express Newspapers, Desmond became embroiled in a feud with Viscount Rothermere (Tax dodger Jonathan Harmsworth)and publisher of the Daily Mail, the rival to the Daily Express, largely derived from stories relating to Rothermere's private life. Northern & Shell also publishes a wide range of magazines including the celebrity weekly OK!, started as a monthly in 1993, which is the largest weekly magazine in the world, with 23 separate editions from the US to Australia to Azerbaijan and with a readership in excess of 31million.
In April 2004, the Daily Express reverted to supporting the Conservatives, after a period backing Labour. On the same day Desmond accused The Daily Telegraph, then considering accepting a takeover by the German Axel Springer group, of giving in to Nazis. Desmond reportedly harangued The Daily Telegraph's chief executive and associates in faux German at a business meeting and imitated Adolf Hitler.
In 2005, The Guardian reported that Desmond became unwittingly caught up in a pornographic telephone and internet scam which allegedly led to him receiving death threats from the New York Gambino mafia family, according to documents released during a court case. Desmond has denied the whole episode.
No headlines for Desmond divorce
COVER UP OF OVER 300 CRIMES COMMITTED BY UK JOURNALISTS
Motorman: Britain�s Biggest Establishment Cover-Up Thousands of Crimes Committed By Over 300 Journalists Protected from Exposure by a Judge and Newspaper Editors
If a police-led investigation uncovered thousands of crimes committed by over 300 suspected serial criminals, you would expect the editors of newspapers to be screaming at their journalists to get to the bottom of the story to splash across the front page. If the accused worked for powerful organisations with deep links to politicians and the bosses of these criminal enterprises had access to politicians at the highest level, even hosting parties for the politicians, it would be a huge scandal. Papers would be all over the story� You would in those circumstances expect the criminal justice system to gear up for trials on a scale not seen in Britain before. Judges would perhaps have to consult their Italian counterparts � who took on the mafia�s tangentopoli in the nineties � for advice. Organised crime on this scale has hitherto been unheard of in Britain.
This isn�t a crime thriller storyline. Operation Motorman uncovered industrial scale criminality and hundreds of suspects names. Currently in Britain the newspapers are neither naming nor shaming because the criminal enterprises are the newspapers themselves, who understandably do not wish to report their own crimes. Their silence is a matter of self-preservation. When the media don�t want to see justice done and politicians don�t want their closeness to what are effectively criminal enterprises exposed, the judges must then be our last hope for the truth, just as they were in Italy in the nineties. In gifting politicians power � in Italy it was money � the newspapers have come to believe that they are protected by the very same politicians from the law. Britain has been governed for decades by an interlocking politico-media elite analogous to Italy�s tangentopoli�
In the wake of the News of the World scandal last year David Cameron appointed Lord Justice Leveson to inquire into the extent of unlawful or improper conduct within News International, other newspaper organisations and, as appropriate, other organisations within the media, and by those responsible for holding personal data. On the surface the terms of reference looked set to catalyse revelations as to what has been going on � the police, politicians and the newspapers � all were to have their relationships, culture and ethics examined.
In the course of the Inquiry Leveson has received prima facie evidence of some thousands of crimes committed by hundreds of journalists. The Operation Motorman files gathered by the Information Commissioner expose a culture of criminality in the day-to-day functioning of the media. The corrupting of police and other offices of the crown was a matter of course not only at the News of the World and other Murdoch titles, it was also the case at the Mail and the Mirror newspaper groups as well. The silence on this issue from these newspapers is because they fear a circular firing squad. Leveson has the evidence required to initiate criminal actions and civil actions by thousands of victims of crimes committed by newspaper journalists. Guido challenged Leveson to his face to publish the evidence, thus allowing the victims of industrial scale illegal invasions of privacy to get justice. Leveson claimed it was difficult nine years on. Guido understands that there have been two applications to Leveson to release the Operation Motorman files. The applications, heard in private, were refused. So in Britain we have a situation where the judge charged with investigating the crimes carried out by the media is covering up their crimes. There is an overwhelming public interest in the victims getting justice.
The Operation Motorman files are huge, the thousands of entries contained in the files are a mere snapshot of the industrial scale criminality carried out by the press. Today Guido is releasing the Blue Book section of the Operation Motorman files covering the 1,028 News International related entries out of a total of some 17,000. These files are known to most newspaper editors and to Guido�s knowledge no action has been taken against the journalists named within, some of whom are now senior journalists. To Guido�s knowledge Guardian journalists have possession of the files covering the Mail and Mirror groups. One wonders why they so far have only been willing to name the names of journalists from the Murdoch press� It seems to Guido that there is no political will to see this through, the press are by and large keen for their own reasons to suppress the truth and the judiciary are actively suppressing the evidence. In those circumstances it is only by bringing the evidence out into the open that justice will be done.
MURDOCH MAFIA'S WAR ON JOURNALISM VIDEO
MASONIC ILLUMINATI MEDIA CONTROL
There is nothing wrong with your computer. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling transmission. If we wish to make it louder, we will bring up the volume. If we wish to make it softer, we will tune it to a whisper. We will control the horizontal. We will control the vertical. We can roll the image, make it flutter. We can change the focus to a soft blur or sharpen it to crystal clarity. For the time being, sit quietly and we will control all that you see and hear. We repeat: there is nothing wrong with your computer. You are about to participate in a great adventure. You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the inner mind to... The Outer Limits.
TAX DODGING HARMSWORTH'S DAILY MAIL MADE 1,728 ILLEGAL SPYING REQUESTS
As we have been exposing for a very long time fascist Jonathan Harmsworth owner of the Daily scumbag is every bit as bad as his partner in crime Rupert Murdoch . Its just that Harmsworth keeps a low profile to avoid his tax dodging in France being exposed and his use of the British media to vent his royalist fascist agenda that runs riot. He is a psychopath who uses his vile rag to vent his hatred against the poor, disabled and vulnerable like some medieval circus show. His rag generates a mass of frivilous tripe promoting the Royal parasites at every opportunity meanwhile generating an equal amount of smearing about the poorest sections of UK society. A SCUMBAG OF THE WORSE ORDER.
Tax dodging Harmsworth's Daily Mail made 1,728 potentially illegal requests to private detective
Journalists at the tabloid spent about �143,000 on requests to Steve Whittamore for information between 2000 and 2003 The Daily Mail spent an estimated �143,000 asking a private eye to make 1,728 potentially illegal requests to unearth phone numbers and addresses of public figures over a three-year period, including personal details of the Duchess of Cambridge and her sister Pippa Middleton. Journalists at the newspaper asked for private information on average more than once a day, and occasionally asked for individual criminal record checks. Its reporters demanded roughly twice as many searches as was previously thought, according to research by ITV News.
The tabloid demanded the private information between 2000 and 2003 from Steve Whittamore � whose targets for a range of newspapers included the union leader Bob Crow, the family of the murder victim Holly Wells, members of the England football team and the singer Charlotte Church. The Daily Mail made the most requests, with its sister title the Mail on Sunday spending an estimated �62,000 on 578 requests for information. The Sunday title's figure was also roughly double the number of requests counted by the information commissioner in a 2006 report. It had previously been thought that the Daily Mail made 982 such requests, according to the information commissioner, but ITV News's examination of Whittamore's notebooks, which were seized when he was arrested in 2003, suggests that the figures were undercounted.
Journalists from the Mail obtained the BT friends and family numbers of people of interest 90 times, at an average cost of about �336. Reporters obtained 1,285 ex-directory numbers at a cost of �65 a time. There were 20 requests to establish a person's address from their vehicle registration at an average cost of �150. On three occasions, Whittamore's JJ Services was asked for an individual's criminal records to be checked against the police national computer, each at a cost of �500. The Observer, owned by Guardian Media Group, publishers of the Guardian, made 201 requests for information from Whittamore at a cost of �13,270 between 2000 and 2003. This was about double the 103 previously counted by the information commissioner, and the new data says the Sunday paper made 182 requests for ex-directory numbers, asked for 18 mobile and landline numbers to be linked to people's addresses or other personal details and requested one "blag".
Obtaining such personal information is a breach of section 55 of the Data Protection Act, although there is a public interest defence. If anybody working in the public sector was paid money to supply information illegally, it could amount to an offence under the more serious 1906 Prevention of Corruption Act, for which there is no public interest defence. Whittamore himself pleaded guilty to breaches of the Data Protection Act in 2005 and received a two-year conditional discharge. Paul Dacre, the Daily Mail's editor in chief, was questioned about his title's use of Whittamore at the Leveson inquiry in February, and in particular about requests to supply a person's friends and family numbers to the newspaper. Dacre said that information obtained from Whittamore "could all be obtained legally, but it would take time. This was a quick and easy way to get that information". On Wednesday, the publisher of the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday, Associated Newspapers, said the allegations were familiar from reports published by the information commissioner in 2006 in the wake of the Whittamore case � known as Operation Motorman.
In a statement, the publisher said: "Although the commissioner did not disclose details of the information obtained, it would seem, for the most part, it related to the tracing of individuals' addresses and phone numbers. "The report recognised that many of these cases would have been covered by public interest defences. Indeed it is good practice that matters concerning individuals in the news should be put to them before publication to ensure accuracy and give the opportunity to offer comment. To do this it is vital to trace addresses and telephone numbers which in the main could be obtained through legal means." Church said she had been shown a copy of the information Whittamore had collected on her. She said: "It was basically just kind of DVLA records, so registration numbers and house numbers and mobile numbers and criminal records if applicable. It was about literally everybody I had ever known. Anybody I had ever come into contact with. That's what took us by surprise about it. Lots of my parents' friends � some of my mum's old work colleagues � a phenomenal amount of information."
The Daily Mirror was Whittamore's second biggest customer, using the private eye 984 times between 2000 and 2003 � about 300 occasions more than previously counted by the information commissioner � and spending about �92,000. The bulk of the information sought was ex-directory numbers, but its journalists asked for number plates to be traced to individuals on 79 occasions and for criminal record checks 19 times. Its Sunday sister title, the Sunday People, was also a heavy user of Whittamore, spending an estimated �76,295 on 1,016 requests. Overall, titles owned by Trinity Mirror, publisher of the Daily Mirror, spent �200,623, while Associated Newspapers spent �234,773, a figure that also includes the Evening Standard, which the publisher owned at the time. Trinity Mirror said the detail "was the subject of a police investigation in 2003 when no action was taken against any journalist". It added: "We took our lead from the ICO [information commissioner's office] and did what was asked of us by reaffirming to our national newspaper editors that the company's policy was to comply with the criminal law and the PCC code." News International was not a heavy user of Whittamore between 2000 and 2003, with the News of the World the biggest-spending title in the Murdoch group, spending �23,306 on 240 requests for information, according to ITV News.
A spokesperson for the Observer said Whittamore's papers were described by the ICO as "deeply obscure" and that, as a result, it was "difficult to determine exactly what he was doing. As such, the Observer has always said that it is not possible to be absolutely certain that everything he did for the paper would have met a strict definition of 'the public interest'. Therefore, since the publication of the ICO's report in 2006, we have strengthened the process by which the use of private investigators is approved. In fact, none have been approved since then." Dr Evan Harris of the Hacked Off campaign group said that subjects of press intrusion should have been informed that they were targeted by journalists via Whittamore. He said "there been a sophisticated but flagrant cover-up of the extent and knowledge of this by several newspaper groups" and that there had been "no proper investigation by the authorities of the role of elements of the press in driving this industrial scale theft of private information".
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conspiracy to pervert course of justice
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Who was the last English monarch of the Tudor dynasty?
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Scandal: Inside the Murdoch Empire - Doc Zone
Scandal: Inside the Murdoch Empire
Thursday, August 16, 2012 at 9 PM on CBC-TV
Episode only available within Canada. Video help?
UPDATE:
On March 14th, 2012 Neville Thurlbeck, former News Of The World chief reporter was also arrested again on suspicion of intimidation of a witness and encouraging or assisting an offence. Both are out on bail. And as of April 3 in a major development, James Murdoch, long presumed to be Rupert Murdoch's corporate heir apparent, stepped down as chairman of British Sky Broadcasting. And on May 1, 2012 a British parliamentary committee called Rupert Murdoch "unfit" to run his global media empire. On May 15, 2012 Former News of the World editor, Rebekah Brooks was charged over alleged attempts to conceal evidence of phone hacking. Read updates about this story on CBC News.
It has been called "The Murdoch Spring". A modern democracy freed from the grip of a foreign press baron by one astonishing newspaper story. For 30 years Rupert Murdoch has held sway over British Prime Ministers and politicians of all stripes have sought his favour. In Britain he controls 40 percent of the press, and a major television station. In the United States he owns The Wall Street Journal, The New York Post, the Fox television network, the Fox News on cable and the film studio Twentieth Century Fox. But when Britain's Guardian newspaper revealed that Murdoch journalists had hacked the phone of murdered schoolgirl, Milly Dowler, while police and family desperately searched for her, British politics was transformed in an instant.
And now Murdoch's dynasty is under threat not from outside competition, but from shocking accounts of bribery, blackmail, and invasion of privacy. Scandal: Inside The Murdoch Empire is the remarkable story of the battle over the future of News Corporation, Rupert Murdoch's reputation and his family's fortunes.
This film reveals how Murdoch used his papers to vanquish those who got in his way. The tabloid term for it is "Monstering". Michael Wolff, who has written the latest authorized biography of Murdoch believes that, "Reward and punishment is how this company works, and that's essentially the business model. And that's what newspapers are for him. They are the means with which you reward and which you punish." British Labour MP Tom Watson, who keenly questioned Murdoch at a Parliamentary hearing was himself put under surveillance by a private eye employed by News International, in what he believes was an effort at intimidation. "I'd say, the people were outside my flat again. There's that funny man on the motorbike. I think I might be followed." Mark Lewis, the lawyer for the Dowler family and over 80 other phone hacking victims, also discovered that he and his family had been put under surveillance by Murdoch's British company. "I've seen the video of my ex-wife and my daughter who was fourteen. I've seen a video that was found in News International's English offices."
Politicians, who once genuflected before him, now snap at Murdoch's heels. The Government has been tainted by the scandal. The country's two top police chiefs have had to resign. His top executives have been arrested. On March 13 2012, Rebekah Brooks, the former News of The World and Sun editor, was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, as part of the inquiry into allegations of phone hacking. Brooks was also previously arrested in July of last year on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications. On March 14th, 2012 Neville Thurlbeck, former News Of The World chief reporter was also arrested again on suspicion of intimidation of a witness and encouraging or assisting an offence. Both are out on bail.
Scandal: Inside The Murdoch Empire was directed, written and produced by the CBC'S award-winning journalist, Neil Docherty and is a co-production with WGBH/PBS Frontline and Cam Bay Productions.
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i don't know
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In chemistry, a 'homogeneous mixture composed of only one phase' (basically a mixed yet uniform substance) is called a?
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Substances and Mixtures
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Substances and Mixtures
Substances are composed of pure elements or chemically bonded elements, whereas mixtures are composed of non-bonded substances.
Learning Objective
Distinguish chemical substances from mixtures
Key Points
Matter can be broken down into two categories: pure substances and mixtures . Pure substances are further broken down into elements and compounds . Mixtures are physically combined structures that can be separated into their original components.
A chemical substance is composed of one type of atom or molecule .
A mixture is composed of different types of atoms or molecules that are not chemically bonded.
A heterogeneous mixture is a mixture of two or more chemical substances where the various components can be visually distinguished.
A homogeneous mixture is a type of mixture in which the composition is uniform and every part of the solution has the same properties.
Various separation techniques exist in order to separate matter, including include distillation, filtration, evaporation and chromatography. Matter can be in the same phase or in two different phases for this separation to take place.
Terms
Full Text
Chemical Substances
In chemistry , a chemical substance is a form of matter that has constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. It cannot be separated into components without breaking chemical bonds . Chemical substances can be solids , liquids , gases, or plasma . Changes in temperature or pressure can cause substances to shift between the different phases of matter.
An element is a chemical substance that is made up of a particular kind of atom and hence cannot be broken down or transformed by a chemical reaction into a different element. All atoms of an element have the same number of protons , though they may have different numbers of neutrons and electrons .
A pure chemical compound is a chemical substance that is composed of a particular set of molecules or ions that are chemically bonded. Two or more elements combined into one substance through a chemical reaction, such as water, form a chemical compound. All compounds are substances, but not all substances are compounds. A chemical compound can be either atoms bonded together in molecules or crystals in which atoms, molecules or ions form a crystalline lattice . Compounds made primarily of carbon and hydrogen atoms are called organic compounds, and all others are called inorganic compounds. Compounds containing bonds between carbon and a metal are called organometallic compounds.
Chemical substances are often called 'pure' to set them apart from mixtures. A common example of a chemical substance is pure water; it always has the same properties and the same ratio of hydrogen to oxygen whether it is isolated from a river or made in a laboratory. Other chemical substances commonly encountered in pure form are diamond (carbon), gold, table salt (sodium chloride), and refined sugar (sucrose). Simple or seemingly pure substances found in nature can in fact be mixtures of chemical substances. For example, tap water may contain small amounts of dissolved sodium chloride and compounds containing iron, calcium, and many other chemical substances. Pure distilled water is a substance, but seawater, since it contains ions and complex molecules, is a mixture.
Chemical Mixtures
A mixture is a material system made up of two or more different substances, which are mixed but not combined chemically. A mixture refers to the physical combination of two or more substances in which the identities of the individual substances are retained. Mixtures take the form of alloys , solutions, suspensions, and colloids .
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Solution
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What country first legislated for plain packaging of tobacco products?
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Nature & Classification of Matter< chemistry< high school< ICSE CBSE< mentorials.com
Created: 19 Jan, 2010; Last Modified: 14 Oct, 2016
Matter - 01
Nature of Matter
Anything that we see around us is made up of matter. Matter is anything which has mass and occupies space.
Properties
A property is any characteristic of matter which can be detected or measured, and can be used to identify or describe the matter. Properties can be of two types – physical properties and chemical properties.
A substance is matter which can be identified by a fixed set of properties.
A physical property of matter can be determined without carrying out any chemical reaction on it. Thus, for example, properties like colour of gold or the boiling point of water are physical properties.
A chemical property of matter is determined only when the matter reacts with another kind of matter and converts to a third kind. Thus, a new shiny iron nail reacts with oxygen in air over time to form a layer of brown rust covering the nail. This reaction of iron with oxygen is one of its chemical properties.
Properties can also be classified as being qualitative or quantitative. Qualitative properties are those which can only be described and cannot be measured and expressed numerically, such as the colour of gold. Quantitative properties can be measured and expressed numerically, such as the boiling point of water, which is 100° C .
Yet another classification of properties is into extensive properties and intensive properties. Extensive properties depend on the amount of matter present, such as the mass or the volume of a sample. Intensive properties do not depend upon the amount of matter, such as density and freezing point. Incidentally, all chemical properties are intensive properties.
Each substance has its own unique set of properties which differentiate it from other substances.
Particles
All matter is made up of very small particles, so small that they cannot be seen with the naked eye. These particles are separated from each other by emptiness. A lot of the properties of matter becomes clear by understanding how these particles behave.
Today we refer to these particles as atoms and molecules. Atoms are the smallest particles of interest to chemistry, while molecules are collection of atoms which behave as a single unit. For some kinds of matter, atoms are the smallest units, while for others, molecules are.
Classification of Matter
Two major categories of classification of matter are physical classification and chemical classification. Fig.
depicts the classification of matter into the two major categories, and the sub-classifications therein.
Fig 1: Classification of Matter
Physical Classification
This classification divides matter into three categories – solids, liquids, and gases – known as the three states (or phases) of matter. (Fig.
)
States of Matter
Solid
Fig 2: A conceptual view of particles of crystalline common salt (sodium chloride). The lines between the particles are drawn to illustrate the structure—they do not exist in reality.
Solids are matter having fixed shape, fixed volume and are almost impossible to compress. Of course, solids can be crushed into powder form (in which case the fixed shape is destroyed), but in essence the powder still remains a solid.
Solids are composed of particles which are very near to each other because of mutual forces of attraction, and thus in some kind of order. The particles' movement is limited to vibrating in the positions they are in. If energy is added to the solid in the form of heat, the particles become more energetic in their vibrations.
Amorphous solids have no such small units and hence their internal structure is shapeless.
Common salt (sodium chloride) is crystalline with cubic crystals (Fig.
). Glass, on the other hand, is an amorphous solid as it has no such internal structure with definite shape.
Liquid
Liquids are matter having a fixed volume but no fixed shape – they take the shape of the container. Liquids are very difficult to compress.
Liquids are composed of higher energy particles which overcome their mutual forces of attraction and move independently. This is the reason why liquids do not have a fixed shape. The particles move in straight lines until they collide with other particles and rebound. Since the particles are a little more spread apart when compared to solids, liquids can be compressed a little.
For a liquid in a container, its top free surface consists of moving particles which are attracted by the particles below, and do not have energy enough to overcome the attraction. As a result, they remain within the boundary of the top surface and cannot escape, giving the liquid the fixed volume.
Gas
Gases are matter having neither a fixed shape nor a fixed volume. They are very easy to compress.
Gases consist of high energy particles which are so far from each other that the forces of attraction between them become negligible. The particles can spread out to occupy whatever space is available. Thus, gases have neither fixed shape nor fixed volume.
Change of State
Fig 3: Change of State
Matter can undergo changes between these three physical states through changes in physical properties, but without involving any change in chemical properties. Such changes are called physical changes. Energy is either absorbed or released during a physical change.
The change of state from solid to liquid is called melting or fusion, while the reverse process is called freezing or solidification.
The melting point is the temperature at which a substance changes from solid to liquid. Conversely, freezing point is the temperature at which a substance changes from a liquid to solid. These two temperatures are essentially the same – which one is used depends upon whether the substance is being heated or being cooled.
The change of state from liquid to gas is called vaporisation or boiling, while the reverse process is called condensation. The boiling point is the temperature at which a substance changes from liquid to gas. Conversely, condensing point is the temperature at which a substance changes from a gas to liquid.
When liquids gradually turn into gases at temperatures less than their boiling point, the process is called evaporation.
Some substances, like iodine and solid carbon dioxide, can go directly from solid to gaseous state without melting – this is known as sublimation. The reverse process of sublimation is called deposition.
Chemical Classification
A chemical change involves a chemical reaction resulting in change in chemical properties of the substance.
In any chemical change, (1) one or more substances are used up (at least partially), (2) one or more new substances are formed, and (3) energy is absorbed or released. The chemical properties of substances are revealed as they undergo chemical changes.
The chemical classification scheme broadly divides matter into two categories – pure substances and mixtures.
Pure Substances
A pure substance (or simply substance) is matter which can be identified by a fixed set of properties, which distinguishes it from other substances. A substance cannot be further broken down into simpler substances by physical means (i.e. through physical changes), although some substances can be broken down through chemical means (through chemical changes).
A sample of pure water has a fixed freezing point of 273 K (0° C ), a boiling point of 373 K (100° C ) and a density of 1000 kg / m 3, irrespective of where the sample is derived from. Such properties identify water as a unique substance, with no other substance matching these characteristics.
Elements
sodium (natrium)
Na
An element is a pure substance which cannot be further split up by chemical reactions into simpler substances. They are the fundamental substances of which all matter is composed. The smallest particle of an element of importance to chemistry is the atom.
There are 115 known elements presently, out of which only 91 occur naturally. The remaining elements have been produced artificially by nuclear scientists in the laboratory using particle accelerators.
To simplify the representation of elements in chemical reactions, they are represented by symbols. Basically, the symbol of an element refers to one atom of the element. Some symbols are derived from the latin name of the particular elements. The names and symbols of some common elements are listed in Table
.
Elements may be solids, liquids or gases. At room temperatures, only mercury, bromine and francium are liquids. Hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, fluorine, chlorine and the noble gases (helium, neon, argon, xenon, krypton and radon) are gases. The rest of the elements are solids. The Periodic Table is a chart of elements presenting details about all of them.
Elements are further classified as metals, non-metals & metalloids. About 80% of elements are metals.
Metals are elements which have “metallic” lustres, are malleableA malleable substance can be hammered into thin sheets. and ductileA ductile substance can be drawn out as thin wires. , are of high relative density, and are good conductors of heat and electricity. All metals are solid except mercury, which is the only liquid metal at room temperature.
Non-metals do not possess any of the properties of metals. They do not have a lustre, are not malleable or ductile, and do not have high relative density. Non-metals are solids or gases except bromine, which is the only non-metal which is liquid at room temperature.
Metalloids (or semi-metals) are those elements which exhibit both the properties of metals and non-metals to some extent, such as boron and silicon.
Compounds
A compound is a pure substance which is formed by chemical combination of two or more elements in a fixed ratio by mass. Compounds are the substances which can be decomposed by chemical methods into their constituent elements.
The smallest unit of a compound, known as a molecule, or a formula unit, is composed of atoms of the constituent elements. A compound is represented by a chemical formula which indicates one molecule (formula unit) of the compound containing atoms of its elements.
The number of possible compounds is almost infinite. A chemical compound always contains the same elements chemically combined together in a fixed proportion by weight. A compound has properties which are very much different from its constituent elements.
Those compounds which are composed of carbon and hydrogen, along with other elements, are called organic compounds, as these compounds form the basis of all life on earth. All other compounds are categorised under the name of inorganic compounds.
(a) Water, chemically known as hydrogen monoxide, is a compound which contains hydrogen and oxygen combined in the ratio of 1:8 by weight. Its chemical formula is H2O. It is a liquid which cannot catch fire, though it is made up of hydrogen, a gas which is combustible, and oxygen, another gas which supports combustion. Thus, the properties of water are very much different from its constituent elements. Water can be decomposed into hydrogen and oxygen by the passage of electric current through it.
(b) Common salt, or sodium chloride, is a compound of sodium, a soft silvery highly reactive metal, and chlorine, a greenish poisonous gas. But common salt is non-poisonous and essential part of our diet.
Mixtures
A mixture is a sample of matter containing two or more pure substances physically mixed together, without any chemical interaction, in any ratio by weight.
Since the mixture is formed by physical combination of substances, the substances making up the mixture do not lose their individual properties. Also, as the components of the mixture can be present in any ratio by weight, it is possible to have mixtures in varying concentrations.
Mixtures are categorised into homogeneous and heterogeneous mixtures.
A homogeneous mixture (or a uniform mixture) is one in which the composition is the same throughout. A homogeneous mixture is also called a solution, and consists of a substance designated as a solventA solvent is a substance, usually a liquid, having the power of dissolving other substances in it. (the substance present in largest amount) and other substances (one or more) as solutesA solute is a substance that is dissolved in a solvent to form a solution. . Generally, a solvent is a liquid, while solutes can be solid, liquid or gaseous.
A solution with water as the solvent is termed an aqueous solution.
An alloy is a solution of two or more metals, and generally stands for a solid solution of the metals. An alloy of mercury with a metal is called an amalgam.
Liquids that mix together completely are called miscible liquids. The final solution looks like a single liquid. In contrast, liquids which do not mix completely and tend to settle down as different layers are said to be immiscible.
Soda water is an example of a homogeneous mixture or solution, in which water (a liquid) is the solvent and carbon dioxide (a gas) is the solute. Brass is another example (a solid solution) in which copper is the solvent and zinc the solute.
A heterogeneous mixture (or a non-uniform mixture) is one in which the composition varies throughout.
A rock can be classified as a heterogeneous mixture. It generally consists of a number of mineral components distributed non-uniformly.
In any mixture, (a) the composition can be varied and (b) each component of the mixture retains its own properties. Mixtures can be separated into component substances by physical means because each component retains its properties.
Table 2: Examples of different types of mixtures.
Type of Mixture
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i don't know
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What economically challenged country's King (Juan Carlos) attracted criticism at home for his 2012 African elephant-hunting Safari holiday?
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The Nation July 22, 2012 by The Nation - issuu
issuu
No Sovereign National Conference, Senate insists –PAGE 2
•Mark
Nigeria’s widest circulating newspaper
Vol.06, No. 2191
TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM
SUNDAY
Impeachment threat: PDP begs Tambuwal –Page 2
My hands are tied –Speaker
Why Reps are angry
•Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun (in white shirt ) and his wife, Mrs. Olufunso Amosun (3rd on the queue), among other adults, waiting to be accredited at the African Church Primary School, Ita-Iyalode Ward 11, Unit 12 in Abeokuta North Local Government, during yesterday’s local council polls in Ogun State. Photo: NAN
Robbers bomb bank, police station in Kogi
Police kill Lagos community leader
• One killed –PAGE 4
My affair in BBA –Goldie –PAGE 55
INSIDE Politics Kebbi Power Struggle —Pg 19
NEWS
THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 22, 2012
Opinion Edo polls without Abuja ‘ oxygen’ —Pg 17
Miscellany
Giving sex workers new skills —Pg 65 Entertainment
Impeachment threat: PDP begs Tambuwal • My hands are tied by House resolution, says Speaker T • Why House of Reps is angry
HE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday stepped into the stand-off between President Goodluck Jonathan and the House of Representatives over the alleged poor implementation of this year’s budget. The party, like the President, sued for truce. The House, at its last meeting on Thursday, gave the executive up till September to expedite action on the execution of the budget failing which it threatened to commence impeachment process against the President. Moments after the session, President Jonathan personally called Speaker Aminu Tambuwwal for a peace meeting at the Presidential Villa on Friday night. This was followed yesterday by the National Chairman of the party, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur who had a lengthy discussion with the Speaker on the matter. It was gathered that the
From: Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation
Speaker said his hands are tied by the Thursday resolution of the House. An authoritative source in PDP said Alhaji Tukur had a down-to-heart discussion with Tambuwal on the telephone on why the House should rescind its ultimatum to the executive to execute the budget 100 per cent by September. The source said the party decided to intervene because the ultimatum suggested a breakdown in communication between the House and the presidency. It was also gathered that the party is of the view that 100 per cent compliance with budget execution is unrealistic within two months. The source said: “The National Chairman pleaded
with the Speaker to prevail on his principal officers to rescind the ultimatum and allow room for dialogue with the President to resolve all outstanding issues. “The PDP chairman expressed concern that the polity is being heated up by the budget row and a wrong signal is being sent to foreign investors. “Tukur assured him that the party will intervene in such a manner that the Executive and the House will return to the old order of a smooth working relationship.” On the response of the Speaker, the PDP source added: “Tambuwal explained that his hands are tied because a resolution has been passed by the House and it will require another resolution to rescind the ultimatum. “I think in future, we
should avoid a situation whereby issues will degenerate to a resolution level on the floor of the House. This is how you can assist me too as a loyal party man. “We will look into issues you have raised but I cannot say whether the House will be disposed to reversing itself or not. I am in a difficult situation too because members may stick to their resolution. “He said the House was not out to either embarrass or make governance difficult for the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan.” The PDP source quoted the Speaker as saying: “The President put in place a transformation agenda and whatever we are doing is to help the transformation agenda. It is in line with the agenda that the 2012 budget must be implemented to the
D’banj moves up with Oyato —Pg 49
Life Five minutes in hell
•Mr Olu Jacobs (L) , popular Nigerian actor at the opening of the Nigeria House at Stratford, Olympic site on Friday in London. Photo: NAN
No sovereign conference, Senate insists
T
—Pg 24
The Arts In my father’s shoes —Pg 63
HE Senate yesterday insisted there can be no convocation of a sovereign national conference (SNC) in the country. It however, said it will welcome the views of the proponents of such SNC in amending the 1999 constitution. This is one of the major resolutions of the Senate Committee on Constitution amendment as it wrapped up its retreat in Asaba, Delta State capital. No formal communiqué was issued but the Senate Leader, Mr. Victor NdomaEgba, read a summary of the issues discussed at the re-
From: Onyedi Ojiabor, Assistant Editor
treat. The decision to shelve a communiqué, he said, was to avoid a situation where it could be misconstrued as the position of the Senate on certain issues. He said: “The committee reiterates the fact that there can be no other sovereignty that can be derived from the Constitution. “While the Senate recognises the right of Nigerians to hold opinions and to freely associate, it will therefore encourage Nigerians to
discuss the future of our dear country. The insistence in certain quarters for Sovereign National Conference is untenable as there can only be one sovereignty.” Ndoma-Egba listed the key issues to be tackled by the Constitution Review Committee to include one term of five years for the President/Vice President, Governors/Deputy Governors; devolution of powers for true federalism; indigene ship and Section 42 of the Constitution; financial autonomy for State Houses of Assembly to strengthen them; and creation of one state for the South East
zone for equity and fairness. Others are: state police; immunity clause for some elected officers; and judicial reform. He said the committee resolved to engage stakeholders, governors, State Houses of Assembly, civil society, the Nigerian Bar Association and the media to deepen the amendment process. Besides, the committee plans to generate sufficient national dialogue around the identified issues and other issues of interest to Nigerians to build a national consensus.
letter.” The Speaker took time to explain how the House worked with the Senate to ensure speedy passage of the budget ‘as presented’ by the President. He however gave an insight into why Reps are angry with the Executive, citing alleged disregard for resolutions of the House. The source said the Speaker noted that the Executive had not been working on the same page with the House on many issues. The source added: “Tambuwal pledged to convey the position of the party to the House leadership and work for harmonious working terms with the President.” On the specific action likely to be taken by the House, the source said: “The response was neither here nor there because of the anger of members. But the party will not relent in its intervention. “I think the PDP leadership may still reach out to some principal officers to concretize its mediatory role.” A principal officer of the House, who spoke in confidence, said: “We have heard that the PDP leadership tried to intervene in the budget row but the reality is that the Speaker will need to restore the confidence of members before this face-off can be resolved. “Members are not happy that the Executive is contemptuous of the House. The recall of the DG of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Ms. Arunma Oteh, on the eve of the presentation of the report of the Ad Hoc Committee on Capital Market was an insult. “To resolve this matter, the House wants commitment from the President that the Executive will always respect its resolutions; there will be improvement in the implementation of the budget; and the Executive will respect the independence of the Legislature instead of undermining it.” After harmonization, the Senate and the House of Representatives had on March 15 passed a budget of N4.88 trillion with a benchmark of $72 per barrel. The vote was increased from N4.65 trillion proposed by the Federal Government. The President however assented to a N4.7trillion budget on April 13. But the House of Representatives on Thursday expressed displeasure that only 30 per cent of the budget had been implemented. The chamber also gave the President till September to ensure effective implementation of the budget or face impeachment.
Column
THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012
The feast of the goat O RDINARILY, the feast of a goat is a great event, a culinary extravaganza. On the other hand, in dark and dangerous places, the endgame for a goat is not for the squeamish. It is a messy and dripping affair, full of blood and gore; brimming with the thunderous fury of the multitude. Yet at another level, it can be argued that this is just why the feast of a goat is such a great historical event. It is a practical demonstration of people’s power in progress. Just as you cannot have omelette without breaking eggs, you can also not have goat’s head pepper soup without breaking a goat’s head. Readers can now see how even the writer himself can get entangled in the endless fictive possibilities and permutations of an Alice-inthe- wonderland community. Nothing is what it seems. Everything is what it is not. Illusion is reality and reality is an illusion. In such circumstances, it is not the business of the writer to enter into any contest with competing sets of reality but to forcefully align himself with the truly untrue. Literature sometimes illuminates and sometimes undermines life itself. There are times when fiction itself is a poor copy for actual reality, when the fictitious nation trumps national fiction. In a preface to the outstanding novel titled, A Man Without Qualities, Robert Musil famously explained that his novel “will not attempt to enter into any competition with reality”. But there are also times when it is the turn of life itself to complicate things for literature. What, then, does Malam Mohammed Haruna have in common with Senor Mario Vargas Llosa? One is a notable Nigerian journalist, prolific commentator and publisher of the now defunct Citizen magazine. The other is a Nobel Literature laureate, a prizewinning iconic Latin American novelist and sometimes Peruvian presidential candidate. Mario Llosa is also the author of the hugely enthralling novel, The Feast of The Goat which chronicles ,from different and often mutually contradictory perspectives, the very last day of Rafael Trujillo, the assassinated Dominican despot. Known as “the goat” because of his stubborn disposition and LL seems to be quiet now on the Ologbosere front. The great Edo gubernatorial sweepstakes have been won and lost. A new kid stands on the old power blocs. These are troublesome times for troublous political geriatrics in the land of the great and noble Overamwe Nogbaisi. Mum has been the word from the old fixer and master of digitalized rigging since the Adams Tsunami swept through the entire length and breadth of the old Benin Empire uprooting old umpires and cutting to size ancient political dynasties founded on electoral fraud. Snooper is reliably informed that ever since Oshiomhole pulverized his political casino, the old master puppeteer of Uromi has been staring at the ceiling like a petrified mouse and mumbling some disjointed nonsense in an ancient Ishan dialect. He has so far refused all entreaties to eat. Not even his favourite delicacy of pounded yam and porcupine washed down with big Stout appeals to him any more. Whenever he is asked by one of his yet to decamp domestic details whether he wants any-
A
Tatalo Alamu
•Goat
wild sexual proclivities, Trujillo locked down his island nation in a vice-grip of cruel authoritarian rule for over three decades after the departure of the Americans who had trained him as a marine officer. But one sultry afternoon, the goat itself became national meat in a feast of vengeance. Even then, on his very last day on earth, Trujillo was praying to God to grant him maximum staying power and velocity in a prospective sexual tryst later that evening with a teenage girl. Snooper is aware that in many enlightened and influential circles particularly in the South-West of the nation, Mohammed Haruna is viewed with political anxiety, to put things diplomatically. Not a few are often affronted by and aghast at what they consider his rightwing reactionary worldview, his overt and covert gaming for northern interests at the expense of national interest, the impish sangfroid with which he puts his views across and the devastating clarity of his presentation. This columnist believes that everybody is entitled to their worldviews as long as they also regard the right of others to hold contrary opinions as sacrosanct. This is the only way to build a just and tolerant society. In a multi-national
and multi-religious nation, even core values cannot be a set of Talmudic injunctions but precepts arrived at through dynamic collision of ideas. In any nation and at any given point, armies of ideas are constantly locked in a mortal clinch. There are those who think that Mohammed Haruna’s fierce rallying to a pan-Islamic front is a backhanded glorification of the rigidly patriarchal and feudal authoritarian code and a tacit endorsement of the spiritual enslavement and religious colonization of others such as we have seen in many variants of Islam. While not holding brief for Haruna’s worldview, snooper applauds the puckish courage, the streak of daring and the limpid fluid style with which he presents them. There are many who believe that this is giving too much to an implacable ideological adversary. Snooper is often mildly ribbed with bending over too much to see the enemy’s point of view. As a student of the ironies of history, snooper does not believe in rigid binary divisions. More often than not, there is a play of signifiers across such fixed divisions which makes nonsense of their binary code and subverts their most poignant exhortations. This fluid flexibility in battle
leads to a constant adjustment of tactics and strategy rather than an adjustment of principles. For example, a partial adversarial insight sometimes achieves a painful clarity through antagonistic knowledge. What is unknown to a writer may be better known to those who are listening in on him. In what is known as dramatic irony the audience sometimes know better than the dramatis personae on stage because they are privy to information withheld from the actors. In the course of preparing this column week in and week out, snooper makes it a point of duty to read all major columnists in all major Nigerian newspapers. Not only that, snooper also listens in on the meta-commentaries, that is the commentaries on the commentaries themselves. There is a Cromwellian readers’ parliament in contemporary Nigerian discourse which takes a savage delight in roasting and panning the host columnist. Sometimes snooper himself feels the sting of their waspish nettling for days on end. Sometimes, the columnist descends into the wild hallucinatory panic that some of these boys may well be part of a new State Internet Enforcement and Compliance Agency (SIECA) Three weeks ago, snooper propounded the thesis that the appointment of retired Colonel Sambo Dasuki as the new National Securiity Adviser by Goodluck Jonathan is a profound and inspired move on the national chessboard which may eventually lead to a resolution of the Boko Haram menace one way or the other. This thesis has now received complete corroboration by a reader responding to Mallam Mohammed Haruna’s column on Sambo Dasuki. We hereby partially reproduce the letter by Anthony N.Z Sani. Your submissions on appointment of Col Sambo Dasuki as NSA was apt and insightful in the sense that it threw
The Fixer’s last fixations
thing, the old irascible codger is known to mumble in his peculiar Ishan lisp . “I wan Adam’s Apple”. The situation reportedly worsened in the past forty eight hours with the old fixer lapsing into some hallucinatory ranting at times berating some imaginary political foes for plucking him from the zenith of glory to the nadir of political catastrophe, and at other times daring some dead and long betrayed political masters to do their very worst, telling them in typical hyperbolic Bendel-speak that after disgrace and disaster death is the logical follow-follow. It was in these circumstances that Okon barged into snooper’s room looking merrily disheveled with the inevitable Baba Lekki in tow. The old boy had been raising hell in another department of the National Theatre. He had been briefly arrested and detained in Abuja for conduct prejudicial to public order after renting a public address system to announce that he was publicly declaring his assets as a former presidential
candidate. Acting on a tip off from a rogue lawyer and lapsed human rights crusader, the police pounced on him as soon he began his speech which he ended up delivering inside the Black Maria. He was later released after being bound over to be of good conduct by an itinerant magistrate who was also a police informant. Snooper sensed some wild fun and subversive merry-making as soon as the impossible duo walked into his bedroom that afternoon “Oga, I wan quickly reach Uromi make man sign dem condomless register for Pa Anthony Anenih dem house” the rogue cook muttered with snide relish. “Why, is he gone?” snooper asked in genuine surprise. “No, no, no be like dat, but you know sometimes sef he better if man kaput, make dem yeye Bini boys no come dey play with old man him blokos. Abi Baba Lekki, se I no dey talk correct sense?” Okon replied turning to his wobbling mentor. “Na true you dey talk,”
Baba Lekki began with a deranged grin. “He get time like dat when S.LAkintola come campaign for Owo. Dem Owo people tell am make him no go to dem town after Owo dem dey call Ute becos dem people be ogbologbo NCNC but stubborn Akintola no gree. Him come go Ute and dem come stone am well well. So when him return to Owo him come say after owo na ete , after honour na disgrace be dat. As Oshiomhole come sina bole for dem Anenih man, he be like if say grass cutter don dey bite man.” “Baba wetin be sina bole? You don come with dem jibiti Yoruba again?” Okon snorted. “Ah sina bole na Yoruba for Solel Boneh and dem Israeli caterpillar. Na go dem dey hear . Adam come tear dem ground from under Anenih like dem Israeli caterpillar.” “Baba dem say Anenih dey scream e pa oooo, epa oooo for middle of dem night. Wetin be epa? No be dem obonge football for dem Yoruba scrotum be dat?” Okon jeered. Even Baba Lekki could not
more light on possible reasons why Azazi was replaced. I share President Jonathan’s position that all those who play politics with national security lack patriotic courage. That is why I find it hard to comment on the merit or otherwise of appointment of Sambo Dasuki. However, I am constrained to submit that the appointment has placed northern leaders in position of a goat whose master is sick: if the master recovers from the ailment, the goat would be used to celebrate the recovery. But if the master dies, the goat would still be slaughtered for the funeral. Such a goat cannot win. In the same vein, if the new NSA is able to rein in activities of Boko Haram, those who posit that northern leaders can be anything but good would say we told you that northern leaders sired the sect for political reasons. They would say wisdom of the adage that “give the thief custody of goods for safe keeping has come unto its own”. And if Sambo Dasuki fails to deliver on the promise of his appointment, the adversaries of northern establishment would still say we told you that it is number one position they want. You see, either way, northern leaders cannot win. But as you say, it is better Sambo Dasuki delivers on the promise of peaceful coexistence and national security, even as the North will become butt of joke on the street, rather unfairly, that “the white man brought slave trade, and the white man brought it to an end”. A double-barrel question now remains to be answered. What if the goat is the master such as we have in Trujillo, or what if the master is a goat such as we also have in the late Dominican dictator? Inevitably and one way or the other, we are going to have the feast of the goat in this country, and it is going to be much sooner than later. But it is not going to be Rafael LeonidasTrujillo Molina, a.k.a the goat. For a goat, however stubborn and randy, cannot be killed twice. It is going to be a different goat. Snooper rests his goatee. resist a loud laugh. “Okon you are a fool. Dat one na ipa and no be ee paa. E paa na Bini word for big brother. Na Enahoro ghost come dey worry dem Anenih man. You know say Tony na old colonial wizard. Na him come curse Anenih,” Baba Lekki offered. “And dem dey say he get one mala like dat dem Anenih papa dey curse for night, say make him no come ask for dem old balance,”Okon demanded with wide-eyed curiosity. “Ah dat one na Shehu Yar’Adua. You no say Fulani man no dey forget nor forgive. When Abiola come join dem with him own Gbagura palaver, no helele be dat for dem Anenih policeman.” “Kai, kai he be like if say dem dead body dey worry dem Fixer man pass dem Adam sef,” O k o n s n o r t e d . On that note, snooper quickly shut his door.
Famous last words “I’m afraiding” Lawrence Anini as he was tied to the stakes.
4
Rivers petrol tanker fire: ACN faults Amaechi • Backs Femi Falana on litigation From Bisi Olaniyi, Port Harcourt
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THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 22, 2012
News
HE Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Rivers State chapter, has disagreed with Governor Rotimi Amaechi, on the factors responsible for the death of about 200 persons, who were scooping petrol from a tanker at Okogbe in Ahoada West Local Government Area of the state on July 12. Amaechi on a visit to the scene of the disaster on the East-West Road, currently being dualised by the federal government had cited poverty and lack of enlightenment as the major causes of the tragedy. But the ACN disagreed with him and expressed support for litigation on the incident by human rights activist and lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN). The party said suing the federal government at the International Criminal Court (ICC) over the deaths caused the petrol tanker fire is a step in the right direction. Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr. Jerry Needam, said : “We view the comment of Governor Amaechi that the innocent people died in the petrol tanker fire at Okogbe as a result of poverty and lack of enlightenment as ridiculous, insensitive and jeering at the dead people, when the world is showing passionate concern about the death of about 200 innocent persons. “As a state that tops the chart in revenue allocation accruable from crude oil and gas, Governor Amaechi should be held responsible for the poverty faced by the people, which compelled them to want to scoop petroleum product from a fallen tanker. “The governor should also be held responsible for the lack of enlightenment, which also resulted in the deaths. We regret that Amaechi-led government is lacking in alleviation of poverty and civic education of the people of Rivers state. “The huge sum of money Amaechi spends on political jobbers, phony contracts, travels and court cases, can better be channelled in the areas of poverty alleviation and civic education. “The people of Rivers State have no reason to be poor in their land. They produce the golden egg. They are poor because of mismanagement by government. It is most condemnable the belated visit to Okogbe by Governor Amaechi and his comment that they died because of poverty and lack of enlightenment.” The ACN pledged to partner with Falana and other persons and groups with a view to seeking justice over the most unfortunate incident.
Robbers bomb bank, police station in Kogi
K
OGI State recorded a fresh bomb explosion at Iyara on Friday night, the second in one week. A policeman died in the latest blast triggered by robbers who attacked a bank and a police post in the home town of Senator Smart Adeyemi, Chairman, Senate Committee of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The incident also left a policewoman injured.
From: Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation
The robbers battled fruitlessly to access the vaults of the bank after which they resorted to the use of bomb. When that also failed, they fled the scene. A source in the town said: “The armed gang caught us unawares. They were desperate to get into the bank leading to a spate of ex-
plosions. For some minutes, the town was under siege as everyone remained indoors. When they were done with the bank, they also targeted the police station. We later sent distress calls to the police and other security agents, who came to restore normalcy.” The Coordinator of the National Emergency Agency, (NEMA) for the zone, Mr. Ishaya said: “The
Executive Secretary of Kogi State Management Agency told us that the bombing took place between 8pm and 9pm on Friday. “According to Kogi SEMA, it was case of a suspected armed robbery which left one policeman dead and a policewoman wounded.” The Head of NEMA Public Relations Unit, Yushau Shuaibu confirmed
the explosion in Iyara, saying: “NEMA confirms that several bombs exploded in Iyara, Kogi State. Robbery is suspected rather than militancy. During the bombing, a bank and a police station were damaged. A policeman lost his life and an injured policewoman is in hospital.”
P/Harcourt oil vessel explosion: Fire rages 24 hours after • Four bodies recovered • NEMA wants burnt vessel removed • Residents of Abuloma decry pollution From Bisi Olaniyi, Port Harcourt
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•Unity Bank, lyara, ljumu LGA of Kogi state that was bombed by robbers on Friday at about 9pm. The robbers also attacked the police station in the town. A policeman was killed by the robbers close to the bank
Boko Haram: Teachers demand drastic action
P
RIMARY school head teachers across the country are demanding an immediate stop to what they call the desecration of schools in the North by the Islamist sect, Boko Haram. The Association of Primary School Head Teachers of Nigeria (AOPSHON) says incessant attacks on public schools by the sect are damaging the future of education and of pupils. Rising from a meeting in Abuja, the National Executive Council (NEC) of the association, an affiliate of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) asked the federal authorities to take more proactive steps to check the wave of insecurity in the country and its consequences on the edu-
• Say ‘Our learning environments have been desecrated’ From: Gbenga Omokhunu, Abuja
cation sector National President of AOPSHON, Mr. Lawal Mahmud, told reporters that the Federal Government has not shown enough political will to deal with the situation, particularly the brains behind the assault on the nation’s security. He said: “We want the Federal Government to take proactive steps concerning this insecurity threat, because it’s already telling on the educational well being of the country. Our pupils no longer feel secured in their learning environment. “This, government
could do by ensuring that every school in Nigeria is properly given security attention, like what is happening in Borno State whereby some people will just go into school premises and set bombs and in the process killing a lot of our pupils and teachers. “Government should be very, very serious about it and I also use this opportunity to call on government to come out and deal with the perpetrators of this Boko Haram issue because we believe that there are people in high places that are promoting this group, government should fish them out and deal with them decisively”. He also spoke of plan
by the association to call out its members on strike over the non-implementation of the 27.5 per cent salary scale in some states. According to him some of the affected state governors are being insensitive to issues of education in their states, especially those bothering on teachers’ welfare. “As far as we are concerned we are teachers, we were teachers before we became head teachers, every head teacher in Nigeria is a member of NUT, so the decision of NUT goes along with our decision, it is our responsibility to ensure that whatever the NUT stands for, we go for it,” he said.
We won’t leave streets until our gratuity is paid, say PHCN workers
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HE Senior Staff Association and Electricity Allied Company (SSAEAC) has faulted Federal Government’s estimation of assets of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria(PHCN) at N200 billion. The union claims the assets are worth over N1.5trillion. According to the president of the union, Mr Bede
By Dupe Olaoye-Osinkolu
Oparah the workers who took to the streets last week to protest government’s nonpayment of their gratuity and pension would continue with the protest. He accused government of cheating the workers saying, “going by the pension reform, their gratuity and pension should be in one
jacket”. The Minister of Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji however said there is no truth in the workers’ allegation as government has concluded negotiation with them. He said he could not fathom why they are protesting. However, Oparah said the workers will continue to protest until government pays them their dues.
He said if insists on selling PHCN at N200 billion, it should sell it to the workers because their deducted 25 per cent pension is enough to acquire the assets. He claimed that the Federal government greatly undervalued the assets because its vehicles, power plants and cable alone are worth more than N200billion.
IRE raged on yesterday on the oil vessel that exploded at the Abuloma Jetty, Port Harcourt, Rivers State on Friday. No fewer than 30 people on board the vessel at the time of the explosion are feared dead. The remains of four of the victims have been recovered. One of the three persons who jumped from the burning vessel into the river in the bid to swim to safety died at an undisclosed hospital yesterday. The South-South Coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mr. Umesi Emenike, yesterday in Port Harcourt called for the removal of the burnt vessel, to prevent more accidents on the busy waterways. Emenike listed other things burnt by the fire as a fishing boat, one tug boat and two barges. The figures were corroborated by the Rivers State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC). Dr. Kayode Olagunju, who was part of the rescue team. Residents of Abuloma told The Nation on Sunday that the pollution of the environment is now a threat to their lives. They threatened legal action against the owner of the vessel. The oil vessel exploded barely a week after the Okogbe petrol tanker fire in Ahoada West LGA of the state, where at least 200 persons died while scooping free fuel, with many survivors still in hospital. The vessel was being used to supply food and sundry items to people working offshore for an oil firm. Many of the victims were girls whose mission on board the vessel could not be immediately ascertained. The explosion occurred when welders were working to fix leaking spots in the vessel.
THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 22, 2012
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POLICE man yesterday allegedly killed an Egun Community leader in Makoko. He was identified as Timothy Huntoyanwha. He was killed during a protest at the site of the ongoing demolition in the area. According to a press statement signed by the Police PRO, Ngozi Braide, the alleged killer is Corporal Pepple Boma, attached to the Marine Police, Oworonsoki Division and posted on special duty with the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) on demolition exercise at the water front of Makoko. The statement said Mr. Boma “allegedly shot a man in the stomach. The victim was rushed to the General Hospital, Gbagada where he was later confirmed dead. The corpse has been deposited at the General Hospital, Ikeja for post-mortem examination, while the suspect has been arrested and detained at the State CID Panti, Yaba.” “The Lagos State Police Command wishes to use this medium to appeal to Lagosians to maintain peace and remain calm as justice must be done in this case, investigation has, however, commenced in the matter, please.” Since last Monday, the Lagos State Task Force, under the directive of the Ministry of Waterfront Infrastructure Development, has been demolishing wooden stilt houses of the Eguns, a community that perches on the lagoon. According to some residents, the incident, which reportedly happened at about 1pm, was unprovoked. Peter Hunsa, whose father
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Police kill Lagos community leader By Precious Igbonwelundu, Segun Balogun and Miriam Ndikanwu
was the first Egun man to settle in the community, said the community “only went out to plead with the government to keep to their word and stop the demolition.” He said the government, before the demolition, told them that only the structures under a high tension power line would be demolished. “So, those of us that were not under the power line did not bother but we were surprised that the demolition has continued beyond the power line and it seems they want to demolish every of our houses,” he said. The peaceful protest was
• Arrest six protesters the community’s last resort after they were reportedly shunned by the commissioner for the Ministry of Waterfront Infrastructure Development, Prince Segun Oniru, at a meeting brokered by Felix Morka, the Executive Director of the Social and Economic Rights Action Centre, on Friday. “The commissioner refused to receive us,” said the head of all community leaders in Makoko community, Mr. Aganyon. “He only received Dr. Felix, who later came back to tell us that he [the commissioner] refused all entreaties.” “It was a very peaceful protest. Nobody fought them
and while we gathered, they still continued the demolition undisturbed. All of a sudden the police came and started shooting and Timothy was killed,” he said. Since the demolition started, the entire community has been apprehensive of the bleak future that stares at them. Those already displaced, according to Mr. Hunsa, were sleeping outdoor inside the wooden canoes. “I am more than 60 years old. I was born in this community. The Egun people have been living here for more than 100 years. Where do they want me to go now?” he asked. “We are
L-R: Leader of delegation, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Power, Alhaji Ibrahim Njiddah, Bauchi State Commissioner for Power and Energy, Mr. Yakubu Bello; and chairman Helois Energie German, Mr. Richard Selles during the handing over of MoU for Inkil 30mw Solar Power Project in Bauchi on Friday.
Heavy security as Ogun holds council election
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HERE was tight security across Ogun State yesterday as the residents went to the polls to elect chairmen and councillors for the 20 local governments in the state. Armed soldiers and policemen were deployed on the roads and strategic places to ensure there was no breach of security. Restriction of vehicular movement during accreditation and voting was strict. Of note was the security at the headquarters of the Ogun State Independent Electoral Commission (OGSIEC) at Oke Ilewo, Abeokuta, where armed policemen and Alsatian dogs kept watch over the electoral materials as they were being sorted for distribution to the various polling stations. Governor Ibikunle Amosun and his wife, Olufunso were accredited at 9: 16 and 9:18 respectively at Ward 11, Unit 12 located at African Church Central Primary School, Ita - Iyalode. The presiding officer for the polling booth, Mrs Olabisi Akinola said 130 people had been accredited by 9.45am. 968 names were on the Voters’ register there. Governor Amosun, speaking to reporters after
• Amosun says it’s a success Ernest Nwokolo, Abeokuta
his accreditation said: “This is the very first time we are conducting local government elections in a free and fair atmosphere since 1999. The last exercise under the previous administration was so marred with malpractices and an atmosphere of fear, terror and intimidation that opposition parties had to boycott the polls. So we are having under the current administration free and fair polls with every party participating.” He said contrary to prepoll allegations in some quarters, “It is our friends from the other side that are alleged to have been involved in some malpractices this morning. That’s the report we have received.” On what he expected from the exercise, he said his party did not take the electorate for granted, hence the strenuous electioneering campaign it embarked on ahead of the polls. He explained that given the experience in the past vis-a-vis the General Elections, the turn-out at the polls was acceptable but would be improved upon as democracy became rooted in Nigeria.
On the reports of missing names during the elections, he said, from the information at his disposal, it was the voters’ list given by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that was used by OGSIEC. Amosun informed journalists that contrary to alleged cracks in the Action Congress of Nigeria in the state, “the party has a mechanism to resolve every conflict.” He said the party should rather be commended for allowing individuals to air their feelings on the teething problems. “In a contest in which there were so many aspirants, it was not unusual for some people to express reservations. This is better than using cudgels, guns, cutlass and machete to resolve disagreements. The culture of violence is alien to our party,” Amosun said. He commended the maturity displayed by the party leaders from the state to the ward level, which provided a peaceful ambience for the polls. Reports across the state showed that the polls were generally peaceful and devoid of violence that char-
acterised such exercise in the past. The State Director of the National Orientation Agency(NOA) Mr Shola Babalola expressed satisfaction at the smooth and peaceful trend the poll is taking. Babalola who spoke to The Nation at OGSIEC’s Headquarters, said the agency had earlier carried out a house to house enlightenment of the people on the need to come and vote for candidates of their choice.
fishermen. We did not go to school. We thought they only wanted to demolish the houses under the power line. We did not know that they had ulterior plan,” he said, in Yoruba language. An eye witness, Mr. Ade Aguntor told our reporter that the deceased was the assistant Baale of Makoko. He said the incident occurred at about 10:30am when the representatives of the community who were sent to Alausa secretariat to hold a meeting with the commissioner for Waterfront, Mr. Adesegun Oniru were still briefing the elders on the outcome of the meeting held on Friday. Aguntor recalled “At the meeting, the Baale of Makoko Community, Chief Aji Steven was informed that the officials of the state government had arrived to continue with the demolition exercise in his territory. And immediately he heard this, he left the meeting to order his subjects to ensure that they remove all their property from the house before the demolition exercise commenced.” “Steven who was accompanied by Huntoyanwha sat down to watch how the demolition exercise would commence. As the demolition commenced, Steven further ordered those whose houses were being demolish to park their woods, as it will be useful. “While the Baale was still directing the dwellers on how to go about it, Peddle stood up from where he was sitting and began to shoot sporadically, adding “one of the bullets met late Huntoyanwha in his left side of his stomach”. According to him, “Immediately he (Huntoyanwha) was hit by the shot, he alerted the Baale who quickly rushed him into the boat towards Oworonshoki jetty. While on their way to Gbagada General Hospital, Huntoyanwha died.” A youth in the community, who declined to give his name, said “Government needs to appreciate the maturity of the community’s youth because we could have pushed those police officers inside the lagoon and drown them. They cannot swim better than us but we just wanted peace to reign.”
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Labour condemns bill seeking pension for lawmakers By Dupe Olaoye-Osinkolu
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HE Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) is opposed to the bill seeking pension and gratuity for legislators. The bill sponsored by Babatunde Adewale (Apapa, Lagos State) wants legislators to receive pension and gratuity after their tenure. But reacting to the development, NLC Deputy President, Comrade Promise Adewusi said legislation in Nigeria is not a career and should not attract pension and gratuity. He said: “As a unionist, I strongly believe that an employee should enjoy the benefit of the sweat of his labour. But political office holders, including legislators cannot be called employees, properly so called within the contemplation of the law. “For one, employees do not fix their own salary of their own accord. The concept of pension presupposes compensation for full time in a contract of service, whereas, what a political office holder has is a part time job in a contract for service which ought not to attract any pension since it is a contract appointment, for a fixed period, albeit renewable.” Adewusi, who is also a lawyer, added:” For legislators to contemplate pension for themselves, is not only insensitive but an insult on the sensibilities of the toiling Nigerian worker who is not sure of his pension, after slaving for 35 years meritoriously.” He recalled that many retired workers have dropped dead while queuing to receive “the pittance they get paid while our legislators look the other way.” Adewusi also recalled that part of the reasons legislators give for fixing jumbo salaries and allowances for themselves is their non-entitlement to pension and gratuity.
IOC hand Nigeria relay gold in Pettigrew dope case
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IGERIA was officially awarded the men’s 4x400m relay gold medal from the 2000 Olympics yesterday following a meeting of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board. The Nigerians took the gold originally won by the United States, who have since been disqualified because of the late Antonio Pettigrew confessing to having been doped at the time of the Games. Nigeria is elevated to title winners with Jamaica taking silver and the Bahamas the bronze. “Pettigrew was disquali-
fied in August 2008 but the EB delayed a decision on reallocation until it had received information stemming from investigations into the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO) sports-doping scandal,” a statement read. “Having confirmed that no further information on other athletes would be forthcoming the EB agreed to reallocate the medals and diplomas. “The teams from Nigeria, Jamaica and the Bahamas that finished behind the US men in the 4x400m race will be awarded gold, silver and bronze medals respec-
tively.” However, the Executive Board was not able to perform such an exercise regarding the US women’s 4x400m relay gold medal winners from the 2004 Games despite Crystal Cox admitting afterwards she took steroids from 20012004. Whilst the athlete herself - who ran solely in the heat had her medal taken back the IOC are awaiting clarification from athletics governing body the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) as to whether the whole team should be disqualified.
THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 22, 2012
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Anambra gets 10,000 informal security men From Odogwu Emeka Odogwu, Nnewi
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OMMANDANT General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC), Dr. Ade Abolurin, has commended the Anambra State Police Consultant on Vigilante Matters Chief Kenneth Okonkwo for training over ten thousand (10,000) informal security operatives that have assisted in providing security in Anambra State. Abolurin spoke at the commissioning of the headquarters of the Model security Agency at Nibo Awka South local government area Anambra state. Abolurin, who was represented by the Assistant Commandant General/Zonal Commander, Zone G Benin, Nasiru Moh’d Umar, insisted that as a statutory agency of the state government empowered to grant licenses to private guard companies, they would not fail in their duties. He said they would not hesitate to de-register private guards who are not strictly following laid down procedures.
AU backs Nigeria for ICAO Presidency …Aviation minister decries Africa’s air safety record
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HE African Union (AU) has endorsed a Nigerian, Dr. Oluwamuyiwa Aliyu, to represent the continent in the 2013 International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) presidential election. The body’s Director of Infrastructure, Dr. Aboubakari Baba-Moussa, disclosed this during the African Ministerial Meeting on Aviation Safety in Abuja at the weekend. He said Aliyu will be formally presented at the 13th
From: Olugbenga Adanikin, Abuja
General Council Meeting of ICAO slated for next year. Aliyu is Nigeria’s representative on the Council of ICAO. Baba-Moussa said: “It is an historic decision. We should in view of high expectation for Africa improve its image; I think we should be proud of this and congratulate ourselves.” Baba-Moussa noted that aviation safety requires highly skilled and technical
people, which he said has been a challenge facing the industry in Africa. Declaring the international conference open, the Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Oduah, decried air safety record in Africa. Describing the rating as unimpressive, Oduah said: ‘’Africa, based on the number of accidents per million departures, has a rather unimpressive rating on aviation safety compared to other regions or continents.” She noted that the meet-
ing of the experts is expected to proffer solutions to problems of aviation safety in Africa, stressing that her goal is to make air transportation the most preferred. The Director General of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Dr Harold Demuren, disclosed that the country might consider a mandatory IOSA compliance for airline operators. Safety, he reiterated, is the greatest watchword for any successful aviation industry.
‘How to change Nigeria’ By Sunday Oguntola
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HRISTIANS can change Nigeria when they demonstrate love and shun acts capable of denigrating the gospel, the South West Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Archbishop Magnus Atilade, has declared. He spoke last week at the 3rd General Assembly of the United Aladura Churches (UAC), the body comprising white garment churches in Nigeria. Atilade said Nigeria is in dire needs of practising Christians determined to shine the light of the gospel in their daily endeavours. According to him: ‘’We are done with religion without impact, Christianity without influence and salvation without relevance. ‘’What we need to change Nigeria is practical, responsible Christianity that touches every sector and human effort.’’ He challenged Christians to demonstrate godly virtues and examples in all their dealings. ‘’If we show others how to live, this country will change. What people are looking for is someone to show the way. ‘’That is what we are called for. That is what we are asked to do. That is a mandate that we must fulfill,’’ Atilade charged.
Circus of the absurd hits market
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RAFTGRIOT, a literary imprint of Kraft Books Limited, has announced the release of Circus of the Absurd, a collection of 11 short stories written by Deji Rahman, a Lagos-based banker and financial analyst. Its Chaiman, Steve Shaba, said: ‘’the book is an exploration into the absurdities of life. It is a picture of who we are rather than who we think we are.’’ Rahman said the book was inspired by his daily encounters. ‘’The idea behind Circus lies in the utter complexity of human mind and man’s stupefying inability to predict himself’’.
Abia seeks support for erosion control By Ugochukwu Ugoji-Eke, Umuahia
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BIA State has solicited for the assistance of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to check erosion at Umuaku Isuochi in Umunneochi local government area. Governor Theodore Orji made the appeal during a visit to the area where flood destroyed property worth several millions of naira. The governor, who was represented by his deputy, Sir Emeka Ananaba commiserated with the affected residents. He assured that government will not allow them to suffer. Orji, who was moved to tears by the devastation, said: “The level of erosion devastation in the state is more than the government of Abia State could handle. ‘’Flood control is also a problem; it is the reason why we are calling on both the federal government and the oilproducing commission to come to our aid”. Conducting the deputy governor around the affected sites, the member representing Umunneochi constituency at the House of Assembly, Prince Ikedi Ezekwesili, said other areas affected include Jacob Achara Memorial Church. Ezekwesili said that many houses were submerged by the flood while fences were pulled down with farmlands and livestock swept away.
NGF to partner MDGs Office From: Olugbenga Adanikin, Abuja
T •Women and children on queue during the distribution of relief materials by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) at the displaced persons’ camp in Riyom local government Plateau State yesterday
NNPC board: CNPP faults Diezani’s appointment
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HE Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) has faulted the composition of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) board. It also demanded the
From: Gbenga Omokhunu, Abuja
immediate removal of the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Madueke, as chairman of the board.
PDP chief congratulates Chikwe
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HE Chairman, Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Ghana Chapter, Hon Chuks Ihenetu, has congratulated the party’s National Women leader, Chief Kema Chikwe, on the success of her son’s wedding. Naetochukwu Chikwe was joined in holy matrimony with former Miss Nicole Chukwueke, a native of Awaka in Imo State in Lagos yesterday. Ihenetu, who hails from Amaigbo Nwangele local government area of Imo State, praised Chikwe for nurturing her son to manhood. The PDP chieftain, in a statement, said: ‘’To see a boy become a full-grown man and then get married is the height of parenthood. For this, I heartily congratulate
you’’. He urged the couple to embrace tolerance and patience for the marriage to succeed. He wished the couple ‘’a blissful marriage full of joy, grace and abundance.’’
The Conference argued that removal of the minister as the chairman of the NNPC board has been necessitated by the recent revelation of financial malfeasance within the organisation bordering on illegal grant of loans. Secretary-General of the CNPP, Willy Ezugwu, in a statement yesterday, said the composition of the NNPC board suggested that the government was yet to appreciate the fears of the people on the activities of the Corporation. The statement reads: “From all indications, it appears the Petroleum
Minister is fronting for some interests in the Presidency. “If there are no vested interests, the Minister should have been shown the way out of the ministry. With all these revelations from the probes and the audit report, there is no justification for keeping the Minister in office.’’ The CNPP called on President Good luck Jonathan to do the needful by putting the national interest above any other parochial one and disband the board and reconstitute it with Nigerians of impeccable character.
We’d return to the creeks, Bakassi youths threaten
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HE youths of Bakassi Local Government Area in Cross River State have threatened to render the entire Gulf of Guinea inaccessible to oil and marine exploration activities. The Paramount Ruler of Bakassi, Etim Okon Edet, disclosed this over the weekend while speaking with newsmen. Edet said: “With total abandonment by Nigeria, the youths are threatening to go back to the creeks to render the entire Gulf of Guinea inaccessible to oil and marine exploration activities in
From Nicholas Kalu, Calabar
collaboration with their Niger Delta compatriots and their Northern sympathisers. “They have threatened that before October 10, 2012, they will take back their Bakassi in whatever means possible if urgent steps are not taken by the Federal Government to redress the above. “Nigerians should bear me witness that I have tried my best over the period from the day the ICJ judgement till today to maintain peace and order within the affected population.”
He alleged fishermen from Cross River are not allowed access to the peninsular because Cameroonian gendarmes harass, molest and kill them. The paramount ruler lamented the loss of identity and the problem of integration with the host communities. He also said they have lost electoral wards in the new location. He said there has been no proper resettlement, while the welfare needs of the displaced population had been abandoned.
HE Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) will collaborate with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) office to chart a new course for attainment of set goals before 2015. The NGF’s Director of Research and Strategy, Alhaji Lateef Shittu, stated this during the 2012 Conditional Grant Scheme (CGS) Sensitisation and call for applications workshop in Abuja. Shittu said: “What we want to do which we have started is to review each of the goals in every single state and then see how far we have gone and to see what is left to work on including their challenges.” He noted that the CGS had provided state and local governments the opportunity to contribute and partner in the MDG attainment, stating that the scheme has been impressive. In her remarks, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on MDGs, Dr Precious Kalamba Gbeneol, urged states and local governments to re-double efforts to attain the global agenda before the 2015 deadline. She reminded the CGS’ focal persons of the need to beat time, stating that the country cannot afford to fail. The Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, hinted that the National Council on the Conditional Grant Scheme (NCCGS) has approved investment focus areas for 2012 as well as the scaling up to more local governments. She revealed that the investment focus for 2012 will dwell mostly on poverty alleviation, health, water and sanitation sectors in line with the transformation agenda of the president. The minister added that funds will be released promptly for the 2012 implementation of the CGS.
THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 22 , 2012
Fayemi consoles Ajimobi on mother’s death ...My mother was an epitome of motherhood- Ajimobi
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KITI State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has commiserated with his Oyo State counterpart, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, on the death of his mother, Alhaja Sikirat Ajimobi, who passed on last Wednesday at 85. Fayemi, who was at the Government House Agodi, Ibadan on Thursday to condole with Ajimobi, said the deceased did not only reach a ripe age but also lived an exemplary life. Fayemi added that the legacies left behind are those of service, integrity and honesty as displayed by her children; saying that it was doubtless that Alhaja Ajimobi was survived by “great children” in line with a popular Yoruba prayer. He stressed that it was “not a time for condolences and commiseration but it is a celebration of life for someone who passed on at 85 years.” Ajimobi, who spoke with journalists after the burial, described his mother as “an epitome of motherhood, humility, godliness and fairness.” He added that though it has been established for mankind to die, the Ajimobi matriarch would be missed for the support she gave him and his siblings.
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Forum flays Waku over comments against Oritsejafor T
HE Middle Belt Youth Forum yesterday described as “unwarranted,” comments made by the National Vice Chairman of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Senator Joseph Waku, against Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, the National President of Christian Association of Nigeria, accusing the ACF chieftain of seeing nothing wrong in Boko Haram’s bombing and killing of Christians. The forum, in a statement by the National Youth Leader of the Middle Belt Forum, Hon. Jonathan Asake, criticised Waku for speaking against Oritsejafor, who
From Tony Akowe, Kaduna
called on the United States of America to declare Boko Haram a terrorist organisation. Reacting to Waku’s comments that the statement of the CAN President was capable of causing disaffection in the country, the forum said it is the activities of the Boko Haram group, which Waku failed to condemn, that is threatening the unity of the country. The statement, which was made available to The Nation in Kaduna reads in part: “The Middle Belt Youth Forum notes with grave concern and disappointment the unfortunate, but reckless and
irresponsible comments credited to one Sen. Joseph Waku, Vice Chairman of an organisation known as Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), against the leader of Nigerian Christians, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, over the latter’s address before the United States Congress’ Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health and Human Rights. “We are baffled that Waku, a Christian (if he truly is) and indeed a Middle Belter could make such unwarranted comments on the leadership of Christians in Nigeria, knowing ‘fully’ well the activities of the dreaded Islamic terrorists known as Boko Haram, which has been bombing and killing
innocent Nigerians, especially Christians in the northern part of the country.” “Our hearts bleed when people like Waku, who ought to be a shining example to the younger generation, turn their back against their people in their most trying moments. As far as we are concerned, Waku can never be more patriotic than Pastor Ayo,” the forum said, adding, “The CAN president was speaking for Nigerian Christians. Who is Waku speaking for? Is he speaking for Boko Haram or who? Let him tell us who he is speaking for. What Oritsejafor told the US Congress was the true position of things as it affects Nigerian Christians.”
Why SON impounds substandard, expired products -DG
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HE Federal Government is poised to tackle cases of environmental and other natural disasters through nationwide monitoring of Right of Way (ROW). The Minister of Works, Mike Ozeigbe Onolememen, who disclosed this at the weekend, said it was part of his ministry’s schemes towards the realisation of the transformation agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan in road i n f r a s t r u c t u r a l development. He made these known at a meeting in his office between the ministry officials, including the office of the Surveyor-General of the Federation and Ofek Aerial Photo, an Israelbased digital company. Onolememen said the ministry is working towards the monitoring of the Right of Way (ROW) with aerial photography satellite mapping designs as well as Geographical Information System (GIS) in order to ensure the accurate mapping of all lands in the country so as to reduce reported cases of environmental and other natural disasters.
M • Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN) addressing religious leaders and government officials during the First Tarawih of Year 1433 A.H 2012 marking the commencement of Ramadan...at the weekend
Pray for Nigeria at Ramadan, say Oshiomhole, Fayemi
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DO State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, and his Ekiti State counterpart, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, have congratulated Muslims on the commencement of the Islamic Holy Month of Ramadan and urged them to pray to Allah to heal the wounds of the nation and shower the people with His blessings. Oshiomhole, in a Ramadan message signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Peter Okhiria, said the success of the July 14 governorship election in the state was enough proof that prayers are
From Osagie Otabor, Benin, Sulaimon Salawudeen, Ado-Ekiti
answered when the people pray as one. According to him, “I urge all the Muslim faithful on the occasion of yet another Holy month of Ramadan to make supplications to Allah to forgive our sins individually and collectively and heal the wounds of our land. “The remarkable success of the July 14 governorship election in the state is due to the prayers of the Ummah and it was enough proof that prayers are answered when the people pray
Boko-Haram terror will end soon, says cleric
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From Kolade Adeyemi, Kano
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HE founder of Grace of God Church International, Bishop Paul Nwachukwu, has assured that the country shall soon witness an end to Boko-Haram terror. The cleric, who spoke with reporters yesterday at his Umunya country home in Oyi Local Government of Anambra State, expressed optimism that the nefarious activities of the sect will soon end, as long as every Nigerian
FG to tackle disaster through right of way monitoring
Lesser Hajj: Max Air to operate 50 flights to Saudi Arabia
From Bisi Olaniyi, Port Harcourt
HE Director-General of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Dr. Joseph Ikemefuna Odumodu, has stated that substandard and expired products worth millions of naira are being impounded in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, in order not to endanger the lives of the people. The SON team stormed the Mile Two Market, where second-hand and expired tyres were seized from traders, in spite of the two weeks ultimatum earlier given them to remove the sub-standard and expired products. Also raided were electronics and electrical materials shops, where large quantities of fake cables and wires were confiscated. Odumodu, after the operation, stated that the raid became necessary, in view of the prevalence of fake and expired products in Port Harcourt markets. The SON’s director-general, who was represented by the organisation’s Assistant Director, Mr. Papenye Don-Pedro, noted that some of the second-hand tyres on display at the Mile 2 Market were between five and six years old, while a particular tyre that was discovered by SON’s officials at the market was manufactured eleven years ago.
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From Nwanosike Onu, Awka
remains committed to the ideals of social justice. Nwachukwu, who marked his 65th birthday and 45 years as a priest, observed that there is a serious crime wave throughout the world, hence, men of God should go on their kneel to quell the atrocities that had enveloped the country through prayers. “We should pray, we need to be the light of the
world. Jesus said that in the last days, iniquity will envelop the earth, and if we repent, crime will be low in this country but because we are hardened, that is why corruption is high.” While blaming the government for allowing the bloodletting in the country, Nwachukwu stressed the need for government at all levels to respond actively, adding that they know those behind the problems.
as one. “We must therefore renew our supplications to Almighty Allah to bless our collective efforts as we take bold steps to reposition our state and to grant her the peace and unity necessary for her prosperity and progress. “I pray to Almighty Allah to grant our people the grace needed to excel in the Holy month,” he said. In the same vein, Fayemi, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Yinka Oyebode, said Ramadan offers another chance for Muslims to rededicate themselves to the worship of Allah. Describing Ramadan as an important pillar of Islam, Fayemi said the fasting period humbles both the rich and the poor who are expected to go without food between sunrise and sunset for 30 days. Fayemi urged the adherents of Islamic faith to use the period for spiritual cleansing and healing and also to pray for the peace of Ekiti State in particular and Nigeria in general. He also used the opportunity to call on adherents of various religions to love one another and live together in
peace. “As we seek the face of Allah in this holy month, let us hold dear those lessons of the holy Prophet and pray earnestly for peace in the country. As a people, we can achieve a lot more in a peaceful atmosphere and all that is required is love for one another and commitment to work for the peace and unity of the country,” he said.
AX Air is to operate 50 flights to airlift intending pilgrims booked by travelling agencies for the 2012 Umarah (lesser Hajj) to Saudi Arabia. According to the spokesman of the Airline, Alhaji Ibrahim Dahiru, arrangements have been concluded to ensure a hitchfree flight of pilgrims to the Holy land. Dahiru disclosed that the airline has so far airlifted over 500 passengers to the Holy land, adding that passengers enjoyed 10 per cent discount in the first airlift operations, an incentive that attracted the influx of passengers. All intending pilgrims, he noted, were screened to ensure that only genuine passengers, with integrity were airlifted to Saudi Arabia to perform the lesser Hajj, so as to avoid a situation, where some pilgrims will at the end of the day abscond.
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THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 22, 2012 Winner of Ogun Spelling Bee competition emerges
Kano partners German firm for solar energy plant
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From Kolade Adeyemi, Kano
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ANO State Government is collaborating with a German Energy Company for construction of a 30-megawatt solar power project. The solar project, which will be partnered under the National Energy Council, is to boost power supply in the state. It will be the first of its kind in the West African Sub-region to be completed within a specific period. The secretary of the National Energy Council, Alhaji Ibrahim Shehu Jidda, who led a delegation of German Energy Company on a partnership visit to Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso yesterday in Kano, said that the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding will signal the commencement of the solar energy project. He said: “I am confident that this particular project as soon as we sign the MoU, you will ensure that the project will come to a reality in the interest and for the basic needs of the people and citizens of Kano State.”
‘Ramadan incomplete without Gawat’ By Tajudeen Adebanjo
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AGOS State Muslim Council (LSMC) has said this year’s Ramadan will be incomplete without the participation of popular broadcaster,Alhaji Rasak Gawat. The Chairman, Joint Technical Committee of the council, Prof Tajudeen Gbadamosi, made this remark yesterday during the Ramadan Public Lecture at NTA 10 premises, Tejuosho, Lagos. Gawat, who is Chairman Organising Committee of the lecture, has been missing for 12 days. If Gawat were to be around, Gbadamosi said the spirit of the people at the event would have been lifted. “Our security agencies must double their efforts and restrategise to ensure he is found alive. ‘’We cannot continue to rue his absence. The council is ready to assist the police to unravel this mysterious disappearance,” he said. The guest speaker, Prof Fatimah AbdulKareem, charged Muslims to continue praying for the broadcaster’s safety. The College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Consultant Pathologist described the incident as a test from Allah. Prof. AbdulKareem urged the gathering to stand firm with Allah for He only knows what is hidden. Retired Justice of the High Court, Justice Ishola Olorunnimbe, urged all exercise patient and be prayerful.
•A Sunny Nissan car that fell into a canal at Onipanu bus stop on Ikorodu road in Lagos… over the weekend. PHOTO: Muyiwa Hassan
Why local councils underperform, by Fayemi E
KITI State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, has blamed local government’s inability to embark on many capital projects to over bloated workforce. He explained that a review of the workforce in the local governments has shown that the bulk of the money for capital projects is spent on payment of salary to un-
By Sulaimon Salawudeen known workers. Fayemi added that government would soon begin a proper staff audit in the councils so as to fish out the ghost workers and help the local governments live up to their responsibilities to the grassroots. He also declared that his
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has assisted them in carrying out most of their responsibilities. Disclosing that local councils are owing the state about N1billion, Fayemi said the on-going construction of 5 kilometre of roads in all the 16 local government areas are jointly shouldered by the two tiers of government.
Bandits rob The Nation’s manager
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RMED bandits have made away with a 1999 model Nissan Infiniti Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) belonging to the Advert Manager of Vintage Press Limited, publishers of The Nation, Mr. Robinson Osirike. The vehicle with registration number GE 734 LND was taken away during a robbery operation penultimate Saturday at Obinomba in Ukwuani
By Sunday Oguntola
local government area of Delta State around 8.30pm. Osirike was in his hometown for the burial ceremony of his elder sister’s husband, DSP Goddey Oliseh, when the incident occurred. He was resting with his relatives when the robbers struck. According to him: ‘’We were in the sitting room after
•Osirike recounting the ordeal
Court orders prison comptroller to produce suspect N Iguobazuwa Area Magistrate Court has ordered officials of the Oko prison in Benin City to produce one Chukwuma Owonrode to stand trial for unlawful possession of human skull. President of the court,
administration does not fiddle with funds meant for the councils. Fayemi spoke at the maiden edition of the quarterly briefing by the caretaker chairmen of the 16 local government councils of the state. He declared that rather than tampering with funds meant for the local governments, the state government
From Osagie Otabor, Benin
Bright Oniha, who gave the order, said the decision of the prison officials not to bring the suspect to court was a ploy to delay justice. Oniha said the absence of the suspect was unac-
ceptable to the court and berated the prison officials for refusing to produce the suspect on six adjourned dates. He said the suspect was entitled to a date of trial and adjourned the case to July 26th, 2012.
the ceremony chatting when I suddenly noticed that the door opened. ‘’I was sitting opposite the entrance and saw seven masked young men come in completely armed with guns.’’ The robbers, who scaled the fence to the apartment, held everyone hostage. ‘’They pointed guns at our heads, saying they were also graduates and had come for their own share of the national cake.
‘’I was just begging them not to harm anyone or kidnap any of us,’’ Osirike recalled. The robbers, he stated, made away with valuables belonging to his family members. A top official at the Divisional Police Command in charge of the case said investigation into the case was on. ‘’We have liaised with relevant sections of the force and making progress on the case,’’ he confirmed when contacted.
ASTER Dansu Emmanuel of Community Senior High School, Tube in Ipokia local council has emerged winner of the maiden edition of the Spelling Bee competition for public secondary schools in Ogun State. Over 60 students from across the 20 local councils of the state participated in the grand finale of the competition facilitated by the first lady, Mrs. Olufunso Amosun. Master Remmy Emmanuel of Salawu Abiola Comprehensive High School, Osiele and Covenant Harrison of St. Peter’s Comprehensive College, Olomore, Abeokuta were first and second runners-up respectively. Emmanuel bagged N250,000, a trophy, a laptop and a scholarship award for his university education. The second and third runners-up got N150, 000 and N100, 000 respectively. Mrs. Amosun urged the students to focus on their studies and promised to do everything within her reach to encourage them. The Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Barrister Olusegun Odubela, lauded Mrs. Amosun for the initiative, saying it will uplift the standard of education in the state.
Yobe gets 3,030 Hajj seats From Duku JOEL, Damaturu
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total of 3,030 intending pilgrims from Yobe State will perform this year’s Hajj. Secretary of the Pilgrims Board, Buba Abba Kayari, told newsmen that all arrangements have been concluded for a hitch- free exercise. He noted that Yobe State has learnt from previous mistakes where it lost thirty seats by the National Hajj Commission for taking three pregnant women in 2010 He added that ‘’all sick people and pregnant women will not be allowed to embark on the exercise this time’’.
NEWS REVIEW
THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 22, 2012
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RISIS of confidence. That just about captures the present predicament of the embattled Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Ms. Arunma Oteh, who may be literally fighting the battle of her life, as far as her public career is concerned. Her reinstatement by the federal government, according to observers, has dire consequences for the nation’s Executive/Legislative relationship as well as how the country would be assessed globally by members of the international community. Crux of the matter On June 12, the Board of SEC had suspended Oteh over, among other charges, alleged questionable handling of the funds realised from Project 50, an event the commission organised in 2011. Her suspension came just as an Ad Hoc Committee on the Near-Collapse of the Capital Market headed by Ibrahim ElSudi had indicted her for similar offences. After establishing a prima facie case against her, the Ad Hoc panel had recommended the termination of Oteh’s appointment, noting among other things that the DG’s appointment breached existing laws as she did not possess the requisite 15-year experience in capital market operations. The committee’s report noted that “She (Oteh) has shown incompetence in the management of human and material resources at her disposal in SEC. “Lack of transparency in the management of Project 50, regulatory failure in some of the recent mergers, acquisitions and approvals of transactions by SEC and general inability to carry along her staff, board and management in decision making in SEC, and questionable staff recruitment policy.” Government’s face-saving device for Oteh But just as the House was planning to consider the report last Thursday, in a move designed to pre-empt the lawmakers, the federal government had on the eve of the lawmakers’ sitting declared that Oteh was acquitted of all allegations levelled against her without recourse to what the lawmakers’ decision on her would be. The federal government in defending her recall said Oteh was never indicted for fraud or any criminal breach. In her letter of recall, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Anyim Pius Anyim, wrote, “Please refer to the decision of the Board of Securities and Exchange Commission to send you on compulsory leave in order to enable SEC’s external auditors – the Price Water Coopers Limited – to examine the records of the commission’s transactions covering SEC Project 50 which you supervised. “I am to note that government has studied the report submitted by the external auditors and you are neither indicted for fraud nor criminal breach in any form. However, some administrative lapses were reported,
Arunma Oteh’s return The recall of Ms. Arunma Oteh, the suspended Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) by the Federal Government last Wednesday has further created a crisis of confidence in the stock market, reports Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf
particularly, in cases where administrative procedures were not thoroughly observed. “The purpose of this letter is to recall you from your leave and to caution that you must henceforth endeavour to diligently observe all extant rules and administrative procedures in the conduct of all transactions. “Please accept the assurances of my best wishes.” Chain of reactions over Oteh’s reinstatement Expectedly, the decision to bring her back has led to a chain of reactions which began with a march protest at the SEC headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday as staff of the commission said they did not want her back. The staff shut the gates of the commission and carried placards denouncing Oteh’s recall. The protest, while it lasted, grounded business activities at the commission for hours, with some of the protesters chanting anti-Oteh slogans, while others carried placards with various inscriptions such as “We no go gree”, “We say no to Oteh” and “Oteh must go.” Explaining their grievance, the workers, who spoke through their Secretary, Mr. John Briggs, said they would resist every attempt by the government to impose Oteh on them. Briggs said, “We don’t want her (Oteh) back until due process is followed and that is what the workers are saying. The information we have is that she has been given a letter by the SGF, Pius Anyim, to resume and this is wrong because he is not the supervising minister of this commission. “That letter ought to have been
given to her by the Minister of Finance. So, why is he acting on behalf of Okonjo-Iweala? That is why we are not happy because due process has not been followed. Investigations have not been concluded and the report has not been submitted, what they have is only the interim report and we are saying that due process is not being followed,” the workers’ spokesman argued. He said the imposition of the embattled DG on the commission would affect investors’ confidence in the stock market. Guilty in the court of public opinion If the court of public opinion was allowed to have its way, they would rather she should be summarily dismissed based on the weighty allegations levelled against her by SEC staff who blew the whistle on her, hence her exoneration by the federal government, that she was free to go and sin no more after a mere warning, was considered not just a slap on the wrist but hardly enough! Unlike her predecessor, Musa Al-Faki, who honourably resigned his appointment when the fortunes of the capital market began a downward slide, Oteh, according to analysts, has refused to leave, this they argue would further bring public opprobrium to her and dip the fortunes of the capital market further. Stakeholders’ grouse against Oteh Expectedly, stakeholders in the capital market reacted negatively to Oteh’s recall, arguing that the action was against the rule of law. They said her reinstatement was not necessary in the face of unclear
information, advising the DG to resign honourably. Among those who opposed her recall was the Chairman, Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Mr. Boniface Okezie, who fell short of accusing the federal government of criminal conspiracy. He said, “It is rather unfortunate that this is happening in a country that is supposed to be transparent in all its dealings. We need the federal government to tell us on what basis they are recalling her. The report from the House Committee came in yesterday (Tuesday), and she was indicted, and so why are we hearing a different story today (Wednesday)?” Raising further posers, the shareholders’ boss asked rhetorically: “Aren’t all the arms of the government supposed to be working together? Or is it that the federal government does not have the interest of the growth of the capital market on their mind?” Echoing similar sentiments, the National Coordinator, Independent Shareholders of Nigeria, Mr. Sunny Nwosu, noted that it was wrong for the federal government to reinstate Oteh just after the House Committee report which indicted her came through. “This action means that the FG is not sincere in what they are doing. The truth is that in this nation, we cannot continue to rely on sentiment; it is not taking us anywhere. “In any case, if I were Oteh, I would throw in the towel and resign honourably from SEC, because she has been thoroughly embarrassed in all these.” Already many see her case as litmus test for President Goodluck
Jonathan’s anti-corruption war just as they think it has the potential to either make or mar our image in the international community. One of those who hold this view and very strongly too is President of the Campaign for Democracy, Dr. Joe OkeiOdumakin. According to her, the decision to recall Oteh showed that President Jonathan’s administration condoned corruption. She said it is a sign of the fallen walls and the collapse of moral columns under a president who does not give a damn. “The sign was clear when Jonathan allowed her (Oteh) to attend the meeting of the economic team despite being under suspension. There is no surprise again under Jonathan. It is now a republic of anything can happen.” Also on the same page with her is Secretary General of the Trade Union Congress, Chief John Kolawole. While challenging the federal government to give the reasons behind the decision to recall Oteh, Kolawole said that it was necessary for the government to convince the citizenry on its action because of the need to have transparency in running the nation’s capital market. Another school of thought is of the view that she has demonstrated her power and the fact that she can pull the strings from the highest quarters. But how long can these strings go or stretch? The lawmakers whose report has found her culpable may wish to also tug at the strings. The question is: from whose end will it snap?
THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012
News Review
Syria’s civil war, mass killings and im Oshiomhole gets fresh mandate
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OVERNOR Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State upset all permutations penultimate Saturday to win a stunning second term as chief executive of the state. He received 477478 votes in the governorship election beating his closest rival-Charles Airhiavbere of the PDP- who got 144235 votes. Airhiavbere was not the only loser in the election with the likes of PDP stalwarts-Chief Antony Anenih, Dr. Samuel Ogbemudia, Chief Gabriel Igbinedion and Chief Mike Ogiadome- thrashed in their hitherto strongholds.
Flood devastates Ibadan again
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EVERAL parts of Ibadan were submerged last weekend after a torrential rain fell from Saturday through Sunday. Hard hit were Odo Ana/Apata, Oluyole Estate Orita Challenge and Apete where a bridge was washed away. The flooding was reminiscent of the August 26, 2011 incident which led the state government to embark on the dredging of 43 streams and rivers late last year to avoid a recurrence. Fish and poultry farmers in Ido Local Government area lamented the losses caused them by the flooding, while traffic in Ibadan was chaotic on Monday on account of the situation.
EFCC seizes pension fraud suspects’ assets HE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has been mandated to impound 45 landed properties belonging to six suspects facing trial for allegedly defrauding the Police Pension Office of N32.8billion. The interim seizure order was given by the Chief Judge of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Justice Lawal Gumi. The properties, many of which are prime choices in Abuja, were seized from Esai Dangabar, Atiku Abubakar Kigo, Ahmed Inuwa Wada, John Yakubu Yusufu, Veronica Onyegbula and Sani Zira.
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Protests greet Oteh’s recall at SEC
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HE suspended Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Ms Arunma Oteh was recalled by the Federal Government on Wednesday with staff of the organisation protesting her return. Chanting anti-Oteh, songs, the staff said they had nothing personal against her but wanted government to follow due process. The Federal Government cleared her of any serious abuse of office-the reason for her suspension –but admonished her to follow due process henceforth.
CJN Mukhtar sworn in
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USTICE Mariam Aloma Mukhtar was sworn in on Monday as the 13th Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) with a promise to partner with the executive in fighting corruption. While disagreeing with suggestions for special courts to try such cases, she said, “a judge, two or three in the states, can be designated to take care of that.” She also pledged to lead by example and hoped “the others will follow.”
IMPEACHMENT THREAT
House blasts Jonathan over budget
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HE House of Representatives, on Thursday, threat ened to commence impeachment moves against President Goodluck Jonathan over what it described as poor implementation of the 2012 budget. It equally cautioned Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, over non-release of funds to ministries, departments and agencies of government to implement projects. The House’s resolution was sequel to a motion moved by Honourable Albert SamTsokwa and 20 others entitled: “Poor implementation of the 2012 budget.”
NOT ONLY IN LAGOS Two people embrace in anticipation of a wave from the oncoming bus, on a flooded street, Minsk, Belarus. Photo: AP
Fed Govt slams Shell with $5b fine over Bonga oil spill HE Federal Government has imposed a $5billion fine on Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCO) for the oil spill that occurred in its Bonga oil field last December. The Director General, National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), Mr. Peter Idabor, told the House of Representatives Committee on the Environment that the fine was a sanction for the large quantity of crude oil discharged into the environment of the affected communities. However, the Managing Director of SNEPCO, Mr.Chike Onyejekwe, said the company was not even thinking about compensating any community as the spill was contained before reaching the shoreline.
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Gunman kills 12 at Batman movie premiere
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T least 12 people were killed and around 40 wounded when a gunman opened fire Friday at a movie theatre showing the latest Batman film, police said. The police department in the town of Aurora, Colorado, where the shooting took place, said in a statement that there were “approximately 50 victims with at least 12 confirmed dead.” US television networks identified the gunman as James Holmes, a 24-year-old Aurora resident, and quoted the FBI as saying he had no known connections to terrorism. Police said the suspect “offered no resistance when he was arrested.”
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HE Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) elected a new president, Mr. Okechukwu Wali (SAN), at its delegates’ conference in Abuja on Tuesday. Mr. Wali polled 688 votes to defeat Chief Emeka
PROBE
Senate probes $1.09bn oil bloc scandal
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HE Senate on Thursday resolved to investigate the controversial payments involving Malabu Oil and Gas Limited and Shell/Agip arising from the sale of an oil block Oil Prospecting Licence 245. Senators were, however, divided as to whether the investigation should be conducted by an ad hoc committee or by a standing committee. President of the Senate, David Mark, warned that calls for an ad hoc committee probe indicated lack of trust in the Senate’s standing committees, saying that it was not good for the Senate. Deputy Leader of the Senate, Abdul Ningi, the motion’s lead sponsor, argued that the Senate was concerned by recent media attention on the circumstances surrounding a tripartite transaction involving the Federal Government, Shell/ Agip and Malabu Oil and Gas Limited.
THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012
News Review
d impeachment threats Emergency rule ends in Borno, Yobe, Plateau, Niger councils
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HE six-month emergency rule imposed on 15 local government areas in Borno, Yobe, Plateau and Niger States has been lifted. The emergency rule was imposed by President Goodluck Jonathan on December 31, 2011 as part of the strategy to curb terrorism in the affected areas. Attorney General of the Federation and Justice Minister, Mr. Mohammed Adoke (SAN), said the review of the situation “is to enable government to put in place appropriate confidence-building measures to improve security in the affected places.”
‘Authentic’ PIB sent to NASS
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ETROLEUM Resources Minister, Mrs. Deziani Alison-Madueke, announced on Wednesday the submission of the ‘authentic’ Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) by President Goodluck Jonathan to the National Assembly. The presidency had, earlier in the week, disowned what it called versions of the bill in circulation. She said the bill was forwarded to the National Assembly “after in-depth review.”
Wali is NBA president Ngige (SAN) who got 449 votes and Chief Blessing Ukiri who had two. Also elected were Mr.O.J.Erahbor,1st Vice President; Mr. Emeka Obegolu, General Secretary and Joyce Oduah, National Treasurer.
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THE WEEK IN QUOTES “You are the best, you are the greatest, you are the most brilliant, you are the most dogged, you are the most committed, you are the most consistent and you are the most ready.” —Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State eulogising the electorate for re-electing him for a second term in office.
“It was a tsunami. I sensed the Bini and Afemai areas were done deals. But when they started chanting ‘Oshio Baba’ in Ugboha, Ekpoma, Uromi, Urohi, Opoji and Ewu, I knew something different was happening. I think Nigerians should build on this Edo experience. Performance is the key to victory.” —-Chief Orji Kalu,ex-Governor of Abia State on the re-election of Adams Oshiomhole as Edo governor.
“During our campaigns, we talked about food security, job creation and power. But the topmost issue now is security. If you aren’t safe, you cannot even talk about food; a dead man doesn’t eat. But there is hope that the issue of Boko Haram will also come down.” —President Goodluck Jonathan explaining why his administration has been slack in living up to expectation.
“Where is the Jos of old? Plateau of old? Haven of peace, melting pot of culture and religions, preferred home of all. Jos, what happened? Plateau, who replaced laughter with tears; who replaced handshakes with bullets and bombs? Who replaced tears of joy with blood? Who replaced love with hatred in a life time and why?” —Senate Leader Victor Ndoma-Egba lamenting the degeneration of Jos into a volatile city.
FEC approves $1.488b for Lagos-Ibadan rail project
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HE Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday approved $1.488billion for the construction of the Lagos-Ibadan double track rail line project. The 156.65 kilometre rail line is part of the six phase modernisation of the country’s 2,733 rail track planned by the Federal Government. It is expected to be completed in 36 months. A similar project-Abuja-Kaduna is already under construction. •Jonathan
•Oshiomhole
Ovie-Whiskey, former FEDECO boss, dies at 89
Bin Hammam wins appeal against FIFA ban
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ORMER FIFA presidential candidate Mohamed Bin Hammam says he wants to retire from football despite having his lifetime ban for bribery annulled. FIFA had banned him from “any kind of football-related activity at national and international level for life.” But the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) said there was insufficient evidence to support the ban. Bin Hammam was accused of attempting to buy votes ahead of last year’s FIFA presidential election. Despite anulling the ban, CAS stressed that its decision did not make any sort of “affirmative finding of innocence in relation to Mr Bin Hammam.”
HAIRMAN of the defunct Federal Electoral Commission, (FEDECO), Justice Ovie Whiskey (rtd), died during the week, aged 89. Ovie-Whiskey, who retired as Chief Justice in the defunct Bendel State in 1983, died after a protracted illness. He passed on at his IkweghuA g b a r h o residence. He was appointed as chairman of FEDECO in 1982 and conducted the second election during the Second Republic, which saw the emergence of Alhaji Shehu Shagari as President for a second term in office.
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Assad’s top security chiefs killed in blast
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FOURTH mem ber of Syrian P r e s i d e n t Bashar al-Assad’s inner circle died on Friday from wounds sustained in a bomb attack this week. Syria’s uprising entered uncharted territory after rebels fighting the regime of Bashar alAssad killed three of his top security chiefs on Wednesday in a devastating bomb attack in the heart of Damascus – the single worst loss for the government in 16 months of increasingly bloody struggle. Mass defections of soldiers and a rampage by pro-regime militiamen were reported in the capital amid a swirl of rumours, including one that Assad’s wife, Asma, had fled to Russia and another that troops were being issued with gas masks, raising fears of the use of chemical weapons.
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THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 22, 2012
COMMENT and ANALYSIS
THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012
Boko Haram is local, yet global M
UCH has been written about the atrocities of Boko Haram and the chain of events that led to the rising of the group in Northern Nigeria. Indeed, the testimony of the Christian Association of Nigeria’s President, Rev Oritsajafor at the US Congress early in July 2012 had on display the different theories that have been propounded about Boko Haram and its agents. Some ring true, others fall flat. But in order to understand Boko Haram and respond correctly to its rise, there is a need for policy makers and citizens to understand its origin, mission and purpose. Not what is obvious, but what is real. On one hand is a deep set believe (prevalent in the South), that Boko Haram is a purely Islamist (political Islam) response to Christians that live among them (in the North). They point to countless killings since independence to date, as a proof of this trend. When taken further, the rise of this atrocious form of “Islamist” (in their words) is on the rise as a political response to the 2010 ascension of a Christian Southerner and his subsequent election in 2011 – midway through the term of a Muslim Northerner that died. It was this view that was propounded by the venerable leader of the Christian Association of Nigeria before the US Congress. The obvious problem of course with this theory is that the rise of Boko Haram preceded the ascension of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan to the Presidency. Boko Haram was founded in 2002, during the rise of political Sharia when northern governors exploited the phenomenon in the core north for their own electoral benefit and was allowed to get away with it by the incompetent Olusegun Obasanjo administration. If anything, History shows that it was during the administration of the late President Musa Yar’Adua that security agencies killed the sect leader –Mohammed Yusuf: in July 2009 (almost a year before GEJ became president). Up to 100 Boko Haram members were killed during that operation between Bauchi, Yobe and Borno states in July, 2009. Indeed, the first recorded violence by the sect was in July 2009 when it attacked police stations in Maiduguri and then in January 2010, one full month before GEJ began to approach political ascendancy, when it killed four people in Borno State. On the other hand, the oft mentioned causative link between poverty, high illiteracy rate and despondency of the core northern youth and the rise of Boko Haram is not sufficient explanation for the rise of the group, especially given the clear targeting of Christian religious places by the group and the inflammatory statements that emerge from their leadership after such attacks. This is the official US Government position, that Boko Haram is a product of political and economic abandonment of the north by Nigeria’s leaders over the years, and was propounded by Ambassador Bill Carson during his full swing before the congressional committee. Both theories may be wrong and correct at the same time, and here is why. Since the rise of Boko Haram, few arrests that have been made have linked the organization to foreign fighters who seem to have mastery of Arabic, sophisticated training and some good dose of rhetoric. The style and method of Boko Haram is very close to what global terror networks have displayed in Iraq, Pakistan and Kenya in the past. Indeed, if this does not give you pause, the world’s terror network with Al Qaeda at the center have indicated their interest in Nigeria about the same time as Boko Haram rose out of the North. This was also about the same time a young Nigerian was selected by the now dead enfant terrible of the Middle East to bomb American planes!
Lekan Otufodunrin [email protected] 08023000621 (SMS only)
There’s yet hope
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•A car burns at the scene of a bomb explosion at St. Theresa Catholic Church at Madalla, Suleja, just outside Nigeria’s capital Abuja, December 25, 2011. By Michael Oluwagbemi
If this trend is not worrisome enough, just this week , two men in Abuja “were charged with accepting thousands of dollars from the group to recruit potential terrorists inside Nigeria and then send them to Yemen”; they were working with alQaida in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP. AQAP is regarded as the most aggressive arm of the remnant of the terror group and leading up operations in next door Somalia where it is implementing the obvious next strategy for these crazies. In February 2012, recently arrested officials revealed that “while the organization initially relied on donations from members, its links with Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, AQIM, opened it up to more funding from groups in Saudi Arabia and the UK.” But why will Al Qaeda be interested in Nigeria? What is the connection? Obviously, the recent successes of the US Administration in the Middle East to deny the terror group a foothold in that volatile region may be pointing us to answers. Since being driven out of Afghanistan by George Bush and with his successor, President Barack H. Obama making it clear that Pakistan was no hiding place: Al Qaeda has been looking for the next geographical region where it can settle and project its power. Certainly, this strategy is panning out nicely in South Yemen where government troops have surrendered quite a large territory like Jaar and Azzan. In fact, a PBS Frontline Documentary recently documented “Al Qaeda militants’ black flag flying over Yemeni towns that appeared to be under complete control of Ansar al-Sharia”. To lesser extent, Al Qaeda have been less successful in Africa, especially in Somalia where it is under intense pressure from all sides as that nation is bolstered by Western Powers to buck the trend. Regardless of their struggle in Africa, Al Qaeda’s tattered army is not one to give up easily. The availability of small arms, corrupt governments and agitated population makes West Africa a perfect target for the bunch and with a very strong analytical minded strategic team guiding them- Nigeria seem like a dream come true for Al Qaeda. Nigeria with her rich history of prevalent inter-ethnic suspicion, religious violence and extremism in the north and poor/illiterate population coupled with rising youth unemployment, dissatisfaction and clueless local and national leadership is a gift that may just continue giving to the terror network. Think about it, which other place on
earth will a people exist in forceful co-existence and the leaders insist they have no right to debate the basis of such existence? Where on earth, will the nominal leaders of one society continue to insist that obvious solutions need not be implemented but sacrifice on the altar of self aggrandizement, greed and selfishness while passing the buck to the next generation? Well, welcome to Nigeria. To make its territorial ambition real though, Al Qaeda may already be one step ahead of our clueless leadership in determining that Northern Nigeria not the entire country will be the foothold that they require. Essentially, this strategy underpins their resolve to cut off the North from the rest of the country. While some may hail this outcome, the country should beware for what we wish for; ask Pakistan how many drones and children of theirs are lost due to the war knocking on their next door neighbour? To achieve its goals of gaining a permanent foothold to the North of Abuja/ Zaria, Al Qaeda will focus on divisive tactics including targeting places of worship (now a Church and Mosque have been attacked), while discrediting core Northern leaders’ and denying them the ability to stuff the genie of insecurity back in the bottle. The hyena unleashed may not be curtailed any time soon, as Al Qaeda seem to have embarked on the next phase of this attack by targeting political leaders in whom the electorate have invested some legitimacy and may react virulently to their death. It was a Senator few weeks ago, watch as that target list moves up all the way. Cruel as it may come across, Boko Haram as agent of the world global terror network is bent on seeing the core North cut off quickly from the rest of Nigeria to have a launch pad territory to itself, and a lot of southern politicians better be prepared to be collateral damage on the way up to this final destination. We may very well be looking at the slow motion of the balkanization of Nigeria, as predicted in 2015 by the Central Intelligence Agency. The results will not be palatable to all involved, I just hope our leaders (especially those clueless ones in Abuja) are reading and thinking. True federalism, devolution of powers and genuine unity founded on respect for minority and opposition rights in a true democratic fashion remains the only a panacea against a full blown balkanization come 2015 or beyond. What other event is happening in 2015 again? •Source: Nigeriansinamerica.com
WO weeks ago, a senior colleague, Taiwo Obe of TaijoWonukabe Limited announced on his facebook wall a vacancy for a “smart, intelligent, young/youngish male/female with less than six months journalism experience”. I and a few others reposted the announcement on our walls and in less than ten minutes, Obe’s phone started buzzing with calls and he had a hectic time giving writing assignments to the young job seekers. Within 12 hours, Obe got exciting reports from the applicants and was able to hire one of them who was very outstanding among the lots. He said the outcome of the exercise gave him hope that journalism in Nigeria still has talents waiting to be tapped, but the enabling environment needs sanitation. I agree with Obe’s optimism and wish to add that beyond journalism, the country has talented youths who need an enabling environment to maximize their potentials. Last Thursday, I was one of the judges at a competition organized by the Mass Communication Students Association of University of Lagos for Communication students in the country to showcase their practical works including published articles, photographs, jingles, documentary, advertising and public relations campaigns. The high quality of what the students showcased was very commendable and it was a further confirmation that all hope is not lost about what our youths are capable of doing if we give them enough room to express themselves and try to understand them instead of being sometimes unduly judgmental. We live in a different world from what we grew up in. Though our values must remain sacrosanct; we must be willing to allow things to be done in different ways because of new realities of the times. I have always wished for an educational kind of completion to make the youths spend a lot of time and energy to win like in many of the reality shows and dance competitions. What the Unilag Students organized was a good example. It was modelled after the popular entertainment competitions. Presentations were made in various categories. The judges took turns to comment on them offering commendations and professional critiques for improvement and at the end an overall winner emerged. Of course there were music, comedy and other forms of entertainment. Some other formal approach would have been dull for the students. While some of them may be irredeemable and are too obsessed with catching fun at the expense of more important things, we the adults owe it a duty to try hard to help them come to terms with the reality of the long journey of life ahead of them. The distractions unlike in our days are too many which explains why some of them easily go astray. The youths of today need all the support they can get. They need our encouragement, mentoring, coaching and prayers. Let it not be that we didn’t try enough. They are leaders of tomorrow and it is in our interest to invest enough in their today to guarantee a better tomorrow not only for them, but for us too. We cannot afford a wasted generation. The title of Obe’s report after the facebook recruitment says it all. There’s yet hope- I believe.
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Ogochukwu Ikeje [email protected] 08084235961 (SMS only)
BOMINABLE acts are grabbing the headlines in Nigeria but the country cannot by any stretch of the imagination be described as one of abominable people. Thankfully, vice does not define us. It soils our image but it does not make the country. I consider that perhaps our greatest strength. Even as crime and corruption grow, the country still brims with exemplary people. Thus, in the valley of hopelessness, there is hope. When decent Nigerians are subjected to the most horrible and dehumanising search at an international airport, right down to or beneath their undergarments, we must cheer up. Those compatriots are only paying for the sins of a few countrymen and women. Two reports captured those atrocious acts. One appeared on February 3, the other on February 22. Both were on corruption, the sort that has chained the country to the ground since its birth. The first report was on pension scam, the second on oil theft. Sometime ago, Mr Abdulrasheed Maina, chairman of the Presidential Task Team on Pension was quoted as saying a pension racket was making over N3 billion monthly before his team was set up. And that is at the expense of taxpayers and the federal government. Maina said the pension racketeers sent a bloated number of pensioners to the government. This suggests that the cartel inflated the number of retirees forwarded to the au-
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THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 22, 2012
Comment & Analysis
One great thing about Nigeria In spite of sweeping vice, we are not all rogues thorities which released a payment sum far in excess of what they were supposed to release. And this happened perhaps for years before Maina’s team came on stream. N3 billion is a tidy sum by any standard. Collected over months and perhaps years, you can imagine what the pension scammers have been taking home, and what they have been denying the government and taxpayers. That amount of money can provide clean water for a thirsty community. It can rehabilitate 10 dilapidated primary schools. It can provide good health centres for five communities whose people are dying of the commonest and preventable diseases. But the money has not been doing anything of the sort. Rather, it has been going into the pockets of pension cartel members for months and years, according to Maina. Yet, the scam is not new. Nor is the ordeal of pensioners strange. Is the fate of retirees not public knowledge? Do senior citizens not
keel over and die on the verification queue or while waiting to collect their entitlements? Some too old to walk have ridden to the screening ground on the backs of their children or neighbours. Some have died without getting anything. It is a study in how a country should not treat its people, especially the seniors. It is a sad story that cuts across ministries and agencies, a bitter ordeal relieved by retired military and police personnel as well as railway and other retired civil servants. Now consider the fact that while these compatriots who served their fatherland with their best years and energies have been gnashing their teeth in their twilight, some smart fellows have been growing richer and fatter off pension funds. It is a familiar corruption story that is by no means restricted to pensions. It is everywhere. Fictitious characters collect pension just as much as the dead vote. We discovered in 2007, for instance, that American boxers voted and helped to elect
“Like pension scam, oil theft is familiar. So is the tale of contracts awarded and re-awarded at staggering sums. Indeed, scams and scandals have not been in short supply and are well documented to our grief. What has been missing is a determined government to deal decisively with sleaze. What the country needs are those institutions promised last year by President Goodluck Jonathan to get the country up and running”
our president that year. And from their graves, the dead also exercised their rights and partook in enthroning the Commander-in-Chief of their choice among the living. Another unfortunate development was reported, this time concerning some dreadful activities in the oil sector. Multinational oil firm, Royal Dutch Shell reportedly said Nigeria is daily robbed of 150,000 barrels of oil by thieves who breach the pipelines and siphon the product. Shell also appeared to question the running of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) which regulates foreign oil firms on behalf of the government. The multinational company said Nigeria pumps out 2.4 million barrels per day but can increase the output to four million if we can manage to overcome oil vandalism. Like pension scam, oil theft is familiar. So is the tale of contracts awarded and reawarded at staggering sums. Indeed, scams and scandals have not been in short supply and are well documented to our grief. What has been missing is a determined government to deal decisively with sleaze. What the country needs are those institutions promised last year by President Goodluck Jonathan to get the country up and running. That firm government may tarry. It may be some time before those great institutions take root. Abominable acts that continue to bleed the country and tarnish its image may endure still, but the good of the land will eventually overcome the bad someday. We are not a country of rogues. This piece was first published in February
THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 22, 2012
Comment & Analysis
Un-presidential excuses President Jonathan should face the job he was elected to do
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T the 60th National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) held in Abuja, President Goodluck Jonathan catalogued excuses he claimed were militating against the deliverance of his campaign promises. He reeled out the distraction to be, among others, security challenges, posed by especially, the perilous Boko Haram. Unfortunately, the injurious acts of the sect have claimed hundreds of lives through bombings and suicide attacks on churches and public buildings in the North. Recently too, a mosque in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, was bombed by members of the sect. The President, in the face of a debilitating economic downturn, also erroneously believes that insecurity has been impeding his administration’s realisation of the promise of job creation and stable power supply he made to Nigerians during the 2011 electioneering campaign. He bewailed: “Security is the most fundamental issue, particularly the threat by Boko Haram….Security agencies are working hard on the problem in Plateau and, God willing, the issue of Boko Haram will soon come down.” President Jonathan was equally economical with the truth by his erroneous belief that his administration’s seeming tolerance of opposition’s constructive criticisms amounts to doing the nation a special favour when he observed: “The opposition parties want to drown the PDP. We believe that if we do not have a party as robust as the PDP, probably, the republic would have collapsed…But the PDP, even though, we control the Federal Government, we operate a system that even the opposition fly higher than us (sic). They abuse us more, but we allow it. It is the PDP’s handling of the affairs of the country that is stabilising democracy in the country.” The President and his PDP must have forgotten that one of the most salient ingredients
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HE National Assembly should not give any constitutional roles to traditional rulers. It is an aberration, a sheer waste of time and resources as the majority of these people are corrupt dictators that rule in their fiefdoms. They keep their subjects down and giving them any role will heat up the king-making polity, across the nation. In the past, the traditional institution commanded respect due to the mode of emergence, which was based on sincerity and contribution to development. Now, it is easily-observable that the proposal is a guise of turning the entire traditional unit of the society into a complete political manipulation and manoeuvrings apparatus and annex so that the voiceless Nigerians will become more traumatized. In recent times, it was widely-publicised in the national dailies that traditional rulers were at daggers-drawn with elected representatives at the States and National levels, claiming that they were shabbily treated for not receiving the dividends of democracy. Now traditional rulers
of democracy is the expression and distillation of divergent views. The best of democracies thrive more under an atmosphere where the opposition and other groups stand up to put the ruling government on its toes. After all, democracy is universally acknowledged to require eternal vigilance and this can be guaranteed in a democratic setting with a virile opposition. To us, the opposition in the country has not even done enough to put the current administration on the right track that it is presently going astray from. While the opposition could be said to have tried, there are yet more grounds to be covered. We also think that it is right to point out that the current administration has become incorrigible or, better put, impervious to reasonable admonitions from the opposition. If any group or person should be praised, it is the opposition, at least for not toeing the path of revolt in the face of unwarranted provocation, especially in the unbelievable corruption that emanated from the last fuel subsidy removal and the probe by the House of Representatives ad hoc committee into its management. The provocation continues with the insistence by the Presidency to remove full ‘subsidy’ on petroleum products. What an irritation too that the promised power sector reforms have thrown the nation into more epileptic power supply than Nigerians had witnessed in the
TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM
•Editor Festus Eriye •Deputy Editor Olayinka Oyegbile •Associate Editors Taiwo Ogundipe Sam Egburonu
•Managing Director/ Editor-in-Chief Victor Ifijeh •Chairman, Editorial Board Sam Omatseye •General Editor Kunle Fagbemi
past. The bourgeoning unemployment crisis in the land seems to have confounded the President and his party. We consider as pertinently sad, the fact that, the Jos, Plateau State wanton killings, inherited by this administration (that even predates its predecessor) has been accorded cosmetic attention leading to the catastrophic attacks on the Berom ancestral villages, last week. Dr. Gyang Dantong, a senator, and Hon. Gyang Fulani, a member of Plateau State House of Assembly, were two of the nearly 200 persons that were killed in sporadic attacks carried out by suspected Fulani gunmen. The billions of naira budgeted and spent on the challenging security situation in the country have yielded no visible result while the spending spree continues in the face of provocative poverty. We consider as sad a situation where the President, rather than face governance squarely, bemoans the sordid situation that his incompetence has inflicted on the nation. Everything that makes governance easy, including the constitution, budget, cabinet, security paraphernalia and state’s instruments of coercion, among others, are at President Jonathan’s beck and call. What then is responsible for his laughable lamentation? He is now blaming Boko Haram for his government’s incompetence. What were his antecedents even before Boko Haram came, either as governor, vice president, acting president before he finally won the first election in his life that made him president? The excuses being given by the President are not only untenable but also un-presidential. He has stayed in power long enough to understand the workings of the system. Leadership is not about howling but about inspiring vision and bringing forth concrete results even where none existed. This is what needs to be done by President Jonathan and his failed party. Otherwise, he should feel free to throw in the towel.
LETTERS
Please, leave traditional rulers out
are government contractors, without expertise. They receive five percent of every local government council monthly-allocation apart from other overtures of their respective state governors, investors, artisan groups, individuals and other unions.
Yet, they remain unaccountable. It is in public consciousness that some traditional rulers employ proxies’ services to execute contracts. They equally capitalise on their vantage positions to use security agents to intimidate,
harass, oppress and suppress many interest groups; this is tantamount to gross abuse of office. Some traditional rulers today fuel crises, promote abduction and kidnapping of the rich, assumed opponents, native and foreign contractors in their domain and even pay
herbalists and assassins to eliminate whosoever that raises his/her voice against their societal maladies. Regrettably, each day brings about even more outlandish revelations of determined onslaught in the most sacred covenant between the
ruled and the rulers; subjects have been reduced to the status of the willing cast in a travelling theatre of torrid absurdities. There should be no roles for traditional rulers in our constitution. Let them continue to sit in their palaces and leave politics to politicians. Akingbola Temidayo, Civil Liberties Organisation, Ondo
The recent tanker explosion in Port-Harcourt
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T was another possibly avoidable national disaster, when penultimate week, millions of Nigerians saw in the media the unsavoury news that more than 200 citizens had been burnt to death in a tanker explosion that occurred in Okogbe, Rivers State. It was with wanton bewilderment and a wave of disbelief that the nation once again stood still, as various news media relayed the tragic news continuously, leaving many to wonder if it was in anyway a crime that these ones were Nigerians. Characteristic of our leaders, the usual official pro-
nouncements have since been made, the President has expressed his “deep regrets over the unnecessary loss of lives”, while the governor of the state also displayed the necessary political gymnastics by calling off all supposed official engagements scheduled for that time to rush to the scene of the tragedy. However, the sad truth is that it is now business as usual. No concrete effort to unravel the immediate and remote causes of the explosion would be made, and even if any is attempted, usually as a facesaving measure or another attempt to play to the gallery, whatever report that would
eventually be generated is sure to never be opportune to see the light of the day, but rather to be cast into the next available dustbin. Such is the story of our country, and all that we have to show for going out under the sun and the rain every four years to vote for people who are expected to govern us. Thus, while the statistics of tragedies keep going up, extinguishing whatever is left of the already diming hope of the people, the business of government here continues unhindered leaving the status quo ante stoically as it is. It must be said that the recent Port-Harcourt tragedy is one too many. One still cannot
comprehend why in heavens name it would be difficult to manage the activities of tanker drivers. That these set of road users have become a thorn in the flesh of the nation is without doubt, yet despite the continued and recurring mishap they ceaselessly occasion, the necessary authorities act as if they are lacking in the required courage to bring them to book. Funny enough, it is only in this part of the world that tanker drivers are known to recklessly and mindlessly ply the roads at daytime, and nobody seems bothered, and this is one question the PortHarcourt mishap once again
brings to the fore. It is without doubt that if that tanker that exploded had been moving at night, the resultant loss of lives would have been profoundly minimal, as no one would be there to scoop petrol that they do not need. Now is the time for those charged with the responsibility of making our laws, to summon the necessary political courage and enact the required law that will restrict the movement of petrol tankers and all other heavy vehicles to the night-time. This we believe will go a long way in arresting the menace they cause. Olusola Adegbite, Ile-Ife, Oyo State.
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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012
Comment & Analysis
Ropo Sekoni ropo.sekoni @thenationonlineng.net
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AST week, we suggested that there is a need to include citizens in the amendment process, especially at a time that the constitution is not in any way owned by citizens. We recommended that the first condition to give citizens a sense of ownership is to amend the section on Mode of Altering the Constitution to include a YES or NO referendum on amendments offered by the national assembly. This, we argued, will allow citizens to participate in deciding the relevance of new constitutional provisions to their life’s desires and their visions regarding how to make the polity and economy work. Similar to Belgore’s suggestion that the best way to strengthen the country’s governance is to give local government independence from the state that houses it, the call on the national assembly by leading trustees of the central government to insist on a central mono-level police system needs to be referred to a referendum. As it was during military rule, civilian rulers today are also fond of using their invitation to public events to pontificate about any aspect of the polity that may appeal to their fancy. Recently, the President and the Acting Inspector-General of Police
Constitutional amendment and the citizenry (2) Lack of alienation between community police and citizens guarantees fairness announced an untested theory, which claims that the country is not ready for state police. Such statements can be interpreted as a suggestion to the national assembly not to look in the direction of amending the constitution to allow for multi-level police system that includes provisions for state and local police agencies. Although the conclusions of the President and the IG are not based on hypothesis testing or empirical research, they are still opinions that can attract attention of legislators, largely because of the status of their authors. The national assembly needs to pay little mind to suggestions from the executive branch. There was a time that President Jonathan himself said pontifically that there was nothing wrong with the 1999 Constitution, only to set up the Belgore Committee later to look at what he had earlier characterized as a perfect union charter to hold diverse nationalities together. It is strange to fathom the qualifications that drive the IG to pon-
tificate on effective policing. The security agency he is leading in an acting capacity is regarded as one of the most inefficient and ineffective police systems in the world. Be that as it may, the IG, like the President, has a right to express his opinion on the type of constitution he prefers. However, there is a need to throw historical light on the evolution of the current central police system and how it became the monopoly that it has been since 1966. Before the advent of the first military government, there were two levels of policing in most of the country. There was the Nigerian Police Force and variants of local or native police in Western and Northern Regions. As Colonel Gabriel Ajayi once affirmed, the military government needed to do away with multi-level police systems, not for any reason other than having control over the polity and society. To enhance its control over the populace, the military dictatorship in the 1960s dissolved the
regions and re-named them provinces. This first act of unitary architecture of governance also needed a central police force that could assist the military to rule the country. The current federal police system that is now being seen as the right way to enforce laws and sustain public order did not drop from heaven. It was created as a response by military rulers, in the fashion of colonial rulers before them that equally lacked any mandate from the people, to ensure compliance with their rules. Citizens that affirm that the country is not ready for state police base their view on the belief that state police are likely to be abused by state governors, without realising that the reason local police was stopped in the first instance had nothing to do with a greater abuse at the local level than at the federal level. The experience of governance between 1996 and now by military and civilian rulers does not indicate that persons governing at the federal level are morally, psy-
chologically, and emotionally superior to those at the state or local level. There are no special prerequisites for becoming federal officials that are different from what is required of state officials. On the whole, public officers at the state level have as much education and exposure to good international practices as their federal counterparts. It was even like that during the decades of military dictatorship. No amount of pontifications from trustees of federal power can undo the argument that there are connections between culture and law enforcement. In the case of multinational societies, the logical thing to do to enforce law and maintain public order is to ensure that those charged to maintain order have linguistic competence and cultural literacy about the communities they cover. This explains why there are over 45 police agencies in the United Kingdom and more than 1,000 in the United States. It will, therefore, be myopic for those charged with constitutional amendments to rely on facile generalizations about the inability of state and local governments to operate an abuse-free police system. The lack of alienation between community police and the citizens guarantees more fairness than is achievable under the current central police force.
Fayemi: 21 months of quiet revolution in Ekiti Femi Orebe femi.orebe @thenationonlineng.net 08056504626 (sms only)
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N Tuesday, 17 July, 2011, avuncular Pastor Diipo Bamidele of the Covenant Christian Ministries, Lagos, himself the son of a clergy and well known and respected by all for his objective views on issues ,wrote as follows on ekitipanupo concerning Ekiti.‘I have been in Ado-Ekiti since last Sunday. I arrived at night in heavy rain and got caught up in the massive and agonising traffic gridlock which started from Christ’s School and stretched through Teaching Hospital to Opopogboro and terminated near the Testing Ground. ‘The following morning, l left home very early for an engagement around the GRA, but, again, got caught up on my return journey to Petim area. ‘l decided, later in the day, to take a ride round town to see things for myself. I visited all exits and went downtown. I was amazed at the massive and inclusive construction work going on. I took pains to assess the huge cost needed for reconstruction as a result of shoddy work done in the past. For instance, even as a non engineer, the scrapping of the bitumen overlay on Ado-Ikere Road showed that there was no proper soil test or compaction, which led to rapid road failure. ‘Lack of proper drainage, shabby construction works led to the need to pull down structures, clear some places of shanties and rebuild. It is an enormous work. ‘In the process, the inhabitants would be inconvenienced, but then there is no gain without pain, and no glory without a story. We just need to be patient.
The fortunes of Ekiti are being turned around through giant strides by current governor ‘I can boldly confirm that throughout yesterday there was free flow of traffic in the town. The contractors are all working at good speed to meet deadlines. I feel reasonably sure that by December, AdoEkiti would have been transformed. ‘Further findings also showed that the government is on course with its agenda. It is costly to build, but costlier and slower to rebuild, renovate, reconstruct, and construct. ‘What we had before was largely very poor foundation. ‘Let us all be patient, and join hands together to see a new Ekiti emerge.’ Today, and for the next two weeks, my ever loyal readers will be treated to the efforts of a highly concentrated mind, that of governor Kayode Fayemi, and his enormously committed team, in turning around the fortunes of a beleaguered state which, for 9 cheerless years, was in the throes of some thoroughly vacuous PDP governments, one of which lasted all of one day. This time, as told by the refreshing Hakeem Jamiu, the governor’s Senior Special Assistant on Research and Documentation. Happy reading. In the fullness of time, it will be the turn of Ekiti people whose lives have been positively touched by the Kayode Fayemi-led administration to judge accordingly. The 20,000 Ekiti elderly people who pray ceaselessly for Dr. Fayemi after collecting a N5,000 monthly stipend and the over 300, 000 (three hundred thousand) other Ekiti citizens who are beneficiaries of his free health mission programme which had, in fact, commenced before he retrieved his mandate; and the thousands of children under 5, pregnant women, citizens above 65 and the physically-challenged who enjoy free health programme are in a great position to assess the administra-
tion. In the same sector, health workers of all categories have no reasons to complain as it can be said, without fear or favour, that Ekiti doctors, nurses and others are among the highest paid in the country with the result that the state has become the choice state for doctors, pharmacists, nurses etc. Ekiti State is on record as the first state in the South West to pay a minimum wage of N19, 300 to all categories of workers. Before the Fayemi administration, there were no functional ambulances in the state’s hospitals, inclusive of then so-called Teaching Hospital. All we saw was a shadowy Cuban Eye facility that had a paid agent, inter-mediating between Cuba and the state government which ended up paying over a quarter billion naira for the spurious project. This, obviously, is not Cuba’s way of helping the world through its highly rated medical tourism programme. Also in the same sector is the massive emergency assistance rendered to indigent citizens who require one form of surgical intervention or the other. Hundreds of Ekiti families who have benefited from the Multiple Trust Fund which is an initiative of the wife of the Governor, Erelu Bisi Fayemi, to support couples with multiple births will never forget this administration in a hurry. Many had, in this way, got free cleft lip and ulcer surgeries. For Ekiti citizens, it has been two for the price of one as Erelu Fayemi continues to do that for which she has become known world-wide, empowering and positively impacting women, the youth and the weak generally. For this purpose she has been honoured by even the United Nations. Governor Fayemi has also brought to bear on the health sector his unquenchable thrust to qualitatively impact education in its entire
ramification in the state. For instance, the state’s School of Nursing and Midwifery recorded over 90 percent success rate at the National Examination of Schools of Nursing and Midwifery. To strengthen capacity for effective delivery of health services, a total of 4,535 health workers were trained in various segments of health care delivery, making the state comparable in the area of training to only Lagos State, in the entire country. The Fayemi administration is aggressively pursuing development in agriculture because of its numerous advantages. Apart from being capable of providing huge employment opportunities for the women fold and the youth, through the value chain process, it ensures liquidity amongst farmers who are therefore able to enjoy a higher standard of life, nearly effortlessly meeting their daily needs. About the first thing the governor did on coming into office was to pay up the huge backlog of unpaid counterpart funding for various agricultural projects. Paying counterpart funding was a literal taboo to PDP governors. Farmers have been empowered via the provision by government, of agricultural soft loans, farm implements and herbicides, while millions of naira have been expended on equipments to assist rice farmers to increase their yield. The empowerment of farmers is also being replicated at the local government level where farmers have been greatly assisted. In order to make agriculture attractive, commercial and sustainable, the government recently launched the Youth Commercial Agriculture Development Programme (YCAD). 7,500 pilot commercial farmers have been shortlisted, while 1,000 hectares of land have been cleared for the pur-
pose in phase 1 of the project. The project is designed to result in a minimum of 20,000 youth commercial farmers by 2014. At the commencement of the Fayemi administration, water supply in the entire state was below 25 percent, but this has since increased to 45 percent because the obsolete equipments at our various dams which meant nothing to four successive PDP governors are now being aggressively replaced. New water pipes are being laid, some of which are ready for testing. A heavy duty generator worth 200 million naira was procured and installed at Ero dam as back up for electricity. Also, water treatment plants and generators have been installed at all the mini water dams at Efon, Okemesi, Ido-Ile, Erijiyan and Igbara-Odo. According to the governor’s hardworking Special Adviser on Infrastructure, Prince Kayode Jegede, water supply should have increased to about 55 percent by December 2012 when the Ado-Ekiti head works-Mary HillAjibade-Idolofin-Housing and another 12km pipeline from OgotunIpole Iloro would have been commissioned. Many of these facilities were long standing state investments, even predating the Western Region era, which an illegal Ekiti State government would rather give away in sweet heart deals to its godfathers. Another area of the Fayemi 8Point Agenda is transportation where a massive re-engineering is apace. In order to ease the chaotic transport and traffic situation which predominated in the state, especially in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, governor Kayode Fayemi has invested a lot of rigour, brain power and money in what is beginning to emerge as a modern state all through the state capital in particular, is now like a humming construction site with all manner of infrastructural developments and urban renewal going on ‘pari passu’. A visitor would not be too wrong to think there had been no government there in decades. TO BE CONTINUED
Comment & Analysis
THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 22, 2012
Tunji
Adegboyega [email protected] 08054503906 (sms only)
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EOPLES Democratic Party (PDP) politicians who had been stealing electoral victory, especially in the south-west until the courts threw them out one after the other must have seen the difference between the elections that they claimed they won and the genuine victory of Adams Oshiomhole, last Saturday. They must have seen how Edo people poured to the streets spontaneously in jubilation after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) pronounced Oshiomhole winner of the governorship election. This contrasted sharply with the ‘victories’ that the PDP claimed in states like Osun, Ekiti, Ondo and even Ogun, especially in the 2007 elections. Or even the one the PDP claimed in Edo which brought Prof Oserheimen Osunbor into office before the courts sent him too away. People literally carried their sadness round their necks like necklaces of stone immediately INEC declared the PDP candidates winners in those states. I could recollect that one of the party’s governorship candidates who was declared winner was too popular to be sworn in in the open; so he had to take his oath of office in the safe confines of the government house, under unusually tight security! Talk of the guilty being afraid. People voted overwhelmingly for Oshiomhole not because they like his face; it was his performance which spoke for and vindicated him. Coming after PDP’s Lucky Igbinedion had despoiled Edo, Oshiomhole’s tenure was a memorable experience. All the
Postscript, UnlimBy ited!
08187172799 (SMS only) [email protected]
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HEN much younger, I greatly admired the British TV series, ‘Dr. Who’, which ran from the 1960s to the nineties, though I hear it still runs. It was based on the adventures of a human-like, super-intelligent character named, you guessed it, Dr. Who. Often, the great doctor’s adventures took him and his companions, in his magical box, into outer space and outer time – past, present and future – where he conquered villains, criminals and other enemies of state and saved the universe more by sleuth than by any physical force. Ah! He was master of the science of time and disappearances. It made many of us children dream vainly of being able to travel out of time and body, particularly when it was errand-running time for the parents, mostly after-school hours. Now that I’ve grown and have learnt the art of sending people on errands, I have found that science has still gone ahead of me: it helps them to disappear, literally. They simply use a miniature form of Dr. Who’s box (which can now talk) to inform me about how they have to stay back in school for some assignment or the other. So, I still find myself dreaming about Dr. Who’s real box, this time on how it can help me make my errant errand
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Edo polls without Abuja ‘oxygen’ As the Presidency played safe, the vote riggers became fish out of water things that Mr Igbinedion said were impossible because ‘there was no money’, Oshiomhole made most of them possible. Even the blind would marvel at what the governor has done in less than four years; a sharp contrast to what Igbinedion could not do in eight years. So, when it was payback time, the people rewarded hard work; they rewarded diligence. There were no pretensions; Edo people left no one in doubt where their hearts were. They shunned divisive ethnic politics and put their votes where their mouths were. They had seen the difference between darkness and light; they opted for light. Yet, the purveyors of darkness who ruled the state for about 10 years without results shamelessly wanted to return. They forgot that levels have changed, as all the tricks they deployed came to naught. The pre-election violence was unspeakable; lives were lost as the desperation to ‘recapture’ the state rose to frightening proportions. They even convinced the Edo people, rather than confuse them about who Oshiomhole is, with a ‘blowjob’ that they orchestrated (as if the people told them they were looking for a Pope as governor). Even if the people wanted a Pope for
governor, was it from Edo PDP that that Pope will come? These were the same people who can never cast the first stone when caught pants down themselves! But it was clear that Edo people were ready for that election. The fury on their faces was palpable, so palpable that anyone who wanted to try anything funny would have thought twice. Even those acclaimed to be election ‘fixers’ saw the fire on the faces of the voters and knew that these were not the same Edo people they were used to. All the certified vote riggers were trounced even in their respective areas; from the grandpa to the grandchildren. Although the deployment of security men helped (even though it was not a thing I really like), the people also played their part. They had more than enough tutorials on how to police their votes, and they did just that all the way and all the night, such that it was impossible for anyone to announce the next morning (as they used to do) that two plus two no longer equalled four. When people believe in a government or a cause, they will be ready to do anything, including die for it. Clearly, that is where this country is headed, especially with the 180-day
“Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) politicians who had been stealing electoral victory, especially in the south-west until the courts threw them out one after the other must have seen the difference between the elections that they claimed they won and the genuine victory of Adams Oshiomhole, last Saturday. They must have seen how Edo people poured to the streets spontaneously in jubilation after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) pronounced Oshiomhole winner of the governorship election”
deadline to resolve election disputes which we have seen how it has been abused to give undeserved advantage to election riggers. I have said it before that for the PDP; things can never remain the same. The party should get ready to lose in more states in coming elections because more and more people are now getting wiser. To do otherwise is to expect more Boko Haram, unless there is a change in the way Nigerians are being governed. But a situation where anything and everything goes as ‘politics’, cannot produce a different result. The election in Edo has shown that there is nothing like ‘fix it’ once the oxygen and the crutches needed to do the dirty job are not forthcoming from Abuja. And, talking about Abuja, it was good the Presidency denied those expecting them these ‘life support facilities’. The country has enough security challenges to handle; it would be suicidal adding another avoidable bloodbath that would have trailed the election in Edo if it had been rigged because it was unlikely that the people were in the mood to tolerate an election the outcome of which had been determined long before they went to the polls. As Abraham Lincoln noted, “You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time”. There is a lesson for other incumbent governors, particularly the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) governors, in Oshiomhole’s re-election: voters are getting increasingly impatient with non-performers who would want to take them for a ride, or ride on the back of some political godfathers. They are in a region where the voters are
too sophisticated to be taken for granted. And nothing is settled until it is settled. The people are watching and when the time comes, they will simply sift the wheat from the chaff. We saw that in last year’s general elections. If the Yoruba people rejected being ‘mainstreamers’, it is because they see it is a euphemism for non-performance and treasury looting in many parts of the country. And if they pitch their tent somewhere else, they expect democratic dividend, which is nonnegotiable. A word is enough for the wise. I congratulate Governor Oshiomhole. It is not easy to sweep the polls by the wide margin that he did in a place like Edo with all its centrifugal tendencies, winning the 18 local government areas of the state, in spite of the drumbeats of war by the PDP. He scored a total of 477,478 votes to defeat his closest rival, Major- General Charles Airhiavbere (rtd) of the PDP, who got 144,235 votes out of a total of 630,099 valid votes cast. That is the way it should be; and that was what many of us expected. Only those who thought the Edo people had forgotten what their state looked like in the 10 years that the PDP was in power before Oshiomhole came, or people who were betting on the usual satanic ‘life support’ for election riggers in the state had expected that the election would be too close to call. However, with the election now convincingly won and lost, Oshiomhole should realise that the reward for hard work is more work. This is the only way he can justify the confidence reposed in him by the Edo people and permanently shut out the marauders from the state.
2015 and the rest of us
boys’ dinners disappear! Many of us can make time disappear by spending it ‘like sand’. To such, time obviously hangs like a very heavy burden which they just can’t get through well enough. So, moving from one indolent reclination to another, they wait anxiously for the day to end and another begin. Believe it or not, I heard the story of some local government chieftains in this country whose principal job appears to be just moving their families from one hotel room to another around the world on, you guessed it, local government funds. And the principal job of those families (of wives and children) is just to recline and sometimes shop because they are on a permanent holiday that just would not end. Very tough life they have, no? Grrr! Then, of course, there are those of us who value time because there just appears never to be enough of it. When you have mounds of work and you cannot see the word ‘end’ at the bottom of the pile, it is all you can do not to cry unto your maker to make the sun stand still once more so that you can at least get half of it done. It happened before, after all. But, all you get are twenty-four short hours. For example, whenever it is time to write this column again, believe me, I am caught smack in the middle of something else which is just as engaging and also with a dangling headline and I really wish for that box that makes our character above disappear so rapidly. I know I have not disappeared because I can most times hear the editor hollering. So, I have to drop all and belt out these
happy notes for you, dear reader. Obviously then, the amount of work on one’s hands appears to determine how one views time: as a burden to be gone through when you are lucky to be related to our LG chieftains or as an impatient measurement when you are holding the world on your shoulders, like Atlas. I would imagine that anyone governing this country in any role falls in the latter category: too much work, really too much work to do. So, the president should be feeling like our man Atlas now because he is presiding over a country where the only thing that works right now is the sharing of revenues. I hear everyone, past and present rulers included, is interested in those blessed revenues. This is partly why, after they are shared, no one knows what becomes of them. Oh yes, I forgot, some go into paying hotel bills for families of functionaries of the state. Listen. This land is practically begging us all to work it because there is so much to do and there is so little time. Nigeria has not even begun to be called a work in progress because there is none going on that can be seen to the human eyes. I did hear the prediction that by the year 2015, there might not be a Nigeria again. While some of us would be relieved, I dare say some of us would cry. Some others would indifferently say, ‘I told you so’. Certainly, there would be losses for some and gains for others were that to happen. To my unpractised eye, it would appear that our government does not really care whichever way the dice falls – for Nigeria to be
or not to be. If it cared, it would give a different reading to that newsy year than it is giving now. For the government, year 2015 is election year, period. Any politician knows that you begin to plan for the next election the very day you win or lose the last one. That would be, of course, in normal situations. Nigeria is not a normal situation; it is crumbling all around us. I would rather think therefore that dreaming about the election year 2015 right now is not very politic for the government. Reason? Too much work. Take roads. Take infrastructures. They are just not there. Actually, the joke that every Nigerian has become a local government because he has to provide his own water, electricity and road is no longer funny. It is reminding one too much of the ‘Temporary surface, Permanent notice’ joke where the users of a road were asked not to expect any repairs on the road, ever. Take security. Now, I believe every Nigerian now sleeps and moves and exists with both eyes open. The people can no longer afford to sleep with one eye open. Things have come to such a sorry pass indeed that good neighbourliness is difficult to express, what with kidnappers, armed robbers, ritualists, Niger Delta and now Boko Haram bombers strewn all around the place ready to pounce on any kind-hearted do-gooder. Every Nigerian’s head is now constantly swivelling on its joints just trying to, you know, keep its head. Then take food. Believe me, Nigerians are hungry. There are scores of people who go to bed
without supper, rise without prospects of breakfast and only a dim hope for lunch. The injustice of it is that these people hear about how large-sized diamonds are being twirled around arthritic finger joints in the capital city of Abuja. Sometimes, I want to be able to enter the supermarket, pick a basket and stand transfixed at the yoghurt refrigerator, trying to choose between vanilla or strawberry or mango or lemon or some-othername flavoured, fresh-cultured yoghurt and then sigh and think in despair, how can one ever choose when there are so many options? The only option I get, as an average Nigerian, is whether there will be food to eat this afternoon or not. How on earth any Nigerian government can be planning for reelection in 2015 without first ensuring a terra firma to step on in that future time beats me. Nay, it transports me into paroxysms of laughter, the kind that has me shedding tears of sorrow. I want to believe that Nigerians are not as lazy or as dubious as the world wants to believe. They are just a people wronged and let down by their leaders and are just getting by the best way possible. Majority of them are not planning for re-election come 2015; they are nevertheless interested in that futuristic year. They want to reach it without necessarily being catapulted in any box, neither Dr. Who’s nor any other, with all things working together for their good. Let the government work NOW to address the causes of their national sorrows. 2015 is still far away.
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HEN the news broke that you had been appointed the new National Security Adviser (NSA), newspapers feasted on your antecedents and present retirement rank with an obvious intent to predict your next moves. These, to my mind, were to underscore your predecessor’s performances and pitch you against military ethics. That you are being credited with a time lapse and dialogue with the sect is a pointer that the grounds may be more slippery than you think. The political jostle for your attention had already started in earnest. The allusion to your blue blood and the Sokoto Caliphate cannot be innocently overlooked but believe me it may be an albatross, which is the target of the sect’s insurgency campaigns to Islamise the nation. The interested parties have already carved out a format for your attention, which if you dare to follow may make your tasks more difficult and bloody than expected. It’s all over the news that you had kicked off your consultation with vested interest groups of traditional rulers, political heavy weights, Islamic clerics and scholars to find a lasting solution to Boko Haram. Good as it looks the publicity may be counter- productive and put the lives of those men-
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T is no longer news that the country has been under the siege of insecurity in recent time. Certain parts of the northern region of the country, especially, have become a nightmare for natives as well as visitors. The once peaceful city of Jos has continued to be a volatile place and nobody really knows when the fire on the Plateau will be completely doused. The untold genocide taking place on the Plateau is, to say the least, frightening. The primary concern of this piece, however, is the implication of the security situation in the country on food security. The United Nations defines food security as “all people at all times having both physical and economic access to the basic food they need.” For approximately 2 billion people throughout the world, this security is anything but guaranteed. The northern part of Nigeria is, undoubtedly, the food basket of the country. Hence, it is not surprising that the tensed security atmosphere in the region is beginning to take its toll on food security, particularly in the southern part of the country. For quite some time now, prices of food items in Lagos in particular have skyrocketed beyond imagination. According to analysts, farmers in the north no longer enjoy the conducive working atmosphere that could enhance massive food production. Similarly, transporting food items from the north to the south, analysts say is fast becoming a risky venture. Unless the security crisis in the country is tackled headlong, a worsening food crisis might be imminent. However, like every human challenge, if well managed, this might be an opportunity for governments across the southern part of the country to creatively device ways to boost food security in the region. It is sad today that Nigeria is no longer a major exporter of cocoa, groundnuts, rubber, and palm oil. Ironically, these were the produce that the nation’s founding fathers built the pros-
I
THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012
Comment & Analysis
Letter to Sambo Dasuki By Enitan Lawson
tioned and their dependants in grave danger all because of this societal class factor. The caustic and highly provocative response of the Arewa Consultative Forum(ACF) to Senate President, David Mark’s, call on Northern leaders may be a pointer to the frustration of its members not having any leverage with the sect’s leadership, or fear of present and immediate danger from the sect itself. It may also signify suspicion of culpability of some of its members – contributing to the seeming invisibility of the sect’s leadership. Finally it may be a desperate attempt to take the sail out of your consultation agenda and a veiled warning to members to be wary
of your intentions As usual, when government wants to shortchange Nigerians, it makes comparative analysis with situations in other countries of the world. Examples include the government’s comparison during the oil subsidy debate and the classification of Boko Haram as a terror group with Al-Qaeda link. That linkage signifies that it has a specific target and societal group which is the powerful political elite of the north and not the common folks and Christians who are only collateral damage in similar Islamicbacked fundamental insurgency. Boko Haram is operating within the template of Taliban of Afghanistan and the target is the political elite and sectional tribal chiefs. But the
atrocities against Western interests, schools, churches etc have polluted Islamic norms. I recommend a detailed study of Taliban’s operational template if you are to stay a step ahead of Boko Haram. That they have not targeted senior government officials, ministers, senators and presidential aides does not mean they won’t. President Goodluck Jonathan had publicly alluded to their presence in his government. You may not need another cue apart from this or you may as well publish your operational orders on the pages of newspapers. America’s terror template has proved effective when compared to either the British MI5/ MI6 or the Israeli MOSSAD. Let’s face it: the faceless, powerful Nigerian political and religious elite whose identities
“Boko Haram is operating within the template of Taliban of Afghanistan and the target is the political elite and sectional tribal chiefs. I recommend a detailed study of Taliban’s operational template if you are to stay a step ahead of Boko Haram. “
Insecurity, food security and unemployment Tayo Ogunbiyi
perity of the country upon. It is amazing how a nation that was once the biggest poultry producer in Africa now has its total output reduced from 40 million birds annually to about 18 million. The truth of the matter is that agriculture has suffered from years of neglect, poorly conceived government’s policies as well as lack of basic infrastructure. Despite the fact that agricultural production rose by 28 percent during the 1990s, per capita output rose by only 8.5 percent during the same decade. Consequently, agriculture has not been able to keep pace with Nigeria’s rapid population growth as evident in the sad reality that Nigeria, which once exported food, now relies heavily on imports to sustain itself. Contented in its newly found oil wealth, succeeding governments in the country simply allowed investment in agriculture to decline to a ridiculous state. The prospect of the sector, nevertheless, still reflects in its being accountable for over 26.8% of GDP and two-thirds of employment in the country. To reverse the trend, budgetary allocation for the agricultural sector must first and foremost be increased. As against the United Nations specified 10% of annual budgetary allocation, what we budget for agriculture in recent
time is just around 3 %. When one considers the fact that we have not been able to achieve full budget implementation, in the last twelve years, then the precarious state of agriculture will better be appreciated. Second, the communication gap between farmers and policy implementers need to be bridged. In most cases, the policy implementers don’t really carry the farmers along in the process of policy implementation. This, perhaps, is responsible for the inability of subsidized fertilizers and loans from the government and its agencies to get to the reach of the real farmers who are in dire need of it. Third, governments in the southern part of the country should begin to embrace large scale mechanized farming. This, aside helping to enhance food security will assist in tackling the monstrous question of unemployment in the country. Nigeria’s growing unemployment is a major concern as the figures increasingly suggest dwindling potentials. Official figures from the Bureau of Statistics puts this figure at about 20% (about 30million), but this figure still did not include about 40million other Nigerian youths captured in World Bank statistics in 2009. By implication, it means that if Nigeria’s population is 140 million, then 50% of
Nigerians are unemployed, or worse still, at least 71% of Nigerian youths are unemployed. This is particularly disturbing and counterproductive because at least 70% of the population of this country are youths. The agriculture sector is one area where governments across the country could resourcefully provide huge employment opportunities for the people. Interestingly, the Lagos State government is already moving in this direction with its Marine Agriculture Development Programme for Accelerated Fish Production. Till date, the programme has created over 6000 direct jobs and over 35,000 jobs indirectly to cage manufacturers, fingerlings producers, feed millers and sales, fish marketers , processors and storage amongst others with the possibility of specialization. The Ikorodu Fish Farm Estate which has been fully subscribed is currently producing at 70% of its capacity. An average of 3,000 Tones of fresh fish was produced annually from the Estate with over 400 jobs created directly and over 100,000 jobs indirectly. The Rice for Job initiative has equally successfully offered employment opportunities for over 5000 youths that are currently engaged in rice cultivation and sales across the state. In same vein, the AGRIC-YES initiative, designed to produce first class entrepreneurial elite farmers, is a three phased
“It is sad today that Nigeria is no longer a major exporter of cocoa, groundnuts, rubber, and palm oil. Ironically, these were the produce that the nation’s founding fathers built the prosperity of the country upon.”
would soon be unmasked are already culpable of crimes against humanity. Your brief, I suppose, is to eliminate the threat and keep this geographical entity united. My new NSA I am quite sure, that you are conversant with the American template since you were in Ibrahim Babangida’s regime that tried it once. The American template is that Nigerian government would need to completely overhaul the security and intelligence structures and institutions to accommodate the emergence of these institutions. It involves the creation of Department of Home Land Security (DHLS), National Guard element (NG), National Internal Security Organisation (NISO) or Internal Security Surveillance element and Counter Terrorist Department (CTU) with units in all states capitals. Finally, the government that appointed you must go the whole hog and give you all the backing you need to succeed. Those who floated the idea of local solution should visit the grave yard and count the orphans on the streets of the affected communities. We must say NO to the buccaneers and the carpet baggers who are set to profit from the atrocities of the barbarian warlords in the form of amnesty bonanza. Commander Lawson (rtd) wrote from Lagos. intervention programme that has so far produced over 3,000 elite farmers in the state. Equally through the state’s greening programme, a total number of 12,000 people are directly employed while the cleaning exercise has generated over 6000 jobs. Consequently, southern governments need to recreate a modernized professional and commercial farming sector, supported by improved infrastructure and research into high performance seeds and livestock. To encourage the teeming army of un-employed youths in the country to take to agriculture, government should make access to loans meant for agriculture much easier while large scale farming powered by mechanized infrastructures should be the central goal. Equally, local food production needs to be encouraged by making inputs available, giving farmers access to more farm land, providing micro credit at subsidized cost, supporting adequate processing and storage, providing market facilities, and discouraging import of produce with local substitutes through tariffs. It is also important that a significant portion of the country’s annual budget be set aside for the development of the sector. This can be achieved if government reduces its expenses on ventures that are grossly un-productive. With an array of vastly available agricultural friendly land, southern states, especially those from the south west, need not look further in their bid to address the question of unemployment. Agriculture remains one major sector that could readily take care of youth restiveness as well as unemployment in the country, if only the various authorities concerned could follow the path of the Israelis, who despite being in a desert area, has a sustainable green agriculture all year round. The time to start is now! Ogunbiyi is of the Ministry of Information and Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja
POLITICS
THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 22, 2012
KEBBI POWER STRUGGLE
Dakingari battles Ayuba, Magoro The political climate in Kebbi State may appear crisisfree on the surface, but recent developments in the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) clearly point to the contrary, reports Remi Adelowo •Dakingari
•Magoro
•Aliero
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OR years, relative peace reigned in the Kebbi State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). But not anymore, as recent events in the ruling party in the North West state points to a disturbing trend that, if not fixed on time, may scuttle the party’s chances in the next governorship polls in 2015. Dubbed by observers as a battle for political relevance ahead of the 2015 general elections, the major ‘combatants’ for now are pretending that all is well, even as they fortify their arsenal for the battle outcome of which could determine their future political relevance. Pitched on one side of the divide is the state governor, Saidu Dakingari, in concert with his predecessor, Adamu Aliero, battling other stakeholders, including retired army general- turned senator, Mohammed Magoro, former Senator Tanko Ayuba and former Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Ishaya Bamaiyi. Curiously, the three retired generals appear not to be on the same page in the current crisis, and only fighting the governor for different reasons. Some sources said that Dakingari’s influence in the party must be curtailed before the next elections. What is Tanko Ayuba’s grouse with Dakingari? The Nation gathered that the crisis of confidence between the hitherto close political allies started when the governor allegedly put the machinery of the state government and the party behind Magoro, a former Minister of Internal Affairs and one time chairman of the oil giant, Oando, at the PDP senatorial primaries, thus truncating Ayuba’s second term aspiration to return to the Senate
last year. Like a good sportsman, Ayuba was said to have taken his loss in good faith. Left to the retired army general, he had hoped to retire into a quiet private life, while telling his supporters that he had no qualms losing to Magoro, who was far his senior in the military. But his supporters would have none of this. Some of them had argued that after investing substantially in the party, the governor should nominate him for a juicy appointment at the federal level, a request the governor allegedly agreed to. While Ayuba, who is also a one-time Minister of Communications, reportedly preferred either a ministerial or federal board appointment, none of these has come his way, as the governor has failed to put forward his name to the Presidency, a development that has polarised the Kebbi State chapter of PDP. And in spite of concerted pressures on him that he should leverage on his closeness to the VicePresident, Mohammed Namadi Sambo, who served as a commissioner while he was the Military Governor of Kaduna State in the early 80’s, Ayuba has not changed his stance of ‘leaving his political future in God’s hands.’ As one of his supporters puts it, “That’s Ayuba for you; he would never lobby for favours from anybody. As a senator from 2007-2011, he refused to lobby the Senate President, David Mark, who was in the Army Signals Corps with him, in order to chair any major committee. The best he got was as the Vice Chairman of the Senate Committee on Communications, where he served for only two years.”
“Dakingari and Aliero have come a long way. They have been friends from their days in the Customs where they rose to the position of Assistant Comptrollers-General. It was not for nothing that Aliero backed Dakingari to succeed him in 2007.”
For Senator Magoro, sources said he is not comfortable with the governor’s new-found closeness with ex-Governor Adamu Aliero, who had decamped from the PDP to the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) after his failure to secure the PDP senatorial ticket for Kebbi Central in 2011. It would be recalled that shortly after the death of exPresident Umaru Yar’Adua, who was the governor’s fatherin-law in 2009, Aliero was dropped as the Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) by President Goodluck Jonathan, and he was alleged to have accused Dakingari of ‘sacrificing him’ to enable him (Dakingari) secure a second term in office. In his desperation to ward off the opposition from Aliero and CPC, the governor allegedly teamed up with the likes of Magoro and Ayuba, who readily provided their support and against earlier permutations by political observers, won a second term in office. But it did not take long before the governor and Aliero made up. Providing an insight into what led to the truce, a source said, “both of them (Dakingari and Aliero) have come a long way. They have been friends from their days in the Customs where they rose to the position of Assistant Comptrollers-General. It was not for nothing that Aliero backed Dakingari to succeed him in 2007.” The case of Gen. Ishaya Bamaiyi may also not be unconnected to his side lined in the affairs of the state allegedly by the governor. Though he has remained largely apolitical, Bamaiyi has rendered support to many elected politicians in the state at the local and federal levels. Now the big question is: When would these major political stakeholders in Kebbi State resolve their differences? Only time will tell.
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THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 22, 2012
Politics
OR years, only suppressed complaints confirmed the battle between states and local government councils across the country. Today, that concealed power tussle between the second and third tiers of government has finally come to a head in Imo state, as Owelle Rochas Okorocha-led State government is pitched in a decisive battle against the 27 elected council chairmen, who he sacked when he assumed office as governor. The aggrieved chairmen, all members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), had first headed to the high court to regain their positions. Not satisfied with the ruling of the court, they approached the Court of Appeal in Owerri, Imo State capital. On Thursday, July 5, 2012, the Court of Appeal, headed by Justice Uwani Musa Abba Aji, in its ruling on the matter, dismissed the dissolution of the councils as illegal, null and void and of no effect and subsequently ordered the council bosses to go back to their offices. But instead of restoring the embattled chairmen as directed, Okorocha decided to drag the matter up to the Supreme Court. So, as the council chairmen make desperate attempts to re-occupy their offices as ordered by the appeal court, the stage was set for a possible confrontation between them and agents of the state government, who would not hear of it. To avoid the brewing crisis, the state government was advised by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Muhammed Bello Adoke, to first obey the ruling of the Court of Appeal, but state government officials curtly asked him to keep his counsel. The state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Soronadi Njoku, in a press statement early that day insisted that the council chairmen must stay away from office as the state government had filed an appeal to the Supreme Court against the said judgment. The appeal, according to him, had been served on the counsel to the appellants, Livy Uzoukwu (SAN), on the same 5th day of 2012. Meanwhile, the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Imo State Chapter, called the bluff of that argument, warning that it has begun the moves to ensure that the 27 reinstated council chairmen in the state regained their seats. This was made known by the state chairman of the party, Chief Eze Duruiheoma (SAN), while briefing reporters in Owerri. According to him, the leadership would formally move to the Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr. Chris Dega, to present him a copy of the court judgment so as to allow the reinstated council chairmen occupy their various positions in the council headquarters. Njoku had argued that Okorocha, in accordance with the law and rules of court, had filed a motion of notice for stay of execution of the judgment, even as the council chairmen had equally been served. But the Attorney-General had explained that the motion for stay of execution, although duly filed and served had not been heard and determined and so is a pending process before a court of competent jurisdiction. It was on the basis of this that security officials are aiding the council chairmen to regain their positions. However, Njoku openly faulted what state govern-
Travails of LG councils As the final scene of the current battle between Governor Rochas Okorocha and 27 elected local council chairmen in Imo State unfolds at the Supreme Court, Sam Egburonu, Emma Mgbeahurike in Owerri and Nwanosike Onu in Awka report that the travails of local councils in the hands of governors across the country can no longer be ignored
• Okorocha
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ment officials described as moves by the Commissioner of Police in the state to overrun the 27 local government councils for the purpose of installing the council chairmen acting pursuant to the “order of the Inspector General of Police.” While contending that the state government is not in any breech of the judgment of the Court of Appeal, Njoku said that advising the state government to obey the court order in the prevailing circumstance is more like
playing politics with the law of the land. In the face of these disagreements, the chairmen were that day ushered into their respective offices amidst tight security provided by mobile policemen and sundry personal security aides. There was no fatal fracas that day, mainly because of some temporary measures. For example, the Imo State government, aware that the time bomb could be detonated easily in the given scenario, tactically declared a three-
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Anambra’s elusive co
Y December 5, 2012, it would be 14 years since local government election was last conducted in Anambra State. That grassroots election was conducted on December 5, 1998, under the supervision of a military government. The tenure of the chairmen elected then expired in 2002 when Dr. Chinwoke Mbadinuju was in office as governor. Since then, the 21 council areas in the state had transmitted from one caretaker committee to the other. As a result, both citizens and political parties, desirous of dividends of democracy at the third tier of government, had become restless, accusing different state governments, past and present, of insensitivity. Presently, all the political parties, including the ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), are accusing the incumbent administration, led by Mr. Peter Obi, of playing hide-and-seek over the conduct of local government area election in the state. In fact, this has become a subject of litigation as some aggrieved political parties and individuals had taken on the state government. Ironically, the state government has also claimed that the court cases instituted against it by individuals and parties had made it difficult for it to conduct council polls. Governor Obi pointedly argued that “if anybody wants local government election to be conducted in this state, those cases in
•Adoke
court should be vacated, this government cannot go against the law of the land.” It was in November 2004, during the administration of now Senator Chris Ngige, that the last genuine effort to conduct local government election in the state was made. But it was frustrated. Arrangement for the elections had been concluded with voters’ registers and other materials reportedly ready before the office of the Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission (ANSIEC) was suddenly set ablaze by political rascals. After the exit of Ngige, through a Court of Appeal ruling in 2006, Obi mounted the saddle of leadership and since then it has been one unfulfilled promise after another, notwithstanding that in his maiden speech to the people of the state, he had assured them of conducting local government election within the last quarter of the year. The assurance could not materialise as Obi was illegally impeached by the then lawmakers which brought his deputy then, Dame Virgy Etiaba, on the saddle. Before Etiaba could take any decision on the issue, Obi had fought his way back to the governorship seat and maintained his assurance of conducting council polls in the state. When he assumed office, the
•Belgore
day holiday for staff of local governments, an approach that kept many of them away that crucial day and thus helped to avert possible breakdown of law and order. As the holiday ends, it is yet to be seen how the time bomb would be permanently detonated with minimal damage. Aside Imo State, many other states do not have democratically elected local councils, a situation that has enabled state governors to run the councils of the local government areas in their states
with appointed caretaker committees. In fact, only about 10 states, out of the 36 states currently have elected councils in place. Among the governors that consistently conducted local government elections include Raji Fashola of Lagos State, Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers and Sullivan Chime of Enugu State. Some governors have indeed perfected schemes to frustrate calls for democratically elected local councils.
•Obi
•Mbadinuju
then chairman of ANSIEC, Chief Cornel Umeh, was removed from office which raised a lot of dust in the state from political parties and individuals as they claimed his removal was unconstitutional. The embattled chairman of the commission went to court to challenge the decision while remaining in office. It dragged on until his tenure expired and the seat became vacant. Earlier, Umeh was accused of being Ngige’s relation, which ac-
cording to some stakeholders, made him a card-carrying member of one of the political parties. Following the expiration of Umeh’s tenure, Obi took time before announcing the composition of a new ANSIEC board with Prof. Titus Eze as the chairman. When Obi was making his speech after the inauguration, he described Eze as the ideal candidate for the position. However, it did not take time before the state government began
THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 22, 2012 In Anambra State, for example, this practice has been carried out for about 14 years, leading to general outcry and protests. Other states where local councils have been governed through appointed transition councils include, Oyo, Ogun, Kogi, Osun, Akwa Ibom, amongst others. In Oyo state, the Governor Abiola Ajimobi-led executive has blamed the state House of Assembly for the delay in conducting council elections. The executive said the House delayed in responding to the list of proposed membership of the proposed state electoral commission. In Ogun state, where caretaker committee members held sway for some months, the Senator Ibukunle Amosun-led state government has finally prepared the electoral organ for the local government election this weekend. In Kogi State however, where there is a State Independent Electoral Commission (SIEC), the government has given excuses why it could not conduct council polls. First, it was gathered that SIEC was yet to come up with an election time table. So, directors of personnel of local governments in the state have been in charge of the local government councils as acting chairmen. Government sources also claimed that Idris Wada’s administration was held back by the way the former governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Idris, left office and by a recent judgment of a state High Court which ruled that constituting caretaker committees or sole administrators was illegal. The alleged verdict, given in a suit filed by Alhaji Haddi Ametu of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), according to government officials, also prevented the Ayo Abraham-led SIEC from acting. In Nasarawa State, criticism against Governor Umaru AlMakura’s failure to conduct local government elections peaked last month, when some activists, including a Jos–based legal practitioner, Gideon Kuttu, warned him to conduct council elections in the state before July 25 or face legal
Politics
action. A Lafia High Court, presided over by Justice Badamasi Maina, had earlier heard a suit between a former governorship candidate of Labour Party in 2007 elections, Samson Abimiku and two others against Nasarawa government. Such criticism came even as Nasarawa State House of Assembly (NSHA) reportedly asked the governor to account for about N2.3billion Joint state and local government accounts.
Search for solution The flood of response that greeted Senate’s recent call for memorandum for amendment of 1999 constitution was revealing. The Nation’s findings show that the rate at which respondents emphasised the need to review the current dilemma of the third tier confirmed reports that calls to free local government councils from the clutches of states can no longer be ignored Participants at the recent Senate retreat in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, said the travails of local governments in the hands of state governors were matters of great concern. Also worried by the trend, the House of Representatives recently passed a resolution, urging state governments that have failed to conduct local government elections to quickly do so and ensure that democratically elected officials take over from appointed caretaker committee members. As at that time, over 20 states out of the 36 states did not have democratically elected local councils and there appeared to be no sign that the state governments were ready to conduct such elections. The House therefore said such states were breaching Section 7 (1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), warning that if not checked such illegality could turn the country into a lawless state. The Presidency is not left out. The presidential committee on the review of constitutional conferences on the amendment of the country’s constitution, while submitting its report to President
ve council polls
•Ngige
to find faults with the former INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), and those faults culminated in his removal by the State House of Assembly. Besides, other individuals and political parties, including members of Obi’s party, APGA, had dragged the state government to court, urging them to give reasons why democracy is suffering at the grassroots. The Anambra State Association of Chairmanship and Coun-
cillorship Aspirants (ANACA) with other coalition groups in the state had also been kicking against non conduct of council polls. Some of them had taken their protests to the Government House in Awka and the State House of Assembly complex. The Nation gathered that the sour relationship existing between Obi and the National Chairman of APGA, Chief Victor Umeh, is as a result of Umeh’s alleged insistence on the need to conduct local government election. But sources said ANSIEC has set up a committee for the screening of candidates of political parties for the election though critics dismissed it as a mere smoke screen. The screening committee is headed by a clergy, Monsignor Jerome Madueke. Other members of the committee, according to the commissioner in charge of the commission, Hon Sylvester Okonkwo, included, Joseph Uko, Dr Mbanefo Onyeka, Princess Adaeze Nnaemezie, while the secretary is Ben Uzorka. Also, included in the committee are representatives of the State Police Command, the State Security Service (SSS) and the Board of Internal Revenue, whose duty •Continued on Page 22
Goodluck Jonathan, had called for “an independent, incorruptible and stabilising local government system, through democratically elected process.” The Chairman of the committee, retired Justice Alfa Belgore, said a sound local government is needed to deepen the principles of democracy and sound management at the grassroots. While receiving the report, President Goodluck Jonathan commended the committee “for paying attention to the local government administration.” He described the commitment of the people at the grassroots as “the greatest asset of democracy.” Whether the governors, who seem to be the greatest beneficiaries of this power game, view it in the same light remain to be seen. Investigations indicate that some of the state governments intentionally delayed conduct of LG elections in their areas while only few could be said to be truly handicapped by litigations and other problems that may have combined to make it difficult to either set up or empower state electoral commissions for such elections.
Appeal court’s verdict
T
HE Court of Appeal ruled: “It is hereby declared that pursuant to section 7(1) of the 1999 constitution (as amended) and section 23 (1) of the Local Government Administration Law No: 15 of 2000 (amended), the 2 nd Respondent had no competence or power, either by himself or through any person acting on his behalf to dissolve democratically elected local government councils in Imo State in which, the claimants are chairmen, through the 2 nd Respondent’s maiden broadcast to the Imo people made on 6th June, 2011". “It is hereby declared that pursuant to section 7(1) of the 1999 constitution (as amended) and section 23(1) of the Local Government Administration Law No: 15 of 2000 (amended), the 2nd Respondent had no competence or power to set up or constitute Transition Committees to replace the Appellants who were respectively the democratically elected chairmen of the 27 local government councils in Imo state. “It is hereby declared that by virtue of the provisions of Section 23 (1)of the Local Government Administration Law N.15 of 2000 (as amended), the Appellants have a guaranteed tenure of the office as democratically elected chairmen commencing from the date of inauguration on 9th August, 2010”. “It is also hereby declared that the Appellants area still the democratically elected chairmen of their respective local government councils until their tenure of office expires. “The 2nd Respondent by himself, his servants, agents, privies or whomsoever are hereby restrained from interfering with the rights and privileges of the Appellants as democratically elected chairmen of the 27 Local Government Councils of Imo State and or appointing persons or constituting transition committees to take over the offices of the Appellant or to replace them until they serve out their tenure. That is the judgment of the court”.
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ripples Between Aliyu and Yahaya
W
•Aliyu
ITHIN the political and gov ernment circles in Niger State today, the fear of Professor Mohammed Yahaya is said to be the beginning of wisdom for many politicians and civil servants. A former Secretary to the State Government before Governor Babangida Aliyu appointed him as his Chief of Staff, Yahaya is regarded by many as the most powerful man, who allegedly determines who gets what, when and how in the North Central state. Yahaya’s closeness to the governor may have fuelled speculations in the state that he is being prepared for the governorship seat in 2015, a development which may pitch the governor against some powerful retired generals in the state who have a different game plan for the 2015 race.
Would power shift to Delta North in 2015?
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OULD Delta North zone produce the next gover nor of Delta State in 2015 for the first time in the history of the state? This is the big question on the lips of major political stakeholders in the oil-rich state at the moment. The first democratically elected governor of the state after its creation in 1991 was Chief Felix Ibru from Delta South who ruled for two years. In 1999, the zone retained the seat for eight years through their representative, Chief James Onanefe Ibori. The current governor, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan’s tenure commenced in 2007 and will lapse in 2015. He hails from Delta Cen•Uduaghan tral. Presently, there are agitations that Delta North must be allowed to feel the plum seat in 2015 in the interest of equity and justice. Among some candidates from the zone that a lot of people are already looking at include the incumbent Senator representing the zone at the National Assembly, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa. But would the powers-that-be in the state back the dream when the chips are down? 2015 will surely tell.
As Okorocha resurrects presidential ambition
T
HE recent interview granted a national daily (not The Nation) by the Imo State Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, where he was quoted as saying that he has not jettisoned his age-long presidential ambition is presently creating ripples within his party, All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA). Short of saying that he was not satisfied with the state of affairs in APGA, the governor’s comments is •Okorocha being interpreted by analysts as a subtle confirmation of the role he may be angling to play in the future permutations of APGA. But with Okorocha coming on the scene, there have been insinuations that he may not to be on the same page with Governor Peter Obi, not only on this issue of presidential ambition but also on how to reposition APGA for the political battles ahead. While he has completely ruled out a return to his former party, PDP, it is almost certain that Okorocha may be planning to contest for the president under APGA either in 2015 or 2019. So, where does this leave Obi, the long time major sponsor of APGA, who is also rumoured to be eyeing the plum seat at the centre in the near future?
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THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 22, 2012
Politics
PoliticsWeek ...This week’s issues, events and persons
[email protected] (08023165410 sms
Persons on the podium
•Asuquo
ANPP will take over Cross River in 2015 Etubom Nya Asuquo is a founding member of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) in Cross River State. In this interview with Nicholas Kalu in Calabar, he says he is sure the party will wrestle power from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party in 2015.
Y
OU left the ANPP, of which you are a founding member, for Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and now you are back. What informed your decision? As you know, General Muhamadu Buhari was a bonafide member of the ANPP and because of my personal respect for him, I followed him to CPC to give him as much support as I can in his presidential aspirations. But when he made a public statement that he would no longer contest in
future as president, the reasons for moving with him from ANPP to CPC no longer existed. I therefore decided to go back to the party of which I am a foundation member. I have been a member of ANPP from inception and I think I can still contribute meaningfully in its development. On the 22 nd of August 2011, I resigned from the CPC and went back to the ANPP. And the national chairman of the ANPP, Ogbonaya Onu, appointed me as a member of the ANPP
national caucus. So, I want my political supporters to know that from that 22 nd August, I have been a member of ANPP and I am working closely with the national chairman to reposition the party for future successes. As at 1999, the ANPP was almost controlling all of Cross River. They were almost at par with the PDP. But at the moment, ANPP is almost moribund in the state. What are you going to do about this? That is why I am coming back. I am coming back to make sure that the ANPP that you knew of yesterday is brought back, not only in the state but in the country. My coming back will entail serious mobilisation and motivation and I am sure most of our members who for one reason or the other left, knowing that I have come back will also want to come back. I am not even looking at it as an opposition party, I am looking at a situation that ANPP will win Cross River State in 2015. How do you intend to rebuild the party to bring back its lost glory in Cross River
State? Luckily, some of us have integrity. Luckily, people know us by our antecedents and they know that we are serious in whatever we do and whatever we say we shall do. And politics in Nigeria became a jungle where the different parties engaged in the purchase of opposition members, but that is no longer becoming fanciful. And as soon as rigging of elections can be stopped in Nigeria, most of these socalled ruling parties will not be able to win, because they have been winning by rigging not by popular support. A case in point is where it has recently happened in Edo State. The landslide was so much that anybody could see that the tide has changed and what has been able to make that tide possible is because rigging was reduced to the barest minimum. So, we believe that a trend is emerging in the country, where rigging will no longer be fanciful and as a result of that, the so-called opposition parties will be able to compete favourably with government parties. So, this is the time to start reinvigorating such parties. We are going to reorganize the party. When we talk of reorganisation, we are talking about it in terms of a holistic manner, so we shall soon cross the bridge and you shall see a vibrant ANPP operating in the state, from the point of view of leadership and followership.
Anambra’s elusive council polls •Continued from Page 21 is to check the tax receipts of the candidates. One of the commission’s commissioners, Hon Sylvester Okonkwo, told The Nation that all the forms and posters for the election had been designed. He said those speculating that the state will not conduct any local govern-
ment election are making mistakes, adding that voters registers for 17 council areas are ready. He said the commission has been able to save millions of naira from the funds already released by Obi. According to him, the state government has given the commission everything it requires for a successful conduct of local government election.
Furthermore, Okonkwo said if there were no plans for the polls as is being speculated in some quarters, Obi would not have released funds to the commission for procurement of materials. “We are producing over 20,000 of voter education manuals for the electorate to know their dos and don’ts; we are equally producing over
14,000 manuals for Poll clerks, returning officers and their assistants among others, for them to study and know the nittygritty of elections,” he said. However, it is left for the state government and ANSIEC to determine whether the much-awaited council polls would be conducted in the state before the expiration of Obi’s tenure.
Persons on the political podium this week will include President Goodluck Jonathan, Ms Arunma Oteh, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke and Prof. Attahiru Jega. Mr. President will most likely be a subject of discussion, following his recent claims that his political party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) should be credited for sustaining and helping to grow Nigeria’s democracy. Already, informed stakeholders and opposition political parties had challenged such claims, saying the opposite should be the case. For example, Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), in a statement signed by its National Publicity •Jonathan Secretary, Alhaji Lai Muhammed, said “Were it left for the PDP, this democracy as we know it would have become history.” The matter will continue to generate passionate reactions during the week. *Ms. Oteh, whose suspension and recent recall as the Director-General of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have continued to generate controversy, will be another major topic of political discussion this week, especially as some House of Representatives members are insisting on her outright removal. For informed observers, the discussion may centre on the hidden reasons for Arunma’s current experience. Is this Amazon a victim of political or professional miscalculations or has Oteh corruption anything to do with this matter? Developments this week will determine the answer and perhaps Oteh’s fate. *Since the Senate and House of Representatives have officially acknowledged receipt of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) from the Presidency and are poised to do their works after the vacation, the Minister of Petroleum, Mrs. Diezani Alison Madueke, will be on the podium from this week until the bill is finally •Alison-Madueke passed into law. *Professor Jega’s INEC will be a subject of discussion; following the recent revelation at the Senate that it will take some time before Nigerians living abroad would be eligible to vote in general elections. Chairman of the Senate Committee on Independent Electoral Commission (INEC), Andy Uba, after submitting the committee’s session report said: “Right now, there are no records of Nigerians in the embassies. Most of them arrive there illegally and this is a problem. We are trying to ensure that we get all the records of Nigerians living abroad. It is then we can begin to consider it.” Taking cognizance of Nigeria’s record in the area of statistics, Nigerians at home and in Diaspora are bound to react to this revelation this week. •Jega
THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012
23
Five minutes of ‘Hell’ —PAGE 24
SWAMPED Nigeria struggles with her numbers
Nigeria’s population is fast rising, leading many to ask whether there are enough resources to go round the teeming numbers. Joe Agbro Jr. and Esther Mohammed look at the issues
“
Nigerian women are having too many of these children and at very high risks to themselves. Many women are getting pregnant and giving births to children at very young ages, very much below 18 years (children who should be in school)
T
“
HE Bible in Genesis 9:7 says, “Go ye into the world and multiply.” This injunction by God mandated the children of Israel to procreate massively. This creed was shared not only by Israelites and Christians but people all over the world. It was like a rush to populate the earth. According to Geolive.com, a website which tracks global population, from a population of about 31,796,939 in 1950, Nigeria is currently ranked seventh largest country with a population of about 167million people and a daily increase of 11,262 This boom compared with the deployment of resources surely raises cause for alarm. Poverty and unemployment are on the high and the
• Jonathan
number of Nigerians living on less than a dollar a day has reached an alarming point. There is hunger in the land, overcrowding has now become the norm in suburbs of cities such as Lagos, Kano, Port-Harcourt, and it is not rare to find families squeezing in rooms, sharing kitchens, toilets, and bathrooms. Classrooms in many public
schools burst at the seams and infrastructure do not seem to go around. Nigeria not over-populated? However, the newly appointed chairman of the National Population Commission (NPC), Mr. Festus Odimegwu, is positive that despite the country’s population growth, Nigerians can still live a good life. According to him; “The
important thing is having the resources to make people live a good life. Good living is not determined by the population but by so many other things. If some countries have large populations and are living well, Nigerians can also have good lives.” But, considering the realities on ground, if drastic steps are not taken, the “good life” might just remain Utopian for many. The reason – the number of Nigerians wanting the good life is stretching the country’s capacity to provide it. However, on the occasion of the World Population Day this year, the global community is concerned over how citizens can live the good life. The Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki Moon in expressing his concern said, “Multiple crises – food, fuel and financial – have caused significant suffering and served as a wake-up call about the need to pay far more attention to the building blocks of sustainable development. Reproductive health is an indispensable part of the sustainable development equation. Women and young people who are in good health, and who have the power and means to make their own decisions about how many children to have — and when to have them — are better able to contribute to the development of their societies. “Yet only one in three rural women in developing countries receives adequate care during pregnancy. Teenage •Continued on Page 57
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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012
Life
TRAVELOGUE
T
HE journey from Lagos to Ore was smooth. So was the one from Ore, Okitipupa, Igbokoda to Ugboland. The situation, however, changed as I arrived at the Ugboland seashore in Ilaje Local Government Area. Immediately I saw a row of canoes, little children, and mothers with babies strapped on their backs as well as toddlers in the rickety canoes, I developed goose pimples! I glanced at the Atlantic Ocean. It looked in awe. The water was murky and looks still. Suddenly the bubbles blew at me with strong waves. I gave a heavy sigh. I cast a look at the canoes berthing at the river banks. At this juncture, I remembered my family. I looked at the sky, and shook my head. I quickly remembered some of my good and two –faced friends who are like the Greek Janus. I remembered those who had offended me and I forgave them all. I remembered the Lord’s prayer that we should forgive all our debtors. I remembered the good jokes and the nice times we’ve had together. Different thoughts flooded my mind. I now appreciated that life is sweet. Developing cold feet But now it is either head or tail. Yes, it is either success or failure. I told my professional colleague and childhood friend, Jide Tububo [aka Modulo]who accompanied me, that we should turn back, but he insisted and said, “Taiye, no going back!’’. I then remembered Alexander the Great, the Macedonian King who during the Peloponnesian War went to break the bridge and told his soldiers that there was no going back, he asked them to summon courage and fight gallantly. His troops eventually won the war. To boost my confidence I went to the woman selling local gin (ogogoro) by the seashore and took four to five shots to dwarf my cowardice. I called a number of my close family members, colleagues and friends to inform them about friends precarious journey I was embarking upon. I then jump into the canoe. As the sea man started the engine, I became a born- again Christian. In a jiffy, I started reciting Psalms 23, 16, and 91 as my wife had instructed me on phone. At this point, I knew the value of a wife and a woman in a man’s life. I begged God for forgiveness. I then remembered that it had been long I went to church. I now believed there is a place called hell! I soliloquised like a mad man and other passengers on board the rickety canoe began to stare at me. I was beyond caring. In the middle of nowhere It was clear to all my copassengers that I was new in the area. I sat down glued to my seat with my mouth shut. The canoe left the shore slowly, I then remembered that I had no life jacket on! I demanded for one, and all the other passengers burst into laughter. I realised I was doing the first thing last! Now in the middle of the deep blue sea I could see and feel the sea waves and the splashing water and its foam. When the boat kept on speeding, bouncing and tilting sideways, I turned into a ‘prayer warrior’ and started to speak in tongues. In my confusion I sang Bob Marley’s ‘Redemption song’. The lyrics
• L-R: Jide Tububo, Taiwo Abiodun, the reporter, praying with other passengers in the canoe
Five minutes in ‘Hell’ Taiwo Abiodun who recently visited Aiyetoro town in Ondo State writes about his frightening experience travelling on choppy .waters
• Seashore at Aiyetoro began to echo in my mind “Old pirates, Yes they robbed I, sold I to the merchant ships, minutes after they took I from the bottomless pit, but my hand was made strong by the hand of the Almighty ........the songs of freedom”.....As another boat sped by and rocked the one I was travelling in my heart skipped the more. I burst into another song: “Oh, please don’t you rock my boat, don’t rock my boat, ‘cause I don’t want my boat to
PHOTO: TAIWO ABIODUN be rocking ......” I looked backward and saw the torrents of water moving slowly. I looked sideways and saw another vast volume of water. At the front it was endless water. I again remembered the late Afro beat King Fela Anikulapo Kuti’s song : Trouble sleep, yanga go wake am. I asked myself why I courted trouble by suggesting I’ll do the story of Aiyetoro in the first place!
Then the engine stopped abruptly on the sea, and I screamed “I am in trouble.’’ But nobody blinked an eye. At this juncture, I remembered the last words of Jesus Christ on the cross, “It is finished”. I looked at my wrist watch and asked to know when we would get to our destination, which I had been told would not last more than five minutes. Nobody answered me. I was like a moron. The canoe
driver started the engine again and we sped off. We eventually berthed at 6.59pm and I shouted hallelujah! As I made effort to jump out of the boat and land on the sea shore I almost fell back into the river but I quickly held unto a pole. I ran out and was free. On landing at the shore I went on a drinking binge to celebrate my safe arrival. Later in the night while discussing with some youths, they warned us that we should have put on life jackets as many people had drowned While travelling on the sea. On hearing this I could not sleep throughout the night, I was busy contemplating the risks I’d put myself through. I remembered the late D.O Fagunwa, the foremost Yoruba novelist, whom I have written a lot about, and the story of how he fell into Rivers Niger in Bida. I thought of my family members again across the Atlantic Ocean. I thought of my friends, colleagues and all our jokes. Goodbye to all that The next day I had my bath as early as 5am and went out again to have some shots of local gin to suppress my fear. I fell into a pool of water and wondered whether it was a signal of things to come on the return journey. To boost my confidence, I tried to lighten my mood by casting my mind back to sweet memories of the office and the jokes we always cracked. I remembered Patience Saduwa, a colleague in the office whom I use to tease. She always tells me that if I wanted to marry her I should go and swim through River Ethiope in Delta State. I thought of the people living in riverine areas, and those in Lagos who pass through Carter Bridge and Third Mainland Bridge on a daily basis or those who travel by canoe but cannot swim. We sailed again at Ugboland and I became happy. I started ruminating over many things: What if I had drowned? What will be written about me? Since my return from Aiyetoro town, I have been having sleepless nights, contemplating the great risk I took by crossing the sea without life jackets. I marvel at the poverty and underdevelopment that are common on this island and wondered where the billions of oil money had gone to. Looking at the poverty and rot that pervade the land, I now know why Adaka Boro and Ken SaroWiwa fought for their people. The federal government is drilling oil from these communities yet nothing get back to them in return. As the canoe left the shore, I remembered that I forgot my cell phone charger in the hotel room but I was not in a mood to return there. I decided to forego the charger and buy another one. Even if I forgot my Blackberry and the latest ipad, I was not in a mood to go back to retrieve them. When the sad news of the drowning of the three policemen and INEC officials was reported last week, I felt sorry for them. It could have been me. My heart goes to their families. But beyond this, governments at all levels must focus attention on the safety of water transportation system in the country.
Life
THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012 •Continued from Page 55
pregnancies are still commonplace in most parts of the world, often driven by poverty and a lack of education. More than 200 million women and adolescent girls have no access to contraceptives. And voluntary family planning programmes are starved for resources almost everywhere.” In an email interview, Charity Ibeawuchi, Advocacy Advisor of Nigeria Urban Reproductive Health Initiative (NURHI), a nongovernmental organisation aimed at increasing family planning services, said “some of the problems of the country are population related.” She also said, “Women play a very important role in population in all its ramifications... The woman gets pregnant and gives birth to new life for the population and society to grow. Fertility is strongly linked to population growth. The total fertility rate (TFR) for Nigeria is 5.7 children (National Demographic and Health Survey, 2008 report). This means that on the average a Nigerian woman is having an average of six children in her life time. This high fertility rate directly contributes to the rapid growth of the population too.” She, however, highlighted the problems involved as; “Nigerian women are having too many of these children and at very high risks to themselves. Many women are getting pregnant and giving births to children at very young ages, very much below 18 years (children who should be in school); many are getting pregnant too closely together (less than two years intervals) and too frequently to their detriment. This is why Nigeria is recording very high maternal mortality ratio of 545 deaths per 100,000 live births. It is as high as 1,000 deaths/100,000 live births in many rural parts of Nigeria! When a mother dies, the likely survival of her newborn is very low. In effect the population of Nigeria is growing rapidly at the expense of her women. “Fully addressing the reproductive health and family planning needs of the Nigerian women will enhance the role of the woman in the family. Educating the girl-child is also another way to improve the health and survival of the woman. The educated woman will seek the information and will be empowered enough to be healthy, help her children and family to be healthy and be in a better position to manage her fertility more productively.” Ibeawuchi calls on government to view population management as a critical component of national development, adding that the NPC should be strengthened to make it meet the needs of the modern time. According to her, there is the need to invest resources in critical interventions that will help the citizens become aware of the benefits of educating and retaining their girl children in schools, quality reproductive health and family planning information and services (couples’ choice of family planning must be informed and voluntary). The faulted the decision to legislate or make pronouncements about the number of children a family must have. A booming population In China and India, two countries with the highest population of about two billion and 1.5 billion people respectively, birth control has been a focal point for regulating population. China has a ‘one man one child’ policy. In India, there has been a tilt towards having male children with some mothers aborting female
Taking advantage of high population
• How many babies are enough
•Odimegwu
•UNFPA Boss, Babatunde Osotimehin
foetuses when a scan reveals a girl. Back home, government’s role at stemming population explosion has been minimal. In 1988, military president Ibrahim Babangida had advocated for an ideal family structure comprising a father, mother, and four children. And in June, President Goodluck Jonathan dropped the hint that the government was thinking of regulating family size, up to the point of drafting a law. But, in many traditional African settings, asking a man the number of children he had was considered taboo. Hence, a lot of Nigerians considered it antithetical for government institutions to interfere in regulating the number of children a family can have. President Jonathan, while directing the NPC to advocate on birth control, said; “For us to plan properly, we must manage our population, but it is extremely sensitive, we are extremely religious people, either you are a Christian or Muslim. “Both Christians and Muslims and even traditionalists believe that children are God’s
gifts to man, so it is difficult for you to tell any Nigerian to limit the number of their children because they are gifts from God. It is a very sensitive thing but we must begin to think about it. We must begin to think about how we manage it.” One way which developed countries have used to stabilise their population is through the use of contraceptives. But this strategy becomes a challenge in developing countries. According to the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA); “Unmet need for modern contraceptives among women who want to avoid pregnancy is much higher in some regions than others. In Western Africa, Middle Africa, Eastern Africa and Western Asia, the proportion of women in need of contraception who have unmet need for modern methods ranges from 50% to 81%, compared with 34% in South Asia and 22% in Latin America and the Caribbean.” Given that Nigeria has the highest population in Africa, it follows that more
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women would be in this unfortunate bracket of lacking modern contraception. According to UNFPA, the cost of this contraceptive care in the developing world in 2012 is valued at $4.0 billion. In Nigeria, with the budget allocated to health put at N283billion, funding reproductive health becomes a challenge. Also, the two major religions (Christianity and Islam) in the country frown against artificial birth control, preferring to advocate the use of natural methods such as withdrawal, planning safe sex based on a woman’s ovulation cycle, and abstinence. An Islamic cleric who resides in Agege, Lagos, Abdulkareem Olabode, was of the opinion that Allah provides for every creature hence, the issue of birth control should not come up. “God cares for everybody,” he said. “The Koran does not allow artificial family planning as it is practised in modern times. No matter how many we are, Allah would still provide for every human being.” The African culture too places pressure on couples to procreate. But, apart from spurious procreation, the country is also bedevilled by inadequate planning. Inadequate planning In 1798, an English clergy, Rev Thomas Malthus, prophesied the end of the world via a growing population unmatched by provision of food. Improvement in agricultural methods however ensured more than enough food was produced, this stemmed the theory. But in many developing countries, Nigeria inclusive, the basics – food, shelter, and clothing, are beyond the reach of majority of people. Staple foodstuffs now have to be imported, hence, while things have not got as bad as Malthus prophesied, the country can be said to be on track to a population crisis. While the issue of population can either be an advantage or disadvantage, according to Mr. Foluso Akinsola, a lecturer in the department of Economics, University of Lagos, Nigeria’s population is being used to a disadvantage. “There is a way we can use the population of a country to reduce the level of poverty and increase the standard of living of a people,” he said. “But the truth is that a lot of people are still under this idea of poverty economically, mentally, and socially in all ramifications. You now discover a lot of us (Nigerians) who depend on family and government.” He surmised that a huge proportion of the 70 percent of Nigerians between the ages of 16 and 65 are unemployed. “And when you look at this figure, most of them are still dependent on maybe one uncle somewhere or their parents. You see somebody of 45 years old still living in his parent’s house.” Using China as a model, Akinsola said, “the reason why China is the way it is is that they are using population to their advantage with a structure that removes more people from poverty. A lot of people are going to China to manufacture because they have a huge market. The only way Nigeria can use her population to her own advantage is to invest heavily in both skilled and unskilled labour.” Akinsola added that many Nigerians would have been living well if only planning was considered. He said, “One of the things we lack in Nigeria is planning. We don’t have planning for food, shelter and the other basic things... We don’t have long term plans. There is no foresight such that even if there is an emergency, there are things to be done. The reason why developed countries are called developed is because they are developed in their planning... The reason many people are coming to Lagos is that they realise that where they are is not good. They don’t have good infrastructure, they don’t have good housing. Now, people are flowing into Lagos and looking for houses. Are we sure they (government) are also planning in Lagos State? So, to avoid overpopulation, we need to adequately plan.” While for religious reasons, some Nigerians do not engage in contraception, another set do so out of ignorance. But as population grows without attendant growth in resources, the prophecy of Malthus might just come to pass. And as a sociologist once concluded, population is a double-edged sword- a blessing and a curse. Which of this would it be for Nigeria?
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Your HEALTH THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012
T
HE human skin is the largest organ in the body and it does a lot more than simply prevent you from spilling out all over the place. It serves as protection for the internal system and a source of beauty to the vain. However, in an environment as hot and humid as Nigeria's, it can be a challenge to keep the skin smooth and little bumps off a person's face. Although acne is a skin condition many people fight, very few actually know the root cause of it. Shedding light on this health issue, Dr. Eunice Alegbe says, “Pimple is caused by bacterial infection in a hyper-active oil gland which is found at the base of the skin's pore. The infection causes the pore (holes in the skin) to fill up with pus and this in turn raises bumps on the skin. When these bumps keep recurring, we can then officially say that the person has acne.” Because the cause of acne is really an internal cause, experts say the best way to solve it is also internally and all of the symptoms can be influenced by nutrition and lifestyle choices. According to Dr. Alegbe, sometimes, all your body needs is the right nutritional balance and proper skin care. Here are some easy things you can start doing
Dealing with acne naturally Acne can be a tremendously embarrassing and burdensome problem for young people to handle. Rita Ohai writes on ways to tackle this dilemma today to help you heal your acne: Apply a honey mask to your face once or twice a week - Honey has antibacterial properties so it is great for disinfecting and
healing minor blemishes. It is also gentle on sensitive skin. Have a bath twice a day with gentle soap - You should wash your face and
Misconceptions about pimples
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OME people also suffer from acne on the chest and back. In any case the problem is universal and affects all ethnicities and ages. Here are some common false beliefs people share with regards to acne: · Acne is caused by eating chocolate. · Acne is caused by eating oily, greasy food · You can catch acne from someone
body twice a day with a mild soap. Soaps designed for acne are usually helpful for some people. Once when you first wake up in the morning and then, right before you go to bed at night. Be extremely gentle to your skin when washing - do not scrub or use any sort of rough cloth. Overwashing your skin will actually stimulate your sebaceous glands to produce more sebum, thus increasing your acne. Keep your hair off your face - If you have long hair or bangs, pull your hair off your face. Your hair contains oils as well, and will contribute to your breakouts. You'll also want to wash your hair everyday and after workouts Feast on good food and take a potent multi-vitamin - Acne can be a sign that something is wrong on the inside. Your skin depends on nutrition. It is a vital organ that is usually neglected. If your body is not receiving the right nutrition, it will fight back. One common way it will rebel is to produce excessive sebum, clogging pores, and reducing the ability for your skin to heal and fight bacteria. Eat carrots for beta-carotene (Vitamin A) - Did you know that a deficiency in vitamin A can actually cause acne? Vitamin A strengthens the protective tissue of the skin and actually prevents acne. It helps reduce sebum production. This vitamin is essential for the maintenance and repair of the tissue which the skin and mucous membranes are made of. Vitamin A is also a powerful antioxidant needed to rid your body of toxins. Avoid wearing makeup Leaving makeup products on your skin only contributes to clogging your pores, causing more pimples and blackheads. If you feel you must wear makeup, be sure it is water-based. Do not pick or squeeze your blackheads and pimples - As tempting as it may be, do not squeeze, scratch, rub or touch your pimples and blackheads. Do any of these actions, it actually increases the sebum production. Plus, when you squeeze, you are actually rupturing the membranes below your skin, causing infection and sebum to spread underneath your skin. The result is more pimples. Wash your pillow case every other day - Your face lays on your pillow case every day. Your pillow case absorbs the oils from your skin and reapplies the dirt and oil. Thus causing breakouts. Keep your sheets and pillow cases clean. Eat foods rich in zinc - Zinc is an antibacterial agent and a necessary element in the oil-producing glands of the skin. A diet low in zinc can actually cause acne breakouts.
else · The more you wash your face, the less likely you will have acne. The truth be told that none of the above is a true statement. Acne is simply caused by the glands in the skin producing too much oil. Too much oil is produced because of horomonal changes or some kind of horomonal imbalance.
THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012
My affair in BBA –Goldie –Page 43
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THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 22, 2012
Glamour
Kehinde Falode Tel: 08023689894 (sms)
E-mail: [email protected]
Short skirt for great looking legs
S
HORT skirt never goes out of fashion, and it is the most versatile of all dresses one can have. It is a must for every wardrobe. It can be worn at any time with the right accessories. Straight, high-waisted, bellshaped, A-line or pleated, short skirts are everywhere and this might be your season to experiment.
•This skirt works for her body frame because it makes her look sexy without being tight
Keep these in mind when buying and wearing your short skirt: •Trendy short skirt
Colourblock Bandage short skirt •Sasha-P •Dainty Rose flared fashion stylish skirt
•Stylish short skirt in fine rayon stretch blend; directly from Givenchy
•You have killer legs or at least good looking legs •Notice the body shape-short skirt has a variety of models and pieces, and you have to adjust to the shape of the body. If you have a body shape like a pear with the big hips, balance it with a model wearing a short skirt A-line cut. But for those who have a straight body, short pencil skirt would be perfect for you. •In addition to body shape, you can also describe the style you want to display the model short skirt option. For those who love the feminine style, wearing a short skirt with Peplum detail that is now a trend, feel so right. As for you who want to be the centre of attention, short skirts with a pattern or print a full and colourful will make you look more stylish. •Also weather should be considered when wearing a short skirt.
•Bess studded stretch-leather mini skirt
•Matthew Willianmson short Twill bubble skirt
•Jason Wu Fan pleat silk skirt
•Always choose a style that fits you perfectly. Black always looks good provided you wear the right cut and fit. * Lastly, choose the perfect length. Most women agree that a knee-length dress is most versatile for it serves as a multioccasion garment.
THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 22, 2012
Glamour
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P
LUS size women can rock any style, but the key thing is to pick a fashion tune and work your wardrobe. The most important thing for a plus size woman to do is to construct an image for her. And, while everyone assumes that plus size means plump, big and strong, a lady can actually be a large petite or even a huge petite. Before shopping for clothes, a plus size woman should decide what she wants her image to be. You can wear the highlight gorgeous shoulder and elongated neck with U or V-neck tops and blouses. You also can wear scoop neck tops to lengthen the neck. For the fabric and the size, remember to keep the clothes close to the body. Don’t wear the large clothes, because it will make plus size women appear larger. Don’t wear the baggy clothing, oversized sweaters and athletic wear. You can choose dresses with darts and vertical pinstripes, flared skirt and wide-legged pants that hug your curves and fit snugly without clinging.
•Lepacious Bose
•Toolz
Fashion tips that help •Eniola Badmus
•Dark colour is better to minimize figure flaws, but it is still possible if you want to wear bright hues too. But do not make it an all-black affair. •Understand how to create the illusion of dainty. •Discover which prints and patterns will work for your big frame. E.g stripes •Know how to use colour and match it to your skin and hair tone. •Learn how to balance your body shape by understandi ng your body symmetry. •Find out the easy way to effortlessly accessorise. •Know how to avoid clothes that make you look big. •Get rid of kaftans and boubou and no baggy pants please. •Don’t dismiss as a trend only for the column-shaped woma n.
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THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 22, 2012
Glamour
•A model in Sequined Feather Strapless Sweetheart Sleeveless Short Celebrity Dress
•Goldie
•Coralia Leets Rose and Gold Earrings
A
LTHOUGH we have seen feathers adorning hair and earlobes for some time, there is much more to come. For instance, you might find a strappy sandal with fluffy pink feathers at the toe. In recent time, we saw feathers on dresses, undies and even jackets. If you are a fashionnista and you want to look feathercomplaint this season, rock the look. Gone are the days when only hats were topped with feathers as women’s styles became more daring and colourful. Feathers are everywhere. So choose something elegant and colourful and stand out from the crowd.
•Christian Louboutin Altadama peep-toes nude-pink
•Embellished bodice & jewelled-waist feather dress
THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012
Foremost event planner and creative director of Zapphaire Events, Funke BucknorObruthe, presented her book “The Essential Bridal Handbook at the Civil Centre Lagos. Kehinde Falode presents hits and misses from the red carpet at the event
Glamour
•JONAH
Photos: OLUSEGUN RAPHEAL
OYINYE radiates twenties glamour on the carpet. From the delicate neck accessory to the hue of her gown, she's nothing but hit. Kudos! This one is a stunner! The gown expertly plays up SASHA'S figure, which is given an extra boost from her glittery accessories. Kudos! At first glance, it appears JONAH has donned an elaborate dress. But her cleavage-bearing dress looks awful. A radical shawl probably would have solved the problem. Oops!
•TOLA AYOADE
TOLA AYOADE dazzles in a sculpted gown, perfectly punctuated with the most elegant flashes of purple. Kudos! YINKA ODUFUYE’S sequined, turtleneck kneelength gown are prettily bedecked with flora and other nature-inspired elements. She sure looks good. Kudos! TOYOSI ARIYO makes a bold spotlight on the red carpet in white. Toyosi dresses up her snow white glamour with a feather-drop earrings and swanky double strap heels. Kudos!
•YINKA ODUFUYE
Favourite Nigerian fashion designer Ahdookeh
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Favourite food Beans with dodo
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Favourite drink Coca cola light
THE NATION
Sport&Style SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012
PAGE 33
e r a b g a Ok God, On d first love an night life
HOLY MOSES!
‘Tattoo is tasteful, not tacky’
By Morakinyo Abodunrin
S
UPER Eagles new boy, Victor Moses has sensationally told The Nation Sport & Style that tattoo is tasteful but not tacky, even as he revealed his sunny side of life. “It's is just me, I just love them (tattoo),” said Moses, the former England Under-21 star who has transferred his allegiance to his country of birth by playing for the Nigerian national team," I can't chose which of the tattoos that is really special. "I really can't choose because I like a selection of different things. Contd. On page 48
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NATION SPORT & STYLE SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012
NATION SPORT & STYLE
Michael Phelps strips down as he gets set for the Olympics
H
E is hoping to win big at the 2012 Olympics in London. But Michael Phelps will certainly be winning hearts with his latest photo shoot. The American swimmer went shirtless to pose for Details magazine's latest issue and even appears on the cover. The 27-year-old shows off his impressive physique and sculpted abs wearing just a pair of low-rise jeans. In one shot he is seen in his natural habitat, the water, still sporting the denim as he floats around. The sultry photo shoot is accompanied by a candid interview with the athlete. Michael opened up about being photographed using a bong to smoke marijuana back in 2009. He said: 'It was a learning
experience. I'm the kind of person who has to go through the learning experiences myself. 'Growing up, my mom taught us to make our own decisions, but also that you have to pay for the consequences of those decisions. I'm thankful for that. 'I'll be the first to say I've made thousands of mistakes, but I've never made the same mistake twice.' And he also explained how he got his motivation back, stating: 'I realised that I probably hadn't reached my full potential. There was still more in the tank. As I come to closure on my career, am I going to look back in 20 years and say, "What if?"
ABILITY-IN-DISABILITY
Paralympian rower bears all for ESPN's Body Issue
D
ISABLED rower Oksana Masters has bared all for ESPN's 2012 Body Issue ahead of this year's Paralympic Games in London. The 23-year-old athlete, whose legs were amputated as a child, shows off her toned physique, and tattoos, in the magazine's glossy pages, sitting nude on a jetty with her oars beside her. The spectacular image accompanies photographs of world-class athletes including New York Knicks basketball
player Tyson Chandler and Slovakian tennis star Daniela Hantuchova. In the annual issue, where famous sports stars strip off and talk about their beautiful bodies, the Ukraine-born athlete reveals she can go days without eating, having grown up in an orphanage where food was scarce. 'That's why for me, eating is one of the hardest things.' The rower, who was adopted at age seven and later moved to Louisville, Kentucky, told KLTV that her disability was caused by exposure to a nuclear power plant near her village. 'I was born with legs, but they were so deformed,' she said. 'In my village, they actually had frequent leaks, the radiation would just leak out.' After suffering searing pain, both legs were amputated. She was encouraged to try adaptive rowing in the eight-grade by her mother and soon fell in love with the water. Ms Masters said training for the Paralympic Games, which run from August 29 until September 9, was like a full-time job: 'We are on the water six out of seven days a week,' she said. Her partner, Rob Jones, lost his legs after stepping on an IED in Afghanistan in 2010. Their rowing mixed doubles team beat Brazil to win the World Cup in Serbia qualifying for the Paralympics. The sports star said she couldn't wait to take her boat from the mighty Ohio to Dorney Lake in England, where the rowing events for the 2012 summer games will be held. 'I don't think it really hit me and I don't think it has still hit me,' Ms Masters told KLTV. 'It's London that it's the games and it's the big goal I've been training for, for six years. 'I'm so excited and I get goose bumps thinking about it. Obviously, I smile like a big cheesy kid.'
NO BIKINI
'I love soccer, but golf gives me groove’
IN BAD WEATHER
Olympic beach women volleyballers may cover up due to cool summer
B
EACH volleyball fans hoping to see female competitors going for Olympic gold in bikinis will be disappointed when athletes turn up in shorts.
With dismal weather forecast during the Games, female athletes might choose shorts and sleeved tops if temperatures drop below 16 degrees Celsius it has been revealed. British beach volleyball hopefuls Zara Dampney, 26, and Shauna Mullin, 27, said the cooler weather will dictate what they wear on the court. Miss Mullin said: 'Once the temperature drops below 16 degrees Celsius we are allowed to wear long leggings and long-sleeved tops.' Miss Dampney added: 'I'm sure there are a few people who only watch for one reason. 'But I think people should come anyway and see what it's all about. Maybe bad weather will give us a home advantage against the Brazilians we're used to playing in the rain.' Women beach volleyball players have been given the option of playing in shorts rather than skimpy bikinis during the London 2012 Olympics after the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) brought in new dress code rules to
cater for different countries' cultural or religious beliefs. Richard Baker, the press department director for FIVB, said uniforms just needed to be consistent. He said: 'For events staged in cold weather conditions, the clothes worn by both players must be consistent in type, style, manufacturer, colour, sponsors, etc. 'Players will however be allowed to wear long pants and/or tops on the court during play if the temperature is to drop below 15 degrees Celsius.' The new rule permits shorts of a maximum length of 1.18 inches above the knee, and sleeved or sleeveless tops.
VIVA VICTORIA!
Victoria Pendleton opens up about life in the male-dominated world of cycling
W
ITH just days to go until the biggest sporting event this country has witnessed in the capital, it is no surprise that the athletes are feeling pumped. One sports star who couldn't be more ready for London 2012 is cyclist Victoria Pendleton. Opening up to Zest magazine, she said: 'I'm probably in the form of my life, and though I can't control what my competitors are doing, I feel like I'm really ready for the Games.' The petite athlete already has an Olympic gold from Beijing, nine World Championship gold medals, a European Championship win, plus a Commonwealth title - and she is tipped for great success at London 2012 in the three events she will compete in. Although, despite being excited about her last ever Olympics, she doesn't deny that she's looking forward to when they will end. She said: 'While I'm incredibly excited about my last Olympics, in all honesty I'm also quite looking forward to 8 August, when it's all over! ‘I've been training for this all my life, so I can't wait to celebrate, win or lose, and say thank you to all the people who've helped me along the way.' But, life hasn't always been easy. She felt completely isolated during her early cycling years in a maledominated world. 'People didn't take me seriously because I was small and girlie and didn't fit the cycling mould,' she told Zest. At competitions, she says the Russian girls would try to intimidate her by patting her bum or winking at her, but it just made the star more determined not to change. 'Some people think that by talking about my insecurities, I'm giving my competitors an advantage. I don't agree. ‘I'm letting people see that you don't have to be a superhero to be successful. If being open gives someone else confidence, I'm happy.' She reveals that nerves still get to her, she still gets butterflies, feels sick and shaky and feels a massive adrenaline rush. But without it, she says,
she couldn't do her best. 'I've been riding in circles since 1989 and it's all about to end. I'm terrified, excited but determined to go out on a high.' And what about life after the Olympics? 'I've thought a bit about my life after the Olympics and I'd love to be a personal trainer,' she says. ‘I genuinely relish being in the gym, that feeling when you've done such a good abs circuit you can't even stand up straight, and I'd like to share that with people who don't have the same level of enthusiasm! I might be a bit of a slave driver but I reckon I could encourage some really great results.’
Omidiran
PHOTOS: Bola Omilabu
T
HE name of Alhaja Ayo Omidiran, a distimguished Honourable member of the House of Representatives, rings a bell in the football community. She is the Deputy Chairman of the House Committee on Sports, a member of the women's committee in the Federation of International Football and a one-time board member of the Nigeria Football Federation. Despite football being her first love, she has admitted that the elite game of golf, which she is just learning the ropes, is contributing to her wing and tinge, as she takes the floor on the Celeb Fitness corner in this interview with EJIRO FEMI-BABAFEMI... Why did you opt for golf? By nature, I'm very active but I realised that l needed a sport that was beyond leisure. That was how golf came in. It was a game introduced to me by my colleagues in the House. Furthermore, when you get to a certain age and as busy as l am, golf will serve a lot of good. Unfortunately for me, l would have loved to play football but I do not have the stamina. When l was much younger, l did aerobics and walking, which l still do up till now. With golf, you can walk and stretch. Golf helps to improve your mental alertness, particularly when focused on the ball. It was actually in February that l started playing golf, so I'm still at an amateur level. I bought my golf kits in Barcelona, Spain which is quite cheaper than in Nigeria. With the help of an expert, l got the playing kits that suited me. From February till date, what changes have you noticed playing golf? To be sincere, l have not been too regular but the few times l've played, l find it very rewarding and interesting. But this holiday, l intend to play more even though the learning process remains tedious. Going down memory lane, kindly tell us the other sports you played. I did all sorts of sports while growing up. I played volleyball for my University and took part in the NUGA Games in 1982 and 1984. I did high jump, hurdles, played table tennis and would have extended it to tennis but my physique back then did not allow me. I was very slim and could barely swing the racket. It appears that soccer is your first love... I chose to administer football because l love the game. Assuming women could take part in football when l was younger, l would have represented my country. I could remember in primary school my teachers used to beat me off the field whenever there was a football match. They did so because l used to play with the boys. So l became a manager, choosing those that would play. In my days at Ahmadu Bello University, l was a cheerleader of both the volleyball and football teams. But l chose women's football to encourage women. Therefore what would be your advice to those that administer sports
but do not keep fit? You are not in sports if you do not keep fit. As a sports administrator, your keeping fit must be for your wellbeing and not on a cosmetic level. Who is your favourite sportswoman? It is definitely Mia Hamm, the American footballer. She brought something unique to women's football. In Nigeria, it is Mercy Akide. She is one of our best exports to the outside world. That image she has not tainted and that is why she is commanding respect today. What are your expectations of the Nigeria U-20 Women National Team to the FIFA World Cup? It won't be easy in Japan even though l do not doubt the team's abilities. But from experience, our opponents will put double efforts solely because we got to the finals two years ago. So we need to have that edge over them. However, l am optimistic that will reach the last four.
THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 22, 2012
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There can be law without justice but there can be no justice without law.
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Sport&Style HOLY MOSES! SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012
PAGE 48
Victor admits tattoo is tasteful, not tacky
Moses From page 33
Tattoo is stylish and I like the way it fits my body." Moses, who describes himself as an introvert, said he likes to look good since this could actually improve on his playing prowess. “I love looking good because when I feel good, I can play good too,” added the player who has obsession for watching the DVDs of that elegant former French gazelle, Zinedine Zidane. “I'm always sticking on Zidane DVDs he's a legend,” Moses once said on why he idolises the former European and World Football of the Year. “I must have his whole catalogue of videos and I am always studying them”. “I try to master some of his skills and bring them into my game.
He wasn't as quick as me, but his technique, movement and control were a different class. “I grew up watching him, and, even now, I study his videos, then go to the training ground, try a few things out, mix it up and take it into matches.” Though he is yet to dazzle for the Super Eagles as did his adorable Zidane who led the Les Blues to win the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 Championship, Moses enthused that he has made the right decision by playing for Nigeria and he is optimistic that the national team's chances of winning something very soon is bright. “England has a number of quality players coming through while there aren't as many in Nigeria,” Moses said, “So I thought it would be good to help the country of my birth and now I'm so happy to have made that decision. “Playing for Nigeria is different. I must learn to adapt to the style of African football. It's always been my ambition to win trophies and everyone dreams of lifting the World Cup. I hope I can help Nigeria become the first African nation to win that.” Asked about his experience since making his debut against Rwanda as well as featuring for the Super Eagles during their 'Jumbo June' package when they played three international matches against Namibia,
Malawi and Rwanda vis-à-vis the experience of playing in Calabar. "I love Nigeria, that's why I chose it over England, and I plan to win trophies with my country," he volunteered. “Well the team is looking good and we are getting to know each other as a unit, I think we will win something soon,” added the lad who picked Austin Jay Jay Okocha and Daniel Amokachi as two of his Nigeria's all-time heroes. “Calabar is a nice city, and we are winning there so it's great for us.' Now a subject of intense transfer speculations as European Champions League side, Chelsea is hell bent in prising him away from English modest side, Wigan Athletic, Moses said he is taking a wait-and-see attitude until the summer transfers' window is closed:" As for my club future, let's see what happens." Such stance as refraining from speculating about his future is typical of Moses who equally told The Nation Style and Sport that 'I'm a quiet person but I love meeting new people and discussing with them.' "Well, I'd like to keep that (my relationships) private but I have got a couple of cars and stuff," he further stated.” I have a Range Rover and other cars but I love the Range Rover because it's pretty fast," added Moses who revealed that he won't be caught wearing tight trousers pants ' because I just hate them.'
Okagbare on God, first love and night life Q&A U By Taiwo Alimi
NKNOWN to many , Nigeria's brightest prospect at the London 2012 Olympics, sprinter Blessing Okagbare is a strong believer in God and has opened up on his encounter with God in his teenage years. Blessing, whose personal best; 10.99, was achieved in London this month, became a woman of faith as a teenager while growing up in Nigeria and says her sojourn in the world of track and field is guided by God. The Olympic long jump bronze medallist, says she is a born again for a purpose hence she would glorify only God with her exploits on the track and field. Today, the USA- based sprinter is Nigeria's fastest woman and after last week's gold medal feat at the Samsung Golden League event in London. Speaking ahead of the Olympics in in an inspirational journal , Okagbare stated matter-of-factly that her career as an athlete would have ended before it began because of her troubled background which forced her to seek the face of the Supreme being. According to her, she found succour in the Bible and focus in life as a teenager but never knew she would become a household name in athletics. She took to football for the fun of it, playing among boys at school until a teacher who doubles as coach in her school, spotted her talent and recommended her for the school athletic team. It was fate again that led the Delta Stateborn athlete to her sojourn in the USA, where her skill was nurtured to rank among the best in the world. “I am a woman of faith. I believe there is a God. I believe so much in the words of God and knowing Him, has changed my life," stated Okagbare, a passionate user of social network, Facebook."Knowing Jesus makes a lot of difference in my life. I feel that knowing Jesus makes me unique. " Sometimes it means not doing what others do. Like when you have to practice in the morning and people still go to the
How did you get involved with athletics? At first I played football for my high school and later fell in love with athletics. A teacher from my elder sister's high school talked me into doing sport. At first I was just messing around with it, just doing it for fun. I was not serious about it but I was young then. How did you end up in the U.S.A? It was one of the best things that ever happened to me. If I had stayed in Nigeria, the talent I have would not have developed: I would not be as good as I am now. When I left Nigeria, it brought out the best in me. nightclub until 5am. It doesn't make sense to me. You have two hours of sleep before practice and you can't gain anything. For me to do that is a sin before God. "So I try to stay away from the things that
God took me out of Nigeria to USA and I was so excited about it. What are your memories of the 2008 Olympics? I went with high expectations because I was jumping well before the Olympics. My goal was to jump a personal best in Beijing. I was ready for it but when I got there I was so nervous. I lost the whole rhythm and, before I knew it, the game was over. And I didn't qualify for the final. I felt really bad because my coach was expecting so much from me, and even my country, but you can't change what has happened. But something changed and I was told I was are against the will of God. Because I have the fear of God in me, I try not to do something where I know, if I do it, God is not going to be happy,”she noted as she further revealed her secret of success.
in the final after all. [Blessing finished 13th but it was then announced that one of the 12 qualifiers, Lyudmyla Blonska, had tested positive for a banned substance. Blonska was disqualified with Blessing taking her place in the final). When I got the call it was like, “this is unheard of”. You didn't make the final and yet you just got in the final somehow. And I thought: something is going to happen. God has something special for me out there. I was saying: “OK, I just got into the final!” I got to take my chance and whatever happens, I have got to do my best. So I gave it a shot and I got a bronze medal and it was phenomenal. What are your thoughts on the 2012 Olympics? I am planning to be there! In 2011, I was not expecting too much I was pleased to run as I did but it was really about preparation for 2012. I am maybe aiming to run the 100 and the 200 metres. Maybe I won't be jumping. You already have an Olympic medal: isn't that enough? No. I have a bronze and I am trying to see if I can step up to a gold. With two events I have two chances. Everybody goes to the Olympics to fight for medals. That is what I am going to do. I am not going there to play and watch people. I am going to prepare myself really well. I pray that I stay free from injuries and I hope to do great. I am really looking forward to it.
She said: “I pray a lot because it is a moment when you communicate with God and you seek for solutions, guidance, comfort, seek things you want. Sometimes I don't super-pray; I just praise him and sing praises.
THEATRE
e-mail: [email protected]
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BASS Akande Obesere, the Paramount King of Music, PK1st and National President of Fuji Musicians Association of Nigeria (FUMAN), has crowned top Fuji musician, Wasiu Alabi Pasuma King of Tungba music. The crowning which was witnessed by some top Fuji acts and other prominent musicians took place on Friday July 13, 2012 during a musical show organised by the Lagos Weekend Television inside its Agidingbi premises in Ikeja, Lagos when Ologbojo, as Obesere is fondly called, declared Pasuma king during a joint music performance. Before the crowning, the Fuji Musicians Association of Nigeria (FUMAN) chairman asked the crowd if the artiste was worth the title and he was greeted with a noisy scream in acceptance. While giving reasons for his action, Obesere said Pasuma deserved the title as he has contributed immensely to Fuji music. In his words, he said: “When you call someone a king, there should be paraphernalia of office around
him, and Pasuma really has it. He is a king of his own.” Pasuma before now appeared to be a prominent figure in the Arabambi family, a Fuji musical group founded by Fuji star, King Wasiu Ayinde, where Pasuma holds sway as deputy. And with the crowning, especially coming from the stable of Obesere an arch-rival of the Fuji maestro, music fans could be well in for a fresh showdown as the two top Fuji icons may rekindle their age-long feud.
•Pasuma
Rick Ross, P Square lead Summer Jam Fest
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•D’banj
Papa Ajasco gets daring!
new set of Papa Ajasco dramas is expected to hit the airwaves soon. Wale Adenuga Productions, producers of the popular
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Pasuma crowned King of Fuji
D’banj moves up with Oyato HEN on Saturday July 14, 2012, Mcomm, Nigeria's fastest growing music distribution network, announced the release of D'banj's new single, Oyato, the mood among music buffs was that of high expectation. Oyato which marks D'banj's transition into an international music star is his first Nigerian release after breaking away from his former group, Mo'hits, and becoming an independent recording artiste. The release of the single follows the success of his Oliver Twist effort in the UK. The new work strengthens his supposedly abandoned dexterity on his favourite instrument, the harmonica, while also passing the message of never-say-die. The multi-award-winning entertainer was full of praise for his fans."An artist without loyal supporters, is like a king without a crown, without them, there would be no D'banj, and of course there would be no Oyato," he said. D'banj's previous single, Oliver, is still on lockdown on local and international radio stations. He recently performed the song and many of his previous hits to over 100, 000 fans at the BBC 1 Hackney Weekend Music Festival last month.
SOUND TRACK
comedy series, have just concluded production of several sizzling episodes among which are The Great Escape, The Breakthrough, Phone Palava, Fear of the Uniform, Fuel Matter, Hair Madness, Valentine's Day Wahala and Two Crimes, One Day. Popular within Nigeria and beyond, Papa Ajasco & company which according to Media Monitoring Reports (MMS) remains the choice TV comedy, has existed for over decade. The group is also expected to perform live on stage at the Nnena & Friends Independence Day Show coming up on September 30, 2012 at Blue Roof Hall, LTV 8 Agidingbi, and The National Theatre, Iganmu Lagos, on October 1, 2012.
•Rick Ross and P-Square
KO Hotel and Suites will again come alive on Friday, August 17, 2012 as American born international rapper, William Leonard Roberts II, popularly known as Rick Ross, will storm the commercial nerve centre of Nigeria, Lagos, for the upcoming Summer Jam Fest 2012 concert. The Florida native who made headlines with his debut album in 2006 titled Port of Miami will headline the music concert alongside one of the biggest groups in Nigeria, P Square and others. The music concert is powered by St. Eve Concepts Limited, the owner of popular magazine, St. Eve. Summer Jam Fest 2012 is geared to set the tone for an annual concert to promote health and proper lifestyle, and this year, some of the hottest Nigerian artistes of the year will be performing alongside the aforementioned big acts. St Eve Concepts aims to promote healthy living through music and entertainment. St. Eve Concepts is an internal Wellness and Enzymatic Weight Management Company which was founded in 2006 and remains the first and only Enzymatic Health care service provider in West Africa. It would be recalled that Rick Ross released his fifth studio album, God Forgives, I Don't, earlier this year and also collaborated with hit Nigerian duet PSquare on the remix of the well-known song Beautiful Oyinye.
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Entertainment
THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 22, 2012
Following a public statement by Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON), revealing that Musical Copyright Society of Nigeria (MCSN) has suffered severe blow at the Supreme Court which struck out MCSN's appeal against the earlier judgement of the Court of Appeal in MCSN v. Compact Disc Technologies (CDT) owing to the fact that MCSN has not been licensed by the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC), VICTOR AKANDE, in this interview, sought the view of Barrister Ope Banwo, a Director in MCSN on the possibility of a common ground in the age-long feud between his society and the NCC on one side and COSON on the other side
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HE MCSN/NCC tussle has been on for about 25 years, when is this likely to end? You asked when the fight between NCC and MCSN is going to end. I tell you, it will only end when there is justice. You cannot refuse to license an organisation that controls over 80 percent of peopleproduced works in Nigeria and license a brand new organisation that is less than two years old as the exclusive copyright team. And that is what we have been challenging. And I think NCC knows the right thing to do but they haven't done it. COSON might have been making a lot of noise in the papers and spending lot of money to create publicity, but the fact remains as of today, we have so many court judgments in our favour. First, the court has declared the provision requiring registration of a copyright society before they can collect as unconstitutional. NCC has not responded to that. They said they have filed an appeal. But it is a subsisting judgment as of today, which means by the ruling of the court of law in Nigeria today, the provision is unconstitutional. Which means it does not stop us from doing our work and any corporate society that has members to go ahead and protect their rights. Let the government license every organisation that has a sizeable number of people that they want to protect and let the market place decide. Right now, we are holding over 80 percent. I'm talking about the likes of Sunny Ade who is on our label. I'm not talking about new guys. I am talking about people with keen interest over the years like Orlando Owoh and so on. In what light is the feud putting COSON before MCSN, apart from the fact that naturally the two societies are supposed to be rival organisations? I personally have no problem with COSON as an organisation. Everybody has got the right to join which society they want to join but let the market place decide. Don't favour COSON and then put an organisation that has been in existence for over 20 years at a disadvantage. We have tried to do everything legal. We have been in court. We got judgment. They refuse to honour the judgment. We have court of Appeal judgement in our favour. We have High Court judgement in our favour. And nothing is happening. As we speak today, they can compare the repertoire of artistes of both organisations. The one of MCSN overwhelms the one of COSON and yet COSON is the one they are saying has the license. So that is the problem. One would have expected that after the erstwhile Direcor General of NCC, Adebambo Adewopo, was removed, and a new man, Ezekude, took his position, there would be a breath of fresh air. What do you think is fundamentally wrong? I tell you straight, it is a problem of corruption. The guys that are standing in the way of MCSN are people who have constituted themselves into a cabal. People are talking about cabal in oil industry; there is also cabal in entertainment industry. If you want names, I will give you names. They are people in that organisation, we have documented proof, that have vested interest in COSON. So they are there protecting the interest of their own organisation instead of the interest of Nigerian artistes. They are the ones misleading everybody. They have led to the death or resignation of several Director Generals of NCC. And this latest one is about to go the same route. Because when he came, he came with open mind. When I met with this gentle man, he gave us his word that he was going to look into this and do the right thing. That was over a year ago. He has not only done the right thing, he has not given update. He has not been able to give us a coherent reason why they are licensing COSON exclusively as the only Copyright Collecting Society. That's what he promised. And we say, look, we don't want to fight this man. And I want to thank God for our CEO, Mr. Mayo Ayilaran, who is always a very temperate person. He doesn't believe in going to war. I am his exact opposite. He continues to
A consortium may end COSON/MCSN rivalry o w n a B e p O —
give the Attorney General, and the DG of NCC the benefit of doubt. He believes that the man would do the right thing. He trusts that the man will do the right thing. I don't, because if you are going to do the right thing, it doesn't take you a year. After we met with the man, I at least expect him to have written us a full letter to say this is why I have decided to stick with the decision of the former DG if that is his position. And that will be in the public domain. And if it makes sense the whole of Nigeria will see. He hasn't done that. They themselves agreed that something funny was happening at NCC, that was why they fired the former DG. And the major thing that was causing problem then was over this issue of copyright licensing. COSON has just signed an MoU with Multichoice, even when MSCN and Multichoice have a pending case, just the way that COSON has entered litigation with Wazobia FM, don't you feel you guys have a case of divide and rule in your hands?… I've read that thing in the paper and I cannot tell you how upset I am. That is another fraud that is about to be perpetrated on Nigerians by Multichoice with the active connivance of COSON and I say it with all sense of responsibility here. COSON cannot sign agreement to represent all the artistes in Nigeria when they have less than 20 percent of copyright holders on their repertoire. We have been engaging Multichoice for years. Multichoice first refused. You have to understand how they are trying to distract Nigerians from the truth. Multichoice told us at some point when we started engaging them and taking them to court that because they are a satellite organisation that uploads from South Africa, they don't have any obligation to pay royalty to Nigerians. We went to court.
We won that case. Then they appealled. Now all of a sudden they have turned around to sign agreement with a new organisation without engaging us. With what they have done, we are on course with hundreds of millions of potential damages against them, in fact, billions that we have sued them for. As a way to truncate our effort, they've gone ahead and called our competitors and say they have signed contract with them thereby making it seem as if they've sorted out the problem of paying royalties to Nigerian artistes. If they really want to sign a contract, what they need to do if they are being sincere is to call COSON, call NCC and have a comprehensive agreement with them. Now Multichoice has said they have signed an agreement with COSON but if you tune to DSTV they still play music, do works that belong to MCSN. You cannot sign agreement to collect royalty on my behalf if I didn't give you permission. As we speak today, 80 percent of copyright owners in Nigeria, the ones that matter, the ones that earn foreign copyright, they belong to MSCN. And they went ahead; they had this full page thing “Multichoice to pay royalty to COSON”. How much have they paid COSON? We need to know that. I feel it is such an unpatriotic thing that they have done. It is typical the way South Africa has always pulled the wool over Nigerians. It won't be the first time they've made this move. I need to raise some issues that I want the press to find answers to for Nigerians. Why did Multichoice take so long to do this agreement they are doing with COSON? After they have claimed for more than 10 years that since they upload from South Africa and after having paid royalty in South Africa to South African organisation, it is not under any obligation to pay royalties in Nigeria. What changed?
Two, why is it that Multichoice is taking this step now after MCSN has sued them since 2011 claiming over 5billion in royalties and damages in a pending suit? The suit is still pending before Honourable Justice Idris at the Federal High Court. So if they really want to pay royalty, shouldn't they be talking about settlement out of court? Whatever they sign with COSON does not take away from our own right. Three, there is a suspicion here and I'm not making a direct accusation. I'm only saying is there a suspicion for Multichoice trying to get an easy defence in the above case before Justice Idris by now saying okay, they want to deal with an organisation in Nigeria which is not the organisation that sue them? The music they have played; the copyright for which we are suing them is not owned by COSON. It wasn't owned by COSON then, it is not owned by COSON now. Why are they signing an agreement with COSON without dealing with the issue of violation that is already there? Four, my point is Multichoice represents the arrogant attitude of South Africans over Nigerians. They won't do this in any other country. They won't even do it in Ghana. They will be shut down. But in Nigeria they feel they can get away with anything or why would an organisation like Multichoice which is more or less the dominant cable network in Nigeria be using the rights of Nigerians for many years without having paid a dime. Could it be true that Wazobia FM also seeks a rapport with MCSN after COSON took them to court? Is there no possibility in the nearest future for both societies to come together and fight a common enemy? I'm going to come to that, but this divide and rule is only working because we are allowing it to work. Understand me clearly, because when you reporters take interviews, you report what you want to report. I want to be clear here. I have no issue with COSON. COSON is a rival organisation with MCSN. In a free market economy anybody can setup any organisation. I can wake up tomorrow and decide to set up another musical copyright collecting society. I won't expect MSCN to fight me. Understand that. So they have a right to what they want. But what they don't have the right to do is to collect what belongs to MCSN and try to collect it or give impression as if I can represent people that belong to MCSN. To that extent an organisation can sign contract with multiple parties, it happens abroad. If you want to play music that belongs to various people, you get all the people that represent those people and sign agreement with them. The agreement they have signed with COSON for instance, on the legal place of it, I don't even think it's illegal. I don't see anything wrong with it. People just need to understand the limitations of it. They are only allowed to play music that is owned by COSON which is about 20 percent of Nigerians copyrighted work as we speak. What they cannot do which is what they are doing is to sign an agreement with COSON as the basis to use everybody's copyright. But for Multichoice, the premier cable network in Nigeria, to negotiate with the minority owner of copyrighted interest and present it as if they are now settling all Nigerians is fraudulent. It is misleading. And that is what we are talking about. And on COSON and MCSN, I've said it from day one and that is ultimately where we are headed. I've written blogs on it. In fact I still published a blog less than three weeks ago. Maybe it is time, because right now in as much as I feel very bad about what is going on, about how MCSN is being treated, but I realised as this battle goes on COSON is not getting money, MCSN is not getting money. People are out there exploiting our right. A time will come; even if we won't merge we can form a consortium. Because Mayo won't give way to Okoroji, Okoroji won't give way to Mayo. I'm saying if merger can't work. Let us form a consortium. The consortium is just to make sure we present a common front in negotiating contracts.
Entertainment
THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 15, 2012
Say Cheese tours Nigeria
Omotola hypes Last Flight to Abuja
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OP Nollywood actress, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde, has tipped the new Nollywood flick, Last Flight to Abuja, to go places. Omotola, it was gathered, was pleased with the positive review the movie got in the UK, ''I am totally pleased to hear that it has been rated four star by Odeon Cinemas, UK; it's a testament to faith, perseverance and hard work. Thank God, this is only the beginning." Last Flight to Abuja (LFA) was produced by Obi Emelonye, the producer of Mirror Boy, a film that received several awards last year. Obi Emelonye's new movie features a delightful slew of other superstars like Jim Iyke, Hakeem Kae Kazeem, Ali Nuhu, Jide Kosoko, Celine Loader and a host of others.
•Omotola
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Felabration!
5 years after the death of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, his children, and indeed the entire music industry are poised to keep his memory alive the annual musical concert tagged Felabration. This year, the stage appears set again for another explosive week-long potpourri of activities that remind all about the ideals of the man called Fela in all spheres of human life. At the New Afrika Shrine, Tuesday, artistes and show promoters gathered at a press conference to announce plans for this year's event. Yeni Kuti assured all that Femi and Seun will be around this year to add pep energy to the show. It would be recalled that last year, the two biological children of the late sage were out of the country when the show held. But the spirit of Fela which had been able to garner surrogate children kept the show alive, such that Femi and Seun were almost not missed. Femi Esho, the oldest man in
Eva denies contract with Vodafone
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expected to follow the symposium for the next six days, with a promise of Alicia Keys, Fali Pupa and other foreign artistes to be on ground. The Felabration Week partners include Center for Contemporary Art, Terra Culture and Ayo Bankole Center in Surulere. There will also be a Fela Book Festival where books that he made references to will be on display. And apart from converting his Kalakuta Republic into a museum, a carnival with large floats is expected to run through Ikeja and environs. This year is the second edition of the Senior Secondary Schools debate and will run under the theme; Social Media in Africa, Good or Evil? Judges for the debate which will involve private and public schools in Lagos include Funmi Iyanda, Joke Silva and Dr Faloye, among others. Defending champion is Vivian Fowler Memorial Secondary School, winner of the debate last year.
OISED for its annual thrill, Star lager brand is creating another platform for tourists and fun seekers at the 2012 Osun Osogbo Festival through hosting this year's edition of the Osun Osogbo Star Beer village. The month-long event, which will be held alongside the Star-sponsored Osun Osogbo Festival, is expected to see consumers of the brand enjoying performances from various musical artistes as well as winning fantastic prizes. Explaining the concept behind the Star Beer Village, Omotunde Adenusi, Brand Manager Star, Nigerian Breweries Plc., stated that the activation
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EEKS after being rumoured to be contracted to telecoms giant, Vodafone, which her management described as false, rap sensation, Eva, has come out herself to state categorically that she is not affiliated with any brand. "I am not affiliated to any brands or company at the moment and the news making the rounds that I am on the bill of Vodafone is false," Eva said recently to a group of reporters. In another development, her management team, “3UD”, also recently issued another statement debunking another rumour that the rap queen was recently appointed as brand ambassador for fashion label, "House of Nwocha", describing the rumour as unfounded. “We strongly refute such claims and wish to state that it is unfounded. Eva Alordiah is not contracted or affiliated with any brand at the moment,” the statement read in part. The young rapper and entertainer is currently working on new projects as well as promoting her video entitled "High".
the Felabration culture, is optimistic that the concert is the best thing to sustain the memory of Fela. A member of the planning committee, Olajide Bello, revealed that the theme for this year is Africa; Center of the World. He said the concert derives its theme every year from the popular songs that Fela did when he was alive. He said Lagos State is among the various sponsors of this year's concert, and that the state has supported the initiative with cash. This year's Felabration is expected to be a 7-day of unadulterated music every night. Screens will be provided to beam event to all. Other preactivities include schools debate and symposium. Bello said this was so because Fela was, apart from music, a great intellectual when alive. He was said to have lectured in well over 25 universities. Topic of the schools symposium, he said, is Corruption and The Next Generation. The music concert is
HE cast and crew of Wake Up and Brush-Say Cheese, the oral health care radio programme in the fore front of oral health care education on radio in Nigeria, were in the South East of Nigeria recently to sensitise the public on their hygiene routine. Mr. Fred Iwenjora, presenter of the programme, said, “several people have one problem or the other with their mouth, they can't chew, drink hot or cold water, and sometimes they have extreme pain in the mouths. Say Cheese is a radio programme that will profer remedy and answer the basic questions that people may have.” At Umuahia, the crew was received by Management of Vision Africa Radio, led by the station manager, Chijioke Nwogu, who commended the idea, describing it as very novel. Produced by ECV Productions, a multimedia production company, Wake Up and Brush, Say Cheese is audience-participatory and is set to air on popular radio stations in Nigeria. It enjoys the support of Ejigbo City Diary, connecting community people and High Society Magazine.
•Crew of Say Cheese
Star set for Osun Osogbo was conceived to give consumers of Star a unique experience. “The Star Village is actually a place where people are going to enjoy the unique experience of Star. Star is a brand that engenders
excitement, fun and connectivity amongst friends. It is an opportunity for old friends to meet and people to make new friends. That is what the Star Beer village is all about,” he explained.
•Saheed Osupa, Adenusi Omotunde, Brand Manager, Star
Grace Amah may marry father of her child
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•Eva
OLLYWOOD actress and mother of one, Grace Amah, is currently trying her hands on something different from acting. The actress in a phone chat recently stated; “I am doing something new. I mean it is personal and has nothing to do with acting.” Grace who has a love child has been on the lips of gossips for some time now, but there is about to be an end to the constant attacks as the actress is planning to get married to the father of her child.
•Grace Amah
THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 22, 2012
CINEMA GUIDE LAGOS
PICTURE Supported by: SILVERBIRD CINEMAS
Ice Age 4: Marvellous animation
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F you have seen Monsters, Toy Story or Shrek, and felt the humour so much that you laughed, Ice Age 4 has enough wit and laughs to stand on its own. A team of "sub-zero heroes" band together to save a human infant in this digitally animated feature from Oscarwinning director, Chris Wedge. Twenty thousand years ago, the Earth is overrun by
freezing temperatures in an Ice Age that is sending all manner of critters scattering in the path of encroaching glaciers. When a lost human infant is discovered, an unlikely quartet of misfits forms to return it to its mother: Manny, a depressed woolly mammoth (Ray Romano); Sid, a fast-talking sloth (John Leguizamo); an acorn-crazed squirrel named Scrat (Wedge); and the devilish
Ice Age 4 Featured Actors: Ray Romano, Denis Leary and John Leguizamo Genre: Action/Adventure Running Time: 94 min Ice Age 4 (3D) Featured Actors: Ray Romano, Denis Leary and John Leguizamo Genre: Action/Adventure Running Time: 94 min Madagascar 3D Featured Featured: Actors Ray Romano, Denis Leary and John Leguizamo Genre: Action/Adventure Running Time: 94 min Snow White Featured Actors: Kristen Stewart, Chris Hemsworth and Charlize Theron Genre Action/Adventure Running Time 127 min Bol Bachchan (Indian) Featured Actors: Ajay Devgan,Abhishek Bachchan,Asin Thottumkal Genre: Comedy Running Time: 150mins The Amazing Spider-Man 3D Featured Actors: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone and Rhys Ifans Genre: Action/Adventure Running Time: 136 Mins The Amazing Spider-Man (Rating: 15) Featured Actors: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone and Rhys Ifans
Genre: Action/Adventure Running Time: 136 Mins The Past Came Calling Featured Actors Chioma Chukwuka Akpotha, John Dumelo, Marie Gomez, Oliver Jolliffer, Penelope Bouchot Humbart Genre Drama Running Time 110mins Think Like A Man Featured Actors: Chris Brown, Gabrielle Union and Kevin Hart Genre :Romance Running Time: 122 min Madagascar 3D Featured Actors: Ben Stiller, Jada Pinkett Smith and Chris Rock Genre Action/Adventure Running Time 93 min Men In Black Featured Actors Will Smith,
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saber-toothed tiger named Diego (Denis Leary). Before they can complete their mission, the reluctant compatriots will brave pits of boiling lava, dangerous caverns of ice, and even a traitorous plot within their midst. Ice Age also features the voices of Jack Black, Jane Krakowski, and Goran Visnjic. The movie is yet another marvelously funny digital-animation feature. The Amazing Spider-Man Featured Actors: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone and Rhys Ifans Genre: Action/Adventure Married but Living Single Featured Actors: Funke Akindele, Joke Silva, Joseph
Benjamin, Tina Mba, Femi Brainard, Kiki Omeili, Yemi Remi Genre: Action/Adventure Men in Black III Featured Featured Actors: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin Genre: Action/Adventure Dark Shadows Featured Featured Actors: Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer and Eva Green Genre: Action/Adventure Running Time: 113 min The Avengers Featured Featured Actors: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson Genre Action/Adventure Running Time 142 min The Hunger Games Featured Featured Actors: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth Genre: Action/Adventure Running Time: 142Mins
PORT HARCOURT
Snow White and The Huntsman: Influenced by Lord of the Rings
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N the epic action-adventure Snow White and the Huntsman, Kristen Stewart plays the only person in the land fairer than the evil queen (Charlize Theron) out to destroy her. But what the wicked ruler never imagined is that the young woman threatening her reign has been training in the art of war with a huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) dispatched to kill
her. Sam Claflin joins the cast as the prince long enchanted by Snow White's beauty and power. In this movie, first-time feature director Rupert Sanders shows a sureness of touch when blending fantasy with earthy emotions, close-up battle sequences and giant trolls. The stylistic influence of Lord of the Rings permeates the film and effectively sells the fairy tale as a drama-driven showdown
between the Evil Queen's unquenchable vanity and Snow White's uncrushable sense of honour. You even take the seven dwarfs seriously. Melbourne actor Chris Hemsworth - aka Thor - is terrific as her lesser half. The film is already a huge international hit, having taken just on a quarter of a billion, and is bound to please anyone who likes their high-end spectacles with soul.
Ice Age: Continental Drift Featured Actors: Ray Romano, Denis Leary and John Leguizamo Genre: Action/Adventure Running Time: 94 Mins Snow White and the Huntsman (Rating: 15) Featured Actors: Kristen Stewart, Chris Hemsworth and Charlize Theron Genre: Action/Adventure Running Time: 127 Mins Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted Featured Actors: Ben Stiller, Jada Pinkett Smith and Chris Rock Genre: Action/Adventure Running Time: 93 Mins The past came calling (Rating: 18) Featured Actors: Chioma Chukwuka-Akpota, John Dumelo, Nigerian actors, Nigerian actresses, nigerian movie directors, Nigerian movie producers, Nigerian movies, Ruke Amata Genre: Drama Running Time: 110 Mins The Amazing Spider-Man (Rating: 15 )
Featured Actors: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone and Rhys Ifans Genre: Action/Adventure Running Time: 136 Mins Think Like a Man (Rating: 18) Featured Actors: Chris Brown, Gabrielle Union and Kevin Hart Genre Comedy Running Time122 Mins Ties That Binds (Rating: 18) Genre: Drama Running Time: 92 Mins
Entertainment
THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 22, 2012
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My husband is still my best friend 窶認eyikemi Olayinka Remember Feyikemi in the movie Oleku? She's the big, busty presenter of the popular early morning programme Owuro lawa on Lagos Television (LTV). After staring in the blockbuster Oleku, Feyikemi took a break off the movie scene only to appear on our TV screen as a presenter. The broadcaster, mother and actress in this interview with DUPE AYINLA-OLASUKANMI talks about her come-back plan into the movie scene and other issues.
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ELL us about your background? I am Florence Oluwafeyikemi Abodurin. I used to be Abodurin, but now I am Olayinka. I am from Ibadan, in Oyo State. I grew up in Ibadan. I have a Bachelor of Science in Geography. And I am a broadcaster, actress and also a mother. Can you explain your hiatus from the movie industry? Yes, I had to take a break to concentrate on my children. Most of the time, because of my job as a TV presenter, I leave home very early. But I try as much as possible to be home before they are back from school, so that I will have time for them. Having it in mind that I have girls, and knowing our society; you just have to be there for your children. When we were growing up, you had good people around you, but now it is different, you just have to be there for them. But they are grown up now and I have decided to go back into acting. Won't it be challenging, having been away for a long time? No, what you need is the ability. It is just like saying that a soldier who has been out of the army for ten years cannot shoot again. It is something you have been trained to do and having done it for years, it won't be challenging at all. Once in a while, I still go to locations during weekends whenever their dad is at home. Were you still acting when you met your husband? Yes, I was still acting. And he married me like that. What was the attraction? (Smiles) He loved me and he asked me out. I observed him and I felt okay; I believe I could live with him and we have been doing that for the past ten years. Presentation and acting are time consuming professions, how will you handle both? I have been presenting Owuro lawa for about eight years. I am not the only presenter and there are competent people who can hold fort when I am not around. How challenging has it been as a mother and the rigours of your job? It is very challenging. You have to be there for them all the time, though their dad is always available too. But there is always a kind of bond between a mother and her children. And as I often say, you should be your children's best friend; if you are not there as a parent, they will go to their friends who are from different backgrounds. Since you don't know what they do in their houses, you won't want anybody to corrupt your children. Our society is corrupt, so you have to be close to them and be their best friend. Sometime
ago, I noticed my little girl scratching her body, I had to observe her and I realised that it was measles. I fed her and gave her some medication before going to the office. I got to the office late; they understood my plight as I don't do so often. You have been in the industry for a while, why have you not produced any movie which is the norm in the Yoruba sector? I am working on a script at the moment and hopefully, before the end of the year, I believe something positive will come out of it. Why are you just doing it now? Well, I don't want to be one of the packs. I want to be distinct. I want mine to be different. I am not doing it because I need the money; I am doing it because I believe we need a change in our orientation. I noticed that the industry usually follow trends. It is what is selling at the moment that everybody produces. When crime was reigning, everyone was doing crime. Now it is comedy, whether it makes sense or not, everyone is doing it. I want to do a movie whereby in ten years, when my children watch it, they will be proud to say, that is my mummy's work. Oleku was shot about fifteen years ago and people still refer to it. My children saw it and loved it. That is the kind of legacy I want to leave in the movie industry. Who are those you intend to work with on this project? I can't give you names, but they are professionals. How profitable is the presentation job? Yes, we are not rich but we are not paupers. We are comfortable. Looking back at the period you featured in Oleku and now. What have been the changes? Then I was a student in the University of Ibadan (U.I), but I had started my presentation job with Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State (BCOS). Tunde Kelani saw me on screen and said I will fit in for the role I played; so, he sent the late Doctor Ayinde Akinloye to get in touch with me. I went for the audition,
got shortlisted and got the role. But now, I am a working-class mother. The changes I have experienced are my orientation and perception about life. Then, you think you have it all and you can do this or that. But now, you can't have it all, you just have to work hard and pray. Were you slimmer when your husband met you? No, I have always been fleshy and busty. That is my wedding picture (pointing). Having grown bigger, can you say the affection or attraction is still there? Yes, very much there. He is still my best friend, the love of my life and my mate. I won't call him my husband because he is my best friend. All your presentations are done in Yoruba, isn't it tasking? Initially, it was a challenge because I went to a boarding house where vernacular was not allowed. All I learnt was from my grandmother because I always spend my holidays with her and she does not speak English. So, I was forced to communicate with her in Yoruba. She taught me few words and proverbs in Yoruba when I stayed with her for my secondary school education. So, it was my grandma that trained me. Even at the university, it was all English. It was a bit challenging because I could not speak the traditional Yoruba but I always remember that I am from Ibadan and if you can't speak Yoruba, then you are referred to as a bastard. Is your husband supporting your return to the movie industry? Yes, he is the one telling me to go back, that people would accuse him of killing my dream; that they won't know it's a personal decision. You don't feel it might affect your marriage? No. You have to build the trust. Even as a broadcaster, if you are not firm, you can easily get distracted by people. Due to the nature of my job, I meet a lot of people everyday compared to the ones you see on set. When you are acting, you are within your own setting but you get to interview a lot of
different people even those in government when anchoring a programme and you can easily get carried away. So, it is even worse in broadcasting than acting. But no matter what you are doing, you have to build that trust. If I am going to be anywhere, I let my husband know. So, that when you are not there, your husband can speak for you. Then don't get carried away by hear say; it can break your home. Why have you kept a low profile? It has to do with my up-bringing. I have an unassuming nature. I am not a noise maker; I am a news maker, a positive news maker. I don't attract undue attention to myself, I like being myself. Let people who appreciate me do that for who I am. I don't like negative publicity. Do you still have connection with people in the industry? Yes, when I go for functions; we meet. We greet each other and have meaningful conversation. What is your present relation with Tunde Kelani? Very cordial, two weeks ago when I was going to Navy Town in Satellite and didn't know my way, I packed my car in front of his wife's shop and took a cab. So we still have a very good relationship. Even as family. When you are not working, what do you do? I read. And if I am not doing that, I watch cartoons with the children like we are doing now. What are your hobbies? I love reading, meeting people and writing. Do you get pressure from your in-laws because you have girls only? No, and my husband loves the girls a lot. Any plan to have more kids? (Laughs), not now. Would you be selective in taking roles? Yes, I would be selective in my roles because I wouldn't want to do something that my kids won't be proud of in the future. I am not hungry for jobs, so I have to be careful. And like I said, my background has got a lot to do with whatever I am doing. With all you have said, how is Geography related to Theatre Arts? I just love the theatre. I was trained from the stage by Dr Bode Sowande in UI. Then, being the first child of my parents, I didn't get their support. Especially with my mom, it was a running battle. So, I did sciences and pursued theatre art by the side. And after graduating I handed over the certificate to her and asked for permission to do what I loved which was acting. What other movies did you feature in after Oleku? I did Epe for Afeezco Films and Asan le Aye je for Afolayan and some others with the late Funmi Martins and other productions. I also didGenius with Uncle Tunji Bamishigbin. I have also featured in a couple of movies that I can't remember. Will you be featuring in Yoruba movies alone? It depends; I can easily fit into Yoruba and English. But the one I am working on is Yoruba and it is to promote our culture and language. The script is ready. What is your plan on funds for the project? (Smiles) A ma ri owo. We will get the funds.
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Entertainment
THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 22, 2012
Gabriel Afolayan is one of the sons of the late popular actor, Adeyemi Afolayan, popularly called Ade Love. The actor who recently declared his love for music is at the moment enjoying the best of both worlds. Gabriel featured recently in a star-studded musical thriller titled Hoodrush which has the likes of Bimbo Akintola, OC Ukeje, Chelsea Eze among others and is getting ready to drop his follow-up song after his single, Love Bug. In this interview with MERCY MICHAEL, the versatile artiste speaks on his acting career, family and plans
Why I’ve never starred in my brother, Kunle Afolayan’s movie —Gabriel Afolayan
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OU recently starred in a new musical thriller, Hoodrush. Would you say it was challenging considering music is your second love? Well, one thing you must remember is that there is a story which binds the two. So, I think it's the story we should talk about, not the skills basically. My acting skill as well as my music talent is a comfort zone for me. I think the story is very, very challenging physically, emotionally and mentally. It was something we needed to give our all to, in order to make it believable, because that is what the game is all about. Your acting skill is not in doubt, but how come you don't feature much in movies? In everything you do, no matter how good you think your game or your work may be, I think there is a point where you need to decide how you want to go. I'm looking forward to a wonderful career; a career that gives me a feeling of freedom. Right about now, I'm focusing on my music career as well and I'm taking it serious because music is no joke. Is it right to say that you are more passionate about music than acting? If you put it that way you may be wrong, because these are two things that I'm in love with. What genre of music do you do? I do Soul, RnB. I'm going to do some other stuff, but what I'm trying to do now is to build a style that will sell my brand. I want to be known for something
good. I want if you're listening to a reggae track from me, you will always hear Gabriel Afolayan doing reggae and not a reggae wanna be. So that tells so much on your vocal delivery and how you go about writing your songs. Who are your musical influences? It's just soul music that appeals to me the most. I listen to the likes of Tony Hamilton, Tyrese Gibson, Lauren Hill, Angie Stone and Sisco of Druhill, all kinds of songs. I appreciate music, that's why I'm going into it. It is not because acting is not fulfilling for me, no. It is because I love music, that's why I'm doing it. Have you always wanted to be a musician? Most people don't know that I started music professionally as far back as 1997, as a backup singer. You know then, one-man band used to reign in those days. So I did backup singing for those people. So music for me has been way back. The music industry is filled with charlatans… You see, I've come to a point that all I just want to say is all man by himself. There is really no point pointing out charlatans, though it is bad business to have charlatans all around. This is the time to do music if you could, rather than pointing finger at charlatans. Why not lead by example. We've had people who have been to the best music schools in the world, but professionally, they are no where. The likes of 2face are typical example. They did not go to any music school. All they had was music
appreciation and that's all. At the moment, do you play any instrument? I play guitar a little. I don't know how to solo yet, but I'm still working on it. It's so hard to find me sing so flat on keys. At least I have ears for sound. So, even when you are playing, I can follow you, I can jump on you, so I think I'm good enough. Wherever one finds Tade Ogidan one is likely to see you there. What is your relationship with Tade Ogidan? I think the fact that I didn't disappoint him at my first movie. So I think the relationship actually grew out of trust. I was a nobody, but he gave that kind of role to me, even when he didn't know that I was the son of Adeyemi Afolayan. He never knew until after production. It was a big risk on his part and I didn't let him down. I think the relationship grew after then. It is like a matter of principle that you will not appear in your brother, Kunle Afolayan's movie? No, the question is how many jobs has he done? Irapada, Figurine and Phone Swap. But do you want to hear the gospel truth right now, in all of those productions, I'm always behind the set, learning, which for me is even better. Because Kunle is my brother does not mean I have to appear in his movie if need not be. Meanwhile, being behind set with him so that I can learn how to pull an entire production together is better, rather than to think that acting is everything. But not to worry. So, it's not that there is any sibling rivalry? Conflict for where? He is a father figure. What are you talking about? We are working on something. I'm always behind set with him. Tell us about your production I'm not going to talk about it yet. But we are working on stuff where we have me, him, Aremu and my sister on same set. We are working on it. There was a time it was rumoured that you were meddling in drugs... Drugs? This is the first time in my life I'm hearing it. See me o se drugs they sell for this country. Handling it on set is different. We have had sets where we act the drug things and I had personally asked if the director could excuse me from such characters. However, this is the first time I'm hearing it. There was a time you were wearing this very busy beard… If at the end of the day I'm going to have an academy training people there is one thing you don't do to yourself, you don't label yourself. You need to get yourself open. You need to come
and see when I was so used to stage performance then. Beards are not weird. It's all part of the game, but most people don't know. They think about looking very prime and proper all the time. Sometimes you need to just keep a straight look because you never can tell; something good is just around the corner. Some people will just be on dread for nothing and you can call yourself an actor. You will be definitely tagged for roles that have to do with dreadlock. Nobody will want to use you for a responsible role carrying dreadlocks. These are basic things if you feel acting is your game. I could be on full beard for days. I could go very low. Those are the sacrifices you must understand. As an actor you don't own your life. The scripts and stories own you. That doesn't mean you should look haggard, don't get me wrong. What are the things you have in the pipeline? My video is dropping very soon for my single Love Bug (kokoro Ife). And I have some other movies coming to the cinemas. So I'm hoping for the premieres and I'm jumping on another location anytime soon. And music too, dropping the video and dropping another song as a follow-up single. So everything is in motion. What's the story behind Love Bug? It's a love song that talks about love and it complications. The endless search for love just like everybody always looks around for it and at the end of the day, you still don't get to have it. All you keep having is hope. So the decision for you to now go further to make sure you have it or sit back is what Love Bug is about. Have you ever experienced that love bug? Sure. At one time in everybody's life there are three things you don't get to miss. First set of people loving you and you don't have any feeling for them. Second set, you loving somebody and the person not loving you and third set, sighting each other, you know something will happen between you both. I've felt loved by people and have loved people. Are you seeing anyone at the moment? I'm very much myself. It's all about the job for now. Love life, I'm keeping everybody posted on that. I just want to face work for now. Let's face what we are doing and let's see how big we can get. That's whatsup. What is the title of your follow up single? I will keep you posted. Actually it's titled Chapters.
These are two things that I'm in love with. These are two things that I live for. So it is not a fact that I don't want my face to be out there, it is the fact that I've chosen not to roll like some other people would roll
Glamour
THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 22, 2012
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OU have made success out of your music career. What prompted you to enter Big Brother Africa? I was approached by M-net to come and lead as a Nigerian celebrity in the BBA show. They spoke with my music label, Kennis Music, because you know I am already signed to a label and I can not do anything outside that. So Keke agreed that I should go. How would you describe the experience? It was very overwhelming. I have never sat down to watch BBA or understand the dynamics of the show. It is a totally new experience for me. It was a good platform to broaden one's horizon. People learn a lot about themselves and other countries. What is next for you now that you have been evicted? It can only get better. I will be having collabo with other great African artistes because it has offered me a bigger platform. I will also be touring African countries for the next six months. Is your relationship with Prezzo a strategy or was it deliberate? I did not go into the house with any strategy, especially when I didn't even know the people I would meet. It just happened. I was natural with myself. I will be putting the experience into my music. Now that you are out of the show, are you going to continue with the relationship? My major focus now is my music career. Although I will keep the communication line open with him. Is there any difference between Goldie in the BBA and the one we knew earlier? A lot of people don't know me. They just watched my video. My video projected a confident, bold and wild Goldie. And when I am also in the video, I make a lot of noise. You will also note that Beyonce on stage is different from the real Beyonce when she is off stage. They are two personalities. I am liberal and down-to-earth. I love cooking too. But when I am on stage, I am an entertainer. Which was your memorable moment in the House? I laughed a lot. When I watched my highlights, I discovered that I laughed so much, which I don't really don't do often. The fact that I am the only Nigerian that won the Head of the House thrice. I also loved the tasks and the meal recipes because I love cooking. And which was your low moment? I don't like fight. So anytime I had cause to quarrel with anyone, it dampened my spirit, especially because it was a confined environment. Why did you cry in your first week, claiming you missed your mom? When you entered a confined environment, you miss those who are closer to your heart. My mom passed on some years ago, the first week was tough and I knew if she had been around, she would have said something sweet to me. Were you expecting your eviction? You can't be expecting anything in this kind of game. I got the least votes, which meant I was up for eviction. I can only say I was hopeGoldie Harvey is one of ful, but not expecting the eviction. If you had won the $300, 000 Nigeria's hottest female prize money, what would you have artistes and one of Nigeria's done with it? I would have invested in proprepresentatives in the onerty. It is good to have a place you going Big Brother Star can call your own. I have always game. Goldie who has been wanted to have a school for austic children. I believe so much in eduevicted from the television cation. reality show spoke with Nigeria won the prize money three consecutive times, the first ADETUTU AUDU in a two representatives decided to telephone interview from quit and now you have been evicted, how do you feel? Johannesburg, South Africa It is said that lightning does not on her romance with fellow strike twice in one place, but for Nigeria, it did three times. Nigerihousemate and on other ans have always been winners. We issues tried our best in the House.
My affair in BBA –Goldie
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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012
Glamour
ADETUTU AUDU (E-mail: [email protected], Tel: 08023849036)
Why Fayose and his ex-Commissioner are sworn enemies
Ramadan takes shine off Abah Folawiyo's 70th birthday
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T is no longer news that former Ekiti State governor,Ayo Fayose, and his one-time Commissioner for Information, Kayode Otitoju, are no longer on talking terms. The gist is that their frosty relationship is not unconnected with the arrest of the former governor and subsequent provision of surety for him by Otitoju. Trouble, we gathered, started when the ex-commissioner said he was no longer willing to use his properties to stand as surety for the Afao Ekitiborn politician.
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HE matriarch of fashion, Hajia Abah Folawiyo joined the septuagenarian club today. The woman who had made her mark in the Nigeria fashion industry would have plot a high octane soiree to celebrate the milestone, but the Ramadan took shine off the event which the fashion community and socialites have been expecting. But not to worry, Sisi Abah as she is fondly called would not allow the day to pass unnoticed. We gathered that family and friends will join her in a lowkey celebration. And Islamic scholars will be on hand to offer prayers to the birthday girl.
Folawiyo
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OP politician, Senator Ifeanyi Araraume is in joyous mood. Reason is that one of the Eastern Nigeria heavy-weight politician's son Obinna who got married early this year to Nneoma, the daughter of Abia State governor, Theodore Orji has been blessed with a baby. Nneoma and Obinna got married on 5 January 2012 though the traditional wedding was held December 2011 at the massive Umuahia Stadium, Abia State.
Jegede
Omasan Buwa's double blessings
Senator Ifeanyi Araraume gets grandchild
Tosin Jegede loses mum OSIN Jegede, remember her? She was the kid singer that made waves in the 80s. She is now an education advocate and runs Tosin Jegede Foundation. Anyway, that's gist for another day. Tosin, we heard, lost her mum, Mrs Martha Onyemuchechi Jegede, last Wednesday. The sixty-year-old woman passed away at a London hospital. The late Mrs. Jegede was said to have been battling with a muscle disease before she finally gave up the ghost.
Fayose
HE CEO of storm 360 Obi Asika is not resting on his oars, the bulky father of one has added a radio station, Storm FM to his numerous business interest. Already Asika has Storm Records that parades stars like Naeto C,DJ Neptune, Tosin Martins, Sasha among others. The lawyer turned entertainer has been practicing hip-hop culture for many years which led him to establish the Storm 360 group with his cousin, Olisa Adibua
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MASAN Buwa, former beauty queen and Executive Assistant to the Delta State governor on the physically challenged, is no doubt a proud mom now. Last Monday, her 16 year-old twins, Olasubomi and Olaposi Odumosu, graduated from the ST&T Regency School owned by Mrs. Maggie Ibru. It was a double blessing for the single mother of three as Posi had the best result in Economics and won the most confident student award. Bomi who was the school'sports prefect won the best allround athlete. It was definitely a sweet moment for the twins as family and friends mounted the stage to celebrate with them, swinging to the Azonto dance. Bomi's and Posi's 78 year-old maternal grandmother was also at the occasion to celebrate with the twins that she usually visited at least twice in a term throughout their stay in the school. For the feat that the twins achieved, Omasan said she can only give God the glory as a single mother.
Buwa
THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012
Glamour 57 Zizi Cardow and Caucasian partner still like 5&6
GSK's Hannah Oyebanjo births Redwood Consulting
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ARKETING guru and former Marketing Director, GlaxoSmithkline, Hannah Oyebanjo, is definitely not resting on her oars. The former Chief Operating Officer at C&F Porter Novelli has moved higher in her career and is now the Principal Partner at Redwood Consulting. The woman with a Midas touch when it comes to turning around ailing brands is set out to passionately assist discerning and serious businesses. Armed with MBA in Marketing from Delta State University and a BSc honours in Chemistry, Oyebanjo, who also attended management programme at Pan African University, is out to make a change in the business world.
Zizi Cardow and Oyinbo lover
OPULAR fashion designer, Zizi Cardow, is sure enjoying sizzling romance with her partner of many years. The mother of one and her caucasian partner are still like 5&6 as they are always seen rocking together. We ran into them at the showcasing of Mango Nigeria, Etam and Ennzo collections at Oriental Hotel few days ago. The duo glued together throughout the duration of the show.
Pastor Taiwo Odukoya’s double joy
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T is no longer news that Pastor Taiwo Odukoya has moved on after the demise of his wife, the late Pastor Bimbo. Well, the gist is that the fruits of their union are also waxing great. Apart from the fact that the children are successful in their chosen careers, they are also ripe for marriage. Tolu, the first daughter, had traditional engagement with her high school lover, Olumide Ijogun, last weekend and the white wedding is slated for the later part of the year. We hear the second son, Pastor Jimmy Odukoya, aka “Pastor J”, is also engaged. And most likely, the man of God is plotting a high octane bash for them.
Odukoya
Ogunlesi brothers
Wosilat Okoya now babysits
HESE are definitely the best of times for family and friends of the Ogunlesi brothers, Fola and Lanre. It had been reported over and over again that there was a bitter feud going on between the two brothers. And many who are close to them could not claim to know what seemed to be the bone of contention between the two. Lanre Ogunlesi, owner of Sophisticat, and his elder brother, Fola Ogunlesi, the billionaire owner of Fantasyland, Ikoyi, Lagos, were said not to see eye-to-eye, let alone exchange pleasantries. The cold war had been raging between the two blood brothers for over a decade now and there seems to be no end in sight to it. People believed to be of immense influence in their lives had practically reached out to them, but without success. But all this may have been a thing of the past as the two brothers were spotted together at the wedding of one of their cousins, Oluwadara Ogunlesi, two weeks ago at the Catholic Church of the Presentation, GRA, Ikeja. The Ogunlesi brothers not only sat together, they danced together and even hugged each other to the admiration of those present.
Folake Coker quits The Palms
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AGOS socialite and business woman, Wosilat Okoya, is baby sitting. Thanks to her eldest daughter, Bisola. She delivered a bouncing baby boy in far away United States of America. And trust Wosilat who is the only sister of Lagos billionaire and industrialist,Chief Rasak Okoya, sources say she has relocated abroad to take care of her first grandchild. Bisola Dejonwo, no doubt, has a laudable pedigree. She takes after her mother with her dazzling looks and her swanky dress sense. The beautiful lady runs Baker's House, a bakery and pastry outfit.
F Okoya
OR those who might be angling to patronise the Tiffany Amber flagship store of celebrated fashion designer, Folake Coker, at the upscale The Palms, we can tell you for free that the store has closed shop. Already the Mall owners have put up the space for rent to prospective tenants. Though reason(s) for the closure could not be ascertained, a source squealed that the amiable designer is relocating to another place. To Folake, money may not really be an issue. The daughter of Ibadan-based billionaire, Chief Bode Akindele, has made success of the brand she launched about 14 years ago.
Coker
THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 22, 2012
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VOL 1 NO. 037
Advertising quality standard P
ERHAPS there is a need for us to re-iterate the mission of MC&A DIGEST, which is: to contribute towards upholding those practice values expected of advertising practice, based on the ethics of the profession, to the extent that there remain a population of practitioners (no matter how small in size) that will carry on from the past and out-going practitioners, based on the grand rules, for the good of all. We at MC&A DIGEST are committed to protecting the profession and practice of advertising from hunger, intellectual laziness, inordinate ambition, disregard for ethical standard, lack of commitment and such other compromises owing to inadequate training and experience preparatory to acceptable practice standard. In pursuit of our mission, we have been consistent in stating and restating those fundamentals in the practice of advertising (brands management, marketing communication and advertising), in the last eighteen months of our publication. We have been challenged to continually remind practitioners of the duties, roles and responsibilities of advertising. Advertising is a service requiring of careful application of peculiar skills and abilities, towards people-information, enlightenment and guidance; it is a delicate application of identifiable variables for purposes of influencing the mind. It is about information management – gathering, processing, analysis and dissemination. Advertising is highly influential in the process of decision-making. Advertising practice is highly demanding of intellectual and mental engagement. Practitioners toil to add value in so many ways; they are most often cut out to live for others. What with the trouble of gathering and processing information in form of research and (strategic) planning, competitive analysis, creative planning and interpretation of research findings…the process of generating advertising products is tedious, elaborate, critical and expressive. Functionally, therefore, adverts and/or campaigns are tied to clearly identifiable objectives, namely: 1. AWARENESS GENERATION/ GROWTH. As basic necessity, brands need to create and send out information for and about their selves to exist, starting from market entry/introduction to rebirth, repositioning and for tactical reasons such as sales activation, promotion and announcement. At this point, the campaign (and indeed the marketing) objective is to MAKE-KNOWN the brand person, value offer and essence. 2. IMPROVE (D) MARKET PERFORMANCE. Marketing is about taking advantage of opportunities to drive for competitive advantage - at the market place. Therefore, research findings, at some point, suggests the need for brand information communication for purposes of either taking advantage of a particular opening or correcting a prevalent perception of a given brand among target market, considered a wrong representation of a rather true situation that should be to the brand's advantage if presented differently, to improve on the brand's performance in the market. Sometimes, the resultant gain could be qualified in terms of value or volume. When such needs are identified, the campaigns to address them are so-classified by the challenges they are to address. 3. BRAND, TRADE & CONSUMER REWARD PROMOTION. When campaign objective is to promote a given brand, it is often times related with new offer price, better or improved consumer service in terms of improved distribution network or channel expansion, introduction of new product pack and other such need to communicate relative change in the brand person to the target market for clear competitive advantage. Sometimes, such promos are designed to reward trade and/or consumer, for their loyalty and support over a period. Such promos are also used to recruit new users, check
TIONERS' COUNCIL of NIGERIA - APCON – was established. For the purpose of this article, we like to also mention other related agencies and government departments here, to include: Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN), National Agency For Food & Drugs Administration (NAFDAC), National Lottery Regulatory Commission and the Consumer Protection Council. Together, all of the above-listed are challenged by the common goal of protecting the public from wrong and misleading information about brands and products on offer at the market place, ensure acceptable quality standard in the production and dissemination of advert messages and uphold top-end ethical standard in advertising and marketing communication practice. Expressly stated, please see the mission of the AAAN: “AAAN SHALL seek to regulate the practice of advertising, among member-agencies towards improving standards, corporate responsibility, profitability and knowledge; encourage symbiotic relationships among practitioners and other related sectoral bodies, in order to enhance the business environment in which WE operate, thereby strengthening the contribution of advertising to the nation's development” Please note that the emphasis on WE above is mine. Of all contained in the AAAN MS as above, our concern is on (a) regulation… and (b) strengthening the contribution of advertising to…. Readers should please deduce the importance of the duties of the other agencies and departments we listed above, from the mission statement of AAAN, in relation to the objective of ensuring acceptable standard advertising and the protection of consumers against brand/product offering and advert messages that are capable of misleading the public. Given the narration so far, we at MC&A DIGEST like to, on behalf of the general (consumer) public, ask the following questions: 1. Are advert messages being generated and broadcast by advertising agencies and their clients truly vetted with the objective of protecting the consumer-public against misleading information in mind? 2. Can the offer and promo promises being made by some brands in the market today be taken as truly actionable and redeemed as promised 3. Is it true that consumers in Nigeria will become so individually powerful to be able to pick up 50kg weight with the left hand and still be so strong to leisurely do carpet hover, just by drinking (what measure of) milk a day? 4. How do we ascertain that the new variant of Panadol on offer is 5 times more powerful than the one previously offered? Hmm! We shall stop the story at this point. But we like to report, as practitioners in brands management, that the regulators have plenty of work to do, because so many of the product campaign and promo messages on parade are not sincere. Consequently, “consumer” apathy is growing, the quality of practice is dropping aggressively and the consumer is being compromised.
APCON, AAAN and the Rest of Us the activities of competing brands or frustrate new (brands) entrants. 4. (CONSUMER) EDUCATION. In some rare cases, the peculiarity of some brands necessitates some form of consumer education on how-to-use, and some other reasons. In the course of practice, one has had to develop such campaign for a brand of analgesic pain-killer and a medicated and antiseptic soap. Brands gain immensely from such efforts because if wrongly used, such brands deliver negatively on their value-essence and promise, resulting in negative
consumer experience and ultimate consumer rejection. So it is imperative for brands requiring of peculiar usage pattern to ensure adequate awareness of how-to-use among their target users, to optimize their competitive advantages. Some campaigns are designed for this purpose. By extension, however, some educational campaigns are targeted for long term attitude change among the critical mass in a given market segment for purposes of creating the enabling environment for the introduction of a new and hitherto unfamiliar variant of a product category. 5. BRAND PROTECTION. There have been times when brands have had to protect themselves against legal issues, perception or a reckless competitor. Such information could be sent in form of public announcement, infomercial or commercial. So, at some point, Panadol had to so warn “if e nor bi Panadol,…! From the profiling thus far, it is clear how important advert messages are, in respect to their functions and the role they play as communication tools. We also imagine it is by reason of this importance that the regulators took time to establish the necessary quality and ethical standard to guard against abuse or wrongful application. For this and other regulatory related purposes, the ADVERTISING PRACTI-
We rest our case! Please Note This page is open for sponsorship and advert placement.
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THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 22, 2012
While former President Hosni Mubarak's wife, Suzanne, was a Westernised elitist, Naglaa Ali - who wears a veil and doesn't do interviews - is a change for Cairo. VIVIAN SALAMA writes on Mohamed Morsi's mysterious wife.
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AGLAA Ali wears little makeup and dons a khimar, an Islamic veil that completely covers the hair and falls loosely to the waist. Ali wasn't well known in Egypt. That is, until she joined her husband Mohamed Morsi for a tour of Cairo's presidential palace. Less than a week before Egypt's first Islamist president officially assumed office, the nation's attention turned to his wife. Until then, Egypt's soon-to-be first lady was a mystery to those her husband would soon rule. She rarely accompanied Morsi on his nationwide campaign, and she had done virtually no interviews. As informal exit polls hinted at Morsi's win over Ahmed Shafiq, a stalwart of the former regime, Egyptians got a first look at Ali after a few photos went viral on social media and Egyptian news websites. The image sparked heated discussions over whether her ultraconservative appearance is suitable to represent Egypt in a diplomatic arenaa stark contrast from her predecessors, including the nownotorious Suzanne Mubarak, a Westernised elitist who reportedly used her husband's power to amass a personal fortune of as much as $3.3 million. Born in Cairo in 1962, Ali was 17 when she married Morsiher first cousin, a common practice in the Arab world. The couple relocated to the United States shortly after they wed, where Morsi completed his doctorate in engineering at the University of Southern California and later worked as a professor at California State University, Northridge. Ali, who trained as a translator, gave birth to two of their five children while living in the U.S. It was there that she was f i r s t
•Suzanne Mubarak
•Naglaa Ali
Tale of two First Ladies enthralled with the grassroots work of the Muslim Brotherhood and became an active member of the organization, engaging in charity work, primarily with a focus on education. In one of the only interviews she has given to date, she reportedly said she prefers to be called “Oum Ahmed” (the Mother of Ahmed) by the Egyptian peoplea traditional designation referring to her eldest son. She also said that she is opposed to living in the presidential palace formerly inhabited by the Mubaraks, and would instead prefer to buy a house in Cairo, suitable for entertaining large groups. Comments on Twitter have ranged from the likes of “Morsi's wife is no Carla Bruni” to “I am so proud of the way Mrs. Morsi looks.” While some are concerned about the social changes that might be associated with the new Islamist leadership, the fact is that religious conservatism is increasingly the norm in
the Arab world's most populous nation, and many young women feel that Ali may be a true representation of Egyptian society. “I expect her to dress the way she sees fitshe has to represent Egypt, the culture, the people, by her actions rather than her clothes,” said Summer Gamal Eldin Nazif, 17, who is a Morsi supporter, though too young to cast a ballot. “For 30 years, we had an aristocratic first lady. The elites think the first lady should represent them.” Suzanne Mubarak, a graduate of the American University in Cairo, was described last year in a Newsweek profile as “arrogant, deluded, out of touch.” After succeeding Anwar Sadat following his assassination, Hosni Mubarak reportedly sought to limit his wife's exposure to public life so as not to subject her to the same scrutiny from conservatives faced by her predecessor, Jihan Sadat. That would change though, and she increasingly came under fire for monopolizing the country's women'srights movement and other social activities, while her husband's administration clamped down on social freedoms. Suzanne was rumored to have spearheaded efforts to see her son Gamal become the next president of Egypt, as many feared. After her husband's resignation, state-run Al-Ahram newspaper described her as “ambitious to the point of being criminal, and cruel to the point of being disturbed.” She fell out of the public eye after reportedly
suffering a heart attack while serving a 15-day detention for corruption allegations last year. Today, she is rarely heard from, even as her husband clings to life while serving a life sentence in prison. To this day, many cultural and educational institutions carry her name. “Suzanne Mubarak was isolated from the real people of Egypt her entire life and doesn't understand the issues and the challenges we face in our society,” said Mariam El-Sherif, 21, a student at AlAzhar University, Egypt's highest Islamic institution, and a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. “Mrs. Morsi is one of us.” As Ali prepares to assume her role as first lady, many in Egypt point to a dire need for fearless and genuine advocacy of women's rights. While women make up half of all university students, they constitute less than 25 percent of the workforce. In politics, women are permitted but not often encouraged to run for office. A handful of women have served as ministers and parliamentarians, and the then President-Elect Morsi said that he would name a female and Christian vice president in an effort to appease both groups. Still, female political representation remains low, having held less than 2 percent of the seats in the recently dissolved Parliament (one of the lowest shares in the world, according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union), and only seven of the 100 seats in the constituent assembly, tasked with drafting the new constitution. “It is getting better, but for sure we need our women to become more active in political and social causes and make their voices heard,” said Azza El Garf, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood and one of few female lawmakers in the defunct Parliament. Women were at the forefront of Egypt's revolution last year, fighting for jobs, equality, and dignity. They camped out in Tahrir Square for the 18-day protest that toppled Hosni Mubarak, engaged in brutal confrontations with state security, and mobilized medical and social-aid programs during the uprising. Concerns have arisen in recent months over their safety after assaults in Tahrir Square made headlines from this once-safe country. In March, seven of the women taken into police custody during a sit-in in Tahrir Square were subjected to virginity tests, sparking outrage from women's groups and human-rights organizations around the world. Progress on several other social issues has remained stagnant, particularly on the delicate subject of female genital mutilation, which is still rife in parts of the country despite a 2008 ban. Still, with Egypt's election continuing to be heavily contested by many political powers, some are not yet ready to salute the new first lady. “Her husband doesn't represent all of Egyptians, so why should I think about her?” said Nawal El Saadawi, a prominent author and feminist. “Women's unity is a much greater problem here. It is a social, economic, religious problem. Very few people, men or women, are willing to pay the price of freedom.” Courtesy: Daily Beast
THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 22, 2012
New WOMAN
A heart in the panel beater's workshop
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How to act like a lady
T is said that every lady is a woman, but every woman is not lady. This is because there is a great difference between the two. A woman becomes a lady only when she has all the characteristics of the latter. A lady has enough self-respect and respect for others as well. She is confident and assertive. Gentleness, elegance and sophistication reflect from her persona. Acting like a lady requires some skills. The guidance given in this article will help you get direction on how to act like a lady; Dress Nicely A lady's attire should be clean, coordinated and wrinkle-free. She won't prefer skin-show; rather would ensure that her clothes are not ill-fitting - neither baggy nor skin-tight. As a lady, make sure you always dress up nicely and appropriately, according to the place and situation. The accessories you choose should complement your attire perfectly. Look Good, Smell Good Cleanliness is the key to act like a good lady. It helps exude your vivacity. Shower regularly and groom or stylize your hair before going out. Wear a sweet smelling perfume or deodorant. Do not apply strong perfumes that may have a repulsive odour. Applying make-up is not mandatory. If at all you wear make-up, make sure that you apply a modest amount, just to highlight your facial features. Choose Your Words Be very careful about what you speak. Make the right selection of words. Do not use abusive words, even if you feel that the other person is at fault or you are highly frustrated. If you
feel that he or she is not listening to what you say or acting the way you want, it is better to maintain a moderate tone or not to speak at all, rather than speaking forcefully or using harsh words. Mind Your Body Language You should not only take care of the words you speak, but also the way you behave and present yourself at any situation. This is especially applicable when you socialize. For instance, you should follow the table manners and etiquette while dining at a party. Do not overindulge yourself in food or alcohol when you are at a party or business meeting. Gluttony for food or drunkenness at social gatherings shows lack of self-control. Be Knowledgeable Always stay updated with what is happening in the world around you. Inculcate the habit of reading newspapers daily. Expand your knowledge and interests. This will, in turn, open doors to stimulate conversations with new people and help increase your social contacts. Always Keep Cool Try not to lose your temper often. Keep your cool and stay composed. Express your disappointment at someone's behaviour in a very gentle manner. Do not frown in front of others or else people may end up thinking that you are a very short tempered person.
Be well mannered Manners are a necessity to being ladylike. Don't tell or listen to "dirty" jokes; if someone in your presence starts to tell one, politely excuse yourself and leave the situation. Read up on books that teach etiquette and always be nice to everyone, but at the same time, don't be a doormat. You have no responsibility for your heritage, so you should not be judged by that. However, you will, and should, be judged by your friends. Choose your friends wisely You do not want to be embarrassed by your friends, and you want friends who are on the same social and intellectual level as you are. Who you spend time with says a lot about who you are. If you are saddled with a friend who is not a person you like, talk to them with tact. Explain that, while they are a great person, you don't think that the two of you are similar enough to get on well. You could also say that you like the person but would like to be acquaintances, rather than friends. Actions speak louder Always act appropriately. For example, pull your skirt under your legs when sitting down. Always sit with legs together or, if you must cross them, crossed only at the ankle and placed close to the seat, slightly to a side of you. Do not overindulge in food and avoid alcohol at a party or business function. Gluttony or drunkenness shows one's lack of self-control and can cause a loss of respect or potentially embarrassing moment in front of your peers. Burping or passing gas in the presence of others is bad etiquette as well.
Source: Google
SSUMPTIONS! Yes, a lot of times we make assumptions in our relationships. We usually assume that it's what we want. That it would be good for us until we discover that it is indeed the direct opposite of our dreams. Jimmy has been in a particular relationship for four years and he is ready to settle down. Unfortunately for him the lady he has fallen hopelessly and helplessly in love with is still playing around. His friends had actually warned him to cast his net elsewhere. “That girl is not good for you. She is arrogant, highhanded, standoffish and rude. Forget about her pretty face, you need more than that in a woman,” a pal once advised. No way! He couldn't just give up then, but now he knows better. After some nasty encounters, this Romeo has been 'panel beaten' to submission. So what happened to our dear friend? 'This time last year was quite traumatic for me. I was careless and I let a very smart business partner into my world.' He trusted and gave it all. The result was that the smart alec took over his queen. Sorry, did I just call her his queen? Apologies, because he hates to refer to her as such now. He actually learnt some bitter lessons but survived it because another sweet angel walked into his life almost immediately. Like Jimmy, Cynthia's heart has also been to the panel beater's workshop. Oh no! She has really had it up to her neck. Good curves, great face and height to carry or throw her weight around. Young and fresh, you couldn't help but admire her girlish looks and gesticulations when you run into her. She obviously had the world in her pocket. Her phones rings and you discover a different personality. First she explodes: 'Don't ever call me again.' She cuts off the voice on the other side of the line but the person (obviously a male) persisted until she burst into tears. Ha! How can this queen do this to herself? Once again, all eyes and ears move in her direction as she sobs like a baby. Now, it's a call to duty and yours truly and another kindhearted Eve accompany her to the ladies’ to wash her face, apply some make-up and possibly get her bearing once more. It wasn't as easy as we thought it was going to be. Here she cried and cried .More tears….then she sounded a note of caution, 'beware of friends. Wolves in sheep's clothing.’ What really was the problem? Her Romeo had been two- timing. So what? These days it isn't new to catch a guy who’s 'two-, or is it three-timing'? Guys have become very creative when it comes to 'cheating' on their girlfriends. Some gals have pulled out of a cheating experience only to discover a better or a bigger cheat in the new love adventure. If only they knew it was going to be this bad, then they would have preferred to hang on in the other relationship. Okay. Now that she's found out that this venture like every other venture has become very competitive, what is she going to do? Walk away or try again. Well, it's a fifty fifty chance. Sometimes, it's the guy who gives so much and gets so little in return. And there are also times when the person being taken for granted is a woman. Whatever side of the coin that you are faced with, the most important thing is to weigh all the options. This naturally would make you take a decision whether to quit or just accept the imperfections of the human heart. For all you know, the other party may just be acting on impulse. If this is the case, then your relationship is not likely to face a serious threat. However, if it's deeper than what you see or imagine, then there is cause for alarm. You need to figure out how to recover this asset before you become another casualty. That way, you would need an emotional surgeon equipped for your revival. Sometimes, you can compare the heart of a person in a relationship with that of a gambler. Money buys love these days and how rich you are can determine the quality of loving you get. It is a gamble which many jokers discover as you play along. You try, try and try again. If you hit the jackpot, then it would certainly be harvest time. If not, then you would probably have to try your luck elsewhere. Every gambler has a dream, the dream to be a winner and rake in so much money within a short period of time. Someone must definitely be the winner and the winner certainly takes all. When it comes to emotions the stakes are higher when the person you are trying to win over has money, fame or goodwill. It is indeed a keen contest and the outcome is evident within a short period. It is usually dangerous to be too slow at this point because anything can happen.
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THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 22, 2012
Etcetera
By Olubanwo Fagbemi [email protected] 08060343214 (SMS only)
POLITICKLE
Universal thermometer The heavy rains and attendant hazards associated with the prevailing season inspire a satirical adaptation of human reaction to extreme weather across the world. Familiarisation with basic science, world geography and keen intellect should aid absorption of the subject matter. Still, for the layman’s benefit, boiling point of water, as determined by the Celsius Centigrade temperature measurement scale, is 100°C; freezing point, 0°C; and absolute zero, the lowest possible temperature, –273.1°C.
CHEEK BY JOWL
OH, LIFE!
THE GReggs
So as it gets colder 15° Celsius Centigrade: Southern USA residents put on sweaters (if they can find one in their wardrobe). 10°C: Even more Southern USA residents turn on the heat. 5°C: You can see your breath; Southern Californians shiver uncontrollably. 2°C: Italian cars don’t start. 0°C: Water freezes. -1°C: You plan a vacation to Australia; politicians begin to worry about the homeless, British cars don’t start. -4°C: Chicago water freezes; Californians weep pitiably; Canadians go swimming. -7°C: You can hear your breath; politicians begin to talk about the homeless; New York City water freezes; Florida residents plan vacation further south. -9°C: French cars don’t start; you plan a vacation in Mexico; cat insists on sleeping in your bed with you. -12°C: Too cold to ski; you need to recharge car batteries to get it going. -15°C: You plan your vacation in Southern USA; American cars don’t start. -18°C: Eskimos put on T-shirts; too cold to skate. -23°C: German cars don’t start; eyes freeze shut when you blink. -26°C: You can cut your breath and use it to build an igloo; Miami residents cease to exist. -29°C: Cat insists on sleeping in your pajamas with you; politicians actually do something about the homeless; North Americans shovel snow off roof; Japanese cars don’t start. -32°C: Too cold to think; you need to recharge driver to get him going. -34°C: You plan a two week hot bath; the wildest river freezes. Swedish cars don’t start. -40°C: Californians disappear; Canadians put on sweaters; your car helps you plan your trip down south. -46°C: National Assembly hot air freezes; City-dwelling Eskimos close the bathroom window. -51°C: Hell freezes over; polar bears move south! And as things hot up 4°C: Siberians melt. 10°C: Scandinavians sweat. 21°C: Eskimos declare record heatwave. Californians rise from hibernation. 27°C: Canadians turn on the air conditioning full blast. Arizona Desert residents stop shivering. 32°C: Valley residents awaken. Scandinavians go underground. 38°C: British start sacrificing goats to make the sun go away. Californians finally turn off the heaters. 41°C: Texans drink coffee. Eskimos melt. 43°C: Arabians awaken and defrost. Canadians weep. New Yorkers burst open street fire hydrants and water reservoirs. 49°C: Australians notice the sun is out. All Europeans and Canadians spontaneously simmer. 54°C: Too hot to think. Texans and Californians undo top button. Antarctica is gone, polar bears extinct. 66°C: Miami residents put on sunglasses. Texans turn on the fan. 93°C: Arizona children amuse themselves by dropping eggs on sidewalk and giggle while they fry. 100°C: Water Boils. 164°C: Lead Boils. 174°C: Sahara Desert-dwelling people comment that the sand is a little stingy today. 204°C: Camels die. 1090°C: Nuclear blast imminent.
QUOTE It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men. —Frederick Douglass
Jokes Humour Cold Harmattan IT WAS November and the villagers at a remote location asked their new Chief if the coming dry season would be cold or mild. Since he was a Chief raised in a modern society, he had never been taught the old secrets. When he looked at the sky he couldn’t tell what the winter was going to be like. Nevertheless, to be on the safe side he told his tribe that the Harmattan was indeed going to be cold and that the members of the village should collect firewood to be prepared. But being a practical leader, after several days he got an idea. He went to a call centre and called the national weather service and asked, “Is the coming Harmattan going to be cold?” “It looks like this Harmattan is going to be quite cold,” the meteorologist at the weather service said. So the Chief went back to his people and told them to collect even more firewood in order to be prepared. A week later he called the National Weather Service again. “Does it still look like it is going to be a very cold Harmattan?” “Yes,”themanatNationalWeatherServiceagain said, “it’s going to be a very cold Harmattan.” The Chief again went back to his people and ordered them to collect every piece of firewood
they could find. Two weeks later the Chief called the National Weather Service again. “Are you absolutely sure that the Harmattan is going to be very cold?” “Absolutely,” the man said. “It’s looking more and more like it is going to be one of the coldest ever.” “How can you be so sure?” the Chief asked. The weatherman said, “The villagers are collecting firewood like crazy!” Weather Tongue TWO weathermen each broke an arm and a leg in an accident and were hospitalised. The next day, they called from the hospital to talk about four casts. Weatherbeaten A HUSBAND and his wife were sound asleep when suddenly the phone rang. The husband picked up the phone and said, “Hello? How the heck do I know? What do I look like, a weatherman?” He then slammed the phone down and settled into bed. “Who was that?” asked his wife. “I don’t know. It was some guy who wanted to know if the coast was clear.” •Culled from the Internet
W
RITING Writer ’s Fountain with style: If you scribble your thoughts any way, make you think about? Did you ever admire an your readers will surely feel that you care empty-headed writer for his or her mastery of nothing about them and may stop reading you. the language? Of course not. So your own The worst revelation you can make about winning style must begin with ideas in your yourself is, therefore, that you do not know what head. Sound like yourself. The writing style which is interesting and what is not. Don’t you yourself like or dislike writers is most natural for you is bound to echo the mainly for what they choose to show you or speech you heard when a child. All varieties of speech are beautiful, just as the varieties of Take note: butterflies are beautiful. No matter what your •Blood is such a good stain that Native first language is, treasure it all your life. If it Americans used it for paint. happens to not be standard English, and if it •Montreal is the second largest French shows itself when your write standard English, speaking city after Paris. the result is usually delightful as long as you •On average, a person will spend about five obey the rules of grammar. years eating during their lifetime. Say what you mean. Write accurately, •Great Britain has the highest consumption always selecting the most effective words and of ice cream than any other European nation relating them to one another unambiguously, (extra note: some ice creams are 75% air). rigidly, like parts of a machine. That is the way •The most deadly fires that occur in the home to say something worth saying and be happen between 6pm and 10pm. understood. •Three years after a person quits smoking, Pity the readers. They have to identify their chance of having a heart attack is the thousands of little marks on paper, and make same as someone who has never smoked sense of them immediately. They have to read – before. an art so difficult that most people don’t really •People who study laughter are called master it even after having studied it all through ‘gelotologists’. primary and secondary school.
THE ARTS
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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012
Wearing my father’s shoes has not been easy Ben Enwonwu, though long dead still remains one of the greatest visual artists ever produced by Nigeria. His works dot some important public places both at home and abroad. In this interview with Edozie Udeze, his son Oliver, also an artist, throws more light on his father’s exploits and why he is ‘too small’ to step into his big shoes. Keeping the legacy LIVER Enwonwu is not only a versatile visual artist who has created a niche for himself, he is also the son of late Ben Enwonwu, one of the greatest visual artists this country has ever produced. Right now, his greatest worry is not how to perfect his art and keep his own brand and style in place, but how to fit into the big shoes his late father left behind. Interestingly, Oliver did not start out to become an artist. He wanted to become a medical doctor, even though his father wished that he went into the seminary to become a priest. Halfway, Oliver had a rethink; he went on to study Bio-Chemistry. It was a decision that didn’t quite satisfy his innate talent and curiosity, not only as an artist but as the son of Ben Enwonwu. Oliver said; “Yes, it was because of his contributions to the art that made some of us his children (he and his younger sister) to study art. I was so inspired by his contributions to the development of the art not only in Nigeria but world over. After my first degree in Bio-chemistry, I went back to the University of Lagos to study Fine Arts,” he explained. So far, he admits it has been quite difficult to manage what the man left behind as his legacies. “Oh, it has been a bit difficult to keep his legacies together. Often, I ask myself how will I step into such a big man’s shoes? But I have realised that he is a man for all of us, not only us his children in the art, but all the people who love what he stood for as an artist.” The young Enwonwu who is in his second tenure as the Chairman of the Lagos State Chapter of Society of Nigerian Artists (SNA) explained that the Ben Enwonwu Art Foundation has been formed to keep the flag flying. In his own words, “We have been trying to emulate a lot of his successes as he laid down in his foundation. In his own time were such great artists as Aina Onabolu,
O
•Enwonwu
Akin Olasokun and others. I am sure he and these other artists are happy we’ve been doing what we can to keep the flag flying. Even though in their own days, they dwelt more on festivals, traditional motifs, dances, masquerades and so on, we are now concentrating on contemporary issues; social issues that will help to make the society better.” For now, the foundation organises annual lecture, seminars and workshops in Enwonwu’s name. Oliver’s initial difficulty was how to carve his own niche; how to separate his style from his father’s. “You see, while growing up, I didn’t want to be an artist, although initially I’d pen down a few things. Then my father would come over to my room to help me with some of my home work. That was way back at Kings College, Lagos. It was very
Photo: Muyiwa Hassan
interesting then; I found my self drawing towards the art. At the initial stage, I wanted to be like him in style and technique. But after a while, I decided to be my own artist, with my own brand, identity and signature. So far, apart from the foundation, I have been involved in art administration and documentation and also running the art gallery.” Auction Apart from his own art gallery called Omenka, Oliver confessed that his greatest headache is how to ensure that an artist gains from the auctioning of his works. Last year, his father’s work named Anyanwu was auctioned for N28million, being the highest in the history of art auction in Nigeria. He said thus: “Yes, first in an auctioning, the credit goes to the artist because it is the artist’s name. It is his
work that is being propagated. But unfortunately the money goes to the collector who initially bought the work. Presently, in Europe, people are trying to see how an artist can gain a bit from such an auction. It is painful because none of it goes to the artist, unlike the musician who gains each time his work is played. Right now the National Gallery of Art (NGA) is also trying to wade into the matter.” When Anyanwu was done at in-
dependence in 1960, Enwonwu made a couple of copies. He was even commissioned by the federal government via the National Commissions for Museums and Monuments to do it. Oliver explained that “Nigeria was about to gain independence and that work needed to be done immediately. Anyanwu itself is also called the New Awakening. That’s its second name and it has the sign of the rising sun depicting that a lot of African nations were on the verge of independence then.” This was why it has a woman as its symbol, “Yes,” Oliver enthused, “Women then symbolised freedom, liberation and independence. You can see her coming from behind and her hands stretched from afar. It is a full flowering of womanhood. It is also to symbolise the great hopes Nigeria stood for at that time.” In 1961, the federal government promptly forwarded a copy of the work to the United Nations headquarters as a gift. Copies of the work were also sent to Harare, Zimbabwe and National Museum, Lagos, Nigeria. “Anyway, part of the reason why we have established the foundation is to ensure that some of the ideals are kept in place. The Omenka Gallery is also to keep the dream alive,” he said. Enwonwu’s other works In 1954, he was commissioned by the Queen of England to do Monalisa, and during the Queen’s visit to Nigeria in 1957, he was also on hand as the most recognised Nigerian artist. This was the year he was knighted as a Member of the British Empire (MBE) due to his dexterity as an artist. One of his works is in front of the Lagos parliamentary building. The Risen Christ located in front of Chapel of Resurrection at the University of Ibadan is his work. Also the statue of Sango at the NEPA headquarters, Marina, Lagos was done by him. And lots of others. “His background helped him to be who he was,” Oliver said. “His own father was a great artist in Onitsha in his days. So, my father started from that background. He worked as a Federal Civil Servant for 36 years and gained all the international recognitions therein,” he concluded.
Stolen treasures comes on board
T the moment, many film producers and script writers in Nigeria have begun to shift attention to documentary film production. Apart from the fact that most Nigerian video and film buffs have started losing interest in the format of Nigerian home video and the nature of their story lines, film directors and producers have realised that documentary films naturally capture people’s attention more. Explaining the reason for this sudden change, Ezeruom Ugwu, a film director who is working on a title – Stolen Treasure, said, “People need to have something new. It is always boring watching the same thing all the time, seeing the same faces all the time. This is why we have chosen to write this script I am directing now.” The title of the documentary film which is being shot at the premises of the Artiste Village, Iganmu, Lagos, is Stolen Treasure:
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•Al-Hassan By Edozie Udeze
It is the story of a young man who went to the university to study Veterinary Medicine. He was forced by his family to do so. But mid way he discovered he could not cope. While classes were going on, he would be busy tapping on his desk,” Ugwu said.
•Ugwu
As soon as he could get the chance, he abandoned his studies to go into music full time. Somehow, his best friend stole his first demo cassette. This, indeed, set off a lot of other unfortunate events in the life of the musician. “What we have decided to do is to document the life history of this talented artiste,” Ugwu ex-
plained. “All we intended to do is to let the world follow the sequence of events here and then make their own judgement.” In a chat, Engel Al-Hassan, a musician and an M-net Face of Africa participant, who is playing the lead role in the film, described the outing as a unique way to document people and what they stand for. “People should be allowed to be who they want to be. Be a musician if that’s what you want to be. Be a Vet Doctor if you so chose. For me, the role comes naturally. This is my terrain, my professional area.” The documentary film which will be ready in two months time will be first released and shown at cinema centres. “We will also release on the net first to see peoples, reaction,” Ugwu said. “Thereafter, we will launch and let the people see the beauty in docu films.”
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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012
Arts/Reviews
‘Terrorists’ on stage •National Troupe artistes on stage
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LAY-reading session has become one of the platforms created by the National Troupe of Nigeria (NTN) to discover new playwrights and encourage them to prosper. Over the years, however, this trend has helped to discover and bring to the fore many playwrights who have now become known and are doing well in their trade. Recently, a play entitled Another Episode of Trauma, written by Temilolu Fosudo, was read at the National Theatre, Lagos. A four – character play, the subject-matter was on the socio-political situation in Nigeria at the moment. The playwright deliberately chose to dwell on the many burning national issues; issues that threaten to tear the nation – state to pieces. The scene was carefully created in the northern part of Nigeria where palpable fear of extermination hangs in the air. Joseph is married to Mariam and they have a daughter called Jessica. Joseph is a revolutionary or who assumes to be one. He is hell-bent on doing his best to salvage his society. Above all, he is terribly angered and disturbed by the total break down of order and peace in Nigeria. He has been writing and reading and fighting to effect
By Edozie Udeze
the desired change. But Mariam is not happy with him; she is afraid he will be killed and she will become a widow. No matter how strongly she is opposed to his strong feelings towards a revolution, Joseph is adamant. “Someone has to do it,” he insists. There is a line of thought here that makes the play appear ordinary, dry and absurd. The arguments are wellknown in social circles. There is however no theatrical life in what goes on in Joseph’s household. It is like a teacher doing his usual stuff in a classroom; using ideological and powerful words and arguments to sway his students. In other words, Fosudo succeeds in letting the world know how vast he is in the world of innocuous and obnoxious elements and terrorists who have practically taken over the various societies across the globe. Making reference to such great people like Martin Luther King Jnr. of the United States of America, Ernesto Che Guevara of Argentina and Fela Anikulapo-kuti of Nigeria is like taking a refresher course in political ideology. Already, the play with the characters who appeared rather lifeless on
stage proves to be a difficult one to suit and ignite Nigeria’s local thespians. Here, for the average Nigerian theatre buff, theatre is life, theatre is indeed entertainment, not an ideological discourse embedded on issues that harbour undue political innuendoes and absurdities. Well, like it is usually said in theatre parlance; may be this too is a director’s play. May be the additional characters of two terrorists will give it a new vigour. But then, Fosudo has shown that younger playwrights are also in tune with the events around them. He has, through the play, proved that he is a wide, versatile and serious researcher. These are tools a good playwright needs to prosper in this trade. Nonetheless, Martin Adaji, the Artistic director of NTN used the opportunity of the play-reading to remind Nigerians that the Troupe is ready to welcome new plays. “Theatre is only alive when the practitioners are also alive. Play-reading is one of the ways we have chosen to keep the sector alive and vibrant,” he said. Wase Kareem of Z-mirage who chaired the occasion praised Fosudo for his efforts. He also urged him to keep the flag flying since his first effort has shown that he can do more.
Artistes honour Soyinka, bid farewell to Olusola
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WO important culture icons took centre stage in Lagos last week. While artistes took time out to celebrate Nobel Laureate Professor Wole Soyinka who turned 78, others equally gathered to celebrate and bid goodbye to Chief Segun Olusola, one of the foremost culture activists in Nigeria. Olusola died at the age of 77 after a brief illness. For both men, Nigerian artistes rolled out drums to pay respect to them for what they have done to elevate the status of art in the society. At the reading session by the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) Lagos State Chapter, which took place at the National Theatre, Lagos, it was discovered that Olusola, apart from being a highly creative artiste, and producer, equally had time to write prose fiction and poems. In one of the books entitled A Letter to my son, read by members of ANA, Olusola was painstaking and careful in his usage of words of advice. In the letter addressed to one of his sons who was about 20 years of age and was about gaining admission into a higher institution, he told him how to grow into a useful young man. “Try to comport yourself; be a man and adjust to your new environment and make new friends,” he told his son. Parts of the letter evoked tears and emotion from the audience who looked on in subdued silence as the letter was being read. It was as if Olusola was there himself to read the message. Writers were almost carried away by the impact of the message, not minding that it was just a fiction; a mere imagination to tease people with reality and reflection.
By Edozie Udeze
“Your life cannot be the same as it has been here at home,” Olusola sounded out into the ears of the people. “I know too well that you’ll grow to be a writer, a very good one at that. So follow your mind, be very disciplined so that you’ll be able to make it before you’re 30 years!” “In good and bad times, try to be yourself. In everything you do, try to be yourself. Be proud, be sound, be pleasant in your demeanour and you will attract good things to yourself.” Incidentally, the manuscript which was written in the 1970s was finally published in 1995 by one of Olusola’s sons to mark his 60th birthday. There were also some poems written by him which were read at the occasion. The lines were mainly on how to be good at all times. Although some artistes like Chinyere Ezeigwe, Folu Agoi, Femi Onileagbon and others read from their works, the highlight of the event was
•AJ House performing Abiku Photo: Edozie Udeze
when members of A. J. House of Poetry mounted the stage to perform Abiku. The play, written by Soyinka, was stage to mark his 78th birthday. In the midst of pouring libations and chanting incantations, the artistes, made up of secondary school students from Ajegunle proved that the issue of born-to-die kids is a reality. It is indeed part of reincarnation, a situation that cannot be easily wished away in African traditional beliefs and norms. The ability of the young artistes to interpret Abiku, one of Soyinka’s best known works, showed that the art is very much alive in Nigeria. As they took the audience stage by stage into the world of an Abiku, – from birth to death, death to birth-the ceremonies were real and believable and touching. Abiku is a misnomer but tradition knows how to handle it. Soyinka shows how in the scripting of that work and the kid actors and actresses were equal to the task.
HE book Islam and Society in Osun State: Essays in Honour of HRM Oba Raufu Olayiwola Olawale, Adedeji II, Akinrun of Ikirun is the first in the three books that detail the history of the evolution, growth, development, expansion and impact of Islam, Islamic institutions and Muslims on the development of the state of Osun particularly, and Yorubaland generally. A collection of essays written in honour of His Royal Majesty Oba Raufu Olayiwola Olawale Adedeji II, Akinrun of Ikirun and edited by Professor Siyan Oyeweso, a renowned professor of history, the book chronicles the legendary and continuing influence of Islam in the socio-political development of the selected Yoruba cities from the pre-colonial period till present. It is recorded history that Islam is flexible, culture-friendly and easily adopted by the Yoruba for over two hundred years. In specific terms, the book examines this adaptability in the livelihood pattern of people in Ede, Iwo, Osogbo, Ila Orangun, Ijesaland, Ejigbo, Ile Ife, Ikire, Ode Omu, Gbongan, Ilobu and Erin-Osun in the state of Osun. It is a pro-active research work that goes beyond traditional professional historical documentation; and situates the lessons to be learnt from the tolerance strategies of the promoters and adherents of the religion within the larger context of the multi-faith, multi-ethnic and multicultural Nigerian society. It also inspires further studies on religious tolerance in other climes, as have been practised to near perfection in the cities identified in the volume. The notes the remarkable bottomup trend of the islamisation of the communities examined, through its
Edited by Siyan Oyeweso Reviewer:Tunde Decker Year of Publication: 2012
adoption first by the masses and the peasa n t s through to the ruling classes. This is noted by the editor in his introduction, emphasising that this development ensured a sure foundation of acceptance and its consequent viability as a tool for socio-political development. Particularly, the book rejects the popular notion that Islam was introduced to parts of Yorubaland through jihad, underscoring the fact that the jihadian concept is all-embracing in its true essence and longer lasting in impact than that of the isolated understanding of jihad as war strategy. The book consists of twenty two chapters, written by a total of nineteen scholars, and covering such issues as: the nature of the introduction and emergence of Islam, the factors which account for its expansion, the trends and challenges in the propagation of the values and principles of the religion, the manner of response of the people to its spread and the immediate and long term impact it has on society. The book is written in lucid language and provides the professional as well as the general public an easy read. It is recommended for all and sundry.
Gates of scandals S TORY - telling is an art. You either know how to do it or you force yourself to do so. Either way, it is usually good for a story-teller to be able to manipulate the mind and force his readers to follow the sequence of events in the story. This is exactly what Obiora Udegbunam has been able to do in A Story With Legs. And when a story has legs, it has a lot of secrets to expose. In it, he succeeds in manipulating his readers into following the story of Orji and Eunice. He tells the story with flourish that you are taken into the inner - recesses of the two characters. Both characters are situated within the Imo - Abia axis in Igboland. Orji and Eunice are well - known pals living in the same locality and having strong respect for each other. Suddenly, rumour - mongers went to town to instigate Orji against Eunice. They told the story of how Orji boasted to have had an illicit affair with Eunice. The story is somewhat told without Orji's knowledge. As the rumour flew around, Orji, the man at the centre of the gossip did not even know; somehow, he was floating in the air. Midway, Eunice got wind of it and began to avoid him. Orji came home on a brief stay from school only to be confronted by this story. Eunice having been so angered by this story, which she felt dented her image, began to regret why she could be so treated. And being the daughter of a pastor, she was more irked by this scandal. In the process of all these, Orji lost his father as Eunice finally came to her senses and began reconciliatory moves. This was however a bit late in coming. So much water had passed under the bridge; Orji had suddenly lost his place in the university and life was no longer as rosy as it used to be. He was indeed a sad man. On page 83, the author succeeds in
By Edozie Udeze
bringing the story closer to reality. Eunice follows Orji to his compound for the burial of his father, Ekwunife, who was murdered by armed robbers. A moving scene is thus created. "As Orji walked towards a group of female guests who clustered at the rear side of the compound, Eunice stepped out from the group and walked briskly to Orji, saying, Orji, I am sorry." Orji could not but reached out and gave her hand a squeeze and let it go again. "It's okay. Life has its own blows and often they come without warnings. How is your grandma?" he asked. With these words, the quarrel seemed to have been partially resolved. The story is told in racy, easy flowing language. But most of all, it is an instructive story, warning people not to be misguided by mischief-makers plotting to spoil their friendship. Udegbunam, an award winning author carefully weaves the story in a village setting to let people know what the rural people still feel about friendship and trust.
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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012
•Bolade
•Alleged prostitutes arranged by the police team on parade
Prostitution is indeed one of the oldest trades. Over the years a number of red light districts have sprung up all over the country and no matter the efforts put in place by those in authority, It continues to thrive. Ayo Bolade, a lawyer and the Executive Director of Multiview Advocacy Network (MANET) has worked with sex workers for about two decades. She tells Yetunde Oladeinde that creating other opportunities would help to reduce the trade.
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VEN though Bolade studied Law, her passion has been to empower the lot of less privileged ones in the society. In the process , Bolade came in contact with Commercial Sex Workers (CSW) who poured their hearts out telling her the reason they decided to make a living this way. Determined to turn around their fortune, Bolade began to create alternatives for these women and other lessprivileged people . “We have worked extensively in HIVand AIDS prevention amongst sex workers. It was very successful as over 200 sex workers were empowered to take care of their health through peer education . We also gave about 50 of them skill acquisition training in catering, hairdressing, tailoring and baking with seed grants and equipments. We also gave out over 50 million naira of NAPEP loans as a Micro Finance Institute to beneficiaries made up of youths and widows”. You wonder why her organisation gave special attention to Commercial Sex Workers and she replies this way: “ Our research into the supply chain in the sex work in Ondo State was very revealing. At the end of that project, we found out that Ondo State was hosting over 90,000 sex workers .We were able
Giving sex workers new skills
to register 2 cooperative societies, Eri Adura and Aduramigba as well as a cooperative union that is all woman based.” So what impact has she recorded ? “It was indeed a turning point in their lives. Even though I could not get diligent staff to hand over to, these ladies took ownership of the societies as they knew what they stand to benefit, alongside their families. Also, working with sex workers does not showcase your success much because a number of them return to become madams , who recruit younger girls into the dehumanising trade.” She adds that: “We have worked on a number of projects that has helped to transform lives. The latest project is the empowerment of 50 Women aged between 25 & 70 through farming. This way we would be keying into food security, MDG one, as well as become entrepreneurs. To this end, the Ondo State government gave us 100 hectares of farmland at the farm city in Isuada, Owo local government area. We shall be cultivating sweet potatoes and fruit orchard. The potatoes will be processed into gari, custard, flour and spaghetti. The medicinal value of potatoes is priceless especially for a country with a large population battling with diabetes and hyperten-
sion.” Bolade actually started in Lagos but later moved on to Ondo State where she has been working in the past 12 years. “The main challenge had been the people’s poor attitude to work ethics. It is a civil service state only opening up to industrialization in the past three years. There was always a dearth of committed staff.” At a point, she almost made a turn but her passion and conviction encouraged her to go on. “ The truth was that most of them saw NGO as an extension of government , so they come only for their own share of the national cake. I was looking for people to mentor and hand over to. But till date , I have not found any. But with prayers , I believe this new project will produce committed people in the pursuit of new projects. I almost gave up because of the bureaucracy and its attendant bottlenecks were nerve –racking.I was also managing a spinal injury sustained in September, 2009.” What are some of the memorable moments in her life ? “First, I would say that surviving the accident of 2009 and coming out to impact so many lives again. This makes me so humble and thankful to God.It was after the accident that we gave out the loans. Some
of them will benefit from the new farm project because of our collaboration with the wealth creation agency.Then there was also the day I met one –on-one with the governor and tabled our request. He promptly called up the chairman of the agency to do something , that was in September, 2011. Now, that request has become a reality.” Ask about her role models and she says the greatest influence came from her father , late apostle Herbert Peter Abiodun Bolade. “He taught me honesty and told me as a growing child never to lie. He lived what he preached , taught me hard work . In adult life , I was mentored by Professor Olikoye Ransome Kuti and Professor Elfreda Adebo, both of blessed memory. Only last week, the chairman of WECA said he could not believe that a woman of my age would be carrying her laptop all over the place. I proudly told him that I was mentored by two great academics, the former became computer literate after he was 70, while the latter remains the only nursing professor Nigeria has produced to date.” What legacy would Bolade like to leave behind? “Personally, I would want to leave a legacy of truthfulness and hard work. When I pass on,I want to be remember the way people remembered the three persons I mentioned earlier on. Papa died 37 years ago, Prof Ransome Kuti died 9 years ago and Prof Adebo 8 years ago. I miss the three of them so much and I never stop thanking God that they made me who I am today.” Leisure for the amazon is spent reading the Bible , building a vibrant relationship with God and her daughter, gold. “She turns 7 this year. I teach her all that has impacted my life positively. My accident changed my world view totally.I was on a journey that would have been my biggest breakthrough .I never left Nigeria but I woke up to find myself at the Seventh day Adventist hospital battling for my life. When I survived , the medical team thought I would never walk again. For being alive, my life style has changed. I could never have taken a pin with me had I passed on in the accident. I use my money to support causes I believe in as part of my service to God.” If Bolade had to advise women and young girls, what would she tell them ? Her words: “ To know that they are worth more than just baggage of chattels. They must have self pride, work hard and know that they can self actualise and be who or what they dream to be. They can make it with or without a man, and they should believe in the chastity of their bodies.”
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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012
Miscellany
Social media risks The social media phenomenon has opened limitless window of opportunities for the users, it has also become a potent tool in the hands of fraudsters. Tunde Busari takes a look at the new trend.
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RS Iyabode Ola, a journalist, hardly believed the common tale about the escapades of hackers who hijack other people’s Yahoo! accounts to extort money from their friends and relations. This act, in Information Technology parlance, is called Internet Fraud. Before Ola could come to term with the damage done by these online criminals she was bombarded with so many phone calls from her apparently disturbed friends and colleagues all seeking a confirmation of her purported ordeal in far away Spain where the hacker claimed she was stranded and in need of a lifeline following an armed robbery attack! The bewildered journalist said, “I had to send messages through my alternative Yahoo! account and Facebook to disclaim the hackers and douse the tension the false alarm had generated. I have not stepped out of the country in the last six months let alone being robbed by armed robbers in Spain. In a nutshell, it is a negative development as I suspect the hacker to be one who is familiar with my routine,” she said. The growth Mrs. Ola’s experience is one of many instances of the increasing abuse of the social media, which is regarded as the biggest marketing opportunity in the history of mankind. However, the use of the social media has led to abuse by some. For instance, users of Facebook were recently shocked when they read about the purported death of two prominent Nigerians posted by some users. The news, of course, spread more than a wild fire, only to be denied by the families of the duo who expressed their disgust at the motive behind the news. The use of the social media to raise false alarm and circulate
information that are yet uncertain seems to be a new trend. Similarly, the news of the demise of Yoruba traditional ruler last month hit the airwave soon after the monarch breathed his last in a London Hospital. The shocking news dealt a devastating blow to Yoruba cultural protocol, which forbids breaking of such news to the public until certain rites are performed. Although the traditional council of the town frowned at the development, the damage was irreversible. This trend of abuse of social media seems to have forced President Goodluck Jonathan to close his Facebook account he informally used as a medium of interaction with Nigerians at home and in Diaspora. Although no official reason was given for the action, lack of etiquette, such as raining insults on the President by his supposed fans on the medium, is observed to have discouraged him. “The President got it wrong to choose such a medium in the first place. He definitely wanted to create an impression of a transparent leader but forgot the extent at which users can go to use the medium to embarrass him and the office he is occupying. That is what I think he experienced, forcing him to close the account,” a source opined. Further findings revealed that despite the increase in the number of the users of the social media, some users, who were hitherto addicted to their sites, especially Facebook for reconnecting with old friends among other opportunities, are fast becoming inactive in the use of the site. Reason: Preponderance of abuse of the medium. Baba Abdulahi, a banker, lamented the degeneration in the value of the social media as evident in quality of messages users exchange. According to him, sites have been turned to a the-
atre of war of sorts for many, especially die-hard fans of European clubs. “These football crazy guys would go to the extent of abusing one another as if they personally own the clubs. At a stage I wondered about the kind of people Nigerians are for engaging in exercise that add no value to their lives but rather cost them what is called capital flight. With this and other reasons bothering on the same abuse we are talking about I decided to stay away from the two sites I have,” Abdulahi said. It was also learnt that there is nothing technical about how the users of internet go about abusing others on social media, hence the reason for its prevalence as well as inability to put a stop at the act. Also on the list of the abusers are those known as predators whose modus operandi centres in creating an account, using a fake name and birth date. They also post a picture of someone else, usually a picture of someone around the same age of their target. Yet another form of abuse is one called Cyber bullying. Perpetrators of this crime often add users to their online network of friends, with the intention of being a monster in the airspace. The bully harass his target user in much the same way he or she would harass a victim in person through the use of teasing, derogatory remarks and put-
downs (often referred to as “flaming”). Other ways cyber bullies harass their victims is by listing the people they do not like and writing derogatory remarks about them on their sites’ pages. Although this is not too common in Nigeria, it is on the rise due to the anonymity offered by the internet. Perpetrators are less likely to get in trouble because they do not have to use their real names or pictures online. Mr Tunde Elusipe, an Osun State-based IT engineer, shed more light on the abuse of social media, stating that abuse happens when people lie and even divert mails of another users into their account with a view to accessing the mails, intercepting the information therein at the expense of the recipients. “Unfortunately, the act is becoming more common as social networking sites begin to grow. Even those you least expected engage in it to defraud the unsuspecting users. President of ATCON, Lanre Ajayi, would, however, rather see social media as a window of opportunities more than as a criminal haven. He encourages Nigerians to optimise the opportunities offered by social network to improve their quality of life. “Social media opens new opportunities to the entire world, the unprecedented opportunity that has boosted freedom of expression at a faster speed. Reaction to your expression is also coming simultaneously. So, I don’t want to see this from the negative angle. It is a progress which makes things easy.
“But I am not saying there is no abuse. It is a natural thing that whatever attracts such large number of users will also attract wrong people. But the opportunities social media offers far outweigh the abuse,” he said. Chief Executive Officer of Telecom Answers Associates and CyberschuulNews, Titilayo Omo-Etu, while also acknowledging the trend though with regret, attributed it to government insensitive attitude to unemployment problem in Nigeria in particular. Omo-Etu argued that if the government formulates youth empowerment policies that could positively engage the youth, the abuse of social media could not have been an option as, according to him, the youths are full of energy and determination to succeed under a right atmosphere. “But in a situation where the government is pretending as if things are right; in a situation where government appoints wrong personnel at strategic positions, what do you expect? “This is not a digression from the topic but an attempt to trace the root of the prevalence of the abusers of social media. Do you know that these same youth who are using the internet negatively can be productive and contribute to the economic growth? “I tell you these people can use their brain to find solution to the many problems the government is facing. But will Nigerian government offer them job? That is the question. Even at that abuse of internet cannot be stopped but checked with the solution I have suggested,” OmoEtu said
Tips on how to prevent abuse of social media (1)Never post when you are overly-tired, jet lagged, intoxicated, angry or upset. (2) If someone does not want to be your friend, accept their decision gracefully. (3) Don’t respond to unsolicited e-mail or friend requests. (4) Check out the people who
want to follow you or be your friend. (5) If cyber bullying is occurring through e-mail, block the user’s address. (6) Don’t put anything on the internet that you don’t want your future boss, current client or potential clients to read.
(7) Use a different profile or account for personal connections. (8) Parents must monitor computer usage of children. (9) Parents must also have their young children e-mail forwarded into theirs, while keeping a copy locally in their own account.
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‘Improved infrastructure will encourage investment’
THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012
-- Page 59 69
Briefs Industrialist tasks Nigerians on self-employment
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•Job seekers
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OOKMAKERS who predicted a gloomy outlook in the first half of the year may be right after all, no thanks to the legion of socio-economic woes bedeviling the nation across all facets of the economy. This is already self-evident if the recent public pronouncements made by the Senate President, David Mark, and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, that the Federal Government and many states across the country are in dire straits. Worst hit is the banking sector. Hitherto the banking sector used to be credited for high job recruitment but all that is now a mirage. Perhaps, what further drive home the point are the harrowing experiences of victims themselves. In a chanced encounter with our correspondents some victims of job loss poured out their hearts while recounting their agonies thus far. Bamidele Greg, 40, (not real name), a resident of Shagari Estate, an uptown district in Alimosho axis of Lagos, was a proud banker who had everything going for him until last March. He tells his story himself. “My life has literally gone on a spin since I lost my job with my bank. Everything happened so quick that I’m yet to get over the shock four months after. I was planning to get married at the time and practically exhausted every savings I had unknown to me that I was going to be out of job afterwards. If I had any foreboding of trouble, I would have tarried awhile before deciding on marital life. This is a hard pill to swallow.” If Bamidele’s tale sounds pathetic, the case of another banker, who simply gave his name as Bakare, is just as painful. Bakare, a former banker with a new generation bank, admitted that he has suffered a lot of privations since he lost his job. “Life has been very tough and living had also been very challenging. As a newly married with a threeyears- old girl and a house wife, paying house rent and taking care of my family as well as extended family has not only affected my matrimony but has equally dented my pride as a
No vacancy! No vacancy!! No vacancy!!! Like the rest of the world, the nation’s labour market is increasingly becoming saturated with the rising incidence of job losses across all sectors fuelled in part by the unbearable economic crunch in recent times, report Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf and Gbenga Oyebanji man,” Bakare lamented. The Nation learnt that the end of the current downsizing in the banking sector might not be in sight as the retained workers in the acquired entities might experience more stringent work environment. Tales of woes are widespread across the country, as many have had to grapple with job loss at some point. While sharing his perspective on the growing level of job insecurity in the land, an economic analyst, Ben Mbonu, observed that: “The fiscal and monetary policies inconsistency had resulted in the harsh economic environment banks operate in Nigeria, epileptic power supply, multiple taxation, dilapidated roads and unethical corporate governance. The high public debt profile had brought a credit rationing effect on the banks. The economy became overheated causing the private sector to be ‘crowded out’, by the public sector, how do they get out of this quagmire? Two options are available : downsizing or aggressive wage caught; these banks are cut between the devil and deep blue sea, the cost of doing business drives them to be ephemeral in their operations, since business is the first interest they serve, staying in business becomes survival of the fittest.” Echoing similar views, Babatunde Akanni, a public affairs commentator, observed that one
way to address the issue of job loss is to first consider the remote cause. According to him, “Preventing this cankerworm is by understanding the cause of the problem, solving it that it does not repeat itself. Also the meltdown is contagious, the European banking crisis, the great recessional effect of the western economies, all these sum together is a great factor that can’t be ignored, we need a dynamic reform that focuses on the short run, we have the potentials to have a strong financial sector, if we can finally stabilize the economy to smooth out the recessional effects. Families are affected, relations, and the government are losing, based on the high unemployment rate. Our banking sector can be great, what we need is policy stabilization that reflects on fiscal and monetary policies.” Besides outright job loss, most companies have also explored the possibility of wage cut, a development, they argued, is more humane than the gale of sack that has pervaded the economy across the sectors. A case in point is Dana Air, which, according to investigation, decided on wage reduction, as part of efforts to cut costs while sorting out compensation claims for families of the 153 passengers that died in the June 3 MD 83 air crash at Iju/ Ishaga, Lagos. Investigation by The Nation revealed that the airline has hinted of
plans to effect 60 per cent cut in the salaries of its workers. The pay cut, it was gathered, is being considered as an option to laying off workers pending the conclusion of investigations into the crash by the relevant authorities. Sources close to the airline, who would not be named, said the management of the carrier would soon make the announcement public. The spokesman for DANA Air, Tony Usidamen, said the management has not taken any such decision. The source said the option of salary cut for the flying crew, including pilots, aircraft engineers and cabin crew was among the proposals before the airline management as one of the ways of cutting down costs. Investigation by The Nation revealed that job cuts have affected approximately 30,000 workers in the last few years, with a three-year high of more than 60, 000 jobs lost by 2013. The country’s abysmal business environment smoother the entrepreneurial spirit such that most youths are lured into a life of crime, with millions of university graduates engaged in cyber fraud, both within and outside the country. In the view of analysts, the whole idea of building an enviable economy by 2020 can never be achieved with the abysmal rate of unemployment in the country. Pray, is someone listening?
HE Olofa of Offa, Oba Mufutau Muhammad Gbadamosi Esuwoye 11, has disclosed that the secret to economic turnaround is industrialisation and information technology, which Nigeria must embrace in order to improve the economy. The royal father, who made the disclosure at the 2012 Crystal Nite of Excellence, organised by the Commerce & Industry Correspondents Association of Nigeria (CICAN), in Lagos, stated that every developed economy, no matter what that economy had become, suffered worse than what the Nigerian economy was going through today. Oba Mufutau, who was the royal father of the day at the event, urged Nigerians to shun laziness and stop hiding under the cloak of shortage of employment in the nation, but rather to begin to think of what they could do to help themselves and the nation and also imbibe the spirit of entrepreneurship so as to better their lot. The Director-General of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Joseph Odumodu, bagged the Most Impactful Presence in Public Service of the Year Award, while Dangote Pasta, got the Best Pasta Manufacturer of the year award. Other award recipients were the Bank of Industry (BoI) which was honoured with the Development Bank of the Year; Lafarge Cement Company of the Year, Dagrada International Trading Company, which went home with the Uncommon Philanthropy of the Year trophy and Phoenix Steel Mills Ltd, which got the award for Steel Bar Company of the Year. The high-point of the event was when the CICAN secretariat model was unveiled by the chairman of the event, Goodie Ibru and Minister of Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga, who was represented by his Special Assistant on Media, Yemi Kolapo.
Lagos upgrades infrastructure in Epe
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AGOS State Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Dr. Kadri Obafemi Hamzat, has called on communities where government projects are located to embrace such projects in the overall interest of the State. The Commissioner who stated this while on a tour of projects executed by his ministry explained the state government hopes to harness the economic and tourism potential of Epe axis of the state through meaningful developmental projects such as the revival of tourism sites and wholesome support to hospitality business. He revealed that there had been challenges that stalled the takeoff of the Marina shoreline reclamation awarded about two years ago such as the unsupportive attitude of host communities. To get round it, he said, the Fashola administration has decided to engage directly with communities through the traditional institutions to forestall delays in the execution of projects designed to bring infrastructural development to their domain and impact on the people. He revealed that plans are in top gear to ensure that Epe becomes a viable industrial axis through the provision of not only road infrastructure but also 700 million gallon capacity mini-water project. Commenting further on the shoreline, he disclosed that it is a contract that has already been awarded, adding that it’s about 1.1 km in length and 100 metres in depth. The essence of the infrastructure upgrade in Epe, Hamzat declared is to attract businesses in the axis and decongest central Lagos.
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THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 22, 2012
Business News
New appointments, investment portfolios in Flour Mills
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LOUR Mills of Nigeria Plc has announced a new organisational structure and a series of investments aimed at bolstering its strong market position in the Food and Agro-Allied sectors. These changes according to the Group Managing Director, Dr. Emmanuel Ukpabi, is part of the company’s ongoing strategic review, which will see the behemoth establishing more profitable ventures that are crucial for the Nigerian economy and society. He also announced that the new Managing Director of Food Division, Mr. Ed Jackson will oversee the food manufacturing division and be responsible for flour and rice milling, sugar refining, pasta products and other processed foods; all wholesale and retail sales, distribution and logistics operations including BAGCO operations. The Chairman of Flour Mills Group, Mr. George Coumantaros, in his comments on this organisational realignment said “Ed brings to this job 30 years experience in
Stories by Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf developing and implementing strategies in the food industry. We are completely committed to delivering on our promise to provide our customers and consumers across all of Nigeria and throughout West Africa with the highest quality food products at affordable prices. It is the Golden Penny promise. To this end we have invested 70 billion naira over the past 10 years in food manufacturing assets and have plans to invest another 100 billion naira in the next five years”. Realizing that building its upstream value chains that link Nigerian farmers with industrial process is becoming more important to Nigeria’s future prosperity, Flour Mills has also announced the deployment of some of its most talented executives to drive these investments. In this vein, Mr. Paul Gbededo has been appointed as the new Managing Director of Flour Mills’ AgroAllied business. He will handle all fertilizer, animal
feeds, oil crushing, poultry and farming activities, including backward integration schemes at Kaboji, Sunti and other locations, as well as the processing of cassava into flour, sweeteners and starches. While commenting on the Group’s increased attention to all agro-allied activities, Ukpabi said that, “Paul’s extensive agro-allied experience and track record in creating value in this important sector makes him the ideal person to drive our efforts in support of the Government’s Agricultural Transformation Agenda.” Expatiating, he said, “We have spent 10 billion naira over the past 10 years in agro-allied investments and have plans to invest another 30 billion naira over the next five years. With 40% of the Nigerian GDP in agriculture and 70% of all Nigerian employment in this sector, it is our top priority to drive.”Concluding,he said that, “the future of Nigeria depends on those companies willing and able to invest in this sector and Flour Mills will lead the way.”
PHOTO SHOP
•From left: Chairman, Slok Group, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu; President, Afrexim Bank, Mr. Jean-Louis Ekra; Vice President, China Exim Bank Mr. Zhu Xianqiang; President, South-East South-South Professionals of Nigeria, Mr. Emeka Ugwu-Oju; Director, Research & International Cooperation, Afrexim Bank Dr. Francis Mbroh, during the 19th General Meeting of Shareholders of African Export-Import Bank Africa in Beijing, China.
Expert lists opportunities in real estate
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ROSPECTIVE investors desirous of investing in real estate have a lot to gain, in terms of value for money and quick returns on investment, the Managing Director of Humford Realties Limited, Mr. Daniel Iseghohimeh-Cole, has said. According to him, all what is required is a synergy of cooperation between the public and private sectors to be able to harness the limitless opportunities that abound in the sector, in terms of job creation potential as well as entrepreneurial development initiatives. Iseghohimeh-Cole, who set up shop over a year ago, noted that prospective investors interested in the sector should be mindful of the fact that the sector is as old as mankind, hence to him: “The issue of housing and habitation has remained the primary concern that generations have had to deal with. However, in our own peculiar circumstance as a nation, we have to start seriously considering how to empower people; have them gainfully engaged and utilise the land factor as a tool for dealing with our social economic situation. It is based on that realisation that Humford Realties was founded.” Convinced of the opportunities available in the sector, he declared that the overall objective of his company is not just to be the preferred real estate development firm in the country, but also to satisfy stakeholders through the application of the best practice, professionalism and value innovation. As to how the sector
Consumers get PHCN metres in 18 months E
•From left: Chairman Regency Alliance Insurance Plc., Hon. Justice A. G. Karibi-White, Managing Director , Mr. Biyi Otegbeye and a Director, Ambassador Baba Gana Kingibe, during the Annual General Meeting of the Company in Lagos PHOTO: MUYIWA HASSAN
can contribute to economic growth and development, especially in the area of capacity building and job creation, the realtor said: “For instance, cement production can get millions of people employed. As production of cement currently stands in the country, demand can barely meet up with supply. The cement industry on its own based primarily on the fact that the volume of construction work going on in the country is enough to create supply sustainable employment for millions of the country’s unemployed youth.” Expatiating, he said: “There are architects, engineers, builders and the others involved in construction work that will have to be employed or engaged. The number of people involved in raising a structure is more and that ultimately create massive employment.” Besides, he argued that there are also empowerment and employment opportunities in the sector for those involved in the supply of sand, stones irons and all the materials that must be utilised in construction. He was however quick to stress that though the opportunities that the sector provides for empowerment and employment are limitless, the government was not doing enough to encourage investment considering the obnoxious laws and policies being enforced by government at all levels. “When fully tapped into, the real estate sector; if allowed to rotate on the pivot of integrity can beat every other in making millions of Nigerians gainfully and sustainably employed”, he stressed. Speaking further, he said given the housing deficit in the country, there
are several opportunities for any would-be investor in the sector. “I believe that man’s basic need is food and after food comes the issue of where he will lay his head shelter, and until this is satisfied, every other thing including his contribution to the growth of the economy is a story. A man that can not satisfy his shelter need, how can he be motivated to contribute meaningfully to the economy? Now we say we have about 15 million housing deficit in Nigeria according to the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria. This means the economy is short by the supposed income accruable from the construction of these numbers of houses. There is no economic activity anywhere that is not in one way or the other tied to the real estate sector. Many workers and individuals want to have their own houses or apartments, but the odds against it, considering the way the country’s economy operate is simply too much. “All over Lagos and beyond, many estates and buildings remained unoccupied and the expensive ones are hardly sold, because those that ordinarily should occupy those properties have not been empowered enough to do so.” The other thorny issue, according to Cole, which needs to be addressed in the interest of the real estate subsector, is the issue of documentation. “Even those workers that are able to buy lands are coming to the realisation that getting those land documented is like the proverbial camel passing through the eyes of the needle. Documentation of land is a big challenge that the government must really look into”, he noted.
LECTRICITY consumers nationwide are expected to get metres in the next 18 months, the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), has said. Disclosing this recently was the Business Manager, PHCN, Ahoada Business Unit, Anya Chukwu at the third Business Unit’s Meeting of Customers Consultative Council (CCC) held recently, Ahoada West, Rivers State. According to Chukwu, with customers having their metres, it will put an end to estimation bill otherwise known as crazy bills. Justifying the need for the consultative meeting,
which was set up in order to ensure better service delivery to customers, the PHCN boss declared that additional Fault Reporting Centre established at EleleAlimini, would aid consumer relation. Other high point of discourse was the issue of indebtedness of customers, Eng. Anya Chukwu revealed that the total outstanding debt of customers in the unit as at last month is N1,391,147,555.95. He therefore appealed to customers to pay up their outstanding bills to avoid disconnection. On the new electricity tariff structure, Chukwu said the tariff covers residential, commercial, industrial, special/street
lighting customers. “With the new tariff, no user of electricity should pay less than N1,000 per month”, he said. The CDC Chairman representing Ula-Upata Chief Udoh George lamented the high electricity tariff of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC). The new tariff, George said did not pay much attention to commoners. Responding, Chukwu enjoined those not satisfied with the new tariff to lodge complaint at NERC website, adding that “Any material vandalized will not be replaced by the company and such community will bear the replacement.”
Business
THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012
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INTERVIEW
‘Improved infrastructure will encourage investment’ John Ugbe, Managing Director of MultiChoice Nigeria speaks with Bukola Afolabi, on the impact of his company’s products and services in the almost two decades of its existence in the country
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HIS is the first time a Nigerian is leading the operations of MultiChoice in its 17
year existence in the country. Are we going to see more Nigerianisation of MultiChoice Nigeria? That tends to take away our African feel. We see ourselves as being able to integrate cultures from around Africa, so at every point in time it’s to our credit that we are able to get some of the best skills from around the continent. The focus for us is how we can promote Nigerian content. So yes, we would Nigerianize more, we hope to have a lot more Nigerian content on DStv and I think we are the envy of other countries right now that’s why we have to be careful we don’t make too much noise about it because you can imagine how you would feel if you were from another African country and the last three winners of Big Brother Africa were Nigerians, we might as well rename it Big Brother Nigeria! Think of it, if you were from Ghana would you even vote or want to watch it? I think the company is very Nigerian and from a group perspective there’s a lot of focus on Nigeria. What should Nigerians look out for during your tenure as Managing Director a few years from now? We are here to entertain people and a lot of what we do supports that. For us, it’s key that we impact the community positively, that is, our stakeholders, so our emphasis is to bring the best entertainment in the next few years to Nigeria while developing the very best out of here with an emphasis on making sure that the best out of here is shown around the world. A lot of multinational corporations complain about the challenges of operating in this environment. What are the unique challenges that MultiChoice faces in operating here and how are you surmounting these challenges? For one, we face some of the challenges other businesses face. Challenges such as infrastructure, we’ve got offices we need to power, and we are also in a business that needs to be on 24/7. People cannot accept any downtime from us. We are also prone to the infrastructure challenges that affect every Nigerian and we spent quite a bit to build our own infrastructure to be able to provide world-class service. Also, piracy is a major challenge in this market. The protection of intellectual property is a challenge that we face. Piracy is a big challenge but we don’t see that challenge as ours alone. We see it as a challenge for the entire entertainment industry. We believe that the Nigerian entertainment industry is at its infancy. That is something that needs to be fixed to protect artists, particularly the young ones. You know it’s an industry that is growing, that takes the focus away from the traditional sectors such as banking industry and the others. Piracy is a major concern, something that we will like the regulatory body and the Government to focus on. Intellectual property is not as respected here as it should be. When we talk of piracy, MultiChoice is not into the business of selling CDs of movies and music. How does it affect your organisation? Our sister organisations are into content business. With content, it’s intellectual property. For you to put a value on content, it needs to be protected. It needs not to be readily available on the streets. A situation where you have movies that were released yesterday freely available on our streets is a challenge. Also, as a country it’s a problem for us because it doesn’t help us internationally, and we fall short of a lot of opportunities internationally because of perceived non-protection of intellectual property. There is also pirate activity in the satellite TV industry. There is a need for government or the regulatory body to support initiatives that stop that. Don’t forget that we, as a body, are regulated by the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission, we pay licence fees, we trade legally in Nigeria so we are subject to fees and that’s an
•Ugbe obligation we have never failed; but the pirates do not aid the economy, they more or less destroy the economy and that’s a key challenge we face. What is your assessment of the impact which MultiChoice has had on the Nigerian economy since inception? If you want to look at our impact on the economy, I think you will want to look at it from different points of view. One of the most visible would be in the entertainment industry. Look at the film industry; Nollywood, if you trace the root of that industry, I think it brings you back to M-Net and by extension, MultiChoice. Back in the day when we bought local content, even before AfricaMagic, when we created local content for MMDS transmission, and then you move on to AfricaMagic movie channel, which has transformed Nollywood. If you look at just Nollywood as an industry, as a Nigerian your proudest moment is when you land in Kenya or any other African country, and the first guy you see says, “Oga”. You know, our diction, everything is quite popular across Africa. A lot of it is from our AfricaMagic. Commercially, that is because MNet has been one of the foremost organisations that paid for content out of this industry; they are not only paying for content, they also encourage the development of content through massive investment. If you look at it from the point of financials, I think we have paid quite a bit of taxes and aided the development of the economy in over 15 years of operations. In terms of people, we have close to 500 staff within the organisation and a lot more who have gone through the organisation who probably today hold important positions in other companies and institutions in the country. We have
developed the human resource in Nigerians. Then our supply chain has helped us to create entrepreneurial opportunities in the country, employing over 2,000 people, who provide sustenance for over 2,000 families. These are businesses that have been developed in conjunction with the company and the banks. These are fully Nigerian companies, which are owned by young Nigerian entrepreneurs. The companies are a product of our enterprise development scheme with which we have empowered Small and Medium scale businesses in the country As much as we can begin to put numbers around that impact, I think from an M-Net point of view, over N15 billion has been spent on content in the last 10 years. SuperSport is at the forefront of developing Nigerian football. From the live coverage of the Nigerian Premier League and the DStv Basketball League which we sponsor, to the promotion and coverage of other local sporting initiatives. We could go on mentioning so many initiatives that have had far reaching impact in Nigeria. Yes, we’ve been a very strong partner in developing Nigerian content, Nigerian sport, Nigerian people, and the Nigerian economy. There is a plethora of sports programmes particularly football on DStv, but there seems not to be enough channels to screen these matches. Are you considering launching more SuperSport channels in order to screen more football matches? I think we have continuously increased the number of sports channels on the bouquet right down to being the first to launch a wholly Nigerian sports channel on our platform. But right now we are beginning to ask questions like, what should Nigerians’ favourite team be? Should it be the team you can go also to see here in Nigeria and support passionately or
should it just be only the team out there? Our key focus is to take Nigerian football back to where it was; we are doing a lot about that, we have Nigerian games live and as much as possible, we have the platform for the live coverage of as many matches as possible. I mean, during the World Cup we had every game out there live, we have the Olympics coming up and we would create additional channels to broadcast a lot more content. Within reason, we would provide as much live content as possible but we will also lay emphasis on our own local content, we want that passion for the Nigerian league to return. The issue of pay-per-view has been discussed several times with many subscribers saying that the option may be preferable because they do not get to watch their TV as a result of inadequate power supply. What fresh perspectives can you bring to this issue? Is there a system that will allow subscribers pay for only the content they consume as it is with mobile phone subscribers who pay for only the airtime they use? These are two different business models and it’s a challenge when people tend to confuse the mobile phone industry with Pay-TV; we are a broadcast industry and it’s a bit different. The concept of pay-per-view is a bit different from the pay TV business though they merge at some points. Let me explain. First, your decoder does not talk back to the satellite; it’s a one-way communication so we have no way of knowing when your decoder is off. Second, content providers don’t sell their content and say since you have 1,000 subscribers, when five of them are not watching we will reduce your cost or boost your cost when you have a full house, that doesn’t happen. Third, satellite costs are fixed and we buy a spectrum to transmit and that cost isn’t going to reduce or increase. It’s a different model, maybe we don’t value some of the things we get. For instance, when Manny Pacquiao was to fight in the US, it was on pay per view. What it means is that though you already have pay-TV or cable TV which you are already paying for on monthly basis - you pay extra just to watch that fight, but from us, you got to watch that fight as part of your package. You were not asked to pay extra fee to watch the boxing fight. A fair comparison of this business with the mobile industry is comparing when someone leaves their phone on for a full month and runs the bill, that’s when you can compare. But I say that they are two different business models. We also wouldn’t want to switch off for some time and tell our subscribers that we didn’t have power and then try to refund. We have PVR decoders with which you can record different channels when you are out of the house and watch the recorded programme when you get back home; how does the mobile phone model accommodate that? Hopefully the issue of power is not a permanent problem for us in this country and so we can’t begin to adapt our lives to having no power, rather we should fix the power and enjoy our lives. Different businesses have different models, just like asking for jollof rice without the onions so you don’t have to pay for onions. You have to put it in there to cook the rice, there’s no way to extract the onions or the pepper so you can have yours without the onions or pepper. It’s part and parcel of the business. Maybe if we can get more people to understand what our business is about, it’s a business of numbers and patience, which is staying in the business for a long time before you begin to see returns. We know how difficult it is operating in Nigeria but of course we also know as well that the return on investments (RoIs) could also be high for corporate organisations which get their act right. Which major policy or development do you think has the most impact on your organisation if properly implemented? Look, the government is encouraging foreign direct investment into the country and we have kept faith with the country even when it wasn’t a democracy and things were a bit more difficult. What we want to see is not just one policy but policies that encourage investment to continue because in our business we continually invest. We buy content continuously and it’s also a business where the cost input goes up and not down and we have to continuously invest, create content, hence just a good investment environment and regulatory policies that encourage us to stay in business and delight Nigerians and not restrictive ones that tend to squeeze us. I can’t really think of one thing right now that would make us begin to soar but I think it’s a combination of actions like one, there’s a friendly environment and once infrastructure gets better, I think it would suit every business.
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THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 22, 2012
Business News
PROFILE By Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf with agency report
Yahoo! CEO plans to reinvigorate company
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HE appointment of Ms. Marissa Mayer as Chief Executive by the world’s acclaimed social media is considered a coup for Yahoo, which has struggled in recent years to attract top talents in its battle with competitors. Despite her background, Ms. Mayer — who will be Yahoo’s fifth chief executive in less than a year, two of them interim — will face a daunting challenge. The new boss comes highly recommended. As former Google VP credited for much of that site’s look and feel, Mayer helped to build a brand universally known to consumers—skills that analysts expect her to utilize to improve users’ experience as the new head of Yahoo Inc. Overall, the 37-year-old faces several challenges in her new job as Yahoo’s chief executive, which she began last Tuesday. Yahoo’s once-dominant market share in display advertising has eroded, the company’s revenue has declined for the past three years, and investors have endured several leadership changes, with Ms. Mayer becoming the sixth CEO in five years. Ms. Mayer’s understanding of consumer tastes could help Yahoo better prioritize which products to develop, Evercore analyst Ken Sena said. She also has experience managing several products at once, he added. “Her background, if anything, might make her especially suited to make rational decisions as to what should be kept and what should be disposed of,” he said. The new chief executive also is considered a strong presenter—she often represented Google’s public face in media interviews—but someone who also can communicate with engineers and developers because of her background, which includes a master’s degree in computer science from Stanford University. Analysts say her technical background could help restore morale among engineers at the company, which in April said it was cutting 2,000 jobs, or 14 percent of its work force. Global Equities Research analyst, Trip Chowdhry, said that while Mayer is considered a good engineer, as indicated by her work in simplifying user interfaces, she lacks experience in making big strategic business decisions. Other observers worry Yahoo’s continued focus on hiring executives with productbuilding experience neglects the content side of the business, which is key to revamping freecash-flow growth that has stagnated over the past few years. Yahoo’s board has now picked three chief executives who have more experience with technology than with content and advertising relationships, research firm Needham & Co. noted. Former CEO Scott Thompson previously led
Beyond Talent
By Adetayo Okusanya Email: [email protected]
Professional development options: How to grow into success
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• Mayer
eBay Inc.’s (EBAY) PayPal unit. Carol Bartz, Yahoo’s chief from 2009 to 2011, was the head of designsoftware maker “What we are a bit worried about is that by selecting Ms. Mayer, Yahoo is explicitly pursuing an aggressive and bold growth strategy, whereas we believe a value strategy might be more appropriate,” Citi Research analyst, Mark Mahaney wrote in a note to clients. Some investors apparently shared that sentiment, as Yahoo stock slid five cents to $15.59 last Tuesday. “If you’re a value investor looking for a potential winddown of the assets, hiring Marissa is a potential setback,” Evercore’s Mr. Sena said. Ms. Mayer, 37, will become the firm’s third CEO in the space of a year. In a statement released by Yahoo, Ms. Mayer said she was “honoured and delighted” to lead the company. She later revealed that she is expecting her first child. Yahoo has struggled in the face of increased competition from search rivals including Google and the emergence of social giants such as Facebook. Reports say the selection of Ms. Mayer to head the company suggests a renewed focus on technology and products, over online content. “I look forward to working with the company’s dedicated employees to bring
innovative products, content, and personalised experiences to users and advertisers all around the world,” Ms. Mayer said. Yahoo is a problem too big even for Marissa Mayer However, despite being google’s 20th employee and its first female engineer, in the last couple of years – she has been slowly edged out of the power circle surrounding Larry Page – Google’s cofounder and chief executive since last April. First, she was taken off heading up search, Google’s flagship product, and put in charge of location-based services, and then she failed to maintain her top spot in Page’s reorganisation of his most senior product heads. Rather tellingly, Google is understood to not be directly replacing her. This is why it is understandable that she says the decision to jump ship was “relatively easy” – despite 13 happy years at Google. However, what is less easy to fathom is her description of Yahoo being ‘one of the best brands on the internet’. However, most technology analysts and pundits alike struggle to define what Yahoo is today. Is it an email service, a portal, a news feed, or a search engine? Your guess is probably as good as Yahoo’s disgruntled board. Carol Bartz, Yahoo’s former bullish chief executive
– who was dramatically ousted last year – tried in vain to redefine its identity as a service which provides users with all of their favourite web services in one place – through a personalised home page. A splashy and expensive global marketing campaign ensured telling the people of the world that Yahoo should be ‘their window onto the web’. It was, by all accounts, a total flop – not to mention utterly confusing to all journalists trying to make sense of such a convoluted marketing message. The big question is whether Ms. Mayer — or anyone — can help Yahoo regain its former stature. “It’s a very interesting departure and a very interesting choice,” said Martin Sorrell, chief executive of WPP, the giant advertising agency. “She comes with a formidable reputation, but we’ll see how she analyzes it all.” With her appointment as the president and chief executive of Yahoo on Monday, Ms. Mayer joins a shortlist of women in the technology industry to hold the top spot. The elite club includes Meg Whitman, the chief executive of HewlettPackard, and Virginia M. Rometty, the head of I.B.M. Another senior woman in Silicon Valley, Sheryl Sandberg, is Facebook’s chief operating officer.
OU have heard me say over and over again that sustainable career success is achieved through careful design and purposedriven choice. Oftentimes, the way that news is reported gives us the false impression that many of the successful people in our organization, industry and society tripped and fell into instant success. There is no overnight success. What I have learned from listening to success stories across the globe is that most times we, the audience, are brought into the story when the plot is at an advanced stage. We do not have the privilege of following the story from the beginning and watching successful people “GROW” into their success. Career success, to a lot of professionals, has come to mean how quickly one gets promoted and moves up the corporate ladder. This has become the most preferred and prevalent measure of career growth, and understandably so, since it comes with higher status in the organization, greater perquisites and more pay. Today, the challenge with promotion is that vertical or upward career movements are no longer readily available and easily accessible to employees. With the global recession, many organizations are struggling to grow and maintain profitability and some have had to retrench large numbers of staff or declare insolvency. Organizations now reserve their limited promotion budgets for employees who are, in their view, high performers, have long term potential and are capable of delivering results in critical business areas. Besides promotion, there are other ways to develop yourself within your organization to enhance your employability and marketability, and sometimes these alternatives can be more impactful and fulfilling. Job Enrichment Job enrichment is a great development opportunity for you if you who want to achieve mastery in your current role, by acquiring a higher level of knowledge, know-how and capabilities. Or, if you simply like your current position and location and you do not desire higher levels of responsibilities at the present time. The goal of job enrichment is to make your job more interesting, challenging and intellectually stimulating. Although your pay, status and level remain the same, this development option can provide you with a tremendous opportunity to achieve personal growth, fulfillment and expert status. One of the job enrichments strategies that helped me in my career was the expansion of my role to include people management responsibilities. Lateral Move There are two types of lateral moves that you can explore. Both options involve a change in job description and the development of new marketable skills, but do not necessarily involve a change in pay, status or level of responsibility. The first option can be likened to a job rotation within the same function or department. This option is a good fit for you, if you are interested in broadening your functional expertise by developing a robust understanding of the end to end processes or activities within a department. The second is a cross functional move that involves a change in departments. This option is great, if you are interested in broadening your business expertise by developing a robust understanding of the various functions within your enterprise or if you simply want to change careers. A lateral move can be an especially useful development option if you are interested in expanding your experiences, acquiring new skills, working internationally, changing teams or if your organization is growing slowly or down-sizing. Exploratory Research This is an ideal development option for you if you are seeking a change in your role, but you are either not sure of what is appropriate for you or you are unwilling to make a permanent move before “test-driving”. This development option gives you the opportunity to research and work on short term projects that expose you to new areas. It is a great way to discover new interests, experiences, abilities and networks by investigating other functions, business units and career paths. It could involve a temporary change in your job description but not your pay, status or level of responsibility. Examples of exploratory research strategies include job shadowing, task force assignments, short term “secondments” and “loaned staff” programs. At this half way point of the year, I urge you to consider which of the three development options outlined above is right for you. Please note that there are more development options available to you, however, I have chosen to focus on vertical, lateral, job enrichment and exploratory research in this article. Discuss your options with key stakeholders such as your spouse, mentor, executive sponsor, coach and manager. Solicit their advice/perspective and enroll them in your development efforts. Remember to focus more on acquiring the right career experiences, knowledge and capabilities that will drive future success in your career. • Okusanya is CEO of ReadinessEdge
THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 22, 2012
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THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 22, 2012
THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 22, 2012
73
Gbenga Asafa @ 57: His metamorphosis
EBERE WABARA
Fashola on BRT Lane
D
AILY Sun of July 18 welcomes us this week: “Fashola nabs 2 military officers driving on BRT” Let us get it right. ‘BRT’ stands for Bus Rapid Transit. So, the ebullient governor arrested them on BRT Lane—not on BRT! It is well with BRF and Eko! From Apapa we move to Rutam House of THE GUARDIAN where two lines in its July 17 edition embarrassed the elite readership: “…the SUV conveying their victims at the rear bend corner along the road.” Conscience, Nurtured by Truth: either ‘bend’ or ‘corner’. The two words cannot cofunction in this age. This was acceptable in pre-colonial days! It reminds one of expressions like ‘a.m. in the morning’/‘log of wood’/‘extreme end’/ ’reason why’/’still yet’/ ’so therefore’, et al. “Mimiko mourns student’s death” The governor certainly mourned the student—not his death. Let me not comment further before some irredeemably incorrigible and faceless readers of this column send to me vexatious messages on my ‘stylistic brashness, rude analyses and intellectual haughtiness’! All for this writer? Who will intercede for me? THE GUARDIAN of July 10 leads today’s infamy class: “Don alerts on looming infectious epidemic due to floods” No news: Don alerts to (not on)… “NCC, MTN unites against pre-registered SIMs” Let us avoid Business English in formal writing: unite “NNPC to re-open (reopen) moribund Aba depot” “D’Tigers claws its way into Olympics history” Lexical sportsmanship: Olympic history “…if she puts her acts (act) together.” (National Mirror Views, July 12) “Ekiti land tussle suit adjourned for out of court settlement” (Source: as above) Community Mirror: out-of-court settlement. Please note: a feather in one’s (my/your/his/ her) cap—not a feather to one’s…cap. “…what is stressed here is that a Nigerian version of the publishing revolution took place in the face of several odds and the fall-outs are still very much with us.”
(DAILY INDEPENDENT, June 28) ‘Fallout’ is non-count and has no hyphen. “The police appears unable to fish them out because of the barrier of national boundaries.” Tense security: the police appear unable…. “It was in the hey-days (heyday) of the Babangida administration.” “And hidden in the quiet suburbs of Yaba is an agency which has laid a virtual siege on (to) the pages of the national press….” “Shipping companies brace-up for war over tarriff pegging.” Phrasal verbs do not admit hyphenation. And this: tariff. “Trouble however started when security personnels at the stadium....” ‘Personnel’ is uncountable. “I was a witness to a very moving event recently at the Idimu Police Station at the outskirts of Lagos.” From A to B: on the outskirts. “A strong grassroot force has to be in the drivers (sic) seat for the targeted poverty programme.” Richness of language: grassroots and driver’s seat. “The poor has to see themselves properly involved in the programme.” How does it sound? The poor think more about money than the rich! “Its importance is based on the fact that had Christ resurrected from the dead....” ‘From the dead’ is otiose because it is implied. “Government should take the bull by the horn and dismiss the latest PHCN tariff hike....” No blackout: take the bull by the horns. “Nigeria needs a judiciary that would neither be intimidated or humiliated like the James Ibori case.” Neither...nor and either…or. No carelessness! “The culprit was repatriated back last week.” (NTA Network News, June 21) Why the overkill? Please, yank off ‘back’ in the interest of Freedom of Information (FoI). “This is because the governor was not really in the good book of the electorate” A fall foreseen: in the good/bad books of the electorate. “Hunger is threatening to crush majority of our citizens.” The shape
of things to come: a (take note) majority of our citizens. It is no longer a threat! “…money and other inducements to get the electorates vote for them.” Simply, the electorate. “The type of exotic jewelleries (jewellery) you can find at museum shops….” ‘Jewellery’ is uncountable. For those who subscribe to Americanism, ‘jewelry’ is acceptable—and unacceptable to those of us stuck to the British Standard English. “…the president of the country can be harassed with a degree that bothers (borders) on flippancy….” “The noise have (has) been deafening about imposition of candidates by PDP.…” “Sometimes (Sometime) around (about) 9.35 a.m. a convoy of six cars comprising of a….” Do away with the second ‘of’ in the extract. “There were sporadic explosions while the cars were burning apparently due to remnants of ammunitions.” ‘Ammunition’ does not take any inflexion. “Beyond the cloud, pomp and pageantry….” Either pomp and ceremony or pomp and circumstance. In classical cases, just ‘pomp’ will suffice. “As the saying goes, money is the root of all evils”. From my file, the love of money (not money itself) is the root of all evils. “Also, at the onset (outset) of the computer revolution….” There is a clear distinction between ‘onset’ (which has an inherence of violence) and ‘outset’ (beginning, commencement). “The naira permitted it’s (its) designers to inflict….” “The development aroused his curiousity and we soon displayed all the denominations of the naira.…” Spell-check: curiosity. “Beyond mere symbols of ethnic jingoism which may prove difficult for the ordinary man in the street to identify....” ‘The man in the street’ does not require any embellishment such as ’ordinary’ because the man is simply ordinary. “….eyes where poor man (a poor man) can own mansions in (on) Victoria Island.”
BENGA ASAFA’S emergence as an emerging politician of fame began in 1999 when Bola Tinubu, the phenomenon of radical politics, appointed him as Director in the Governor’s office (latter re-labelled Office of the Chief of Staff in line with contemporary fashion). Though he was given a schedule of duty as Director (Planning), it was clear he did not find this challenging nor exciting. So, he could not fit into the system again. His stature and status had become bigger than what the civil service system could accommodate. Before his new appointment as a Director, Asafa had resigned from the civil service long before then. But on his return, time and space had changed the environment. His new image could no longer adapt to the primitive and conservative tradition of subservience in the service. He craved for transformation. He longed for political integration and accommodation. He broke loose from tradition. He wanted a new culture of service. He had desire for a bigger project. And he got it. A ritual background check on Gbenga Bareeuh Asafa shows that he was born on July 22, 1955 into the Elemoro family of Lagos. A typical Lagos boy, Gbenga attended Christ Church Cathedral School and CMS Grammar School between 1961 and 1973 for both his primary and post-primary education. He later proceeded to Morgan State University, where he earned his Bachelor of Science (B.Sc), and the University of Tennessee, also in United States, where he obtained an M.Sc degree in Public Administration. Bola Tinubu changed the phase of his rise by taking him to the next level which he later found pacifying, comforting and fulfilling: he appointed him the Executive Secretary, Land Use and Allocation Committee (LUAC). Thus, Asafa started transforming: first, from unknown quality to known quantity, man to enigma, person to personality, follower to leader. He leaped from the ordinariness of his office in the Governor’s office to the greatness of his new empire in Lands. Then came the crowds: the feast crowds, the double crowd; men and women, the living but not the dead (apologies Elias Canetti). The crowds, the feast crowds, had sufficient manna to eat, there was abundance in limited space, and everyone could partake of it. There was more of everything than everyone together could consume, and in order to consume it, more and more, people came streaming in. There was security of life and pleasure. The new office became a natural mobilization centre for the next level even though at that early period his political agenda had not unfolded. Asafa’s pacifist approach to land issue in the state resulted in uncommon cooperation and reconciliation between the affected communities and the government, and between the notorious “Omo Oniles” and the government allotees. All parties were adequately settled and for the first time, smiles and laughter became the symbols of the new understanding between government and the communities. Most of the pernicious rifts and controversies over land were amicably resolved. The government became the major beneficiary of this breakthrough. The communities received and collected satisfying compensations. And Gbenga Asafa reaped the political gains and fall-outs. Asafa’s ultimate movement
• Asafa’s
By Dapo Thomas from the position of Executive Secretary Lands, to that of Permanent Secretary of the Lands Ministry as a whole, was an official testament of his rare management of and expertise on land matters. He turned land into goldmine for government by increasing the revenue base from N3.3 billion in 2001 to N21 billion as at December 2010. Besides, he animated government’s interest in using land as a leverage for political bargaining and negotiation with aggrieved communities which had been deprived of their precious resource. The series of interactive sessions that he had with the various communities in his capacities as the Executive Secretary of Lands, and permanent secretary of the land ministry, and his exposure to the challenges facing the rural communities triggered Asafa’s zeal for political power to activate the desired change. The godfather of Lagos politics was also monitoring all Asafa’s activities and actions with circumspective precision. As usual, Bola Tinubu beamed his surveillance bulb on him; carried out furtive leadership tests on him, engaged him in deliberate provocative altercations to see how far his patience and quietness could take him in the face of hostile encounters with his superiors; conducted independent inquisitions from all and sundry within the party, all in a bid to establish Asafa’s communal popularity and fraternity. Those who know Asafa very well know he can pass any test. He is a very calculative person who is not in a hurry to fulfil his destiny not to talk of realizing his ambition. Asafa’s reticence conceals not only his intention but also his ambition. He measures his strides to power dwelling in the metaphor of the supernatural. His gentle mien discloses nothing about his countenance except the nuance of his personage. Some people claim power intoxicates and corrupts. But, my twenty years of interaction with him shows that Asafa resides in the paradox of power. What intoxicates him is not power but his undying passion to elevate society’s decadent humanity. What corrupts (saddens) his spirit is not power but the tyranny of indifference of our leaders to solve the mystery of the people’s misery. Dramatically, power changed hands, to parody the patrons of mountain of fire. Senator Olorunnibe Mamora, my very good friend and brother, was persuaded out of his senatorial seat to pave the way for Gbenga Asafa. I will not want to dwell on the politics or
the dynamics of these new configurations because both of them are my friends and loyal members of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). The rest then, is history. But what is instructive was that Asafa did not see his emergence as a senatorial candidate nor as a distinguished Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as a triumph or victory over Mamora but as an opportunity to position himself in the power corridor to open the door for those in search of succour. The elation of his electoral victory was not strong enough to vitiate his trademark humility. Before and after his election as a Senator, Asafa’s preachment centred on reconciliation of all aggrieved and bruised members of the party, reminding them that the focus of the mission should still remain the people. It was his contention that the intrigues of power and the politics of succession or replacement and displacement are all elements of human existence and survival strategy. In the past one year that his senatorial assignment started counting, Asafa has sustained most, if not all, his philanthropic activities and programmes for members of his constituency and even those within the larger Nigerian society. His constituency office functions and bubbles with actions and gyrations. It is alive and serves as the centre of interaction between the man and his people. On regular basis, Asafa meets with his constituents to feed them back on government response to some of their challenges. In the process, fresh challenges erupt and the Senator is briefed: floods, eviction matters, school fees agony, health care bills, housing palaver, roads dilapidation, water scarcity and shortage, insecurity, police brutality, kidnapping, matrimonial tangos, hunger, misery, poverty, family squabbles, land controversies, LASTMA’s tyranny, KAI’s indiscriminate demolition of stalls and shops, Doctors’ strike, sand-diggers revolt, Okada menace, PDP inducements, defections, assassination threats and the list is endless. It is curious but not surprising that Asafa’s social nexus and Epicurean indulgence have not blurred his vision for the poor. That he lives in affluence and splendour has not made him forget those living in squalor. In three years time when he will be sixty, the 2015 elections will be taking place, where will he go from here? I am not good at speculative enterprise. I leave it to God the Almighty, the godfather and the people of Lagos State to determine the next phase of his metamorphosis. Dapo Thomas was Special Adviser to Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 22, 2012
74 CHANGE OF NAME OGBUANYA I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Ogbuanya Hope Ukamaka, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Nwaokolo Hope Ukamak. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.
OSSAI I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Ossai Blessing Onyinyechi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Nwokoye Ossai Blessing. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.
OLUSOLA I,formerly known and addressed as Olusola Alabi Macarthy, now wish to be known and addressed as Olusola Alabi Macarthy Abiola. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.
ETIM
I,formerly known and addressed as Etim Bright, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ani Bright Friday. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.
JOHN I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Modupe Christian John, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Modupe Christiana Adeyemo. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.
OPARAH
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OTANIYI
I,formerly known and addressed as Otaniyi Bisola Fehintola, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Thomas Bisola Fehintola. All former documents remain valid. NYSC and general public should please take note.
ANIYI I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Ajoke Abiodun Deborah Aniyi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ajoke Abiodun Deborah Ajibola. All former documents remain valid. Igbajo Polytechnic and general public should please take note.
ERUENE
I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Delight Jomaleh Eruene, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Delight Jomaleh Omomidue. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.
IYAHEN I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Iyahen, Lilian Osasumwen, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Fatunla Lilian Osasumwen. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.
OKEKE
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WAHEED I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Waheed Bukola Ajoke, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Bukola Ajoke Nasiru. All former documents remain valid. NECO, NCE, Osun State government and general public should please take note.
EGBEOLA I,formerly known and addressed as Egbeola Adebisi Abeke, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Adaramola Adebisi Abosede. All former documents remain valid. Ogun State Teaching Service Commission and general public should please take note.
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SALU I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Salu Ayisat Funmilola, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Ashiru Ayisat Funmilola. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.
DUROJAIYE
I, formerly known and addressed as Mrs. Durojaiye Oluwatoyin Abiodun, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Adeokun Oluwatoyin Abiodun. All former documents remain valid. Ogun State Teaching Service Commision and general public should take note.
CHANGE OF NAME
IGBAWUA
AJIBAUKA
CONFIRMATION OF NAME This is to confirm that Emmanuel Ayodele Fiki is the same and one person as Emmanuel Ayodele Fiki Oluwa, now wish to be known and addressed as Emmanuel Ayodele Fiki Oluwa . All documents bearing the above names remain valid. Promasidor Nigeria Ltd and general public should please take note.
I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Sewuese Patience Igbawua, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Sewuese Patience Odo. All former documents remain valid. Federal Medical Makurdi, APIN LTD FMC, Association of Accountants of Nigerian (ANAN) and general public should please take note.
EFFIOM
I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Blessing Asuquo Effiom, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Abeng Blessing Eyam. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.
EKA I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Franca Adin Eka, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Akpet Franca Adin. All former documents remain valid. Cross River State Local govt. Service Commission and general public should please take note.
ODEWALE
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ILEGBUNE I,formerly known and addressed as Ilegbune Blessing Nkechi, now wish to be known and addressed as Ozor Blessing Nkechi. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.
I, formerly known and addressed as MISS. AJIBAUKA ANGYEWAMA, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. SETH OSUCHUKWU ANGYEWAMA. All former documents remain valid .General public please take note.
BRAIMAH
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EFFANGA
I, formerly known and addressed as MISS. UDUAK OKON EFFANGA , now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. UDUAK ULO OKON. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.
CHIAZOR
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BADMUS I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Badmus Basirat Bisoye, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Olaleye Basirat Bisoye. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.
OJIKUTU OLASIMBO I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Adijat Kuburat Olasimbo, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Otolowo Olabisi Kuburat. All former documents remain valid. Obafemi Owode LGEA, SUBEB(Lagos State), Surulere LGEA and general public should please take note.
OSAKWE I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Anthonia Osakwe, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ojeh Anthonia. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.
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MARTINS I, formerly known and addressed as MISS ITUNU GRACE MARTINS now, wish to be known and addressed as MRS ITUNU GRACE OLALEYE. All documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.
AKINYEMI I, formerly known and addressed as MISS AKINYEMI FAYOKEMI HOPE. Now wish to be known and addressed as MRS TUNDE OJO FAYOKEMI HOPE.All former documents remain valid. Hospital Management Board Ekiti and general public take note.
ADEYEYE I formerly known and addressed as MISS ADEYEYE BANKE. M., know wish to be known and addressed as MRS AFUYE BANKE.M. All former Documents remain valid. Okunsusi Jemiriye High School IGEDE Ekiti and general public should please take note.
ADEKANLE
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OKPALA
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NWADIKE I, formerly known and addressed as MISS. NWADIKE CALLISTA OBIAGERI, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. LINUS CALLISTA OBIAGERI. All former documents remain valid. EBONYI STATE UNIVERSITY ABAKALIKI, NYSC and general public please take note.
BINBO
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I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Ojikutu Rukayat Adebowale, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ogunbiyi Rukayat Adebowale. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.
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ALPHONSO I,formerly known and addressed as Alphonso A. Achodor, now wish to be known and addressed as Aiyegboyin Moses. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.
OLADIMEJI
I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Oladimeji Dolapo I., now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Akinola-Omojola Dolapo I. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note. CONFIRMATION OF NAME I,Adeyemi AdesholaOluyomi, Kassim Ramota, Kaasim Adeshola is the same and one person as Kassim Ramota Adeshola Oluyomi. All documents bearing the above names remain valid. General public should please take note.
EKANEM I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Joyce Ekanem, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Joyce Gbenle. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note. CONFIRMATION OF NAME Formerly known and addressed as Miss Ozurumba Chibuzo and also known as Ozurumba Chibuzo Blessing, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Emmanuel Chibuzo Blessing. All former documents remain valid. NYSC and general public should please take note.
OMOPARIOLA I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Omopariola Omolara Bisi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Ajayi Omolara Bisi. All former documents remain valid. Goldlink Insurance Plc. and general public should please take note.
OLUWOLE I,formerly known and addressed as Dr. Enoch-Awoniyi Oluwole Opeyemi, now wish to be known and addressed as Dr. Enoch Oluwole Opeyemi. All former documents remain valid. Authority of Ekiti State University, NUC and general public should please take note.
IBE I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Ibe Uzoamaka Chisa, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Ugboaja Uzoamaka Chisa. All former documents remain valid. Medical Centre and Nigeria Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria and general public should please take note.
ONWUGHALU
I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Onwughalu Irene Azuka Uzoma, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs John Ifejika Irene Uzoma. All former documents remain valid. Federal Civil Service Commission, Federal Ministry of Education and general public should please take note.
ENWEREM
I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Mercy Chibuzor Enwerem, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Mercy Chibuzor Ihekwoaba. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.
ADEKUNLE I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Adeola Saheedat Adekunle, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Olowe Adeola Victoria. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.
OGUOMA I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Oguoma Uchechi Queeneth, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Anukam Uchchi Nnenna. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.
ABEGUNDE I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Abegunde Rachael, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Osatuyi Rachael. All former documents remain valid. Ekiti State Ministry of Health and general public should please take note.
ASUBIOJO
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IBRAHIM I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Ibrahim Toyin Bolanle, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Akinkuade Toyin Bolanle. All former documents remain valid. Ekiti State Water Cooperation and general public should please take note.
EKUNDAYO
I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Ekundayo Temitope Bukola, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Olofin Temitayo Bukola. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.
JOLAOSO I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Jolaoso Opeoluwa Temidayo, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Olatunji Opeoluwa Temidayo. All former documents remain valid. Ogun State Teaching Service Commission, Abeokuta and general public should please take note.
ATEIZA
I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Ateiza Momoh Khadijat, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Salihu Khadijat. All former documents remain valid. Local government Service Commission, Ojokoro LCDA and general public should please take note.
FADEYIBI I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Fadeyibi Adesola Helen, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Ewumi Adesola Helen. All former documents remain valid. Lagos State Civil Service Commission and general public should please take note.
IGE I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Ige Folukemi Sileola, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Adeyemi Folukemi Sileola. All former documents remain valid. NYSC and general public should please take note.
EYINADE
I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Eyinade Ibukun Adeola, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Owalekan Ibukun Adeola. All former documents remain valid. Aliance Autos and general public should please take note.
ADEBAYO I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Adebayo, Oluwafemi Ekundayo Oluwatoyin, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Bamigboye Ekundayo Oluwatoyin. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.
CHANGE OF NAME FASUYI
I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Fasuyi Bolanle Grace, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Adeleke Boalanle Grace. All former documents remain valid. Ekiti State SUBEB and general public should please take note.
EGBUTU
I, formerly known and addressed as MISS EGBUTU EBELE PATRICIA now wish to be known and addressed as MRS OKPATA EBELE PATRICIA. All former documents remain valid. INEC and the general public take note.
UZOCHUKWU
I, formerly known and addressed as MISS UZOCHUKWU UCHENNA CHINELO CHIAGOZIEM now wish to be known and addressed as MRS NNAJEKWU UCHENNA CHINELO CHIAGOZIEM. All former documents remain valid. UNN, NYSC, and the general public take note.
JOHNNIE
I formerly known and addressed as Miss Inisaziba Johnnie now wish to be known as Mrs. Inisaziba Nyamotam Believe Nelson Wolisi. all former documents remain valid. N.P.A. management and the general public please take note.
UDENSI
I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Happiness Amadi Udensi, now wish to be known as Mrs. Happiness Adaora Obus Ajuebon. All former documents remain valid, general public please take note.
CHANGE OF NAME TIAMIYU I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Tiamiyu Kafilat Temitope, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Ibraheem Kafilat Abiodun. All former documents remain valid. NYSC and general public should please take note.
JODA I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Joda Elizabeth Oluwaseun, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Saka Elizabeth Oluwaseun. All former documents remain valid. FMC, Idi-Araba, Abeokuta and general public should please take note.
IBRAHEEM
I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Ibraheem Aminat Adebukola, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Osi Aminat Adebukola. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.
BAMIRO
I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Olufunmilayo Adedoyin Bamiro, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Olufunmilayo Adedoyin Oladosu. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.
ORJI I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Orji Eucheria Ifeyinwa, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Ihejirika Eucheria Ifeyinwa. All former documents remain valid. FMC Owerri, Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria and general public should please take note.
FADIPE
UTOJIOGU I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Utojiogu Uju Juliet, now wish to be known and address as Mrs. Mbonu Uju Juliet. All former documents remain valid. general public please take note.
I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Olabisi Oluwatoyin Fadipe, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Olabisi Oluwatoyin Oduola. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.
BABALOLA
NWACHUKWU I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Callista Ndidiamaka Nwachukwu, now wish to be known as Mrs. Callista Ndidiamaka Ajaero. All former documents remain valid. F.G.C (SNAPS) and general public please take note.
AMADI
I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Babalola Morenike Oluseyi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs AdelusiBabalola Morenike Oluseyi. All former documents remain valid. Nigerian Prison Service, Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti and general public should please take note.
ARIBASOYE
ANELE
I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Aribasoye Catherine Tolulope, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Ogunjobi Catherine Tolulope. All former documents remain valid. National Orientation Agency, Abuja and general public should please take note.
UKEGHESON
I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Koitilo Mary Abosede Oluranti Abidemi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Adegbile Maryam Abosede. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.
I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Chioma Mamhobu Amadi, now wish to be known as Mrs.Chioma Henry Nwonwu. All former documents remain valid. general public please take note.
I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Uloaku Victoria Anele, now wish to be known as Mrs. Uloaku Victoria Okechukwu. All former documents remain valid. general public please take note.
I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Maureen Ehiane Ukegheson, now wish to be known as Mrs. Maureen Anne Ehiane Elijah. all former documents remain valid. general public please take note.
OLUA I,formerly known and addressed as MISS. OLUA HENRITTA , now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. HENRITTA ALLEN JACK. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.
OKON
KOITILO
JIMBA
I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Jimba Morayo O., now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Falodun Murayo O. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.
DESALU I,formerly known and addressed as Desalu, Adeyemi Adeteju, now wish to be known and addressed as Adeniyi, Adeyemi Adeteju. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.
ODIHILI
I,formerly known and addressed as MISS JENNIFER EMEM OKON now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. JENNIFER EMMANUEL OMATSOLA. All former documents remain valid. General public please take.
I,formerly known and addressed as Mrs. Kafayat Mohammed Odihili, now wish to be known and addressed as Miss Bolaji Olaniyan. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.
IFESINACHI
ADVERT: Simply produce your marriage certificate or sworn affidavit for a change of name publication, with just (N4,500. NEW RATE effective from 20th March) The payment can be made through FIRST BANK of Nigeria Plc. Account number 2017220392 Account Name - VINTAGE PRESS LIMITED Scan the details of your advert and teller to [email protected] or [email protected] For enquiry please contact: Gbenga on 08052720421, 08161675390, Emailgbengaodejide @yahoo.com or our offices nationwide. Note this! Change of name is now published every Sundays, all materials should reach us two days before publication.
I,formerly known and addressed as MISS. IFESINACHI PRECIOUS JOSEPHINE CHUKWUKEKWU now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. IFESINACHI PRECIOUS JOSEPHINE OBI. All former documents remain valid. General public take note. CONFIRMATION OF NAME I, CLIFFORD OKECHUKWU and NWOSU CLIFFORD NWOSU are one and same person, Now wish to be known and addressed as CLIFFORD OKECHUKWU . All former documents remain valid. UNIPORT, PORT HARCOURT REFINING COMPANY LTD and general public take note.
AKERELE I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Maria Omoyeni Akerele, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Maria Omoyeni Adoga. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.
75
WORLD NEWS THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 22, 2012
Putin signs law regulating Russian NGOs
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USSIAN President Vladimir Putin has signed into law a new measure that requires from nongovernmental groups receiving funding from abroad and engages in political activity to register as a foreign agent. Many NGOs say the law is aimed at discrediting their image and that the vague definition of political activity could be applied against a wide range of initiatives. Some of the country’s most prominent human-rights groups are vowing to ignore or circumvent it. Lev Ponomarev, head of For Human Rights, one of Russia’s oldest NGOs, told the Interfax news agency after yesterday’s Kremlin announcement of the signing that his group will ignore the regulation and challenge the law in court.
Spain’s king ousted as WWF honorary president
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HE World Wildlife Fund’s branch in Spain says it has ousted King Juan Carlos as its honorary president — a title he’d held since 1968 — because the monarch’s recent elephant hunting safari was incompatible with the group’s goal of conserving endangered species. The fund said in a statement that “although such hunting is legal and regulated” it had “received many expressions of distress from its members and society in general.” It says members voted in a meeting in Madrid yesterday to “to get rid of the honorary President.” News of the king’s April elephant hunting trip in Botswana upset many Spaniards who considered it an opulent extravagance at a time of economic distress in the country.
Colorado shootings scuttle campaign plans in US A
Youth to appear in court over Olympic ‘torch grab’
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HE deadly shootings at a movie theater in Colorado have briefly silenced the presidential campaign, prompting both President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney to cut short their schedules and pull advertising in the state out of respect for the victims and their families. Obama said yesterday in his weekly radio and Internet address that he hopes everyone takes time this weekend “for prayer and reflection — for the victims of this terrible tragedy, for the people who knew them and loved them, for those who are still struggling to recover.” The president said Americans should also think about “all the victims of the less publicized acts of violence that plague our communities on a daily basis. Let us keep all these Americans in our prayers.”
Obama and Romney used campaign appearances on Friday to focus attention on the need for national unity in the aftermath of the shootings in Aurora, which killed 12 people and wounded dozens of others. Their campaign teams rescheduled Sunday show appearances by top aides and surrogates, essentially providing a break in what has been an increasingly testy campaign. The rampage injected a new tone into the campaign after Obama and Romney had clashed repeatedly over the economy, Medicare and tax returns. Obama was set to start his second day of events in Florida when the shootings occurred, prompting his team to address the violence at a previously scheduled rally in Fort Myers, Fla., and scrapping an event in suburban Orlando. Obama told supporters in Fort Myers
that the shootings served as a “reminder that life is very fragile.” “Our time here is limited and it is precious. And what matters at the end of the day is not the small things, it’s not the trivial things,” he said. “Ultimately, it’s how we choose to treat one another and how we love one another.” Romney echoed Obama’s call for unity, saying at a previously scheduled event in Bow, N.H., that he joined with the president and first lady in offering condolences for those “whose lives were shattered in a few moments, a few moments of evil in Colorado.””The answer is that we can come together. We will show our fellow citizens the good heart of the America we know and love,” Romney said. Other prominent lawmakers called the shootings a
time for unity. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said in the Republican address Saturday that lawmakers joined Obama in offering condolences and prayers to the loved ones of those who were killed and wounded. “I know that when confronted with evil we cannot comprehend, Americans pull together and embrace our national family more tightly,” Boehner said. Yet, beyond the calls for a higher purpose, the shootings could raise the profile of gun rights in the presidential campaign, an issue which has played a minor role so far. As a senator Obama voted to leave gun makers and dealers open to civil lawsuits, and as an Illinois state lawmaker he supported a ban on all forms of semiautomatic weapons and tighter state restrictions generally on firearms.
At least 12 die as storms lash China
South Africa bus crash kills 18, injures 27
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South African official says a bus crash in the country’s southeast has killed 18 people. Three of them were elementary school children headed to a sports event. Transportation department official Ncedo Kumbaca said two buses apparently collided head-on early yesterday near the Eastern Cape town of Cradock. He says at least 27 people were injured, some of them severely. Kumbaca had no further information on the victims’ identity. Also, it was not immediately clear how many passengers the two buses carried in total. Traffic accidents with high death tolls are common in South Africa, and are often blamed on negligent drivers and badly maintained roads. Last week, at least 25 people were killed when a truck was hit by a cargo train at a level crossing.
Egypt Islamist ex-MP gets jail for indecent act
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T least 12 people died during torrential rainstorms which battered much of northern and southwestern China from Friday night to Saturday, state media reported. In Beijing, strong winds blew off rooftops killing two people and injuring six others, the Beijing Emergency Medical Center told Xinhua news agency. Heavy rain flooded roads and caused 223 flights to be cancelled in the capital, as the Beijing Meteorological Bureau issued its second-highest rainstorm alert for the first time since 2005. The report said Beijing received 95 mm of precipitation on average as of 7:00 pm (1100 GMT), and heavy rainfall is expected to last until this morning. In the northern Shanxi province, four people were killed and one remained missing after the pick-up truck they were on board was swept into a river while they attempted to cross a bridge, rescuers told the news agency. Landslides in the southwestern Sichuan province resulted in six deaths, provincial flood control and drought relief officials told the agency.
17-year-old boy was to appear in court on yesterday following an alleged attempt to snatch an Olympic torch. The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has been charged with common assault, assaulting a police officer and a public order offence following an incident on Friday as the torch relay made its way through the Kent town of Gravesend. He was to appear at Medway Youth Court in Chatham, Kent. The torch relay is now snaking its way through London ahead of Friday’s opening ceremony, following its lengthy journey around the rest of Britain.
•Indian Muslims offer breakfast on the first day of the month of Ramadan at Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad, yesterday. Like millions of Muslims around the world, Indian Muslims will observe the month of Ramadan by abstaining from eating, drinking and smoking as well as sexual activities from dawn to dusk. A F P PHOTO
Gunmen kill seven Pakistani soldiers
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UNMEN shot dead seven soldiers at a checkpoint in Pakistan’s insurgency-hit southwestern province of Baluchistan yesterday, officials said, as violence marred the start of Ramadan. “Armed men surrounded Pashookan post of Pakistan coast guards near the town of Gwadar and gunned down seven soldiers,” local administration chief Sohailur Rehman said, adding that three other soldiers were wounded. The assailants, believed to be about a dozen, fled on motorbikes after the shooting, another official Rehmat Dashti told AFP. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack in Gwadar — a port town that has seen a construction boom over the
past decade as part of Pakistan’s plans to develop it, with Chinese help, into a trading hub. Baluchistan suffers from Islamist militancy, sectarian violence between Sunni and Shiite Muslims and a separatist insurgency which also targets government officials and security agencies. The impoverished province is one of the most deprived areas of Pakistan where Baluch rebels rose up in 2004, demanding political autonomy and a greater share of profits from the oil, gas and mineral resources in the region. Last week Pakistan’s top judge accused paramilitary forces of involvement in a third of all disappearances in Baluchistan, where the military has been accused of
rights violations in its bid to put down the insurgency. Elsewhere, at least twelve people were killed and a further 24 wounded in two bomb attacks in northwest Pakistan, in separate incidents which also occurred yesterday, according to officials. At least nine people were killed when a suicide bomber blew up his explosive-laden car in the Kurram tribal district, while three people were killed when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb in Upper Dir district. The suicide bomber detonated his vehicle just outside the compound of antiTaliban militant commander Maulana Nabi, in the town of Spin Tal near the Afghan border, senior administration official Zakir Hussain said.
“It was a suicide attack, the target was militant commander Nabi’s centre,” Hussain told AFP, adding 16 others were wounded. Nabi’s guards stopped the vehicle and the attacker blew his car up after he failed to enter the compound, he said, but residents added that he survived the attack. Earlier, an improvised explosive device ripped through a pick-up truck in another northwestern Pakistani town, killing three people inside the vehicle, officials said. The bomb “was detonated using a remote controlled device” near the town of Dhog Darra in Upper Dir district, regional police chief Ehsanullah Khan said. He added that eight were wounded in the attack.
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N Egyptian court yesterday sentenced Ali Wanis, a Muslim cleric and ex-lawmaker, to 18 months in prison after he was found guilty of committing an “indecent act” in a car with a female university student. Wanis, however, can avoid jail by paying 1,500 Egyptian pounds ($250) in bail as the case goes to an appeal court. Wanis had won his seat in parliament through an ultraconservative Salafi coalition and was caught performing a sexual act with the woman in a car, the official MENA news agency reported. He was sentenced for a year on charges of committing an indecent act and six months for assaulting policemen. The woman too was sentenced to six months, and can also avoid prison by posting bail. Wanis, who had denied the accusations, was referred to trial after the constitutional court dissolved the Islamistdominated parliament in June.
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WORSHIP THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012
NEWS
Joy as Sure Word Assembly marks anniversary
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HE ultra-modern auditorium of Sure Word Assembly, Okota, Lagos, reverberated with exceeding joy last Sunday during the church’s convention/ anniversary celebration. Members and wellwishers, resplendent in their attires, danced in celebration of massive expansion and God’s faithfulness towards the church that began with six members in 1998. The General Overseer of the church, Dr Dennis Inyang, attributed the giant strides in the ministry to the kindness of God. Though the church is not where it wants to be, Inyang
By Sunday Oguntola
noted that it is not where it used to be. He went down memory lane, cataloguing landmarks and developmental strides in the church. The guest minister, Bishop Paul Aigboje, said the church had much more territories to conquer. Ministering on the theme, A thousand times better, Aigboje said those desirous of becoming better must embrace prayer, praise, faith, giving and wisdom. He said becoming a thousand times better also has a prophetic, power, anointing
and grace dimension. The Presiding Bishop of Christ Victorious Ministries International Abuja stated that the church will witness unprecedented growth and multiplication in the next season. Hinting on the next phase, Inyang stated that the church will plant branches in Lekki, Abuja and the United States in the next one year in furtherance of gospel works. Five persons also received scholarships to further their education courtesy of the church. Inyang said: ‘’Our mission is to empower people to become the best God created them to be.’’
•L-R: Aigboje with Inyang and wife cutting the anniversary cake
‘How to deal with Boko Haram’
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HE Plateau State Chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has advised the federal government to deal decisively with sponsors and members of the radical Islamic sect, Boko Haram, for killing innocent Nigerians in different parts of the country. It also said the body will not be involved in any dialogue forum whatsoever since such efforts have yielded no fruit so far. The chairman of the body, Rev. Mwelbish Dafes, in a statement last week, lamented the spate of violence unleashed on Christians in Plateau State, saying the government must arrest the trend to prevent reprisal. According to him: “the series of attacks on Christians and innocent citizens of Nigeria clearly reveal the fact that Christians in Northern Nigeria are the targets by the dare-devil terrorist group that is bent at Islamising Nigeria at all costs. “We are tired of the calls for dialogue and other conventional platforms which have continued ceaselessly without much tangible results and the situation keeps worsening by the day. ‘’ It is evident that the government is overwhelmed with the situation, but our God is not
By Sunday Oguntola
overwhelmed but tolerating the situation for a moment.’’ While declaring that the body has not lost faith in Nigeria, Dafes, however, tasked government to make sure Boko Haram members face ‘’the full wrath of the law.’’ He added: ‘’Let the security operatives go offensive on these elements that have continued to
inflict pains and cause unbearable sorrows on the innocent people.” The body also commiserated with the Plateau State Governor, Air Commodore Jonah Jang (Retd),over the recent attacks that led to the deaths of Senator Dantong and Hon Fulani, as well as many other innocent citizens. It prayed that their death will not be in vain.
Nigeria will rise again, says cleric
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HE Zonal Pastor of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission, (TREM), Zone 14, Pastor Kanimo Inyang, has called on Nigerians to keep their hope and dream alive in the face of increasing socioeconomic challenges facing the country. Inyang said this in an interview with The Nation during his 50th birthday celebration organised at the zonal headquarters, Ojodu, Berger, Lagos. He said there was need for Nigerians to remain resilient, focused and absolutely committed to the cause of nation-building more than ever before as the country faces trying times. According to Inyang: “Nigeria will get better with time. The real saviours of Nigeria are about to emerge. While I agree we are in the
By Adeola Ogunlade
darkest moments of our journey as a nation, there is hope for Nigeria.” He added: “I see Nigeria entering a new era, a season where things will change for the better. I see a country where people will love to come and visit from all over the world. ‘’ The cleric renewed his commitment to the service of the Lord. Inyang, an accomplished architect-turned-preacher, shared his over 14 years experience in pastoral work. He said: “My gain is the fact that I have been able to impact on some lives over the years. I have had testimonies of the lives of people changing because of the calling of God upon my life and that has been my greatest joy in ministry.”
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HAT has the church been up to lately? The Lord has been faithful since we started 17 years ago. We have a Bible college that has graduated many pastors. Many of them have started their own churches and ministries. We have been on TV for five years. We used to have five branches but reduced them to three. We came all the way from the North to start here. I hadn’t pastored anywhere else before I came here. God has been good and faithful to us. What will people find here that might be difficult to find elsewhere? We try to actually practicalise love here. We take care of the less-privileged, the widows and elderly. We have a department called I care Africa where we have given scholarships and taken care of the lessprivileged. We also give detailed attention to the word of God. Three, we have a high standard of worship experience here being a music minister myself. We give ample time to prayer because we could sense things about to happen. There could be more but these are the ones that readily come to mind. Don’t you think your music ministry is taking the backside because of your pastoral duties? I actually started on the platform of music. I’d have preferred to be a full-fledged music minister because music is part of me. It comes naturally but God told me he primarily called me to preach. Music is just to open me up to my kind of people. When I sing, people open up and then I can preach the word. But personally, I feel I should do more with music. I have released two albums in the past years that have not been made available to people. So, I am struggling with finding a balance. You see music is capital intensive and I also write. I have published over 30 books and I could have ended up a journalist because I enjoy writing a lot. I am back in the studio for another album. It is a praise and worship CD that will be available very cheap. Being an apostle who travels far, doesn’t that affect your pastoral calling? I have an apostolic grace but I don’t answer apostle. I believe God to do more because he told me not to be involved in business… …So, this is full time? It is completely, my brother. You don’t operate any business ventures like your col-
‘Why Nigeria will not disintegrate’ The Presiding Pastor of Love Aflame Ministries, Okokomaiko, Lagos, Rev. Silva Daniels, spoke with Sunday Oguntola on the joy and challenges of ministry, among sundry issues. Excerpts:
•Daniels
leagues? No, I don’t. God told me not to. I have personal issues with God on that. You know I didn’t want to do this ministry. I wanted to be a business man. But I was sick for two weeks and blood was gushing out of my mouth and nose simultaneously for two weeks. My wife saw a vision that I died and God told her He would take me home since I was not willing to do His works. Eventually, I gave in and was healed instantly without medication. I wouldn’t know why He does not want me to do business because what is coming in for the church is low. We have three full-time pastors and many commitments. If I do business, I can give more but God has been saying no. I am really praying and having a discussion with God on it. Pastors hardly admit to having financial pressures. Why are you different? I think they are just talking by faith. The truth is there is no pastor that is not under financial pressure. I am a realist, though I live by faith. Those of us who have been preaching for the past 24 years know that pastors have airs around themselves. There is no minister
that does not have personal needs and we must be honest enough to admit it. What is your forthcoming convention all about? I realised there is an apathy in the body of Christ towards the things of God. People are just into rituals. So, we need revival in the body of Christ. We believe it will spark the craving and hunger for God. We need committed and dedicated disciples for Christ. And we believe God will send down his fire on us so that men can pant after Him again. There will be healing, of course, and miracles, but all of these will point us ultimately to God. What is God saying about Nigeria now? I believe Nigeria will never disintegrate regardless of what happens. There are forces and powers working against our destiny but Nigeria will survive. The devil is fighting us because of what God wants to do with Nigeria. As far back as 1982, there was a prophecy in Zaria that Nigeria will spearhead the end-time revival. The devil will fight that, which is what we are seeing. But God is involved too and will step in at the appropriate time.
WHAT AND WHERE?
TREM hosts sports stakeholders
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HE Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM) will today hold a special service under its Breeding Leaders for Empowerment & National Transformation (BLENT) scheme for the sports industry. The service commences by 8a.m. at the Gbagada Expressway International headquarters of the church. Special guests expected at the event with the theme Repositioning Nigerian Sports
include ex-internationals and other stakeholders. There will be donation of gifts to the National Institute for Sports {NIS} and the
Paralympics committee. The Presiding Bishop of TREM, Dr Mike Okonkwo, will minister during the service.
Church holds annual retreat
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HE annual retreat of the Emmanuel Salem Church Organisation Lagos holds Saturday, August 4. The theme of the event, which begins from 7pm till dawn, is “Time for manifestation of Grace”.
One of the organisers, Elder Wale Odunayo, said the programme holds at Igbomogun-Oreta in Ikorodu, Lagos. It features seminar, talks, counselling, revival, marathon prayer and song ministration.
Worship
THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012
Passing on the generational blessing (3)
The prayer-answering God (1)
HEAVEN AT LAST
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S. 65:1-2 says, “Praise waiteth for thee, O God, in Zion: and unto thee shall the vow be performed. O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come”. Isaiah 65:24 says, “And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear”. The God of Chosen is the prayer answering God. This is one of His titles of honour. He is the God that hears prayers and it is as truly ascribed to Him as mercy or justice. He hears all prayers and that is why all flesh must come to Him. He never rejects anybody that deserves answer to prayer, no matter how weak or unworthy the petitioner is. The Scripture says He is a re-warder of them that diligently seek him. As sure as God is the true God, so sure is it that none who sought him diligently departed from him without a reward. Our God rewards all seekers, and if all, why not you? Every right and sincere prayer of a chosen is as surely heard as it is offered. You may have been in a particular place in time past and no answer has been given to your request, I want you to try the God of Chosen. He is a prayer answering God as long as you are a child of God that is living right and if peradventure you are not, as you decide to pray in repentance with a broken heart, my Lord will answer you today in Jesus name. God promised to answer us as soon as the prayer is formed in our hearts before they could get out of our lips. We, the chosen people have lots of evidences in our midst to prove that God answers prayers. Thus we take time to celebrate testimonies because everyone of us has
one testimony or another to give on daily bases. This does not mean that the chosen people are exempted from trouble; but they have God’s promise that in all their trials He will be with them and deliver them and make them partakers of His everlasting salvation. As He gives answers to the Chosen people so also He does to all that keep to the precept and practice of the Scripture. The advantage accruing to us by such privilege is that If we know that He heareth us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him. Great are His deliverances, mercies, and blessings, which the holy petitioner needs. To know that our petitions are heard or accepted is as good as to know that they are answered. In our services we do not pray for ourselves alone, We pray for others as well as for ourselves; for our brethren of mankind, that they may be enlightened, converted, and saved; for our brethren in the Christian profession, that they may be sincere, that their sins may be pardoned, and that they may be delivered from evils and the chastisements of God, and preserved in Christ Jesus. THE FACT THAT GOD ANSWERS PRAYERS, EXAMPLES AND REASON Every prayer that has been made with a repentant and broken heart both in the Bible and in the present day receives attention from the Lord and if you will key into such prayers the Lord will answer you today. 2nd Chr. 7:13-15 says, “13 If I shut up Heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people; If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from Heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their”. No evil comes upon individuals or nations without the permission and control of God; and He is able and ready, when they are duly humbled, to remove it and manifest towards them new tokens of His favour.
God is longsuffering, and of tender mercy and ever ready to receive a backsliding soul when he returns to Him. This promise is left on record for the encouragement and salvation of people. Humble yourself in prayers and supplications unto God and if there be any impossibility in your life the God will remove them in the name of Jesus. Isaiah 45:19 says, “I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I the LORD speak righteousness, I declare things that are right”. The Lord delivered the Israelites into the hands of their enemies as a result of their sins but the instant they realized their error or folly and cried unto the Lord, He answered and sent them a deliverer. In their condition they were not proud, arrogant and instead remembered that they have God whom they have offended and when the Lord saw the brokenness and humility of their hearts, their penitence He sent them a deliverer to free them from their bondage. No matter the ugliness of your situation, I want you to believe that if only you will humble and cry unto the Lord God, He will answer your prayers in Jesus name. God is a prayer answering God, whenever a real child or the people of God pray the Lord will answer and if it tarries He will surely answer. During Moses encounter with Pharaoh as we may have read in the scripture, the Lord spoke or did according to the words of Moses to show that He answers prayers. Many prayed in the Bible days both in the old and new testaments and the Lord answered them as we can see from the following scriptures – Moses prayed and the Lord answered. Our consolation is that our God is a prayer answering God and we totally rely on Him to give answer to our prayers. He answered the chosen ones in the Bible, people like Moses, Aaron, Joshua, Samuel, David, Solomon and Peter, Paul and Silas
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Family Heritage
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ACOB predicted that “the scepter shall not depart from Judah” (Gen. 49:10), an indication that he would give rise to a royal line. He did. Both King David and Jesus descended from Judah, as shown below, along with other famous offspring of Israel: 1. The descendant of the tribe of Levi are Aaron, Moses, Eli, Ezra, John the Baptist 2. The descendants of the tribe of Judah are Caleb, David, Solomon, Isaiah, and Jesus Christ. 3. The descendant of the tribe Dan is Samson 4. The descendants of the tribe of Naphtali are Barak, Elijah 5. The descendant of the tribe of Asher is Anna 6. The descendants of the tribe of Joseph (Ephraim & Manasseh) are Joshua, Gideon, Samuel 7. The descendants of the tribe of Benjamin are Saul, Esther, Saul of Tarsus. C H I L D R E N S H O U L D UNDERSTAND THE MYSTERY OF PULLING OUT C O V E N A N T BLESSINGS OUT OF THEIR PARENTS. Isaac said to Esau do what pleases my spirit and my souls will bless thee. And make me savoury meat, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat; that my soul may bless
thee before I die. Genesis 27:4 When children learn to walk their ways into the hearts of their Godly parents, their future will be secured.
only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. Matthew 21:19-21
B L E S S I N G S REVERSE THE CURSE. IT IS TIME TO REVERSE THE CURSES BY PLANTING BLESSINGS IN A PRAYER OF FAITH. Balaam came to curse Israel, God refused to listen to any curse against His own people because they carry the blessing. God turned the curse into blessing. Because they met not the children of Israel with bread and with water, but hired Balaam against them, that he should curse them: howbeit our God turned the curse into a blessing. Nehemiah 13:2 I speak today on behalf of those who do not have parents to speak the blessing into their future. I pronounce the blessing upon you and revoke the curse. I declare that God shall not listen to anyone who curses you. Now open your mouth in agreement with me and destroy every curse of man, of sickness and disease, of barrenness, of delay and stagnation in Jesus name. And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward forever. And presently the fig tree withered away. And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away! Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not
Whatever is out to mock you is a curse, you must curse them bitterly. Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the LORD, curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the LORD, to the help of the LORD against the mighty. Judges 5:23 Jesus dissolved the curses so the curses cannot prevail against you anymore. Christ redeemed us from that self-defeating, cursed life by absorbing it completely into himself. Do you remember the Scripture that says, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”? That is what happened when Jesus was nailed to the Cross: He became a curse, and at the same time dissolved the curse. And now, because of that, the air is cleared and we can see that Abraham’s blessing is present and available for non-Jews, too. We are all able to receive God’s life, his Spirit, in and with us by believing—just the way Abraham received it. Galatians 3:13 -14 (Message) On the cross Jesus erected a bridge. You can now walk over that bridge and walk into blessings. You are going to establish that blessings upon you, your children and family now. Now pray those blessings into your life one by one and every other blessing you desire. You can reach Archbishop Amaga on 08023018836
NEWS
Motailatu Church celebrates founders’ anniversary in style
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EMBERS and wellwishers of Motailatu Church Cherubim and Seraphim Worldwide International Sub- Headquarters, Dalemo, Lagos, last Sunday rolled out the drums to mark the founders’ day anniversary of the church. The event, which attracted eminent personalities, was the climax of weeklong activities to mark the occasion. The supervising head of the church, Special Apostle (Dr) Israel Akinadewo,
By Sunday Oguntola
urged Nigerians to rededicate themselves to God. He said the nation will change when men return to God. ‘’Nigeria is not beyond redemption. If we are ready for God, He will change our story,’’ he stated. The Senior Special Adviser to Lagos State Governor on Religion, Rev. (Dr) Sam Ogedengbe, commended Akinadewo for publication of‘’Sanctuary Message Volume 2’’, a compilation of his
weekly column in a national newspaper. He said: ‘’The book was written under great inspiration and anointing. I heartily recommend it to every Christian.’’ Ogedengbe praised the author’s deep theological knowledge evident throughout the book, urging him to keep it up. The anniversary featured intense praises and dancing. Members took to the dancing floor to thank God for another added year.
•L-R: The head, Sacred Cherubim and Seraphim Worldwide, Most Elder Prophet Solomon Alao; Primate, founder and Supreme head, Motailatu Organisation Worldwide, His Most Eminence, Archbishop (Dr) I. Akinadewo and Supervising Head of the Church, Special Apostle (Dr) Israel Akinadewo, during the event
THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 22, 2012
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http://www.thenationonlineng.net
QUOTABLE “Constitution amendment is not an end to running democratic system successfully. The leaders and the led must show democratic impulses. It’s the cultural basis of the democratic projects.”
SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012 TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM VOL. 6, NO. 2191
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ACK in 2002 former President Olusegun Obasanjo described impeachment moves against him by the House of Representatives as a joke. Eleven years after, a similar threat by elements of the same chamber against President Goodluck Jonathan still comes across as risible. At the root of the dust-up is frustration by the legislators at the listless implementation of yearly budgets – a recurring headache from the days of Obasanjo. To underscore their seriousness the House has given the president a September deadline to attain 100% implementation. The price for falling short is commencement of the drafting of articles of impeachment. Sounds serious – but in reality it is just grandstanding and saber-rattling that will come to nothing. The impeachment process is akin to dragging a suspect before a court of law and having charges read out to him. He may be convicted or acquitted. But it is not just a legal manouvre which outcome is simply determined by a clinical examination of a list of sins. It is an intensely political action whose result cannot be safely predicted. The process will ultimately be resolved not just by the facts, but crucially by the votes of partisan political players driven by more mundane factors and calculations. More importantly because it is political, there has to be an enabling atmosphere and the lynch mob must have the will. For all of Jonathan’s bad press nothing like that exists in today’s Nigeria. Frankly, I cannot envisage any scenario under which a Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) House would successfully sack a president from the same organisation – especially when one of the most vocal lawmakers behind the motion is the Majority Leader of the main opposition Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). Also, the process of impeaching the president is complex and could drag on interminably. Do the members have the stomach for a grueling political free-for-all where the rules are written as you go along? I doubt it. Again, the credibility of their threat is undermined by the basis on which it has been made – poor budget implementation. Once a budget bill passes through the National Assembly it becomes an Act of parliament. So this phantom fight is over lack of zealous implementation of some ‘law’. There are scores of laws on our books that no one bothers about. No one has been sacked for a less-than-fulsome implementation of those. I suppose you could say the budget is not just any ordinary law because it is the plank on which all plans of government rest. All the same, does a less than 50% implementation of the budget constitute grounds for ousting a president? The question is relevant because budget dreams can be torpedoed if revenue projections are not met. In that event everything enshrined in the hallowed act of parliament simply become a collection of pipe dreams. Perhaps the question we should be asking is why has poor budget implementation persisted for all of 13 years? If it happened under Obasanjo because of his ornery nature and general pig-
—Senate President, David Mark on the ongoing amendment of the 1999 constitution
Festus Eriye [email protected] 08052135878 (SMS only)
A joke called impeachment
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Spain
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In a circuit diagram what usually is a capital letter M in a circle?
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Peoples Daily Newspaper, Tuesday, April 17, 2012 by Peoples Media Limited - issuu
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World Bank presidency not clinched by merit, says Okonjo-Iweala as Kim wins
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2015: Buhari’s Kano’s mass Senate uncovers chances ever bright, wedding may hold N26bn pension says Buba Galadima May 16 funds in 5 banks >>PAGE 4
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Police kill prison warder, DPO, others arrested
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Nigeria’s banking crisis over, says AMCON
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194 eminent elders declare . . .
North prepared for SNC Urge FG to re-engage Boko Haram Sect members not ready for dialogue, says VP By Umar Mohammed Puma, Abuja and Agaju Madugba, Kaduna
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he Arewa Elders Forum yesterday disclosed that the North was prepared to engage other regions of the country in a peaceful dialogue to determine the future of Nigeria. Receiving the harmonized reports of its committees on the state of insecurity and socio-political issues in Northern Nigeria yesterday in Abuja, the Forum in a veiled reference to the agitation for Sovereign National Conference (SNC), said: “The North shall no longer shy away from any dialogue or conference to negotiate the future of a united Nigeria, or even a divided Nigeria if that is the wish of its various component parts.” The Forum under the chairmanship of former President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Mamman Nasir, also called on President Goodluck Jonathan to resume dialogue with the Boko Haram sect even as it raised fears that the bombings and destruction by the sect’s insurgency are beyond the capacities of local militants. The Forum, in a communiqué read by the former Minister of Power and Steel, Dr. Paul Unongo, condemned in strong terms, Contd on Page 2
L-R: Sheikh Ahmed Lemu, former ICPC chairman, Justice Mustapha Akanbi, and Danmasanin Kano, Alhaji Yusuf Maitama Sule, during the meeting of Arewa Elders Forum, yesterday in Abuja. Photo: Mahmud Isa
Oronsaye c’ttee asks FG to scrap EFCC, ICPC, FRSC, others By Abdulrahman Abdulraheem
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he continued existence of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Federal Road
Safety Corps (FRSC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC), has been thrown into doubt. This followed the
recommendation of the Presidential Committee on the Restructuring and Rationalization of Federal Agencies, Commissions and Parastatals, which queried their separate existence.
The committee headed by former Head of Service, Mr. Stephen Oronsaye, submitted its report to President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday, noting that some of the agencies which had
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taken on the roles of existing federal outfits were created for selfish interests without regard for extant laws. Mr. Oronsaye said that in the Contd on Page 2
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PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2012
CONTENTS News
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North prepared for SNC Contd from Page 1 the bombings that are becoming regular in the North and have claimed several innocent lives. The elders argued in the communique, however, that the sophistication of the bombs as well as the selective choice of targets were beyond the expertise of local insurgents, urging the government to come up with a lasting solution to the menace. “The sophistication in the professional way targets are chosen suggests a deliberate attempt to broaden the insurgency's effects with a view to creating widespread disaffection within and outside Nigeria. “Mr. President himself suggested in a declaration that
Boko Haram elements have infiltrated his government, including the security agencies of the nation. Our country and people deserve to know who these infiltrators are and the appropriate actions taken”, the group demanded. According to the elders, “it is unfortunate that a mere skirmish that began in Maiduguri has been allowed to escalate to a level that it now threatens the corporate existence of the country. It allowed criminals like armed robbers, kidnappers and assassins to now hide under it to cause more havoc in the country". The Forum lamented that Nigeria’s democracy remains very shaky because its operators at all levels have failed in its policy
implementation due to corruption and indolence, just as it craved for a change from the current trend. It also posited that the bottomline of all the skirmishes is the pervasive poverty level in especially Northern Nigeria, as, according to it, the country now ranks among the poorest nations of the world and youths being most affected, have become the fodder being used in stimulating all the crises. Other prominent leaders from the North at the meeting include Alh. Yusuf Maitama Sule, Dan Masanin Kano, Alh. Falalu Bello, Sani Zangon Daura, Shehu Malami, Dr Paul Unongo, Justice Mustapha Akanbi, Alh. Bello Kirfi, Amb. Babagana Kingibe, Mrs. Hannatu Chollom, Amb.
Yahaya Kwande, Amb. Yerima Abdullahi, Dame Pauline Tallen, among others. Meanwhile, Vice-President Mohammed Namadi Sambo has said that the Boko Haram sect has failed to embrace the opportunity for dialogue being offered by the Federal Government in order to resolve the group’s face-off with the government. He said: “Till date these people have refused to come out to talk with government so that an agreement can be reached,” Sambo said in a programme of the Hausa service of the VOA, monitored yesterday in Kaduna. According to the VicePresident, “even the President came out to say they should name the people they wanted so that there can be dialogue. Throughout the world there is nothing you can do to resolve Contd on Page 3
Oronsaye c’ttee asks FG to scrap EFCC, ICPC, FRSC, others Contd from Page 1 course of the committee’s assignment, it discovered duplications and overlaps in the mandates of many agencies as successive administrations established some of them without regard to existing laws and, in some cases, outrightly replicating extant laws. According to him, "One case that stands out clearly in this regard is that of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), which should not be in existence in its present form". While acknowledging that the body has been quite active, the Committee observed that what the FRSC was set up to do is a replication of the mandates of two existing bodies namely: the Highway Department of the Federal Ministry of Works with respect to the maintenance of safety and orderliness on our highways and the role of the Nigeria Police Force in ensuring law and order on our roads. "Indeed, it is a fundamental breach of acceptable practice of good public sector governance to create a new agency or institution as a response to the seeming failure or poor performance of an existing agency in order to suit political or individual interests. "Such a practice has proved eventually to precipitate systemic conflicts, crises and even collapse at a substantial but avoidably high financial cost to government," the Committee chairman said.
He added that on the one hand, other bodies have their mandates intact as the relevant provisions of their enabling laws have not been repealed. Similarly, he said it was noted that the functions of the EFCC and the ICPC were the traditional functions of the Nigeria Police. He said, "the committee observed that even though the two commissions were established separately to address corruption, which the Police appeared to have failed to do, successive administrations have ironically continued to appoint the Chairman of the EFCC from the Police Force, while the methodology adopted by the ICPC in conducting investigations as well as the training of its personnel in investigation procedure are carried out by the Police. One wonders if it was really expedient to dismember the Nigeria Police rather than allow it to evolve as a vibrant and effective agency." Mr. Oronsaye said the point that must be reiterated was the fact that that an institution was inefficient and ineffective should not be a basis for the creation of new ones, saying "the officers and men of the Nigeria Police Force have been reputed for performing exceptionally and winning laurels while on international peace-keeping and other missions. This implies that the problems of our Police are not incurable." The committee found the same problem with the Nigerian
Communications Satellite (NigComSat) Limited, which was established as the commercial arm of the Nigerian Space Research Development Agency (NASRDA), with a sunset clause, but has now expanded its scope and is in rivalry with its parent body. "In this austere time, Nigeria cannot afford to sustain the funding of multiple space research institutes, when in fact other more technologically advanced countries of the world, where space research is a priority, have only one," he observed. While noting the case of Nigerian Broadcasting agencies which the committee believed focus more on structures rather than acquisition of broadcasting software, the chairman similarly pointed out the case in the environmental sector where the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) was created to perform a function already assigned by law to the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR). He said besides being a clear case of latter-day overlapping of functions of agencies, the continued existence of NOSDRA was tantamount to paying huge salaries to persons who do nothing but wait for spills to occur, adding "this is despite the fact that there is a standard operating procedure for oil companies in Nigeria to clean up oil spill whenever it occurs." The committee also looked at
the education sector where it noted that three different agencies: the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), the Nomadic Education Commission (NEC), and the National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult and Non-Formal Education (NCMLA) all perform functions related to the provision of basic education. "The question then arises as to why they continue to function as separate bodies. Our committee is of the view that the functions of all the other agencies should be taken over by UBEC as there is no economic gain in having the three bodies as separate entities," it said. The committee also suggested reduction in the number and size of the governing boards of parastatals and linking the budgetary system to deliverables and output as part of ways of reducing the cost of governance. It also called for the implementation or vacation of some decisions taken on past reports; and removal of all professional bodies/councils from the national budget. President Jonathan while receiving the report, thanked the committee for doing a thorough job. He assured that it would be studied with the aim of taking decisions which would lead to the reduction of cost of governance. The President also promised to set up a white paper committee, which he said, would present the document within two months.
Cut corruption, not wages, NLC tells Govt By Muhammad Nasir
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he Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has criticised the Federal and state government’s intention to cut salaries of workers or reverse the N18,000 minimum wage in the name of dwindling state finances and asked them to rather eradicate which depletes the nation’s funds. In a statement signed by Joe Ajaero, Acting President of the Nigeria Labour congress, NLC
said it will not accept Nigerian people’s continued impoverishment by the lack of vision and planning by our leaders, adding that Nigerians have been made to suffer for too long due to the extravagance of our rulers. The Congress maintained that the Federal and State governments have the duty and responsibility to pay wages as and when due without any cut warning that If these were to occur, Labour and its allies would
have no choice but to resist. The Congress also advised the President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan administration to stop toying with the lives of Nigerians by seeking to further increase the price of fuel as evidenced by its endless and wasteful campaigns to remove so called fuel subsidy. It noted that the Presidency should reduce the high cost of governance as it promised and to ensure more devolution of power including resources to the states
and not to take steps that could worsen the political and security situation in the country. It would be recalled that the Federal Government on Thursday, March22, 2012 in Abuja inaugurated a 12-man committee headed by the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Alhaji Bello Sali, to harmonise the salary structure of federal public servants. The move was aimed at reducing high wage bills incurred by the government annually.
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North prepared for SNC Contd from Page 2 crisis except dialogue. Whatever the crisis either between soldiers and soldiers or between countries, whatever years it would take, at the end, it has to be resolved through dialogue and agreement, to cease fire. “Therefore, I would like to use this opportunity and still appeal for dialogue. Some people had given names of so and so but till now no one has come out for talks in order to find ways for lasting peace.
“May the Almighty Allah bring an end to this because without peace, nothing will be possible.” Sambo further urged the group to emulate leaders of the Niger Delta militant groups who gave up their arms to embrace amnesty. Responding to a question on why the President has not deemed it fit to visit Yobe state where about 200 persons have been killed during terrorist attacks, Sambo said “the President cannot be everywhere. This thing is
happening but the most important thing for all of us to do is to continue praying to Almighty Allah to bring an end to this crisis. “Secondly, we should cooperate; everybody should endeavour to contribute towards bringing an end to this crisis. Just as the President has said, you cannot compare this with what happened in Niger Delta because all those who are leaders of the crisis in Niger Delta, everybody knows them”, he said.
Enlarged meeting of Arewa Elders Forum held on Monday, April 16, 2012 Attendance list 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60. 61. 62. 63.
Apostle Emmanuel Nuhu Kere Dr. John Danfulani Sheikh Ahmed Lemu Yusuf Maitama Sule Dr. Umaru Dikko Mohd Kabiru Umar Sen. Ahmed Muktar Aruwa Joseph D. Bagobiri Engr. Al-Ameen Y. Lukman Ibrahim Zakari Isa Dr. Isuwa B. Dogo Shehu Nuhu Tamburawa Sheikh Umar Mika'il Sheikh Mouktar Suleiman Sheikh Hashim Tahir Sen. Ahmed M. Makarfi Moh'd Abdul Sheikh Amir Ahmad Tijjani Ladan Malam Falalu Bello Rev. Emmanuel N. Diggan Dr. Haruna R. Karam Eyam Mathew Owojane Professor Ango Abdullahi Rev. Bitrus Dangiwa Rev. Dauda Ajimu Col. T.K. Zubairu (rtd) Col. Habibu Idris Shuaibu (rtd) Kawu Idris Hansara Dr. Habibu Mun Gwarzo Barr. M.B. Wali Malam Ibrahim Shekarau Sen. U.K. Umar Lt. Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau Alfa S. Wali Col M. Aliyu CON M.S.A. Magani Hon. Ghali Umar Na'Abba Bashir Albasu Professor Awwalu H. Yadudu Alhaji Gidado Muktar Qaribullahi Sheikh Nasiru Kabara Bashir Danmusa Sen. Umar I. Tsauri Capt Bashir Sodangi Alhaji Ahmadu Kurfi Hassan Tanko Aliyu Gambo Hon (Dr.) Iliya Dan Mohammed H. Sa'adu Sani Ahmad Daura Alhaji Ismaila Isa Funtua Mustapha Bukar Alhaji Sani Zangon Daura Hon. Aminu Bello Masari Hon. Justice Mamman Nasir Gen. Lawrence B. Onoja Dr. Yima Sen Alh. Mohd Bawa Rijau A.B. Umar Gen. Suleiman Barau Said Dr. Sheikh Ahmad Sen. Nuhu Aliyu Col. Sani Bello
64. 65. 66. 67. 68. 69. 70. 71. 72. 73. 74. 75. 76. 77. 78. 79. 80. 81. 82. 83. 84. 85. 86. 87. 88. 89. 90. 91. 92. 93. 94. 95. 96. 97. 98. 99. 100. 101. 102. 103. 104. 105. 106. 107. 108. 109. 110. 111. 112. 113. 114. 115. 116. 117. 118. 119. 120. 121. 122. 123. 124. 125. 126. 127. 128. 129. 130. 131.
Col. Aminu Isah Kontagora Major Gen. Idris Garba Alhaji Mustapha Bello Mrs. Hannatu Chollom Saga Audu Alhaji Sale Hassan Amb. Bagudu Hirse Barr. Solomon Dalung Dame Pauline Tallen Haj. Fatima Abdul Kyari Hon. Paul Ukwenya Hon. Idris Yakubu Gen. Teldi Sheidu Lasisi Mohammed Aliyu Yakubu Rtd. Brig. Bello W. Labaran Shehu Malami Justice Mustapha Akanbi Dr. Amuda Aluko Ambassador J.T. Kolo Bishop D. Bakare Alhaji Musa Gwadabe Bashir Baballe Dr. Ayuba Z. Musa Isa Tijjani Hon. Musa Tanko Abai Amb. Moh'd Ahmad Air Marshal Al-Amin M. Daggash Alh. Moh'd Goni Baba Gana Kingibe (CFR) Malam Kalli Gazali Dr. Shettima Mustapha Lt. Gen. Ishaya Bamaiyi Nasir Isa Abubakar Col. Jibrin Bala Yakubu, Rtd Dr. Hassan Mohd Lawal Abubakar Hussan Hon Rakiya Haruna K. Idris Dr. Umar Ardo Gen. Paul Tarfa Capt P.M. Thodal Jibril Amir Gen I.B.M. Haruna Gen M.B. Marwa (rtd) Ibrahim Ahmad Barankowa Justice Tijani Abubakar Mustapha Bako Aliyu Maidanma Bashir Mohd Dalhatu M.T. Adamu AVM Abdulrahman Garkuwa Tijjani Inuwa Dutse DIG Uba B. Ringim Shuaibu Maigida Isa Mayana Lawal Abubakar Suleiman Umar Alh. Abdul Kura Tukur Mohd Umalwa Gen. Mohammed Ali Gusau Mohd Aliyu Shinkafi Amin Nahuche Ibrahim A. Kofa Alh. Ahmad Iliyasu Dr. Safiya I. Mohd Prof. Isa B. Mohd Haruna Adamu Dr. Ibrahim Y. Lame
132. 133. 134. 135. 136. 137. 138. 139. 140. 141. 142. 143. 144. 145. 146. 147. 148. 149. 150. 151. 152. 153. 154. 155. 156. 157. 158. 159. 160. 161. 162. 163. 164. 165. 166. 167. 168. 169. 170. 171. 172. 173. 174. 175. 176. 177. 178. 179. 180. 181. 182. 183. 184. 185. 186. 187. 188. 189. 190. 191. 192. 193. 194.
Alh. Sanusi Maijama'a Mohd Bello Kirfi Amb. Adamu Aliyu, mni Alh. Ahmadu Shuaibu Abdulrahman Abubakar Tunau Amb. Mohd Adamu Jimba Dr. Mohd Shata Alhaji Moh'd Babangida Wambai Aishatu Mohd (Mrs) Buba Yaro Mafun Col. Musa Mohd (rtd) Prof Idris Mohd A.G. Abubakar AIG (rtd) Hajiya Aisha Aukku Gen. (Amb.) Timothy Shelpidi M.A. Wakili Ahmad Yarima Abdullahi Dr. Aliyu Modibbo Umar Sen. Adamu A. Waziri Prof. B.G. Bajoga Khalifa Hassan Yinu Air Cdre Ibrahim Alkali, OFR Malam Adamu Ciroma Adamu Maina Waziri Engr. Buba Galadima Justice U.A. Kargo M.M. Abdu Murtala Aliyu Usman Sen. Ahmad Baba Zuruq Dr. Hassan Mohd Amb. Yahaya Kwande Sen.John N. Shagaya Rev. Yakubu Pam Col. Lawal Ja'afaru Isa Maj. Gen. Bashir S. Magashi Sheikh Sanusi Gumbi Dr. Paul Unongo Sen. Kanti Bello Alh. Lawal Kaita Yusuf Bello Mai Aduwa Col. U.F. Ahmad A. Rufai Othman M. Bashir Aliyu M/fashi Zanna Hassan Bojuma Fidan Muhammad Rabiu Abubakar Aminu Ibrahim Yusuf Dr. Ibrahim Datti Ahmad Saudatu Usman Albashir Sen. John Wash Pam Pastor Joshua Iosaa Hon. Bulus B. Nyam Sheikh Abubakar Paul Babale Eng Namai M. Musa Alhaji Umar Gana Ibrahim Adam Ibrahim Ahmad Tijjani Ado Halidu Adamu Maishanu Aliyu Usman Mustapha Salihu Sharif Suleiman A. Paschal Bafyau Joel R. Binalli
World Bank presidency not by merit, says Okonjo- Iweala By Abdulwahab Isa
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new president of the World Bank emerged yesterday in the person of Dr. Jim Yong Kim after Nigeria’s Coordinating Minister for Economy/Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo- Iweala was pressurized by United States and its allies to withdraw from the race. Kim’s selection was more of concession which forecloses an open, transparent process. The minister of finance while congratulating Dr. Kim on his emergence said she looked forward to working with him, staff and stakeholders of the World Bank Group for the benefit of poor people around the world. However, she called for a transparent process in the selection of the World Bank president noting “with regard to the selection process, it is clear to me that we need to make it more open, transparent and merit-based. We need to make sure that we do not contribute to a democratic deficit in global governance”. Flanked at the press briefing by Nigeria board representative at the World Bank and her campaign coordinator, who was also former minister of finance, Dr. Mansur Mukhtar, Ngozi said Nigeria’s participation had won her important victories. “We have shown what is possible. Our credible and meritbased challenge to a long-standing and unfair tradition will ensure that the process of choosing a World Bank president will never be the same again. The struggle for greater equity and fairness has reached a critical point and the hands of the clock cannot be turned back”, she affirmed. She had, earlier in the morning of yesterday while exchanging views with media representatives on her chances for top job confirmed the pressure mounted on her to withdraw from the race.
“There are pressures that I withdraw, but I’ve to stay to the end unless they officially announce their rules that require that I withdraw, but if they don’t announce it, I won’t withdraw because I don’t know on which basis. If you are to elect a candidate by consensus, that means that at some stage the last person must leave so that they can do that.” The minister congratulated her partner in the race, Dr. Jose Antonio Ocampo for his decision to withdraw his candidacy in her favour and appreciated President Goodluck Jonathan and other African presidents for their resolute support. President Jonathan was among the first African leaders to congratulate Dr. Jim Yong Kim on his election as the new President of the World Bank. In a a statement signed by his spokesman, Dr. Reuben Abati, restated the readiness of the Federal Government of Nigeria to continue to build on the existing cordial relationship and cooperation with the global institution. Meanwhile, the new World Bank president has promised to seek a new alignment of the World Bank Group with a rapidly changing world. Kim made the commitment yesterday in his acceptance speech. He said: “I am honored to accept the Executive Directors’ decision to select me as the next President of the World Bank Group. I am delighted to succeed Robert Zoellick, who has served with excellence and distinction during the last five years, and I am grateful to the Bank’s member countries for the broad support I have received. I have spoken with Minister Okonjo-Iweala and Professor Ocampo. They have both made important contributions to economic development, and I look forward to drawing on their expertise in the years to come”.
‘We have made history’ Full text of statement by Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala following the announcement of Dr. Jim Yong Kim as President of the World Bank Group I would like to congratulate Dr Jim Yong Kim on his emergence as President of the World Bank Group. I look forward to working with him, staff and stakeholders of the World Bank Group for the benefit of poor people around the world. Their plight is at the heart of the mandate of the institution and we must never lose sight of that. With regard to the selection process, it is clear to me that we need to make it more open, transparent and merit-based. We need to make sure that we do not contribute to a democratic deficit in global governance. Nevertheless, by our participation we have won important victories. We have shown what is possible. Our credible and merit-based challenge to a long-standing and unfair tradition will ensure that the process of choosing a World Bank president will never be the same again. The struggle for greater equity and fairness has reached a critical point and the hands of the clock cannot be turned back. I congratulate Dr Jose Antonio Ocampo for being a worthy participant and for his decision to withdraw his candidacy in my favour. I am proud of Africa for displaying great unity in supporting my candidacy. I am proud of my country Nigeria for standing by me. I want to thank all the African leaders, but particularly President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan for his resolute support, along with other leaders President Boni Yayi of Benin Republic, President Alassane Ouattara of Cote d'iVoire, President Jacob Zuma of South Africa and Chair of the African Union, Mr Jean Ping. Africa has stood for the right principles throughout these processes. I am proud to be African. I want to thank other developing countries who supported my candidacy. I also thank the Nigerian public, the National Assembly and the Nigerian and international media for their analyses and support. I am deeply grateful to the numerous groups and individuals in different parts of the world that worked so hard and so passionately in my support. It was a worthwhile battle. Now it is time to move on and contribute to the search for solutions to the many developmental challenges that confront the world.
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PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2012
2015: Buhari's chances ever bright, says Galadima By Tobias Lengnan Dapam, with agency report
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s the 2015 Presidential election continues to gather momentum, attracting reactions and counter reactions on the various candidates who have indicated interest, National Secretary, Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Malam Buba Galadima, has said that the leader of CPC, retired Maj.-Gen Muhammudu Buhari's
chances to run again as its presidential candidate in 2015 general elections were ever bright owing to his integrity, patriotism, incorruptibility and competence. Galadima who stated this yesterday in Abuja, added that genuine politics should go with realistic policies geared toward providing succour to the majority of the electorate in the true spirit of democracy. He said that Buhari's
involvement in politics was for life to enable him exercise his right to push the Federal Government into catering for the basic needs of Nigerians yearning for a new lease of life. CPC's scribe said the government should demonstrate more commitment toward alleviating poverty if it must continue to enjoy massive support, noting that poverty, disease and ignorance were issues that cut across sections, tribes and religion
in the country. “All hands must be on deck to make Nigeria a place where everything works for the overall well-being of the citizenry yearning for constant supply of electricity, good roads, affordable healthcare and qualitative educational system. “It does not matter who provides these basic needs, where the man comes from or which religion he professes, “the CPC scribe said.
L-R: Managing Director, FMBN, Mr. Gimba Yau Kumo, with Minister Housing and Urban Development, Ms. Amal Pepple, during the commissioning of FMBN staff buses, yesterday in Abuja.
Gunmen kill 2, set schools on fire in Maiduguri From Mustapha Isah Kwaru, Maiduguri
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unmen suspected to be members of the Boko Haram sect yesterday evening raided the Maiduguri railway quarters, in the Borno state capital, killing two yet-to-be identified persons. It was gathered that the incident occurred at about 5.30pm when three young men, armed with AK47 rifles stormed the area, firing several shots in the air and chased away some neighbors who By Aminu Imam
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nity Bank has reported a growth in key balance sheet items in the full year results for the 2011 financial year just released. The bank’s overall balance sheet size, including contingents, grew significantly by 64% from N309bn in December 2010 to N506bn in December 2011. Accordding to a press statement issued by the bank yesterday, this growth is in line with the Bank’s overall objective
were said to be chatting outside their houses, before sneaking into the house of their victims. Although details of the attack were not immediately available as at press time, witnesses said the assailants took everyone unawares as they disguised as strangers after arriving in the area in a tricycle. The deceased were said to be brothers who have recently moved into a newly built house in the area. A resident who simply identified himself as Malam Bulama Shettima said that the
gunmen did not hurt all those present at the scene of the incident and that they might have trailed the victims, saying “they simply directed us to enter our houses and that when I peeped from the window, I saw them walking straight to the house which was few meters from mine”. Personnel of the Joint Military Task Force (JTF), who had arrived the area after the assailants had fled, took away the corpses. Sources at the Borno state Specialists Hospital told newsmen that some plain cloth policemen
attached to the task force have deposited two bodies at the hospital’s morgue. Spokesman of the state police command, Mr. Samuel Tizhe confirmed the incident, saying no arrest was made Meanwhile, some gunmen also set two schools on fire yesterday. The affected schools were Kulagorma Primary School and Gomboru II Junior Secondary, all in Maiduguri metropolis. The gunmen were said to have carried out the attack shortly after the schools were closed for the day.
Unity Bank grows balance sheet by 64% of significantly increasing its market share. The Bank’s final year result for 2011 showed that the bank also grew its customer deposit by 20% from N222billion as at December 31, 2010 to N267 billion in December 2011. According to a submission to the Nigerian Stock Exchange these positive growth indicators reflected the bank’s customers continued and growing confidence
in the brand. Unity Bank further grew loans and advances by 3% from N118bn to N122bn during the same period. The percentage growth would have been much higher but for the sale of assets worth about N20bn to the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) during the year in line with the need to tidy up the books and put the bank on the path of sustained profitability.
On the Income Statement, the bank’s operational income grew by 27% from 24.2bn to N30.9bn while operating expenses remained relatively flat. However, both Gross Earnings and Profit Before Tax(PBT) showed declines of 27% and 77% respectively, being that the previous year’s figures were boosted by shuge recoveries from bad loans which were mainly oneoff transactions.
Civil Defence Corps sued over sack of 260 staff By Sunday Ejike Benjamin
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bout 260 sacked staff of the Nigeria security and Civil defence Corps (NSDC) has asked a Federal High Court in Abuja to make an order reinstating them back to the services of the Corps as permanent staff. The plaintiffs listed the NSDC, its commandant general, the attorney general of the federation, minister of the interior ministry and the director/secretary of immigration and prisons service board as co-defendants in the suit. The 260 laid-off staff of the Civil defense Corps said they are all of Benue state command who were already in service as at 2002 when the Nigeria security and civil defence corps Act 2003 came into force. They asked the court to hold that by virtue of section 26 (5) of NSCDC Act, 2003 they are entitled to automatic transfer of their services from the dissolved corps to the present corps under the 2003 Act. They want the court to direct the civil defence corps to pay them all their accumulated arrears, salaries, allowances and other emoluments with held since June 28, 2003 to the date of judgement by the court. The 260 men and women laid off corps members said they were paid N30, 000 across the board when they were disengaged as individual’s emolument or salary in lieu of their entitlement. The trial Judge, Justice Gladys Olotu fixed April 18, 2012 for hearing in the matter.
DFID funded firms linked to Ibori
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ritain’s Department for International Development is accused of allowing tens of millions of pounds in UK aid to be invested in Nigerian money laundering fronts, BBC Newsnight has learned. An equity fund backed by DfIDowned subsidiary CDC Group is being investigated by Nigerian officials.The accusation is that the private fund invested in companies linked to convicted moneylaunderer James Ibori. DfID says CDC carries out thorough checks before investing in funds. Ibori, a former governor of Nigeria’s oil-rich Delta States, who looted millions from state coffers, is due to be sentenced today by a UK court having pleaded guilty to 10 counts of money-laundering and conspiracy to defraud. As his trial at London’s Southwark Crown Court was about to begin in February 2012, Mr Ibori changed his plea to guilty and admitted stealing money from Delta State and laundering it in London through a number of offshore companies. DfID spent £5m investigating the case, the world’s biggest moneylaundering scam ever brought to justice, and Ibori’s network – which spanned four continents.
PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2012
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FG owes N80bn judgement debts, says Minister By Abdulwahab Isa
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he Federal Government has raised alarm over high judgment debts it incurs through court cases by Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government. As at last count, the proliferation of judgment debts have hit N80 billion with only N12 billion provision in the 2012 budget to offset it leaving a backlog of N68 billion. The Coordinating Minister for the economy and Minister of finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala expressed government displeasure on judgment debt proliferation and threatened that henceforth MDAs that incurred reckless judgment debt shall be compelled to pay from their budget allocations. Iweala expressed government worry yesterday in Abuja during question and answer session at a public
‌decries rise in domestic debt
presentation of 2012 budget. She noted that" we are disturbed that N80 billion of these judgment debts are not paid. We observed that judgment debt is mounting, we will no longer be providing provision for judgment debt, the MDAs will have to pay out of the budget" she said. The Minister while providing general perspectives on 2012 budget assented last Friday by President Goodluck Jonathan decried mounting rate of domestic debts. She cautioned that the trend if unchecked, may have a negative consequence on the banking sector. Nigeria's total debt currently stands at about N6.8 trillion or $ 44 billion with local debt accounting for the highest proportion of N559.6 billion.
However, she said, the country was in a reasonable debt status but expressed strong reservation on unrestrained appetite for incurring huge domestic debt. She said part of her plan was to bring the domestic borrowing down to N500billion in the medium term plan. In 2012, the Federal government proposed to spend an aggregate of N4, 8777.21billion, which is made up of the regular budgetary expenditure of N4, 697.21 billion, and N180 billion budgeted for the
implementation of the programmes and projects under the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Program (SUREP). She urged the public to take critical interest on budget implementation just as she assured that government through the National Planning Commission was putting monitoring and performance mechanisms in place to gauge budget implementation by MDAs. The Minister stressed the imperative of imbibing saving culture adding that as a nation
that relies on mono product for 90 per cent of its finances, any volatility in the world oil prices was bound to have negative consequences on the economy. "With the budget in medium term, Nigeria economy has taken a god shape and it has the potential to bring performance. The economy is robust, growing at a reasonable rate. However we have to watch the down size of the global risk. We need to save during high price in the event that oil price crashes. We need to be mindful of global downs size risk as we did in 2008 and if we adhere to this we would have economy that is performing for the majority of Nigerians" she affirmed.
Civil defence boss laments insecurity From Nankpah Bwakan, Jos
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he Plateau state Commander of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Desmond Chukuma Agu yesterday said they are determined to end the insecurity confronting the country. Speaking at a two-day training of trainers on conflict early warning organized by by Community Action for Popular Participation (CAPP), he expressed concern over the security challenges confronting the country saying it was seriously affecting the economy of Nigeria and should be addressed. Agu said the country, states, local government areas and communities are in seriously need of peace-building urging all and sundry to preach peace and tolerance in places of worship, public gatherings, schools, motor parks and markets. According to him, security was everybody's business and that quelling the circle of violence in the country requires the support and cooperation of all irrespective their differences. The coordinator of Operation Rainbow, a state-owned security outfit, Air Commodore Bala Danbaba appealed to people to always alert security agents of any threat to peace saying early prevention would reduce the cases of violence in the country. Danbaba represented by Group Captain Danladi Yesufu Baltu (Rtd) called on Plateau citizens to cooperate with government and security personnel in the state advising all and sundry to work and contribute their quota towards the restoration of lasting peace in the state and the country
atlarge. Meanwhile, the Executive Director of CAPP, Kyauta Giwa said the NGO seeks to empower communities to take active role in the democracy and develomental process because every body is important and as such people should be given the opportunity to contribute their quote towards of the sustenance of peace. She expressed regret that perpetrators of violence and the victims are not engaged in the peace building process rather the state actors assemblied elites to dialogue and discuss the process of peace building.
L-R: President Goodluc Jonathan, receiving the report from Chairman of Presidential Committee on the Restructuring and Rationalisation of Federal Parastatals, Commissions and Agencies, Mr. Steve Oronsaye, at the State House, yesterday in Abuja. Photo: Joe Oroye
Forced marriage: Girl, 19, takes case to human rights commission By Sunday Ejike Benjamin
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19-year old girl, Hafsat Sambo who was withdrawn from the Vocational Secondary School in Wase, Plateau state and forced into marriage against her consent has approached the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in Abuja for the enforcement of her fundamental rights. Hafsatu, in a letter dated April 10, 2012, addressed to the Executive secretary of the From Bala Nasir, Kano
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here are indications that the upcoming mass marriage of 1000 widows and divorcees sponsored by the Kano state government will hold on May 16,2012 to correspond with the International Family Day. A source at the Kano Hisbah Board confided in Peoples Daily that though a tentative day for the ceremony was yet to be announced by the state government, there were indications that the state government might arrive at the May 16 date set aside by the United Nations to celebrate family day.
human rights commission on her behalf by a human right activist lawyer, Kevin Okoro, asked the commission to help in restoring her right to dignity and liberty of human person as enshrined in Sections 34 and 35 of the 1999 constitution. The teenager who, on her own enrolled in a secondary school until she was overpowered and forced into marriage, wants the commission to claim N10 million as compensation from the purported bridegroom and the
Inspector General of Police for the role the police played in the saga. The petitioner also asked the commission to intervene urgently because she is in captivity in the groom's house so that she could be allowed to make her own choice of life and marriage. The girl who was said to have resolved to either kill herself or kill the said bride groom, had a suitor named Yusuf Yahaya until she was forced on a 50 year-old man by her father, Sambo. She had earlier approached the
Magistrate Court in Wase that agreed with the girl's parent to withdraw the matter for settlement out of court. Incidentally, the parent connived with the police who caused her arrest as she emerged out of court and consequently detained her for some days just to coerce her to accept the groom. After her release from police custody in Wase, the marriage was conducted forcefully into the man's house.
Kano: Mass wedding may hold May 16 Public Relations Officer (PRO) of Kano Hisbah, Malam Musa Tanko however, told our correspondent that the day is not decided yet but would soon hold. He stated that while screening of potential suitors have already been completed, the exercise is still being conducted on female applicants. He attributed this to the failure of the female applicants to come out during the screening exercise, adding that while their male counterparts came out en masse for
the screening, the women did not follow suit. But with the extension allowed for the female applicants to continue with the screening exercise, they are now turning out on daily basis to be screened, he added. According to the PRO, committee is available throughout the working hours of the day to carry out the screening. It will be recalled that the Kano state government planned to marry off 1000 women mostly
divorced with a view to stem the anti social problem bedeviling Kano society. In an interview with Peoples Daily recently, Commander General of Kano Hisbah, Malam Aminu Ibrahim Daurawa stated that most of the societal problems in Kano state could be traced to broken homes and as such, the state government, was trying to do something against these problems. He stated that at the flag off of the scheme, 100 women would be married off.
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PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2012
Daniel re-arraigned over 38 count charges, get N500m bail which lasted for over four hours, where he was also alleged by the crime commission of receiving kickbacks, estimated to be N200million. Peoples Daily reports that both the accused counsels led by Tayo Oyetibo (SAN) and the prosecuting counsel led by Rotimi Jacobs for over three hours engaged themselves on argument on bail application for the suspect. While Daniel lawyers argued that he should be granted bail for personal recognition and
having not committed any crime, within and outside Nigeria, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission {EFCC} lawyers argued that he may likely interfere with the trial. The EFCC further argued that, information at its disposal has it that, Daniel allegedly keep killer squad, who have been threatening some of the witnesses in the case, hence the need for the court to consider the lives of the witnesses In his application for bail,
Former Ogun State Governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel at the Ogun High Court IV, in Abeokuta, during his trial over allegations of stealing, bribery, fraudulent conversion of public funds to his personal use, yesterday. Photo: NAN
Daniel,s lead counsel, Tayo Oyetibo told the court he has filled a 27 paragraph affidavit in support of bail application for his client. He further told the court that a counter affidavit as well as written address were also filled, seeking adoption of the written address and rely on the affidavit. In his oral submission, Oyetibo said the most important criteria was to ensure that the accused appear in court at his trial, promising the court that his client will not jump bail if granted. Reacting to EFCC's counter affidavit on the bail application, Oyetibo described the counter affidavit as a "gross abuse of court process", saying the action was premeditated and organized vendetta on his client. Oyetibo alleged that Ogun state government is collaborating with EFCC to prosecute Daniel. However, opposing the bail application by Daniel's counsel, EFCC's counsel, Rotimi Jacobs said he has filed a 22 paragraph counter affidavit deposed to by Danladi Yata, a police officer and as well filed a written address in opposing the bail. In his ruling, Justice Olanrewaju Mabekoje granted the accused bail in the sum of N500million, with two sureties, who must be resident in the state, with evidences of owing landed properties; failure which may landed the accused in prisons detention until next hearing. He also ruled that his passport should remain in custody. Meanwhile, the case for further hearing was adjourned by the judge till May, 7, 2012.
Magistrates' Court, Lagos. They, however, pleaded not guilty and were each granted bail in the sum of N100, 000 with two sureties in like sum. The prosecutor, ASP Akinlabe Adegoke, said that the duo allegedly stole one refrigerator, a television set, a standing fan and a DVD player from Akpan's apartment. He added that the accused also stole the cash sum of N100, 000 on Sept. 15, 2011,
and broke into the house and packed out Akpan's luggage without his consent. ``When the complainant came, he discovered that the missing items were no longer among the properties he left inside his apartment,'' he said. Adegoke said that the alleged offences contravened Sections 278, 305 and 409 of the Criminal Code, Laws of Lagos state. Magistrate Bola Osunsanmi adjourned the case till May 6 for substantive trial. (NAN)
From Dimeji Kayode-Dedeji, Abeokuta
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ormer Ogun state Governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel was yesterday re-arraigned in court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on 38 count charge bordering on stealing, failure to declare assets, corruptly obtaining properties among others. He was docked at the High Court 3 located in Isabo area of Abeokuta, Ogun state capital,
Father, son in court for alleged burglary From Iliya Garba, Minna
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he police in Lagos yesterday arraigned a father and his son for allegedly burgling the apartment of one Issac Akpan and stealing items worth N175,000. The accused, Wilson Eka, 60, and his son, Anietie Ekanem, 28, are facing a three-count charge of conspiracy, burglary and stealing before the Somolu
from Akpan's house at No. 1, Humani St., Somolu, Lagos. He said that Eka of No. 18, Agati St., Fadeyi, was the caretaker to the complainant's apartment, where Ekanem was also living. Adegoke said that the first accused, Eka, had given Akpan a quit notice before they allegedly broke into the complainant's apartment. ``Without waiting for the quit notice to expire, the accused went
Kwara Muslims, Christians resolve to dialogue From Olanrewaju Lawal, Ilorin
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he Kwara state Muslims and Christian leaders have resolved to continue to live together in peace and resolve any misunderstand that may ensued between them through dialogue. The assurance was given by Chairman of the Kwara State InterReligious Committee, Alhaji Mohammed Shaaba Koro at a meeting with the Kwara state government officials in Ilorin on Sunday evening. The Senior Special Assistant to the Governor, Media and Communications Dr. Femi Muyideen Akorede in a statement issued yesterday stated that the meeting was chaired by the Secretary to State Government, SSG, Alhaji Isiaka Gold, who convened it on behalf of the state government following a petition to the Kwara state Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, by Christian Association of Nigeria (Kwara State Chapter) over alleged destruction of the property of Living Faith Church, Sango, Ilorin, by yet unidentified youths. He quoted Alhaji Koro to have said that "Christian and Muslims in the state will continue to live together in peace and harmony as both Islam and Christianity advocate peaceful coexistence. All parties to the dispute over the construction of a Church on the piece of land in question to maintain the peace as all petitions on the issue have been referred to the committee by the state government for an amicable resolution". The statement added that the SSG, Alhaji Gold stressed the state government's determination to promote and defend the religious harmony in the state as development could only take place in an atmosphere of peace. Gold according to the statement expressed confidence in the capability of the committee, which he said comprises respected religious figures and people of integrity from both religions, to come up with an enduring solution to the dispute. He therefore warned that the full weight of the law will be brought to bear on any group or persons who disturb the peace or otherwise take the law into their hands under any guise, stressing that government will do all it in its power to promote religious tolerance and harmony for which the state is traditionally renowned.
Fuel subsidy: ‘Reps under pressure to implicate NNPC GMD’ By Abdulwahab Isa and Lawrence Olaoye
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ew hours to the submission of the reports of the House of Representatives ad hoc committee that investigated the nation's fuel subsidy regime, fears have been raised that the panel has been placed under intense pressure to sanction the Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation
(NNPC), Austin Oniwon. Peoples Daily learnt that some disgruntled officials of the Petroleum Ministry who are not happy with the disposition of the GMD are hell bent on implicating him in order to get him out of office. It was gathered that most of the panelists who are averse to the plot are insisting that the reports must conform to the available facts presented to the Committee. Those kicking against the
implication plot are of the view that since most of the atrocities in the oil ministry were committed before Oniwon's appointment, it would be unjust to get him punished for a sin he never committed. But it was learnt that the lobby group was very desperate to punish Oniwon for his perceived stubbornness, uncompromising stance and adherence to rules on all issues.
Our source declare "The action of this lobby group might not be unconnected with the indictment of several individuals and companies for uncompleted or non-delivery of fuel allocations and the recommendation of the report for them to refund of monies collected. "If the report is allowed to be presented in its uninfluenced form, then this group of people would not only be exposed but
prosecuted because these frauds predated Oniwon," she said. But in a swift reaction, the Chairman of the probe panel, Rep Farouk Lawan who was contacted through text denied ever being under any pressure to indict anybody. He said "No, we are not under pressure to indict anybody, we shall present the facts as they are and try to be as fair and objective as possible." al Government.
PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2012
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EFCC urged to probe Adavi LG finance clerks From Sam Egwu, Lokoja n appeal has gone to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to arrest and investigate finance clerks in Adavi local government council of Kogi state for allegedly embezzling the sum of 155
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million naira in the last eleven months. This came up from the preliminary report of the staff audit exercise initiated by the local government chapter of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) which was made available to journalists in
Lokoja. It was discovered that about 443 ghost workers were on the payroll of the local government, while some people were discovered to have presented fake letters of appointment to the screening committee during the exercise. In a press statement issued by
the Dynamic Wheelers Club, (DWC), yesterday and signed by the President, Mr. Isah Asimole called on all relevant anti-graft agencies to show interest in the event going on in the local government council with a view to rescuing the local government of massive corruption in the council
L-R: Managing Director, FMBN, Mr. Gimba Yau Kumo, with Minister Housing and Urban Development, Ms. Amal Pepple, during the commissioning of FMBN staff buses, yesterday in Abuja.
Meteorologist urges adherence to building code
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meteorologist, Prof. Temi Ologunorisa, yesterday urged government at all levels to ensure adherence to building code to enhance flood control. Ologunorisa told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the presence of illegal structures compounded the flood problem in some coastal communities. “One major cause of flooding in some major towns and cities in Nigeria today is the increasing number of illegal structures blocking the free flow of water. “We cannot continue to lose lives and property worth millions of naira to preventable flood-related disasters within and around our environment. “We need to go back to the drawing board and ensure that structures are erected not on flood plains, but built in line with the government approved building codes.’’ Ologunorisa, , who is also the Director of the Centre for Climate Change and Environmental Studies, Osun State University, Osogbo, advocated for the demolition of illegal structures and the relocation of those living in
flood-prone areas. He urged governments to embark on the construction of drains and the channelisation of rivers to enhance the free flow of flood water from communities. The meteorologist also urged residents to desist from dumping refuse into drains. “To avert flood-related emergencies in our communities, environmental law enforcement agencies must ensure that illegal structures are pulled down and such places
declared disaster risk areas. “We need to be proactive now to ensure the safety of lives and property, especially now that we are still expecting more rains,’’ he said. The meteorologist urged inhabitants of flood-prone communities to take proactive measures to checkmate disasters. He appealed to relevant government agencies and environmental NGOs to sensitise inhabitants on the dangers of living in such areas. (NAN)
UNICEF prepares kids as (CPiE) organized problem solvers Emergencies by UNICEF D-field office Bauchi From Auwal Ahmad, Gombe
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nited Nation Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has said that children need to learn life’s emotional and practical lessons to strengthen their ability to solve problem and achieve their goals. This was said during the fiveday training for 40 Child Protection Partners from Gombe state on Child Protection in
in collaboration with Save The Children UK, in Karu local government area of Nasarawa state. Speaking while presenting a paper titled: “The Core Developmental Needs of Children” Mr. Daniel Istifanus Bisu from Save the Children UK said: “Unconditional care also plays a part in a child’s religious upbringing such as in saying that God loves you but spiritual love by itself is not enough.”
We need agric university in North-West, says Emir of Gwandu From Ahmed Idris, Birnin Kebbi
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he Emir of Gwandu and chairman of Kebbi state Traditional Rulers, Alhaji Mohammed Eliyasu Bashar has made an appeal to the Federal Government to establish a University of Agriculture in the north west. He made the appeal when members of the Federal Government Polytechnics visitation panel who visited the Waziri Umar Federal Polytechnic in the state, paid him a courtesy visit in his palace yesterday. The Monarch added that the major occupation of the people from north west was agriculture. In his remark, the chairman of the panel, Dr. Waheed Qadeer said the members visited the monarch to get royal blessings in their bid to foster good relationship with the staff and students of the institution.
According to him, they have no doubt in the ability of the body headed by Mr. Emmanuel Icha to come out with a result that will be clearly different from the various past mock screening exercises in the council stressing, “we are worried greatly that the constant and unending presence of ‘Ghost workers’ syndrome in Adavi local government council has negatively affected its growth and development, to such extend that the council has merely become a “pay center” rather than development oriented body which a local government council is meant to be.” Also speaking on the matter the chairman of the screening committee, Mr. Emmanuel Icha confirmed to journalists that some of those who presented fake employment letters, confessed to the screening committee that some top officers at the local government issued the fake letters to them. The committee discovered that the education department had the largest ghost workers of 100 people, works department, 96 ghost workers, Personnel, 74 ghost workers, Health, 63 ghost workers, Budgetary, 31 ghost workers and Agric department, has 25 ghost workers. All efforts to reach the DLG of Adavi local government area proved abortive as his cell phone was switched off, even as his PRO absolved his boss of any culpability in the matter.
NOA to compile list of traffic offenders By Tobias Lengnan Dapam
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n view of the rampant cases of traffic offences by motorists, the National Orientation Agency (NOA) has said that it will partner the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) to compile the list of traffic offenders across the country in order to guarantee safety on the roads. The Director-General of the agency, Mike Omeri, who stated this during a visit to the Chairman of Daar Communications, Dr. Raymond Dokpesi in Abuja, added that the fight against social vices required the active involvement of all Nigerians. He called on Nigerians to forward the vehicle registration numbers of erring drivers to the agency for compilation and publication, saying the list will also be forwarded to the relevant law enforcement agencies to assist them track offenders and bring them to book. A statement issued yesterday by the Assistant Director, Press in the agency, Fidel Agu stressed that the agency was determined to bring about moral re-orientation that cuts across all the strata of the society, adding that the new approach will involve a comprehensive sectoral approach and collaboration with relevant agencies.
PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2012
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2015: Jonathan’s hurdle to Presidency
President Goodluck Jonathan By Sunday Ejike Benjamin
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esides the clamour from the Northern extraction of the country that president Goodluck Jonathan is not eligible to contest for the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 2015, another strong force within the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has gone to court, in an effort to thwart Jonathan's chances of participating in the election come 2015. Perhaps, Jonathan's declaration early last month that he is serving his first term in office as a duly elected President of the country is angered the chieftain of the party, Mr. Cyriacus Njoku, who, on March 20, 2012 filed a suit before an Abuja High Court asking it to stop President Jonathan from contesting presidential elections in 2015. Njoku who viewed President Jonathan's statement made earlier in March as an indication of expression of interest to contest for the Presidency in 2015, premised
Alhaji Atiku Abubakar
his action on the grounds that he (President Jonathan) is already in his second term in office as the President of the country and cannot be a candidate in 2015. The Plaintiff who joined the PDP and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the second and third Respondent said, President Jonathan cannot swear to an Oath of Office thrice in the light of Section 137(1) (b) of the 1999 Constitution. The suit filed on behalf of the PDP Chieftain through his counsel, Mr. Osuagwu Ugochukwu, raised two questions for the court to determine. These issues are: "Whether Section 135(2) of the Constitution which specifies a period of four years in office for the President is only available or applicable to a person elected on the basis of an actual election or includes one in which a person assumes the position of President by operation of law as in the case of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan "Whether Section 137(1) (b) of the 1999 Constitution which
provides that a person shall not be qualified for election to the office of President if he has been elected to such office at any two previous elections applies to the 1st Defendant who first took an Oath of Office as substantive President on May 6, 2010 and took a second Oath of Office as President on May 29, last year". The present legal action by Njoku makes the second time he is dragging President Jonathan to court over the seat of the president of the country. He had in August 2010 attempted to stop PDP from allowing Jonathan to participate in the PDP presidential primaries of January 2011. Njoku, from Zuba Ward in Gwagwalada Area Council and with PDP registration number 1622735, had urged the court to ask the PDP to respect its principle on zoning formula in line with Article 7. 2(c) of the party's Constitution. He said the declaration of Jonathan, who was the third defendant in the suit then, to contest the presidency on the platform of the PDP, was contrary to Article7.2(c) of the PDP 2009 Constitution (as amended). The Chief Judge of the FCT High Court, Justice Lawan Gummi who handled the matter dismissed the zoning suit instituted by Njoku. Meanwhile, President Goodluck Jonathan, in a strong objection to Njoku's suit against him, asked the court to discountenance it, describing it as an academic exercise meant to make the court labour in futility. He also told the Court that he is currently doing his first term of four years in office as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as provided by the 1999 constitution. Jonathan also seized the opportunity to say that he has not indicated or announced anywhere that he would be contesting for the presidential elections in 2015. A 15-paragraph counter affidavit deposed to by Mr. Osahon Okeaya-Inneh, a lawyer in the law firm of President Jonathan's counsel, Mr. Ade Okeaya-Inneh (SAN) described the suit as frivolous and vexatious that failed to disclose reasonable cause of action. The deponent said, "I am a counsel in the law firm of Ade Okeaya-Inneh and co. counsel to the 1st defendant in this suit, by virtue of which I am conversant with the facts of this case "I have the consent and authority of the 1st defendant/ respondent to depose to this affidavit. When my law firm was briefed by the 1st defendant to represent him in his action, I, together with Mr. Matthew Aikhionbare (Senior Special Assistant to the President) and Dr Reuben Abati (Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President) meticulously went through the 11-paragraph affidavit of the plaintiff in support of his originating summons", the affidavit stated. He further added also that President Jonathan is currently
General Muhammadu Buhari doing his first term of four years in office as the president of Nigeria as provided by the 1999 constitution as amended, a status and position he said is formidably backed by the 1999 constitution of the country. According to the affidavit, "The constitution of Nigeria only makes provision for a president to contest for not more than two terms of four years each. The constitution recognizes the Executive President's tenure of office to be four years. "I was informed by Dr Abati on April 4, 2012 at about 5.30 pm in his office and I verily believe that the 1st defendant has not indicated or announced anywhere whether in words or in writing that he will contest for the presidential elections to be conducted in 2015. "Late President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua contested and won the presidential elections conducted in 2007 for a one term of four years. He was the president from May 29, 2007 until sometime in May 2010 when he passed on. Yar'Adua's four years was to end
Vice- President Namadi Sambo
in 2011". Jonathan further averred that on May 6, 2010 he was sworn in as the president after the demise of the Late President Yar'Adua thereby completing Yara'Adua's 12 months of the four years tenure. He declared that this is the first time he is coming to power as the president of Nigeria through a conducted election wherein he was voted as the presidential candidate of his party, PDP. Besides, the President told the court that the plaintiff did not attach copies of his recent tax clearance certificate from Federal Inland Revenue service commission and his PDP membership card as proof of who he claims to be. The trial Judge, Justice Mudashiru Oniyangi however fixed April 18, 2012 to hear Jonathan's application for an extension of time within which his counsel can file his memorandum of appearance and counter affidavit in response to the plaintiff's suit dated March 20, 2012.
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PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2012
Loyalists welcome NECO registrar’s reappointment with peaceful rally From Iliya Garba, Minna
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ome selected staff loyal to council NECO, Prof. Promise Okpala, yesterday staged a peaceful rally to express their support and appreciation over his extension of tenure for the next three years. Our correspondent reports that the demonstrators converged at
the premises of the conference hall before embarking on a peaceful proceeding to the administrative block as early as 8am in the morning with placards reading “We say no to division in NECO”, “NASU, stop distorting facts about NECO”, “PROF. Okpala has been reappointed we want to give him a chance”, as well as “Who is sponsoring the so called union?”.
In his remarks, the officer in charge of NECO at the FCT, Abuja, Alhaji Abdul Mustapha pointed out that power comes from God and He gives to whomsoever He desires without making consultation with any body. He appealed to all those who were against the reappointment of the registrar to take solace on, the fact that it was destined by God,
stressing that, “as employees of the organisation we cannot dictate the government on who to be appointed as head of the organisation ”. Also contributing, Mrs. Kofo Adesina urged all warring factions in the organisation to have a change of mind in the interest of the Nigerian child, adding that, “lets give peace a chance in order
to move NECO forward”. Reacting to the procession by some staff, the caretaker committee Chairman of NASU, NECO branch Malam Abdulrasheed Rabana condemned the procession, saying, “it is all part of the intimidation tactics been hatched by the management against members of the union as well as other staff with integrity”.
Customs reverses goods declaration benchmark From Ayodele Samuel, Lagos
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L-R: Former Enugu state Commissioner for Science and Technology, Mr. Chuka Ayogu, with Director, Science Equipment Development Institute (SEDI), Prof. Christian Nwajagu, addressing a news conference on the activities of the institute, yesterday in Enugu. Photo: NAN
Social crusader seeks release of detained Nigerians abroad A
concerned Nigerian and a crusader against illegal detention of Nigerians abroad, Engr Joseph Oyekanmi has appealed to the Federal Government to commence negotiations for the release of all Nigerians detained by various foreign governments. Speaking while addressing reporters at the General Aviation Terminal of the Murtala Mohammed Airport Ikeja, Engineer Oyekanmi, regretted that some innocent Nigerians abroad were subjected to undue hardship and illegal detentions in those countries. He noted that some of them were detained as a result of expired visas, which also needed the intervention of the Nigerian High Commission in that country by
issuing them travelling certificate to enable them come home. According to him, in Malaysia, most Nigerians have been allowed to suffer in prisons there since last year following their detention in camp by the country’s immigration officials and appealed to the Federal Government to rise up and ensure the release of those Nigerians in order to come home
and contribute to the development of the nation. He wondered why Nigerians could be treated without dignity outside the shores of this country adding that non Nigerians in Nigeria were given opportunity than Nigerians. “I want the Nigerian High Commission in Malaysia and other countries to commence negotiations for the release of those
Nigerians in the detention camps and appeal to the Federal Government not to allow its citizens to be subjected to untold hardship in foreign countries as various foreigners here are well treated.” Oyekanmi also called on the chairman House Committee on Diaspora, Hon. Abike Dabiri Erewa to carefully look into the matter with a view to ensuring justice.
Suswam warns against extra-budgetary expenditure From Uche Nnorom, Makurdi
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overnor Gabriel Suswam of Benue state has warned that government would not tolerate extra-budgetary expenditures by ministries and extra-ministerial departments.
LOSS OF DOCUMENT This is to notify the General Public the loss of passport issue to MR. CHADI ANTONIE EL GHAZAL with Serial No. RL0947596 and Combined Expatriate Residence Permit and ALLIEN SCHEME (CERPAC) Serial No. AO 0939156 issue to him by Nigeria Immigration Service is declared missing. All effort made to trace the said documents prove abortive. If found, please contact the nearest police station or Nigeria Immigration Service.
The Governor, who gave this stern warning yesterday at the signing of the state's 2012 Appropriation bill into law, promised that his government will ensure speedy implementation of the budget by accessing enough funds to meet all it stipulations. Suswam commended the legislature for the thorough manner it handled the budget just as he advised implementers of the budget to be conversant with it. “If you look at this year and what the State has received within the last three months, it is clear that the State would be able to implement the budget to the latter and I promise you that I will submit the 2013 Budget proposals earlier than before”, he said. In the same vein, Suswam signed into law 5 other bills including; the Benue State
Independent Electorate Commission, BSIEC law which borders on appointment and tenure of members of the Commission, reviewed local government law that has reduced the tenure of council chairmen as well as councilors from three to two years, a bill for law to make provision for recurrent expenditure year 2012, another bill for a law to make provision for capital expenditure year 2012 as well as bill for a law for the amendment of the State Electoral law year 2012. While lamenting over the delay in conduct of local government elections in the State, he attributed this to the anomalies noticed with the law establishing BSIEC but assured that a date would soon be fixed for the conduct of the election as soon as a new State electoral Commission is constituted.
he Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has suspended the bench mark initiative which was introduced last January for goods valuation and reverted to the old order which allows importers and agents to under-declare their consignment and face the consequences. The suspension of the initiative which has pitched the Service against importers and clearing agents was informed by the desire by Customs to ensure full compliance with extant laws. In furtherance of the change in approach, the Area Controllers have been directed to invoke Sections 46 and 47 of the Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA) which stipulate outright seizures for goods involved in cases of under declaration, followed by prosecutions of the offending importers and/ or agents of such consignments. The Comptroller-General Alhaji Dikko Abdullahi, has also given approval for setting up of a broadbased committee comprising the Customs, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), importers, freight forwarders (agents) and the media as a transparent body to manage a new Container Inpection Concession programme. He said Customs will, however, continue to encourage importers and their agents to focus on honest declaration, pointing out that the controversy surrounding bench mark model was not on the issue of value but that of quantity. “As an encouragement to make importers and agents embrace the virtue of honest declaration, incentives will be given to importers and agents who bring in goods five consecutive times without any discrepancies in their declarations,” the CGC declared, stressing that their consignment will be granted fast track concession, and their goods could be taken into their warehouses before Customs will examine it. He explained that benchmarking was meant to be an administrative convenience to help importers, and highlighted that since the importers and their agents have indicated a low capacity to manage it, the NCS has therefore decided to suspend it.
PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2012
Former NTA staff dies at 56 From Lawal Sadiq Sanusi, Kaduna
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he death has occurred of veteran journalist, Alhaji Hussaini Baba Ahmed, aged 56 years. Late Hussaini Baba Ahmed worked with the Nigerian Television Authority,NTA, in Sokoto and the national headquarters, Abuja as well as the Kaduna State Media Corporation (KSMC), Kaduna. During his career as a journalist, Alhaji Baba won the best cameraman award for “Cock Crow at Dawn”, a popular NTA programme. He left behind his wife, five children and brothers, Mahamoon Baba Ahmed and Dr. Hakeem Baba Ahmed, a seasoned civil servant. He has since been buried according to Islamic rites in his Zaria home.
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Police kill prison warder in Bayelsa, DPO, others arrested T
ragedy struck in Yenagoa Sunday evening when an Inspector with the Nigeria Prisons Service, Mr Erezidor Ugo was allegedly killed by a policeman during a scuffle. The incident, according to an eyewitness, occurred opposite Wisdom Estate, along Nikton Road in the Kpansia suburb of Yenagoa, Bayelsa. It was gathered that the deceased, was shot in his house while entertaining two of his colleagues, who came to felicitate
with him for buying a new car. A police patrol team, led by the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Ekeki Division, Mr Nemi Iwoh, was said to have arrived the area in response to a distress call from the area, which reported gunshots being fired in the vicinity. The police team was said to have noticed one of the Prison Warders carrying a gun and tried to disarm him, but he allegedly refused to hand over the gun and in the ensuing scuffle it went off and killed Ugo.
However, wife of the deceased, Mrs. Binafegha Ugo claimed that her husband was shot dead by the police in her presence and that of her six-year-old daughter. Ugo, who was said to have been shot in the abdomen, was immediately rushed to the Glory Land Hospital, Ovom, where he died. When NAN visited the hospital, the body of the deceased was found covered on a hospital bed with his relations and friends wailing. The Police Public Relations
Bauchi uses meager resources for citizens, says Commissioner
Katsina Pension Board pays N70m monthly
From Ahmed Kaigama, Bauchi
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he Executive Secretary, Katsina State Local Government Pension Board, Alhaji Yusuf Barmo, says the board is paying more than N70 million monthly to pensioners. Barmo told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Katsina yesterday that since the state government settled the pension arrears of N721 million in 2010, the board had continued to pay pensions as at when due. According to him, from 2011 to date, the board does not owe any pensioner in all the 34 local government areas of the state. He said: “The board will continue to pay retired officers pensions between 22nd and 23rd of every month, while gratuity of every retired officer will be settled one month after retirement. “Gratuity for January was settled in February and that of February was paid in March while the March gratuity would be paid this month.”
L-R: Director, Land Warfare, Armed Forces Command and Staff College (AFCSC), Brigadier-Gen. Johnson Oladeinde, Director of Air Warfare, Air Commodore Godwin Ekagbo, and Director, Joint Studies, Brigadier-Gen. Nsor Ojiji, during the closing ceremony of AFCSC Security Training Workshop, at the weekend in Jaji, Kaduna dtate. Photo: NAN
2011 budget recorded 80% implementation, says minister
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inister of State for Finance, Dr. Yerima Ngama, said in Abuja yesterday that Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA) achieved 80 per cent implementation of the 2011 budget. Yerima made the observation on the occasion of the public presentation of the 2012 budget, which was signed into law by President Goodluck Jonathan on Friday.
Officer, ASP Eguavoen Emokpai confirmed the incident, saying all parties involved in the incident, including the DPO and a Prison Warder had been arrested. The family of the deceased had at about 7 pm retrieved the corpse from the hospital and placed it at the entrance of the Police Command Headquarters, demanding for ‘justice’. Security had been beefed up in and around the police headquarters to avert any break down of law and order. (NAN)
Jonathan assented to the N4.6 trillion budget, which had an additional 180 billion naira for special programmes, based on the oil benchmark of 72 dollar per barrel. Ngama said the 2011 budget, passed in June 2011, was loaded with many new projects, which forced the government to go into virements. Notwithstanding these challenges, he said the MDAs achieved
a record budget implementation of 80 per cent by December 2011, up from below 40 per cent in November of the same year. He lauded the Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, for coming out with a report on how to galvanise efforts to implement the budget. The minister said OkonjoIweala encouraged the MDAs to study and follow up on the report. “It was like a magic that in 30
days when we called all the heads of the MDAs to come and explain why they were below 40 per cent implementation, it turned out that in 30 days most of them had achieved 80 per cent budget implementation. “This is because we already had works completed, certified and waiting for payment but we had a budget last year which allocated most of the funding to works that we have not yet started.” (NAN)
auchi state Commissioner of Information, Engr. Mohammed Damina has said that the Yuguda-led administration in the state has been utilizing its meager resources for the benefit of most citizens. The Commissioner, who was speaking while receiving the State Public Enlightenment Committee on programmes, activities, and achievements of the Yuguda administration during a courtesy visit, observed that the committee came at a time when tongues were lashing government’s actions and inactions. Engr. Mohammed Damina while assuring the Committee of his Ministry’s support and cooperation, said the two organs would work together to build a credible image for the government. Damina urged the committee to challenge or respond appropriately to any person or group of persons hell-bent on dragging the state government into the mud. The Chairman of the 12-man committee, Alhaji Bappah Haruna Disina described as appropriate the setting up of the committee especially when adversaries are hurling stones on the government, saying, “We will return fire for fire with those sabotaging the efforts of Yuguda administration”. Disina enumerated various achievements of the committee which, he recalled, was set up in 2008, stating that his committee was always ready to accept any responsibility assigned to it.
South-South govs plead with NASS to pass Petroleum Industry Bill
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he governors of states in the South-South zone have appealed to members of the National Assembly to expedite action in the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill. Gov. Liyel Imoke of Cross River made the appeal yesterday in Uyo at the end of the Governors’ Forum with members of the National Assembly from the zone. Imoke, who spoke on behalf of
the forum, said that the delay in the passage of the bill had impacted negatively on the SouthSouth states. According to him, the forum decries the long delay in the passage of the bill but commends the Federal Government for its effort in presenting the bill to the National Assembly. “On the Petroleum Industry Bill, while we note the long delay
in its passage, which has impacted negatively on the states, we commend the recent effort by the Federal Government to reintroduce the bill. “We therefore call on the Federal Government, the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the various committees drafting the bill, as a matter of urgency, to finalise the passage of the bill. “We also urged members of the
National Assembly to ensure the speedy passage of the bill as submitted, so that the nation at large can benefit from the resources,” Imoke said. He said that the governors also agreed to put together ideas for the benefit of the South-South people and the country in the proposed constitutional amendment. He said: “On the proposed
constitution amendment, the meeting agreed that it was necessary to put together ideas and appreciates the commonality of our people to speak with one voice during the process.” The forum appealed to those, who are aggrieved in the country, to utilise the constitutional process to seek redress rather than embark on the destruction of lives and property. (NAN)
PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2012
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Malawi’s commendable political succession
ven though the former VicePresident of Malawi, Mrs. Joyce Banda, has since been sworn in as president, following the sudden death of former President Bingu WaMutharika, the palpable tension and anxiety that was generated across the country over succession may yet trigger a crisis with unpleasant consequences. Former President Mutharika, who fell out with his vicepresident as he was ending his second and final term in office, had expelled Mrs. Banda from the ruling party, and plucked out his younger brother, Peter Wa-Mutharika from his teaching job in the United States, positioning him to take over at the end of his term. Peter was serving as attorneygeneral in his brother's cabinet, while waiting to become president. The near perfect arrangement for a political coronation was however punctuated in South Africa last week following a fatal heart attack. Even with the president's sudden demise, his inner circle kept it secret for two days, manoeuvering how to push the president's brother to the presidency. The Supreme Court which had earlier stopped the seemingly desperate president from pushing the vice-president from office intervened again, confirming that only the vicepresident could constitutionally succeed the late president, party affiliation notwithstanding. Mrs. Banda has earlier founded her own party, the Peoples Party, after she was expelled from the ruling party. The Supreme Court by declaring Mrs.
Banda the legal successor to the late president halted what would have been a dirty political infighting. But nobody expected the inner circle of the late president to go to sleep, as political defeat in Africa does not necessarily mean a mere political sabbatical to reinvigorate and restrategise as in advanced western democracies. Political defeat means a life-long consignment to political irrelevance.
“
Working with Banda and expanding the democratic frontiers of their country through upholding constitutionalism would in the end be in the interest of all Malawians Fighting back dirty and even with desperation to disrupt the entire system is usually the rule of the game. Joyce Banda, now the president, undoubtedly suffered political persecution but must now, in our view, eschew vendetta. The easiest thing President Banda could do now is to round up the inner circle of the former leader who orchestrated her humiliation out of the ruling party and inside government, but we urge her not to do the easiest thing. We are not
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asking the president to sleep with the enemy, who may never be done with intrigues and manoeuvres but must reassure Malawians that their young democracy threatened by the heavyhanded antics of the late president and his henchmen is more sure-footed under her guide and care. Banda's litmus test would be the forthcoming elections, and whether she would keep the political space and playing field level for all eligible voters. We in the Peoples Daily use this auspicious moment to salute the unwavering courage and indomitable spirit of Mrs. Banda. Facing down an unremitting political persecution with nothing but the Constitution and refusing to buckle or opt out when that would have been the safest thing is a legacy of political struggle in the continent. We also counsel the supporters of the late president to eschew bitterness and see the unfolding scenario in their country as a triumph of constitutionalism and take pride that their country is beaming the crucial light of enlightenment on the continent. Working with Banda and expanding the democratic frontiers of their country through upholding constitutionalism would in the end be in the interest of all Malawians. For Peter Wa-Mutharika, the crown prince that did not become, we counsel that his day might still come under the sun. In spite of anxieties and tension following the president's demise, we rejoice that Malawi managed a smooth transition of power.
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PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2012
By Sufuyan Ojeifo
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have, for a long time, been very worried about the Almajiri phenomenon in the northern part of the country. My sensibility is always touched whenever I take my children to school in the morning in Abuja and I see these children swarming round vehicles that have been stopped either by the traffic lights or traffic wardens, begging for alms, when they should be in school. The modus of begging is diverse, depending on location and/or environment. The almajiris operate on the streets. They also move from house to house to beg for alms. A majority of them parade one disability or the other. But begging is not all about the almajiris. Quite a number of them, in some other locations, especially in the northwest of the country, attend informal Islamic schools. In fact, not a few of them engage in some form of manual labour to eke out a living. But all of these engagements do not conduce to anything dignifying. They do not translate to westernization or modernization. They do not bolster civilization within the context of western education. The absence of western education has always made nonsense of the Islamic education (the study of Arabic language and the Quran) to which most, if not all, of the almajiris have always been subjected. We all know that Islamic education has built and consolidated the religious component of the lives of these almajiris. A good number of them have the incredible capacity to
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Now a world of opportunities for the Almajiris recite the Quran. But is recitation of the Quran all about life in a society that places premium on formal education qualifications? The religious indoctrination, without the preponderating influence of western education, has unfortunately helped to build an army of zealots who have become ready tools in the hands of the political elite, nay powerseeking politicians, who use violence induced by religion to settle scores. These almajiris have wittingly or unwittingly lent themselves to despicable usage by these power mongers. But for those who have been lucky to become Islamic scholars and leaders through the exposure to the study of Arabic and Quran, there is an understandable limitation: lack of western education. In recent times, due to the cosmopolitan nature of Islamic propagation, there has been the need to deploy the instrumentality of western education to assist the propagation of Islam. We live in a dynamic, ever-changing world and the almajiri system, within the context of socialization, is not an exception. This is why there was a deep sense of understanding when on Wednesday, 9th April 2008, a Bill for the Establishment of National Commission for the Eradication of Child Destitution was introduced and read for the first time in the
Senate. The Bill was sponsored by Senator Umar A. Tafidan Argungu (Kebbi North Senatorial District) and forty other members. The Bill passed through the second reading and was committed to the Senator Eme Uffot-Ekaette-led Committee on Women Affairs for further legislative action. The Committee was to organize a public hearing on the Bill to receive input from stakeholders preparatory to third reading and passage. It never happened in the sixth Senate; but nothing could obliterate the record of the effort made by Argungu and his colleagues. It is significant that credit should be given to the Argungu team for adverting legislative attention to the worrisome almajiri system in the north. In his lead debate during the second reading of the Bill, Argungu said the Bill was to provide for the establishment of a commission to serve as government intervention programme for eradication of child destitution from the society. He stated that, “It is also to harmonize the system with western and vocational curricular to give the destitute child a sense of belonging and purposeful future in the society.” According to him, “…These are children who were let out by their parents/guardians to study Arabic and the Quran, which was later referred to as the Almajiri system…. Today, the Almajiri
system has been corrupted by the operators and turned millions of under-aged children into beggars who otherwise would have become useful citizens to themselves, the society, the nation and humanity. The fact, that there are millions of these under-aged children thrown into destitution, calls for concern of all of us. “Undoubtedly, the problem of child destitution has brought about profound negative effect on our cities and it may have in one way or the other added to the huge statistics of crimes and illiterate population in the society. It is very sad that the system has succeeded in inculcating negative traits and influence in those children who were shepherded into cities without proper upkeep to roam the streets begging for alms. “This ugly scenario in most of our cities will convince any person that the menace of Almajiri system (child destitution) has eluded the social reforms of government, as multitude of under-aged children swarm shopping centres, motor parks, petrol stations, restaurants, night clubs, beer parlors and brothels looking for pittance and handout on which to survive…. Without basic education as a tool for survival, these children are readily willing tools of selfish leaders for the destabilization of any constituted authority….
“Therefore, the establishment of the National Commission for the Eradication of Child Destitution would facilitate the integration of the almajiri schools into western education while still maintaining their purposeful identity. The Commission should take a census of all almajiris in the country with a view to collating the necessary data to classify and integrate them variously into primary and secondary or vocational education….” It is sad that the Senate could not push through the legislative framework for the eradication of the almajiri menace but it is heartwarming that without a legislative framework, the Executive arm of government has now moved to confront the menace head-on. On Tuesday, April 10, 2012, news filtered in from the seat of the Caliphate, Sokoto, that President Goodluck Jonathan had inaugurated the first Almajiri Model Primary School in Gagi area of the state. Jonathan was reported to have said that the initiative was meant to provide the almajiris with conventional modern skills that would enable them to be productive members of the society. The project, according to him, was meant to change the future of the almajiris and tailored to be in tune with the technology and knowledge-driven world. Contd. on page 15
Re-inventing the radical politics of the North: A tribute to Mallam Aminu Kano (II) By Salihu M. Lukman
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n many respects, the old political contours in the North have been seriously impaired. Today’s ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) is in control of all the states ruled by the old PRP and NPP, with the exception of Nasarawa State. Again, with the exception of Borno and Yobe, it (PDP) is also in control of the states ruled by the old GNPP. Borno, Yobe and Zamfara states are today controlled by AllNigeria People’s Party (ANPP). Nasarawa is controlled by Congress for Progressive Change (CPC). The big gap however is that even states controlled by parties other than the PDP, hardly presented any defining difference in the orientation of the governments. Many would today recall the progressive radical politics of the North with nostalgia – politics associated with nationalism, value and knowledge. This is the legacy of the late Mallam Aminu Kano. He used his nationalism and commitment to the common person (talaka) to fight against feudal and capitalist domination, which manifested itself by way of
the policy of abolishing Jangali (cattle tax) in Kano and Kaduna States during the Second Republic. In addition, the two governments were known for implementation of populist radical policies such as mass literacy programmes, industrialization, etc. This markedly distinguished the PRP governments of the second Republic. The two governments had a popular support base among radical intellectuals and trade unions in the country. The origin of May 1 as Public Holiday to celebrate the International Workers’ Day in Nigeria was the initiative of the two PRP governments in 1980. This was what makes politics very stimulating and attractive in the North. Unfortunately, today, politics is reduced to selfserving vocation and political parties are at best electoral platforms. The consequence is high levels of injustice and anger in the land with no political leadership to inspire confidence and hope. We today live in a situation whereby on account of all indices, the North is backward and citizens from the North are being perceived as parasites by their peers from other parts of the country. Unlike the times of
Mallam Aminu Kano, we currently have political parties without meaning, politicians without value and governments without programmes. This reduced our political parties to assemblies of the rowdy, politicians, crowd of the un-godly and our governments, limited liability companies owned by socalled Chief Executives. On account of this reality, our politics is highly unpredictable and prone to abuse by opportunists. A clear case in point is how opposition politics in the North is high jacked by sections of the establishment, in this case the PDP. This has aided a situation where even the old tradition of historical alliances during elections is made almost impossible. One of the reasons for this is narrow interests which limit the aspirations of opposition political drivers to static considerations. Static considerations because they do not envision even post-election scenarios. A practical case of opportunism is the recent case in Kebbi where opposition politicians after winning a major legal battle of getting a court verdict, which ordered the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) to organize a re-run election for the Governorship, the two leading opposition candidates under the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) decamped to the ruling PDP. This led to virtually a no contest situation. A second reason is the absence of distinctive ideology. The drivers of opposition politics in the North today share the same governance philosophy as the drivers of the ruling party. On account of that, it is difficult to differentiate PDP government in Kano from the opposition ANPP government in the same state. Similarly, it is difficult to distinguish the opposition CPC government in Nasarawa with the PDP government it took over from. Or, can we in anyway distinguish the position of opposition legislators from ANPP, CPC, ACN, etc. with those of the legislators from the ruling PDP? The point is, for our democracy to have a meaning and command the respect of citizens, our politics must change. To what extent can the political teachings of Mallam Aminu Kano inspire us into doing the right things? Are we in anyway interested in going
beyond our lamentations of today? The dominant approach of citizens is to complain that things are not right and do next to nothing or even do exactly what they complained about when given the opportunity. Can we change this attitude and move forward by simply taking practical steps to do the right things no matter how little. For instance, as opposed to waiting for 2015 to throw up a Presidential candidate and we all queue behind him, can we organize a group that can start working on some minimum political agenda covering issues of defining value which should regulate conducts and practices of political actor whether in or out of office? These values must necessarily address issues of well-being of citizens. In terms of addressing issues of well-being of citizens, a critical element is the issue of high levels of poverty, unemployment, illiteracy rates. With respect to poverty and unemployment, one of the tragic realities is that all our state governments, be they PDP, ANPP or CPC have poor response. How can we in the first place elevate discussion of the realities facing the North to translate into Contd. on page 14
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PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2012
Memo to Bamanga-led PDP By Ahmed Rasheed Makarfi
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lhaji Bamanga Tukur is the new national chairman of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Nigeria. PDP is a concern to every Nigerian, hence the need to offer an unsolicited advice to its new leaders. I could vividly remember what the Kano state Governor, Dr Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso told Bamanga Tukur and his entourage few days before the recent national convention of the party. In an emotion-laden voice, Kwankwaso, recalled how he was denied gubernatorial ticket by the PDP in 2007 just as he said the party did not fail the election. According to him, plan to rob him of the hard-earned mandate to fly the party’s flag was hatched and perfected by a cabal of few individuals from Kano who out of self-centredness
refused to see anything good in dislike of him, the cabal carried pointing out that while on his him. His only offence was his all sorts of campaigns to way out of the meeting a administration’s stance on discredit him including that he sympathizer at the venue asked meeting the yearnings and will not win the election in the him what he was going to tell aspirations of the h i s down troddensupporters masses. That he who were secured the waiting to mandate to fly receive him Peoples Daily welcomes your letters, opinion articles, text the party’s flag in Kano, but messages and ‘pictures of yesteryears.’ All written t h r o u g h only to reply contributions should be concise. Word limits: Letters - 150 transparent and him that ‘’ I words, Articles - 750 words. Please include your name and fair primary don’t know’’. a valid location. Letters to the Editor should be addressed election held in He said to: front of the he was presence of all the directed The Editor, PDP stakeholders that he at Sani Abacha s h o u l d Peoples Daily, 1st Floor Peace Plaza, stadium, Kano p r e s e n t 35 Ajose Adeogun Street, Utako, Abuja. with about 95% of somebody’s Email: let [email protected] votes, pointing name to SMS: 07037756364 out that the said replace him, election was a n d adjudged the best even by state. He disclosed to Alhaji subsequently his running mate, political critics of kwankwaso at Bamanga campaign team that Ahmed Garba Bichi was picked. he was in a meeting in Abuja Even with the anger expressed that time. However, he added, because when he was suddenly asked to by his supporters through of their political interest and withdraw from the contest, destroying their voters card
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and refusal to participate in the elections, the margin between the PDP and the then ruling ANPP was not wide, pointing out had the result of Tudun Wada Local government been counted PDP would have won the election. Kwankwaso told Bamanga that the cabal attempted to play the same game in the last election, but realised how dangerous it would have been, because he has die - hard supporters popularly called kwankwasiyya, an ideology which abhors dishonesty, lies and embezzlement of public funds. From what Kwankwaso told Bamanga, let me use call on the new PDP leadership to be extra careful with the cabals, especially the so- called Abuja based politicians. Ahmed Rasheed Makarfi can be reached through [email protected]
Re-inventing the radical politics of the North: A tribute to Mallam Aminu Kano (II) Contd. from page 13 policy actions by our state governments? This is a matter of urgent concern by all citizens of the region and we must set aside our partisan differences and work for the survival of the North based on a determination to address problems of poverty, unemployment and high level of illiteracy. Against the background of the fact that the source of high levels of poverty and unemployment is high levels of dependence on civil services as, perhaps, the only source of income and employment opportunities, can
we develop income earning and employment programme that would not be limited to civil service initiatives? This may lead us to considerations focusing on the agricultural sector. This is the sector where majority of our citizens in the North are earning a living. And this is a sector that requires initiative towards putting in place stronger regulations that would guarantee access to inputs including highyield seedlings, fertilizer, credits and markets. Market access should also focus on issues of price stability which was lost since around 1985 with abolishing of the marketing boards.
If we must tell ourselves the truth, unless we address problems of the agricultural sector, our industrial base in the North will continue to diminish and the revenue base of our state governments will remain low. It is no secret that today, without revenue from the federation account, mainly from oil, our state governments will not be able to pay salaries. While it is true that there are issues with respect to our national revenue sharing formula, which granted the federal government 52% of the shares of federally collectible revenue, we must, as Northerners, also acknowledge the need to
develop the productive potentials of the region. A situation where we are a poor region on account of poor management of resources and lack of initiative is unacceptable. The task therefore is for us to develop a clear political roadmap. Such a political roadmap should take us back to our old radical Northern politics driven with clear values and programmes. As politicians, we have the responsibility of first organising ourselves and mobilizing our people. Organising ourselves may take the form of intra-party action or multi-party collaborative initiatives including alliances. The
challenge however is to ensure that whatever line we choose is not driven by our selfish agenda of seeking for office. The question, at this stage, would be how many of our politicians are willing to submit themselves both to intra-party actions or multi-party collaborative initiatives towards addressing the political problems of the North and restoring its radical political orientation? An answer to this will be a great tribute to Mallam Aminu Kano. Salihu can be reached through [email protected] Concluded
Pension scam and the faces of corrupt officers By Yushau A. Shuaib
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t is a moment of grief and sadness for the families of public officers caught and arraigned for stealing pensioners’ funds. The media have published their photographs as major culprits in Nigeria’s largest pension scam. So far, their names have been disclosed, their offices mentioned, their positions revealed, their faces unveiled, their looted wealth uncovered, their image tainted and reputation shattered. What a disastrous way to end one’s career in the public service. While they stole the funds, their victims, old pensioners live in abject poverty. In fact it is public knowledge that some pensioners die wretched while on queues to collect their meager retirement benefits. Although every corruption is condemnable, but the systemic looting of poor pensioners’ funds is abomination of the last order
which Senate President David Mark describes as accumulating “blood money.” In their initial arraignment, an Abuja High Court remanded all the accused persons in prison custody for their alleged complicity in the illegal diversion of N32.8billion from the Nigeria Police Pension funds. The accused include a Permanent Secretary Atiku Abubakar Kigo and top senior officers in the federal civil service: Esai Abubakar, Ahmed Inuwa Wada, John Yakubu Yusufu, Mrs. Veronica Ulonma Onyegbula and Sani Habila Zira. The mindboggling scandals were revealed at a public hearing conducted by the Senate Joint Committee of Public Service and Establishment and State and Local Government Administration probing alleged corruption in the management of pension funds. Some of the disclosures are just unconceivable of how persons in
the civil service could amass so much wealth as if they would live forever. It was alleged that the suspects had stolen N24 billions of police pension fund through falsified documents to siphon pensioners’ money. They were alleged to have withdrawn the amount from the Budget Office for a pension payment that required just N3.5 billion. It was also revealed that whereas N5bn was paid to the Office of the Head of Service monthly for the payment of pensions, only N1.9bn was actually required. While 141,790 pensioners were registered and listed on the government’s payroll, only 70,657 were genuine pensioners. The Police Pensions Office also collected a monthly N5bn as claims for its pensioners, while it actually needed N500m. Illegal withdrawals were made by staff using multiple cheques in fictitious names in excess of 30 cheques per day to withdraw
cash from their bankers amounting to over N14bn. So far in the recovery of the looted funds, a staff of the Police Pension Office turned in N1bn cash while another surrendered three luxury estates with about 27 blocks of deluxe flats he built in Abuja. A whopping sum of N2 billion cash was recovered from a house belonging to a suspect, while hotels and fuel stations belonging to other suspects have been confiscated by law enforcement agencies. There was also a twist of event as fresh allegation was made against the leader of the taskforce, Abdulrasheed Maina that investigated the scam who also was accused of spending N240 million on a biometric exercise for less than 20 retirees in the Diaspora and another N220 million on the local bio data. The investigator was also alleged to have unilaterally opened three accounts in different banks without recourse to extant financial
rules and approval from relevant authorities. One of the accounts was domiciled in the account of his younger brother with a huge monthly interest of over N100 million. In his defence, the leader of the taskforce claimed that the money was spent on foreign trip allowances of 85 officials engaged for the exercise, including top civil servants, top police boss and top officers of EFCC. The national embarrassment did not stop there as the Chairman of the committee probing the pension sector, Senator Aloysius Etok and his members are also busy defending themselves on an allegation that they demanded huge bribe from the same pension taskforce. Before this incident a similar shameful accusations and counter-accusations had been played out just recently when House of Representatives Contd. on page 15
PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2012
By Emmanuel Onwubiko
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am very sure that if a combined research team from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the National Mathematical center of Nigeria should conduct a scientific research among one million school leavers to gauge their performance in Mathematics, no one would be in doubt if virtually all but very insignificant percentage of those to be interviewed would have made a pass in Mathematics from the general certificate in education’s examination. In the last four decades, the fear of mathematics among prospective school leavers in Nigeria has become the beginning of wisdom. I know too well that we were counseled while at the junior secondary school level that the best way to overcome the psychological phobia of mathematics is to develop deep interest in the subject of mathematics but this wise advise never worked magic for most of us any way. The above short real life story brings me to the theme of my piece which emanated from the developing story that the Acting Inspector General of police Mr. Mohammed Abubakar is likely feeling the impact of what I may call “the mathematical virus of doubts” regarding the exact number of Nigerians that are killed yearly by trigger happy rogue police operatives while in police detention facilities all across Nigeria. In his mathematical doubts, the Acting Inspector General is reported to have copiously written letters to the chairman governing council of the Nigerian National Human Rights Commission, Professor Chidi Odinkalu to challenge his assertion that police operatives routinely kill innocent detainees through extra-legal means. The Acting Inspector
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Police and mathematical doubts over killings (I) General of Police in his mathematical dispute over the exact figure of Nigerians that suffer extra-legal killings in the hands of the police operatives stated that Professor Odinkalu exaggerated the figures when he reportedly quoted 5000 [five thousand] as the number of persons killed annually. Professor Odinkalu, in his reply told the Acting Inspector General of police that he (Odinkalu) was misquoted because he never mentioned the figure of 5000[five thousand] but rather 2500[two thousand five hundred] persons. The Acting Inspector General of police is still in mathematical doubt of the exact figure of Nigerians gunned down viciously by police operatives through unconstitutional method of summary execution. The police boss is not concerned about the bad public image that rogue police operatives have brought to the policing institution through their criminal tendencies to execute detainees, but he is more concerned about clearing his mathematical doubts surrounding the real figure of those killed. This is the sorry state that Nigeria has found itself that the nation’s police chief rather than activate mechanism internally to fish out, prosecute and punish police operatives indicted in the dastardly killings of detainees is seeking to use his so – called “power” to harass and intimidate Professor Odinkalu into submitting that the Nigeria police Force do not kill up to 5000 [five thousand] persons illegally yearly. April 18th 2012
(Wednesday) is the date that the chairman of the Nigerian National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has chosen to appear in person at the Force Headquarters Abuja to be “interrogated” on his claim that police operatives routinely kill detainees in violation of section 36(5) of the constitution which states that suspects are presumed innocent until proven otherwise by the competent court of law. Section 36(5) of the Constitution states thus, “Every person who is charged with a criminal offence shall be presumed to be innocent until he is proved guilty” even as section 33 (1) of the constitution provides that “Every person has a right to life, and no one shall be deprived intentionally of his life, save in execution of the sentence of a court in respect of a criminal offence of which he has been found guilty in Nigeria”. The question that is imperative for which the nation’s police hierarchy must answer is why many detainees are killed by police operatives in police detention centers through extra-legal means in gross violations of provisions of the Nigerian Constitution. The police as an institution charged with the constitutional task of institutionalizing a regime of strict respect to the spirit and letter of the principle of rule of law is empowered to inquire into areas that may require clarification with the fundamental objective of achieving law and order in the society for the promotion of public good/interest. The police are however not permitted to
Now a world of opportunities for the Almajiris Contd. from page 13 According to the president, “Statistics indicates that there are about 9.5 million almajiris in the country out of which the Northwest alone accounts for over 5 million-about 60 percent of the entire almajiri population…. We feel that we must modernize the almajiri system. The fact that a majority of these children do not attend conventional education makes it worrisome. It was in view of that that I directed the minister of education to design an intervention programme for the Federal Government and states to address the issue.” Indeed, the Federal Government is constructing 35 Almajiri schools under phase one and is providing funding for the project while state governments would maintain the facilities and pay remuneration of teachers.
The Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) would provide 51 schools under the phase two. This, no doubt, is a massive and decisive intervention by government. Applause has come for the intervention from different quarters: for instance, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar 111 said it would provide fair opportunities to every child and equip school age population to lead productive lives and contribute their quota to national development. The Sultan was right when he said the Almajiri School would provide fair opportunities to every child; in fact, that was understating the import of the reality. It would indeed provide the almajiris a world of limitless opportunities. Transformation is beckoning. Civilization is beckoning. Competitive advantage (bilingualism and
religiosity with a concrete mix of western education) beckons. Indeed, the foundation of a new orientation has been laid and the nation stands to benefit a great deal from the boundless innate energies and capacities of these children which are henceforth expected to be properly harnessed and channeled into productive ventures as opposed to the hitherto atavistic violence. The manipulators of the nation’s socio-political and religious differences as well as the brainwashed and gullible almajiris will soon be out of business. Jonathan’s critical transformation agenda has received a booster with this intervention that will shear our polity of the almajiri nuisance. Ojeifo, journalist and magazine publisher, contributed this piece from Abuja
seek to use coercive force to intimidate or harass public office holders who are simply discharging their duties in strict compliance with the due process of the law as is the case with the disclosure at a public forum by the chairman of the National Human Rights Commission that the police serially kill detainees through extra-legal means. As things stand now, Professor Chidi Odinkalu has agreed to meet the Police in their own turf to provide some credible reports to support his claim that innocent detainees are wasted serially by police operatives. Bamidele Aturu, one of the nation’s bright human rights lawyers has written the Acting Inspector General of police to point the legal way to go about resolving the unnecessary mathematical doubts in the mind of the police chief regarding the extent of extra – legal killings of detainees by police in Nigeria. Mr. Aturu, who is the legal representative of Chidi Odinkalu (a professor of law), told the nation’s police chief in plain language that his client had on March 5th 2012, at the annual conference of the National Association of
Judiciary Correspondents (NAJUC) in Abuja, Nigeria delivered a talk on the theme “Plea Bargaining and the Administration of Justice in Nigeria”. Specifically, Page 5 of the presentation contains the following statement “The response of law enforcement to the incapability of the legal system to ensure convictions is an epidemic of third-degree policing, torture and extra extrajudicial executions. By some estimates, the police executes well over 2,500 detainees summarily every year”. By a letter to Dr. Odinkalu dated 16th March 2012, the Acting Inspector InspectorGeneral of Police, Mohammed D. Abubakar, complained that Dr. Odinaklu had said that the Police execute over 5,000 detainees summarily every year”, and complained that this “statement is viewed seriously by the Police High Command as vexatious especially against the backdrop of its grave and negative implications on our National and Corporate Image”. * Emmanuel Onwubiko, Head, HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS’ ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA; writes from www.huriwa.blogspot.com.
Pension scam and the faces of corrupt officers Contd. from page 14 Committee on Capital Market led by Herman Hembe that was probing the cause of the dwindling fortunes of the Stock Exchange and the Director General of the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), Arunma Oteh took themselves to the cleaners over misappropriation of public funds and bribery. From all these Nigerians are increasingly distrusting of the probe panels, especially those constituted in National Assembly, that are fast becoming money-spinners. Not long ago there was a celebrated Elumelu-Power-Probe committee which was later engulfed in monumental financial scandals. As the legislative chambers suffer credibility problem from their so-called probe committees, Nigerians are sufficiently distrustful of the judiciary that provides flimsy excuses for suspects on corrupt practices to go scot-free. The judiciary continues to clear suspects over corruption-related charges on the basis of legal technicalities and judicial jargons rather from incontrovertible evidences of recorded assets and wealth accumulated by the suspects. Pertinent to this are cases
against former governors: James Ibori of Delta, Gbenga Daniel of Ogun and Peter Odili of Rivers States among others. There are also judicial clearance of corruption against Senator Iyabo Obasanjo, Speaker Dimeji Bankole and Hon. Ndudi Elumelu of National Assembly. The lukewarm attitudes of legislators and judges in the fight against corruption fuel public suspicion and negative perception on the two arms of government; legislative and judiciary, in checkmating the menace. Deep inside me I feel sorry for the families of the accused suspects whose images were widely displayed in the media. Their spouses, children and siblings may continue to live with this stigma of corruption by their bread winners. While no single top civil servant in Nigeria may publicly declare that he/she is corruption free, we should be wary of evil of bigger corruption and fight the cankerworm with sincerity without pretext. Though every corrupt practice is condemnable, fraudulent denial of hapless pensioners’ entitlement is grievous and bigger corruption. Yushau A. Shuaib [email protected] Finance Estate, Wuye Abuja
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PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2012
FCT fishing festival: Minister slams Agric Secretary over poor organisation By Josephine Ella
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he Secretary, Agriculture and Human Services Secretariat, Mrs Olvadi Bema Madayi, yesterday came under severe criticism from the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) administration over the poor organisation of the just held 2nd Abuja fishing festival by the secretariat, Peoples Daily reliably gathered. Feelers from the FCT Executive Committee meeting yesterday revealed that the FCT Minister, Senator Bala Mohammed was highly, displeased with the secretary over the outcome of the festival
which took place at Yankara Reservoir in Yaba, Abaji Area Council last Saturday. He was said to have at the meeting questioned the outcome, demanding an explanation on why the organisation of the festival was poor. The FCT administration had approved N21m for the organisation of the festival, aside other financial supports from the private sector including banks. It would be recalled that the fishing festival, which eventually held after two postponements, failed to meet the expectations of both
spectators and visitors which included top government officials, traditional rulers, foreign and local tourists, who turned out en mass to witness the event. Having received such a huge budgetary allocation, expectations were high that the festival would turn out a huge success, but the reverse was the case as spectators left the venue full of disappointment. From the general conduct of the series of competitions as well as the grand fishing expedition, there were no rules to guide the competition; as a result, contestants were generally unruly.
Abuja cultural troupe entertain guests during the 2nd Abuja on Saturday fishing festival
This resulted in fights, with some participants sustaining injuries, as the few security operatives present, tried hard to contain the situation to no avail. There were no eateries, water facilities at the convenience provided and despite the 1,000 fishermen, the secretary had assured would participate in the competitions, only less than 50 showed up. To add to the poor showing at the festival, there were no exhibition of farm produce and fishing equipment as the Secretary of the Agric Secretariat, Mrs Madayi had assured earlier.
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Civil servant, 25, docked for criminal force and assault
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25-year-old civil servant, Jonathan Ikwulame, on Monday appeared before an Abuja Magistrates' court charged with criminal force and assault. The Police prosecutor, Insp. Jaremiah Elaye, told the court that the case was reported by one Patience Olofu, a female at the Lugbe Police Station on April 3. Elaye said that the accused person, who resided in the same compound with the complainant had used her kerosene without her consent. He added that when the complainant asked the accused why he used her kerosene without her consent, the accused was provoked by the question and in the process both parties had misunderstanding. According to the prosecutor, the accused hit the complainant hard on her neck until she collapsed and was rushed to Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) Hospital at Lugbe, Abuja. Elaye said that the action of the accused contravened section 265 of the Penal Code. The accused, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge, and said that all the allegations made against him were false and asked the court to grant him bail. Magistrate Bashir Alkali granted the accused person bail in the sum of N10,000 with a surety, who must must be a civil servant and must reside within the jurisdiction of the court. Alkali adjourned the case to April 30, for further hearing. (NAN)
An accident scene at Garki, Area II when a taxi veered off the road and hit a tree Photos: Joe Oroye and Josephine Ella
PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2012
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Participants waiting for the gourd race to commence at the 2nd Abuja fishing festival held on Saturday
Gbagyi traditional dancers entertaining guests during the flag-off of FCT community Winners of the wild duck hunt display their catch after the competition, during the Health Insurance Scheme in Karu, recently. fishing festival
A participant, who emerged from nowhere with two dead fish which was rejected Tourists patronising traders at the venue of the fishing festival. Photos: Josephine Ella by judges at the fishing festival.
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PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2012
Nyanya hospital gets new block •••records 276 births in one month
The new block of one storey building constructed at Nyanya General Hospital. Photo: Josephine Ella By Josephine Ella
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s part of efforts towards tackling the problem of congestion in Nyanya General Hospital, the Health and Human Services Secretariat of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has constructed a new block of one storey building in the hospital. A d d r e s s i n g journalists at the weekend during a tour of the hospital facilities, the Secretary, Dr. Demola Onakomaiya said the new block would provide for more than 40 bed spaces. He noted that it would no doubt go a long way address the nagging issue of space constraint, which has bedevilled the hospital in the past. According to him, with the commitment of
the present FCT administration under Senator Bala Mohammed, towards the delivery of quality health services to Abuja residents, a similar gesture would be replicated in other FCT hospitals with similar challenges. While commending the minister for the support in completion of the project, he said the secretariat would not relent in its efforts towards decongesting all FCT hospitals. Also speaking to journalists, the Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Dr. Frank Idegwu disclosed that some wards and department, such as paediatric, pharmacy, gynaecology, obstetrics and administration would be moved to the new block, within week. "Due to the
benevolence of the secretary, we have been receiving laboratory equipment," he said, adding that other sections that would not be moved to the new block would be allocated bigger spaces in the old buildings in the hospital. "Moving into a place that is spacious will reduce the stress. As you can see over there, even the doctor consulting are not finding it easy and the patients too, but we believe coming here and being a place that is spacious enough, we will be able to attend to more patients, within a reduced time frame. Besides, we are going to have quality services since the doctors will be relaxed, free enough, they will be able to attend to patients efficiently," he said.
Bank employee in court for defrauding customers
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n employee of F o r t i s Microfinance Bank, Adewale Segun, was on Monday arraigned before an Abuja Chief Magistrates’ Court for defrauding some bank customers of about N2 million. The accused was charged with “Criminal Breach of Trust and Cheating by Servant’’. The police prosecutor, Sgt. Francis Tanko, told the court that on Dec. 12, 2011, one Olabode Adeyemi, of Fortis Microfinance Bank reported the accused at the Wuse Zone 3 Police
Station. Tanko said that the accused had over a period of time been receiving money from different customers amounting to N2 million in order to deposit in their various accounts. According to him, instead of depositing the customers money, he “dishonestly’’ converted it to his personal use. Tanko told the court that during police investigations, N140,000 was recovered from the account of the accused. The prosecutor also told the court that the offence was punishable
under Sections 314 and 322 of the Penal Code. The accused, however, pleaded not guilty when the charge was read to him. Following his plea, the prosecutor asked for an adjournment to enable him present his witness to the court and continue with the case. In his ruling, Chief Magistrate Okeagu Azubike ordered that the accused be remanded in prison custody, saying it would be in the best interest of justice. The case was adjourned to May 14 for further hearing. (NAN)
BUSINESS
PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2012
Email: [email protected]
Nigeria to export 75 cargoes in May, as supply to Spain increases
Mob: 08033644990
FAAC allocation for the month of March 2012 S/N
BENEFICIARIES
SUB-TOTAL (N)
1
FG (52.68%) States (26.72%) L/govt Councils (20.72%) Derivation (13% of Mineral revenue-oil/gas) Value Added Tax (VAT) & Transfers
620.7 billion
Enterprise Bank improves money transfer process By Muhammed Sada
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nterprise Bank Limited (EBL) has made it easy for their teeming customers as well as prospective ones who do not have existing account with the bank to also enjoy MoneyGram and Western Union money transfer services. With this latest process, which has been tagged Third Party Referral (TPR) allows a current account holder of another bank to reference a money transfer recipient who does not have account with Enterprise Bank. The TPR system enables the bank to establish the authenticity of the recipient and effect payment without further delay. The implementation of the TPR system again gives the
Flight schedule AIR NIGERIA (MONDAY - SUNDAY) LOS-A BJ: 07.15, 11.40, 14.00, 16.30, 17.00, 17.20, 18.30 ABJ-LOS: 07.00, 09.30, 10.30, 11.15, 16.15, 19.15, 19.35 ABJ-KANO: 18.40 KANO-ABJ: 08.35 ABJ -SOK (MON): 09.35 ABJ-SOK (FRI): 10.10 ABJ-SOK (WED/SUN): 11.20 SOK-ABJ (MON): 11.35 SOK-ABJ (FRI): 12.00 SOK-ABJ (WED/SUN): 13.20
AEROCONTRACTORS (MON - SUN) LOS-ABJ: 06.50, 13.30, 19.45 LOS-ABJ (SUN): 12.30 LOS-ABJ (SAT): 16.45 ABU-L OS: 07.30, 13.00, 14.00, 19.00 ABU-LOS (SUN): 10.30, 14.30, 19.30 ABU-LOS (SAT): 18.30
DANA AIRLINES (MON - SUN) LOS-ABJ: 07.02, 08.10, 12.06, 15.30, 17.10 ABJ-LOS: 07.20, 09.36, 13.05, 14.40 ABJ-LOS (SAT/SUN): 13.05, 18.00 LOS-KANO : 08.10 KANO-LOS: 11.25 KANO -ABUJA: 11.25 ABUJA-KANO : 10.08
IRS AIRLINES
bank additional competitive advantage as the bank continues to explore the frontiers of tested customer service delivery options that will consistently delight its stakeholders and stand the bank out among other financial institutions as far as money transfer service processing is concerned. A statement from the Corporate Communications department of the bank added that the development is part of Enterprise Bank's continual quest for improved customer satisfaction, which remains the core of the bank's vision statement that says: "to be the preferred bank for value creation." Among other positive developments that are driven by the bank, which is led by Ahmed Kuru, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, the financial institution only recently unveiled a new model branch design that provides for an e-banking gallery with Automated Teller Machine (ATM), Internet banking facilities, among other possibilities, as a distinct area separate from the cash area.
Nigeria’s banking crisis over, says AMCON By Aminu Imam with agency report igeria's banking crisis is over and the sector's earnings should see a substantial recovery when results come in for the first quarter of 2012, the chief executive of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) said yesterday. Speaking to the Reuters Africa Investment Summit in
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Nigeria’s forex reserves rises to $36.05bn – CBN By Muhammad Nasir
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igeria's foreign exchange reserves jumped by 3.63 percent on the month to $36.05 billion on April 12, their highest in more than one year, the latest Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) data showed yesterday. The forex reserves stood at $34.47 billion a year ago and were at $34.74 billion a month earlier. EXCHANGE RATES
CBN CFA • £ RIYAL $
LOS -ABJ: 9.45, 11.45, 2.45
• £ RIYAL $
Though the reserves have seen declining in the past three years despite rising oil prices, gradual reduction in demand for dollars at the bi-weekly forex auction this year has meant the central bank spends less of its reserves to support the naira. Nigeria relies on crude exports for more than 95 percent of its foreign exchange earnings and investors watch reserve data closely to gauge the defences Nigeria has against a potential dip in oil prices. (Reuters)
BUYING 0.2911 203.562 246.8596 41.2767 154.8
SELLING 0.3111 204.877 248.4543 41.5433 155.8
BUYING 210 255 40 155
SELLING 212 257 42 157
Lagos, AMCON CEO, Mustapha Chike-Obi said earnings in the banking sector would recover well in the first quarter of 2012, after suffering last year because of write-downs on bad debt. "The numbers we're seeing in the first quarter are very robust," he said, adding that three nationalised banks were all now profitable. "We should wait to the second quarter of this year before passing judgment -- I will not tell you that nothing surprising can come up -- but the banking crisis of 2007-2009 is over". AMCON was set up in 2010 to clean up the banking system in Africa's most populous country following a $4 billion rescue of nine lenders that came close to collapse. The banking sector was the second worst performing index on the local exchange in 2011, falling 32 percent, with only oil and gas doing worse. Seven out of 15 local lenders listed on the exchange have announced 2011 earnings, with most posting higher-thanexpected loan losses. FCMB has reported a loss while UBA issued a profit warning. Diamond Bank also reported
a loss last year, but swung back to profit in the first quarter. "Nigerian banks are now the healthiest banks in the world in terms of asset quality and capital," Chike-Obi said. He said AMCON was now the largest institutional holder of Nigerian bank stocks "And we're happy to hold them. We're not selling." AMCON plans to refinance its N1.7 trillion three-year bond with maturities of somewhere between seven and 10 years when the debt expires next year. Chike-Obi said they were not yet at the stage of seeking investors for the bond, and that a preliminary roadshow in New York, Boston and London next month was more about explaining what AMCON is doing than marketing new debt issues. Chike-Obi said that within four to six weeks AMCON would appoint advisors for the sale of three banks nationalised after a bail out, though it will six months before recommendations are expected. He said AMCON's aim was to gradually reduce its operations and cut staffing in the next five years, as a full banking recovery makes it no longer needed.
Management Tip of the Day
13th Apr, 2012
PARALLEL RATES
ABJ-LOS: 11.30, 3.45, 4.45 LOS-KANO: 6.15 LOS-KANO (SAT/SUN): 16.30 KANO-LOS: 07.30 KANO-LOS (SUN/SUN): 10.30
L-R: President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, in a handshake with Republic of Congo President, Sassou Nguesso, after a business meeting, at the weekend in the Republic of Congo.
M
Regain your focus
ultitasking may speed you through your to-do list, but it also makes you more likely to make mistakes and less likely to retain information. Here are three ways to focus: Think good thoughts. Positive emotions improve the brain's executive function and
encourage creative and strategic thinking. Improve your emotional balance by actively thinking about things that make you happy. Ban distractions. Be aware of what steals your attention. When disrupted, make a conscious choice to return to the task at hand.
Leave things behind. When you turn to a new task, part of your brain is still thinking about the last one. Before starting something new, go for a walk, climb stairs, or do some deep breathing to clear your head. Source: Harvard Business Review
PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2012
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COMPANY NEWS South Africa counts cost of Wal-Mart merger appeal
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n appeal lodged by South African authorities against the approved merger between local firm Massmart and American retail giant Wal-Mart has cost the government R4.1 million (N72 million).
Lagos Chamber bemoans late passing of 2012 budget
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he Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has condemned in strong terms, the late passing of the 2012 Budget which is yet to be assented to by president Goodluck Jonathan, saying the delay has negative implications for the economy.
US Group to invest N8tr in crude oil refining, others By Abdulrahman Abdulraheem
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n American-based conglomerate, Amatex Technologies Corporation has disclosed its plans to put a whooping 50 billion dollars (about N8 trillion) investment in the country’s oil and gas sector as well as infrastructure. The representatives of the conglomerate who met the Minister of state for Trade and Investment in Abuja yesterday, said they were ready to build two private, solely funded 250,000 barrels per day modular oil refinery and a dedicated sea port each in Tongeji and Itopo in Lagos and Ogun states respectively in the next one year. The group, who came to the Nigeria on the invitation of President Goodluck Jonathan, said their company was ready to aid Nigeria in financing its developmental projects instead of the country constantly running
to World Bank for loans. Speaking on behalf of the group, Gbenga Oladapo told the minister that they were ready to assist the government in building power plants, international airports, roads, health care facilities and schools under the Build, Own, Operate and Transfer (BOOT) model or any other mutually acceptable model. “We are also interested in the banking sector, agro-allied industries and tourism. We want to engage in pipe-borne water projects, especially in the coastal areas where potable water will be derived from purification of water from the sea and lagoons leading to salt production.” He continued: “In the tourism sector, we want to build two fivestar hotels, resorts, amphitheatres, entertainment and theme parks as well as shopping malls.” According to him, the group
had the technical competence and financial capacity to carry out the projects, once the terms and conditions of funding and executing them are agreed to by the Federal Government. He therefore sought the cooperation of the Federal Government in the areas of import duty reliefs, tax holidays, security
Fuel imports: Nigeria loses N45bn annually to freights insurance By Muhammad Nasir
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ndigenous insurance companies have alleged that the country loses about N45 billion annually due to the preference given to foreign ship owners and their choice of insurers over the indigenous companies in the lifting and importation of fuel. They further alleged that the Nigerian National Petroleum
Investors to tap into agricultural potential of 20 million consumers
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he theme of the sixth edition of the Lagos state Economic Summit 2012: ”From BRICS to BRINCS: Lagos Holds the Key,” aptly captures the aspiration of Nigeria to join the league of the super-emerging BRICS economies (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), which will now change the acronym to BRINCS (including Nigeria).
Niger Insurance targets N20bn GPI
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t the close of business on December 31, 2012, the gross premium underwritten by Niger Insurance Plc would have hit N20 billion. The Group Managing Director of the company, Mr Justus Uranta, who said this at the Niger Insurance 2012 annual management conference, held in Lagos, stressed that the company would leverage on opportunities provided by the nation’s economy to achieve the target.
L-R: Representative of Director-General, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Mr Haruna Lawal, High Court Judge, Justice Ibrahim Auta, and Director, Institute of Air and Space Law, Mcgill University, Canada, Professor Paul Dempsey, during a seminar on aviation law for judges of the high court, yesterday in Lagos. Photo: NAN
Nigeria to export 75 cargoes in May, as supply to Spain increases By Muhammad Nasir
Sovereign Trust Insurance launches awareness campaign
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s part of its contributions to the growth of insurance industry in Nigeria, and in support of the awareness campaign launched by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc has launched its Market Development and Restructuring Initiative, (MDRI), awareness campaign. The campaign commenced from the first day in the second quarter of 2012.
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igeria’s oil export in May is expected to increase significantly, as the country plans to load about 69.3 million barrels in 75 oil cargoes, according to the latest loading plans. The loading programme reported by Bloomberg, showed a total of 75 cargoes of 18 main grades, amounting to 69.3 million barrels or 2.24 million barrels a day, the highest since July last year. The nation plans to export five 950,000-barrel cargoes of the new Usan grade in May, up from three for next month, according to the plan. Production at the field, which has
the capacity to pump 180,000 barrels a day, started in late February, according to Total SA (FP), the operator of the project. Nigeria will also ship 12 cargoes of Qua Iboe, eight Agbami, seven Forcados, five Bonny Light, five Akpo, five Bonga, four Erha, four Brass River, four Escravos, three Amenam, three Yoho, two EA, two Antan, two Okwori, two Okono, one Pennington and one Abo, according to the schedule. Shipments are typically of 950,000 to 1 million barrels each. Also, there are indications that Nigeria may stand to be among the beneficiaries of circumstances in the league of oil exporting countries, as its
of investment and full rights to repatriate investments if and when desirable. Responding, the minister thanked the delegation for picking interest in Nigeria and promised the readiness of the Federal Government to aid their investment plans in all ways possible.
crude supply to Spain rose sharply in January, due to a supply drop from Iran, just as the European Union imposed sanctions on the nation. The latest monthly bulletin, strategic hydrocarbons reserve board CORES estimated Spain had imported 279,000 tonnes of crude oil from Iran, a drop of 31 per cent from December. Nigeria’s export to the country rose by 32.7 per cent, as it exported 836,000 tonnes of crude in the period as against 630,000 tonnes in December. Spain, which needs to import virtually all of its crude, ramped up imports in January from Nigeria, Iraq and Libya, where production has been returning to normal.
Corporation (NNPC), deliberately sidelined insurance companies from participating in the insurance of imported fuel, both locally and internationally. They maintained that the NNPC sets unnecessary bulwarks that made it impossible for Nigerian insurance companies to participate in the insurance of imported oil business, thus shortchanging Nigeria as the country loses as much as N3.7 billion monthly in freight insurance that it should be earning. This is happening despite the existence of the Cabotage law in Nigeria. In a statement by the Commissioner for Insurance, Mr. Fola Daniel noted that the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) would not permit risks to be underwritten offshore unless local capacity has been exhausted and that the Nigerian Oil and Gas Content Development Act 2010 desired that local insurers and reinsurers will be able to write a minimum of 45 per cent of oil risks in 2007, and 70 per cent at the end of last year, but lamented that only 33 per cent of the risks in the sector was retained locally. He attributed the development to what he called absence of an enabling law in the past to back up the policy initiatives, adding that with the coming into effect of the Local Content Act, in accordance with Insurance Act 2003 and the National Insurance Act 1997, and the release of the guidelines for oil and gas business in Nigeria, 100 per cent, 70 per cent and 40 per cent of all life, non-life and marine insurance risks in the Nigerian oil and gas industry must be placed with insurers in Nigeria. W h e n P e o p l e ’ s Daily contacted the NNPC spokesperson, Mr. Levi Ajuonumah, for comments, he denied the allegation, saying that all the vessels coming into the country were insured but refused to divulge if they were locally or internationally insured. According to the Managing Director of Mainstreet Insurance Brokers, Paschal Egerue, insurance fraud include nondeclaration of transactions to NAICOM, fronting for overseas insurance companies, bearing uninsured risks or inappropriately reinsured risks, premium loading or premium under-declaration, round tripping, among others. Egerue stressed that all fuel importation ought to have been duly insured by the oil majors.
PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2012
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E
ffective websites attract customers to your business online, generates sales leads and multiplying your profits in the process. Professional web designer must combine uniqueness and innovation in design with state-of theart technology and maintenance support to create a powerful website that produces results. Before hiring a web designer, consider the following ten factors: Website design budgets should be results oriented Effective web-design teams often combine the method of flat fees with hourly billing for software design and installation. It is never advisable to enter into open-ended billing relationships with Web designers until the maintenance phase of the project. Effective web designers with excellent communication Experienced webdesigners support multiple means of communication for interacting with their clients. These include phone, email and live chat (if available). Depending on your requirements, you can use the communication method that suits you best. Billing is made easy by smart web designers and developers Experienced web-design Company usually charges thirty to sixty percent of the total project fee in advance, and may accept payments through cheques / cash and major credit cards. A web design company shares its work Professional design companies encourage their designers to maintain portfolios representing their best work, client information and testimonials. You can request portfolios to assess the effectiveness of the company's web design solutions. Flexible website designers use time saving technology Quality web design teams support the use of inexpensive and time saving technology. This includes open source publishing and e-commerce tools like WordPress for handling Weblogs and corporate information pages, osCommerce for online shopping features and Zope for building customized content management and customer interaction tools. These tools enable businesses to achieve professional standards while saving time and money. Efficient web design professionals blend stock and scratch sources Efficient website designers always maintain a set of stock templates and
ICT ESSENCE
with Bello Abdul’Azeez +234 805 113 0075 [email protected]
Most important ways to discover a quality website designer images to speed up work. When designing a website for a client, they select an appropriate stock template and customize it from scratch to meet clientspecific requirements and ensure uniqueness and freshness in design. Intelligent web
should comply with both web standards like standards for interface design and browser accessibility, and state and federal guidelines such as providing accessibility features for the visually impaired and people suffering with
p r o f e s s i o n a l s distinguish design and hosting Many website design firms offer complementary and low cost Web-hosting solutions, usually as part of their maintenance packages. Quality firms provide excellent uptime, reliability and service. Compare the cost and benefits of an in-house hosting solution and an independent web-host before making your decision. Creative website designers let clients handle minor updates Experienced Web designers develop architectures for Websites including publishing platforms that simplify the process of making changes. These plans are so effective that they allow you to make minor updates in-house or with the help of a less expensive Web professional. These web designers often save their skills for launching or re-launching websites and major revisions requiring considerable work on design, templates and graphics. The best web developers understand standards and accessibility The designed website
other medical insufficiencies. Experienced Web designers should also ensure SEO optimization of your website and prevent it from become inaccessible and unusable. A good web design company gets honest about rates and turnaround time Even the most efficient Web designers can combine only two of the three features (High quality, speed and low cost) when designing your web-site. Professional web design teams will provide you accurate estimates about their rates, speed and turnaround time. Firms that are more expensive often have smaller waiting lists. If sufficient time is available, you can get a high quality website at a lower cost. Select a Web design firm that meets your requirements. Focusing on results sets premier website design professionals apart Effective Web designers comply with all of the above-mentioned practices. More importantly, they make clients feel comfortable about wading into unfamiliar waters. The right Web design firm can enable your business to save thousands of dollars and valuable time.
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PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2012
Promo: FirstBank’s customers win all-expense paid trip to London 2012
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he dream of being in London live for the 2012 Olympics Games became reality for 10 customers of First Bank of Nigeria Plc after they emerged winners of the star prize of allexpense paid trip to the Olympics at the quarterly draws of the Bank’s ongoing Save & Excel Promo in Lagos. Drawn from various branches of the Bank across the nation, the 10 lucky customers’ prize includes a return ticket to United Kingdom, hotel accommodation, and allowances during the games in London. Three customers also won brand new Peugeot 307 Saloon cars at the draw which was monitored by officials of the National Lottery Regulatory Commission, KPMG Advisory Services Firm, and a representative of the Nigerian Olympic Committee (NOC). A total of 197 customers of the Bank won various prizes as follows: 10 Olympic Package Winners, three Peugeot 307 Car Winners; 46 winners of N50,000
cash; 46 winners of LCD Television sets; 46 winners of Home Theatre sets; and 46 winners of chest freezer. FirstBank’s Head, Consumer Banking, Mrs. Funke Smith said the leading financial institution was delighted at the opportunity to reward its customers’ unwavering loyalty and patronage through the promo. “We are pleased to use our role as the Official Banker to the Nigeria Olympic Committee for the London 2012 Games to give the 10 winners a life-time experience at the event, whilst passing on a strong message to the public that saving is a virtue that must be embraced,” she said. Smith explained that the Bank’s Save & Excel promo is a platform for enhancing a savings culture in the nation and encouraging the unbanked to embrace the financial services system. She said the Bank had since held three draws for the Save & Excel Promo that have produced
565 winners, adding that customers who save more funds stand the chance of winning prizes in subsequent draws. “Our customers have continued to make FirstBank ‘truly the first’ through their patronage and we are committed to rewarding our existing and prospective customers with innovative services and reward
initiatives like the Save & Excel Promo,” she added. The promo, which runs till December 2012 still has nine Peugeot 307 saloon cars up for grabs during the quarterly raffle draws, while other prizes will be won at the monthly draws. To qualify for the quarterly draws, customers need to save a minimum of N20,000
incremental deposit for each of the three months consecutively. Saving a minimum of N60,000 single deposit untouched for three months also qualifies customers for the quarterly draws. To qualify for monthly raffle draws, the Bank’s customers need to save a minimum of N20,000 incremental deposit for one month.
Ogun assures genuine investors of smooth partnership From Dimeji Kayode-Adedeji, Abeokuta gun state government said its ready to partner with genuine investors willing to establish their businesses in the state and will leave no stone unturned to ensure bountiful returns The Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun gave this assurance in Abeokuta, while addressing members of the Board of International Cement Company Limited led by its Chairman, General Yakubu Gown (Rtd) paid him a courtesy call in his office. Amosun said that government alone cannot engage in business, but rather partner with genuine investors willing to contribute to efforts to rebuild the state, adding that the present administration would continue to create an enabling environment to encourage and motivate investors. He explained that the just concluded Investors’ Forum had successfully unleashed the inherent advantages of doing business in the state, through exchange of ideas and pledged that all issues raised would be looked into to ensure mutual gains. Earlier in an address, a Director in the Company, Dr. (Mrs.) Abisola Akindeko disclosed that the company located in Makun, Sagamu had acquired mining site since 1994 and will create employment opportunities for about 7,000 people. She pledged the readiness of the company to partner with the state government in the provision of health facilities, pipe borne water, schools, electricity and access roads among other socio-infrastructural facilities. In a related development, in fulfillment of the promise to boost micro and medium scale
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enterprises, create wealth and generate more employment opportunities, the state government will in the next two weeks, begin the distribution of cheques to the first batch of beneficiaries of a billion naira loan scheme it is facilitating in collaboration with the Bank of Industry. The state Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Otunba Bimbo Ashiru disclosed this while speaking in an interview in his office, located at Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta. The Commissioner explained that about five percent of the applications received were rejected by the collaborating bank due to various anomalies detected, urging those concerned to take necessary steps for correction. Otunba Ashiru equally urged owners of small enterprises who are yet to be part of the process to take advantage of the loan package to boost their business adding that with the distribution to be done in 2 weeks, “Doubting Thomases “will now believe that the scheme is for real.
L-R: Business Manager, Ikoyi UBA, Ms Akpan Beatrice, being decorated with the special lapel pin as a Most Valuable Performer (MVP) by Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, UBA Plc, Mr. Philips Oduoza, during the recognition ceremony organised by the bank, at the weekend in Lagos.
FG sets up committee on export processing and free zones reform By Abdulrahman Abdulraheem
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he Federal Government yesterday inaugurated a committee on export processing and free trade zones which was charged with the responsibility to suggest ways of repositioning the sector. The Minister of Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga who inaugurated the committee yesterday in Abuja, charged the members to, among other terms of reference, ascertain why the goals and objectives of the free zones have not been met and their economic benefits and losses to the Federal Government in terms of
levels of investments, jobs created, export earnings and EEG forgone, import substitutionforeign exchange savings to FG, contribution to industrialisation, income earned by Federal Government and income foregone by the government due to nonpayment of duty, port charges, VAT and others. The committee, which was given 8 weeks to complete its task, was also asked to articulate a policy and selection criteria for evaluating and appraising applications for the establishment of free zones, export processing zones and special economic zones, revive, review and implement
the Presidential committee report of free zones as well as review and audit the 27 free zones already licensed to determine their efficacy. The committee, led by Alhaji Yusuf Abdullahi, a retired civil servant, was also charged with the responsibility of preparing a 10year strategic plan for the free zones in the country. Other members of the committee are Chidi Nzerem (secretary), Sunday Nwamma, Adewale Thompson and Gbenga Akuye as well as a representative each of both Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS).
NTDC woos foreign investors at Arabian Travel Market By Miriam Humbe
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igeria’s main focus during this year’s edition of the Arabian Travel Market is to woo investors from around the world to invest in the tourism sub-sector of Nigerian economy. The Director-General of the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC), Otunba Olusegun Runsewe who stated this recently said that his main emphasis in Dubai this year would be focused on how investors would come on board to take advantage of the enormous opportunities in the country. Just last month, during the
ITB Berlin, several investors showed tremendous interest in investing in Nigeria’s tourism and hospitality sub-sector with eyes on resorts and sports tourism. One of the investors particularly pointed at sports tourism, for which he said Nigeria has a clear advantage. Otunba Runsewe, himself a golfer had always maintained that “sports tourism, particularly golf and football pose a tremendous advantage for Nigeria. Private individuals, corporate bodies are building golf courses around the country”, stating further that in
the last two years alone, 15 golf courses of international standards have sprung up around the country. It is expected that officials from Nigeria, led by the DirectorGeneral would sensitise investors on opportunities in the eco-tourism area as well as Nigeria’s unparallel cultural assets which makes the country the centre of culture in Africa. To attract more investors and make their trips memorable, the Federal Government has commenced the upgrading of at least 11 airports around the country. The international airports in Lagos, Port Harcourt,
Kano and the capital city of Abuja are being re-modelled to meet international standards. “Work is at advanced stage in these four airports” Otunba Runsewe assured, and emphasised the need for countries to encourage their students to undertake excursions to Nigeria under the student exchange programme adding: “By this, countries will better appreciate themselves.” According to Otunba Runsewe, Nigeria is a country with sunny conditions throughout the year and with unique hospitality and unequal leisure activities.
PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2012
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Report as at Monday, April 16, 2012 Security
Price
PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2012
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Sensitizing youths through drama on HIV/AIDS HIV/AIDS has become a major challenge to the country's' development and this made Starwood UK in April 2010 to support the children and AIDS Section of UNICEF Nigeria with funds to implement a pilot project on HIV prevention/ intervention with young people out of school titled "intensifying HIV prevention to out of school young people. Auwal Ahmad who was at one of the seminars organized to sensitize youths on the danger of the epidemic captures the event in this write-up.
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IV/AIDS epidemic has become a major challenge to Nigeria’s development and this has affected key sectors of the economy negatively, sectors such as education, agriculture and the industrial growth has been most hit which has in turn placed obstacles on human development in the country.
An AIDS patient
The first two cases of the dreaded HIV and AIDS in Nigeria were identified in 1985 and reported at an international AIDS conference in 1986. The Nigerian health sector established the National AIDS Advisory Committee, which was followed by the establishment of the National Expert Advisory
Committee on AIDS (NEACA). History shows that Nigeria was reputed in 2008 as the nation with the 3rd highest number of young people living with the virus globally and the AIDS orphans stood at 2.23 million. Only recently, the Bornu state Commissioner for
Health, Dr Salma Kolo disclosed that HIV and AIDS prevalence has risen to more than five per cent in the state as against the national average of 4.5 per cent. In view of the growing trend of the epidemic, Starwood UK in April 2010, supported Children and AIDS Section of UNICEF Nigeria with funds to implement a pilot project on HIV prevention intervention with young people out of school titled “intensifying HIV prevention to out of school young people”. This project was conceptualized to focus on using radio drama programs and sports to provide comprehensive HIV prevention information, life skills and referral for services to reach out to young school people in 4 states namely, Gombe, Kaduna, Cross River and Akwa Ibom in 2010. The intervention
Mr. Banbe further stated that education entertainment comes in many forms including serial drama broadcast on TV & radio, cartoons, interactive talk shows and football. It allows the audience to take decisions on their own without being preached to. “Framing messages in a popular entertaining format helps create an environment where people of all ages can carry on conversations about topics discussed in the latest episode of their favorite education and e n t e r t a i n m e n t programme”he said. The Coordinator said that education and entertainment have been found to have a wide range of public acceptance and the ability to reach wider audience. It promotes interpersonal and group communication, thereby
“
In view of the growing trend of the epidemic, Starwood UK in April 2010, supported Children and AIDS Section of UNICEF Nigeria with funds to implement a pilot project on HIV prevention intervention with young people out of school titled “intensifying HIV prevention to out of school young people complements and builds upon the current national effort on HIV & AIDS prevention among in-school and out-of-school adolescents through the National Youth Service Corp Scheme. Speaking to the People’s Daily on the project, shortly after the review meeting on the success of the project, the Project Coordinator, Mr. Paul Banbe confirmed that the intervention was to complement and build upon current national efforts on HIV&AIDS prevention among in-school and out-ofschool adolescents, adding that drama has been seen to be an effective medium for HIV education in African settings. He added that education and entertainment has processes of purposefully designing and implementing a media message both to entertain and educate, in order to increase audience members’ knowledge about an issue, create favorable attitudes and change behavior.
enhancing learning and behavior change. Also Speaking to Peoples’Daily, the District Head of Bolari, Alhaji Garba Abubakar said that the outof- school Youths (OSY) project has helped to sensitize the youths in the community on the dangers of HIV and how best to prevent it. “HIV infections are dropping in the community because of increased awareness.” The community leader said. He added that because of awareness created by the OSY Project, prospective couples in Bolari Community have to submit a mandatory HIV status report before marriages are now contracted, adding that Religious leaders have been integrated into the project – Imams are encouraged to preach messages on HIV.’’ On her part, Joy Joseph, a 23 years old, told our Correspondent that ”I lived carelessly before, but now as a peer educator, I am responsible for the life of my peers and I have learnt to control my behavior; drug addiction, alcoholism among young people has reduced and unwanted teenage pregnancies reduced from 10 to 5 now”. Three community members interviewed in Bolari East acknowledged the positive impact of the OSY project in their community which in turn encouraged the youths to refrain from drugs and womanizing.
Some community leaders at the review meeting
Peoples Daily investigation revealed that the communities were now more informed about HIV/ AIDS while Peer Educators were the main sources through which information and messages about the epidemic are passed to peers and older community members. On the average, more than 75 percent of the respondents have accessed HCT services and received positive results ranging from 60 to 95 percent. A minus for the programme, was the fact that it was noticed that half of the Youth in the communities did not readily agree to hear the radio drama during its 13 weeks airing on Gombe state Radio. It was also noticed that peers asked for incentives in order to participate in peer sessions, while pamphlets, manuals and other supplied IEC materials were in short supply in all the communities visited. There was little or no demonstrated linkage between drama, sports and PEP, also there was any interfaces among the peer educators and peers. Capacity need to be built among young people on utilization of the available multiple packages for lasting and cost-effective influence on behavior change to HIV risks and vulnerability.
Some youths that participated at the enlightenment campaign
Other community leaders at the review meeting
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outh Africa’s polygamist president Jacob Zuma is preparing to add to his trio of wives by marrying a fourth, his spokesman said today. The statesman, who turned 70 last week, will wed fiancee Gloria Bongekile Ngema next weekend during a traditional ceremony at his rural home. Mr Zuma’s spokesman Mac Maharaj today confirmed the president was looking forward to formalising his relationship with the university graduate, with whom he has a three year old son. Mr Maharaj said: ‘The president is to formalise his relationship with his fiancee Gloria Ngema. ‘They have been engaged for a number of years and will now make their relationship official at a traditional and private ceremony next weekend.’ South Africa’s Sunday Times reported that Mr Zuma’s forthcoming nuptials followed a lengthy relationship and prolonged engagement with Ms Ngema. The devoutly religious business graduate has recently been seen at the side of the Zulu former goatherd, who is permitted to take multiple wives under South African law. It was reported that last year Ms Ngema even joined her fiance on a diplomatic trip to France, an honour usually reserved for the First Lady. The couple are believed to now be preparing to wed next weekend at the president’s homestead in Nkandla in South Africa’s KwaZuluNatal province. The nuptials will take place under Zulu customary law and will leave Mr Zuma four current spouses. The polygamist statesman, who is believed to have fathered more than 20 children, wed his longstanding first wife Sizakele Khumalo, 69, in 1973.
PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2012
As Jacob Zuma prepares to marry his fourth wife... He married Nompumelelo Ntuli, 37, in 2008 and wed third current wife Thobeka Madiba, 39, in 2010. The five-times married statesman has previously wed two other women. He divorced from South African cabinet minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma in 1999 and another wife, Kate Mantsho-Zuma, committed suicide in 2000. Mr Zuma, who leads South Africa’s ruling African National Congress, lives with his three current wives at his rural homestead. All three were at the politician’s side as he was inaugurated president in 2009. The trio of spouses are now all officially treated as First Ladies and share Mr Zuma’s official engagements between them. Last week all were on hand to cut the presidential cake during lavish celebrations for his 70th birthday in Durban. Mr Zuma, who spent time as a political prisoner under South Africa’s apartheid regime, is also believed to have dated a string of other women. The polygamist leader is believed to be engaged to at least one other woman and faced controversy two years ago after it emerged that he had fathered a love child with the daughter of one his close friends. The president responded to media coverage of the affair by announcing he would rather take multiple wives than commit
Foursome: Mr Zuma with his three wives Sizakele Khumalo (right) Nompumelo Ntuli (left) Thobeka Mabhija (second left) in Cape Town, South Africa adultery. His move to formalise his relationship with Ms Ngema comes after he reportedly paid a traditional ‘bride price’ lobola to her family. Hundreds of members of Mr Zuma’s family and friends are expected to be invited next weekend to the couple’s lavish wedding, which is likely to also be attended by the president’s three other current
wives. News of the forthcoming nuptials comes as the Sunday Times reported that Mr Zuma had recently hinted his marrying days were over. The newspaper said the issue of the president’s private life was raised during a video montage about him which was played to guests last week at his birthday celebrations. Asked during an interview
whether he was finished with marriage and children, Mr Zuma reportedly answered ‘I think so’ to the first question and offered a decisive ‘Yes’ to the second. The next question apparently enquired about how the statesman liked his women. Mr Zuma reportedly replied: ‘I like one with some body.’ Source: Dailymail.co.uk
Traffic cop clings to bus windscreen wipers for nearly a mile to give driver a ticket
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raffic wardens are known for their relentless pursuit when it comes to catching those who break the law. But this Vietnamese officer went beyond the call the duty when he risked his life by clinging onto the front of a moving bus for nearly a mile to give a driver a ticket. Lieutenant Nguyen Manh Phan ordered Phung Hong Phuong to pull over the 39-seat passenger coach for driving on the wrong side of the road, in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Monday. After the 37-year-old refused to
produce his papers and jumped back on the bus, Phan grabbed the windscreen wipers in an attempt to stall him. But that not stop Phuong speeding off with the warden precariously dangling from the front as oncoming traffic whizzed past. Footage of the dramatic stunt has been uploaded on YouTube and has already become an internet hit. The driver eventually pulled over and has been arrested and could now be charged with acting against public officials.
Brave: The Vietnamese cop was not going to let this driver get away with it and so clung onto his bus
According to Thanh Nien newspaper, he confessed that he was once convicted of fatally running over a person in the southern
province of Dong Nai, and served a four-year jail term until 2010. Despite cheating death, Phan
reportedly followed the correct procedure. Source: Dailymail.co.uk
Dangerous: Lieutenant Nguyen Manh Phan holds on for dear life to catch the driver of the bus
PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2012
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Spanish King, Juan Carlos, slammed for £27,000 elephant hunting trip as his country drowns in debt
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he King of Spain has come under fire for hunting elephants in Botswana as his country is being sucked back into the eurozone’s financial crisis and one in two youngsters are jobless. Spanish media have slammed Juan Carlos for the reported £27,000 cost of the trip - and have published angry editorials alongside pictures of a previous ‘Big Game’ hunting expedition. They are also angry at a ‘lack of transparency’ from the Royal Household, three months after it promised to disclose its income following a corruption probe linked to his son-in-law. It comes as fears rise that Spain will become the latest member of the eurozone to beg for a financial bailout - as its 10-year yield’s creep perilously close to the 7 per cent level which saw Ireland, Portugal and Greece receiving a handout. The royal holiday last week would have remained secret if the king had not tripped on a step, fractured his hip and had to be flown back urgently to Madrid to undergo hip replacement surgery on Saturday morning. Juan Carlos called on Spanish leaders in his annual Christmas message to set a good example. More recently, he said there were times when he could not sleep because of concern about Spain’s youth unemployment problem. Last week he cancelled his regular weekly meeting with Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy because he had already left for Botswana, several newspapers said. El Mundo newspaper said in an editorial: ‘It was an irresponsible trip, taken at the worst possible moment. ‘The image of a monarch hunting elephants in Africa at a time when the economic crisis in our country creates so many problems for the Spanish people is a very poor example.’ Most Spanish dailies and TV channels yesterday showed a
picture of the king in front of a dead elephant, taken on a similar trip to Botswana in 2006. The picture drew many internet and Twitter comments, some linking it to a Russian hunting trip in 2006 when the king was reported to have killed a bear which had been made drunk. News of the King’s latest trip came at a time when Spain’s political leaders face growing social anger. Support for Rajoy fell sharply this month after his government announced deep spending cuts and health and education reforms to fight the sovereign debt crisis, an opinion poll showed yesterday. ABC newspaper said it was Juan Carlos’s ‘bitterest year’ since he came to the throne and became head of state shortly after the death in 1975 of dictator Francisco Franco. The King, who oversaw the country’s tense transition to democracy, won respect from many Spaniards in 1981 when he publicly condemned an attempted coup. He has remained very popular, though a poll in October showed that the Spanish people’s trust in the royal family was declining. The monarchy was also criticised in December when Inaki Urdangarin, the husband of the King’s youngest daughter Cristina, was charged in a fraud and embezzlement case. A separate accident also drew media attention to the royal family yesterday, when Felipe Juan Froilan, the 13-year-old son of the king’s eldest daughter Infanta Elena, accidentally shot himself in the foot with a shotgun during target practice outside a family home north of Madrid. The incident reminded older Spaniards of a more serious royal shooting accident in 1956 when King Juan Carlos’s 14-year-old brother, Alfonso, died at the royal family’s home. The palace said at the time that Alfonso was killed by a bullet in the
Under fire: Spanish King Juan Carlos (right), pictured during a previous elephant hunting trip in Africa, has come in for criticism.
Anger: Juan Carlos (left, on a previous trip) has been slammed for his upper-class pursuit as his country goes through the economic doldrums
Unlucky: The Spanish King was on trip hunting elephants in Botswana when he fell after returning to his bedroom in a lodge
head when a revolver he was cleaning went off accidentally. But historians have questioned the official version of events. The King, a keen sailor, has had at least five hunting and skiing accidents in the past, some requiring surgery. He also had a lung operation in 2010 and knee and foot surgery in 2011. Rajoy, who visited the king yesterday, said he would resume his duties gradually and would attend their weekly meeting next Friday. He said: ‘I saw him being very upbeat. He will recover very soon and resume his usual duties.’ Physicians caring for the king of Spain say he is likely to be recuperating for the next six weeks, as he delegates his duties as head of state to his son, Prince Felipe, while he recuperates. The accident occurred early on Friday while the king was on safari in the Okavango area of Botswana. He was immediately flown home
by private jet. Angel Villamor, a spokesman for the medical team caring for him, said he is recovering well. Source: Dailymail.co.uk
King Juan Carlos has had an emergency hip replacement after falling during a hunting trip
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PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2012
BY EMMANUEL IRIOGBE [email protected] 08026125552
The Nigerian military, power and the rest of us
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igeria is not the first country in the world where its military personnel whether serving or retired have found themselves holding political power. The United States of America (USA), reputed as the bastion of democracy in the world, has witnessed the emergence of men with military background as past presidents. It even amounted to a crime against the state for an aspirant to the exalted position of the American presidency to have voluntarily omitted himself from the draft as veterans of the Vietnamese war of the 60s were later referred to. Back home in Africa, Egypt under Abdel Naser introduced a form of government known as diarchy. This system involves a symbiotic hold unto power by both civilians and serving military personnel. It would be recalled that this system of government was once canvassed for the country by second republic vice President Alex Ekwueme, during the dark days of political instability that resulted from the 1993 annulment of the presidential election by the military under Ibrahim babangida. The thinking then was that since the military was in firm control of power and had the gun, it would be very difficult to exit them from power hence the need to involve them along with civilians in the day to day running of the country. Though the idea was roundly defeated especially by the so-called progressives, evolving trend in the country tend to portend a situation where retired military personnel have found themselves back in the saddle as political leaders along with politicians of civilian hue. To chronicle men that have discarded the khaki for agbada in the country will throw up such names like former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who must be given the credit of restricting the military to the barracks in this present dispensation. This he was able to do by giving a sense of belonging to officers and men of the Nigerian military long neglected by some of their own while they held fort as political leaders in the country. It is to his credit that the enhanced package that military personnel presently enjoy was came about. In the present political situation, the number 3 man in the country in the person of Senate President David Mark has spent the better part of his life in the Nigerian army. To his credit as senate president is a rather stable upper legislative arm that witnessed rancor and instability in the past. He has fellow retired military officers in the senate just as we have them in the lower House of Representatives to add verve to his
administration. I stand to be corrected that a retired military officer has ran for governor in any state of the federation and came out of it scathed except when running with a fellow military retiree. Admiral Murtala Nyako has held on as governor of Adamawa state these last eight years just as Jonah Jang has stayed put on the Plateau like the rock of Gilbrata despite challenges from different quarters. Rear Admira John Jonah has just resumed as deputy governor of Bayelsa state after leaving office as Commandant of the National Defence College (NDC) in 2010. The immediate Director of Army Finance and Administration (DAFA), Major General Charles Airhiabvare (RTD), has thrown his hat into the ring as gubernatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the Edo governorship election slated for July this year. Though he has a formidable opponent in the person of Governor Adams Oshiomhole, his military background is already counting in his favour. There are allegations that his immediate constituency, the military are ready to do everything in order to ensure his success at the polls. His emergence has even made the incumbent governor jittery according to reports from the PDP. The governor’s comments as to the qualification of the retired general to contest the election have been interpreted by the opposition as panicky. Though it has not been expressed in many quarters there are fears among many in the country, that a time will come when not having a military background will count against politicians vying for political offices in the land, after all, a serving political office holder with a military background was once quoted to have said; “A Nigerian graduate without a military background is not as intelligent as a Sergeant Major in the Nigerian army’
ECOWAS force for Mali soon ...Guinea Bissau too
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fter years of meetings without concerted efforts to act and stem the incursion of military into governance in West Africa, the Committee of Chiefs of Defence Staff in the sub region has been given the go ahead to deploy a regional force that will assist Mali secure its territorial integrity. The go-ahead came from the ECOWAS Mediation and Security Council the adoption of a report to be presented to the ECOWAS leaders for adoption. According to a statement from the commission' Director of Communication, Mr Sunny Ugoh, and made available journalists in Abuja on Sunday, the recommended report will be `` the deployment of the force is part of a strategic approach being pursued by the region to end the rebellion by separatist groups in Northern Mali,'' it stated. It added that the council at an extra-ordinary meeting on Thursday in Abidjan, decided that regional force would be deployed if efforts to discuss failed.
``ECOWAS shall take all necessary measures to end the rebellion and maintain the unity and territorial integrity of Mali including the use of force.'' The council also insisted that the rebels must withdraw from all occupied territories as a precondition for negotiations. The report of the Committee of Chiefs of Defence Staff specified the form and mandate of the force, the modalities for deployment, proposals for designating the force commander and the contribution of troops and logistics. The council further directed the transfer of the $3 million approved by regional leaders in February to address humanitarian issues to the legitimate government of Mali and another $1.5 million to Burkina Faso and Niger. It recalled that European Union, France and the United States had indicated their willingness to support ECOWAS’ effort to end the rebellion and preserve Mali’s territorial integrity. The ministers also agreed to dispatch a military contingent to
Guinea Bissau to ensure the effective implementation of the regional road map for the country's defence and security sector reform programme. The military contingent is to replace the departing Angolan Mission, secure persons during the April 29 presidential run-off election and ensure the sanctity of the electoral process. The council further agreed to send a ``mixed civilian-military delegation” to Guinea-Bissau under the auspices of the regional mediator, President Alpha Conde of Guinea, to meet with the key stakeholders within the political class and the military. It stated that the move was aimed at dousing the political tension arising from the country’s inconclusive first round presidential election of March 18. The mixed delegation is expected to include officials of the ECOWAS Commission, as well as Chiefs of Defence Staff and political officers from Cote d' Ivorie, Ghana, Guinea and Nigeria. The expanded meeting of the Mediation and Security Council was attended by representatives of Algeria, France, the European Union, Mauritania and the United States.
Executive Governor of Sokoto state, Alhaji Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko (centre), flanked by the CAS, Air Marshal M.O. Umar and other Air Force officers in a group photograph with members of the CAS delegation and Sokoto state Executive Council during their visit to Sokoto recently.
JTF not aware of attack on AGIP facility, says spokesman
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he joint Military Task Force in the Niger Delta code named ‘Operation Shield Pulo’ said it was not aware of the alleged attack on the Nigeria Agip Oil Company (NAOC) facility in Bayelsa. The Spokesman of the Task force, Lt. Col. Nwachukwu Onyeama, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Yenagoa that the force had not been informed of any incident by the Italian firm. Onyeama said that men of the task force at Nembe Creek in Bayelsa said
they were not aware of any such attack, but promised to inform the headquarters of any development. However, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) had in an online statement by its spokesman, Jomo Gbomo claimed that it had attacked and destroyed a wellhead belonging to Agip. MEND said: “At 0210 Hrs on Friday, April 13, 2012, fighters of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta attacked and destroyed one wellhead and one
manifold on trunk lines belonging to Agip Oil a member of the Italian ENI group. “These attacks took place in Clough Creek, Bayelsa state in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria.” The group concluded by saying that more attacks and a full statement would follow. NAN reports that at the time of filing this report, it was not possible to get comments from the Italian firm since it had no office in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa capital. (NAN)
Navy warns personnel against being used for political gains
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Minister of Defence, Mohammed Haliru-Bello
Dr.
he Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ola Sa’ad Ibrahim, has warned navy personnel against being used to achieve political gains. Ibrahim gave the warning at the passing out of Batch 20 Trainees of the Nigerian Navy Basic Training School at Onne in Rivers on Friday. Represented by Rear Admiral Jo Olutoyin, the Chief of Naval Staff said that Navy personnel should relate well with their colleagues and civilians. “You must not allow yourselves to
be used mischievously by anybody for any unscrupulous or political gains.” Ibrahim said that some of the graduating trainees would be used for internal security duties and operations. “In this regard, I enjoin you to keep afresh in your memory the internal security training you have been given during your training at the school. “This is because many of you will be deployed for internal security duties or operations.” Ibrahim said that work was progressing on an Olympic standard swimming pool in the school and that
soon, swimming would be a prerequisite for graduation from the school. He urged the personnel to remember that discipline, obedience and superior orders should be their watchwords. “In the larger society, you should relate well with your colleagues and civilian counterparts. “And as you go out of the school today, I urge you to always project the high standard of the training you have received and the good image of the school wherever you may be drafted to.” (NAN)
PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2012
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Jigawa registers 60,000 farmers Nigeria seeks Australian investment in agriculture
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he Jigawa Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Alhaji Rabiu Isa, has declared that the state has registered 60,000 farmers in the ongoing Farmers registration Exercise. Isa, who disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), yesterday in Dutse commended the prompt response of farmers to the exercise, adding that the state government was had indicated its readiness to partner with the Federal Government in the Agriculture Transformation Agenda. The commissioner said the state government would purchase additional 6,000 tones of fertiliser, adding that farmers in the state required about 18,000 tonnes. He disclosed that N1 billion had been earmarked for the procurement of fertiliser for 2012 farming season. “In Jigawa, the issue of fertiliser diversion had been taken care of; there is nothing of such in this state, and we
have constituted committees at the state, local government and ward levels.” Meanwhile, Mr Mujitaba Ubayi, ther General Manager, Jigawa Agricultural Supply Company, told NAN that the state government had budgeted about N30 million for the purchase of improved seeds and agrochemicals for farmers this year. He said that the hybrid seeds were purchased from research institutes and distributed to farmers at subsidised rates. In his remarks, however, Meanwhile, Alhaji Mohammed Godito, a large-scale rice farmer in Auyo local government area of the state appealed to the government to distribute fertilisers to farmers in good time so as to ensure bumper harvest. “Though I have registered as required by the government, but I am yet to see the impact of the new policy,” Godito said. (NAN)
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igeria government has urged the Australian investors to key into the country’s potentialities in the agriculture and mining sectors in view of renewed efforts to develop those areas. Foreign Affairs Minister, Olugbenga Ashiru, made the call when he received a special envoy of the Australian Prime Minister, Mrs Joanna Hewitt, recently in Abuja. He said Nigeria was focusing on the private sector as the driver of both sectors, adding that “Our agriculture agenda focus on having a private sector led boards, the focus is to make agriculture a private sector business with no government
interference; already we have a lot of investors operating large scale farming in Nigeria.” “As a government, we are concerned about food security, that is why we are making agriculture more mechanised and productive,’’ Ashiru said. He acknowledged Australia’s expertise in those fields, saying that though both countries were far apart, the private sector could bridge the gap between them. In her comments, Hewitt said Australia was concentrating on areas where its economic profile matches Africa’s potentialities and priorities, especially in agriculture and mining.
The envoy said Australia was willing to share its expertise and experience in research and technology to boost agriculture production in Nigeria and expressed the hope that more Australian investors would tap into the potentialities offered by Nigeria. “We have an annual mining conference in Perth, one of our big mining cities, to encourage them to take advantages of opportunities in Africa”. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Nigeria and Australia established a Business and Investment Forum in 2011 to among others promote trade between both nations. (NAN)
Fadama programme disburses N256m to users’ group in Delta
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armers who have been categorized under Fadama Users’ Groups (FUGs) among the 68 Fadama Community Associations (FCAs) across Delta state have received N256 million to be disbursed to 491 members, the Fadama III Coordination Office has said. Communication Officer for the programme in the state, Mr Donald Ojebo, disclosed this to journalists in Asaba, the Delta state capital. Ojebo said that the amount was disbursed to the benefiting groups and associations drawn from the participating 20 Local Government Areas in the state, since 2009 when the programme began in Delta. He said that the total amount provided for credits to participating groups and associations in the state was $7.9 million, adding that 200 communities in the 20 LGAs were participating in the programme. According to him, the effective date of disbursement of funds under the programme in the state was March, 2009 but actual receipt of initial credit
deposit of $600,000 was in August of the same year. He said that the programme began in the state with 1,585 FUGs and 124 FCAs which had been registered as at Nov. 2009, when Gov Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta launched it. Ojebo stated that the state government had paid its counterpart contributions to the programme to date, adding that although some local government councils had made commitments, there are still outstanding contributions to be made. He further listed current projects implemented in the participating LGAs as 173 crops projects, 27 agroprocessing, 101 livestock, 106 fisheries, 46 agro-forestry, two marketing, 34 non-agricultural ventures and six community-owned infrastructures. He called on all the participating communities and councils to pay up their counterpart funds to enable them to draw from the programme, adding that community empowerment was integral to sustainable rural development. (NAN)
FADAMA III coordinator faults local govts in Edo on counterpart contributions
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he Edo state FADAMA III Coordinator, Mrs Judith Momodu, has faulted the local government councils in the state over the non-payment of the FADAMA counterpart contributions. It was learnt that currently, the World Bank is collaborating with the Federal Government, states and local governments to provide financial support for farmers and for rural developments. Momodu, who noted that each local government was to contribute N2 million annually, said the federal and state governments had continued to contribute to the success of FADAMA III programmes and projects, but that the local government councils refused to comply. “I want to use this medium to appeal to the local governments to honour the agreement by contributing their share of the counterpart fund so that the aims and goals of FADAMA III would be achieved,” the minister said. “We are determined and committed to overcome all the challenges associated
with the FADAMA III programmes and projects,” he added. “Since the government has resolved to channel more fund into the agricultural sector and rural development through FADAMA III, every stakeholder must comply to meet the Federal Government’s transformation agenda,” Momodu said. She said that FADAMA III agricultural development programmes had been designed to improve the livelihood of the Nigeria‘s rural poor. According to her, the programme specifically targets farmers who have come together to form community associations, farmer cooperative society and women and youths groups. The coordinator said that the state FADAMA III had executed a lot of projects, including the building of market stalls, culverts, processing plants for cassava and rice, fishery and piggery. Others are provision of boats and canoes, chemicals, fertilisers, herbicides, grinding machines, sprayers, and the rehabilitation of farm roads. (NAN)
Farmers planting crops
Delta disburses N1bn agric loan to 934 farmers’ cooperatives T he Delta state Government has disbursed the N1 billion Commercial Agriculture Fund to 934 farmers’ cooperatives in the state. Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta state, who launched the loan disbursement in Asaba, advised the beneficiaries to make judicious use of the fund for the intended purpose and ensure prompt repayment of the loan. Uduaghan said that the process of securing the fund was tedious, but expressed delight that it was finally released and ready for disbursement to the approved cooperatives in the state. “Let me assure you that as a government, we will monitor this loan and if there is an encouragement on your part as farmers, we will make provision for more loans. I want to appeal to you not to divert the funds into other needs rather than the reason for which it is given,” he said. According to him, “this loan is meant for you to improve on your farming activities and boost food
production.” Uduaghan urged everyone, irrespective of status, to own a farm, adding that if everybody could feed from his own farm, hunger would be reduced and the ripple effect would crime reduction in the society. “I am a farmer, and I want everybody to become a farmer irrespective of your position in the society. If we can feed ourselves, then we have addressed the problem of hunger in our society. “This is the underlining factor why we have agreed to take this loan to address the needs of the peasant farmers,” Uduaghan said. Earlier, the Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Mr Misan Ukubeyinje, noted that a total of 1,606 farmers’ cooperative societies applied for the loan out of which the 934 societies were selected. He said that the sum of N21.7 million out of the N1 billion had been set aside as insurance cover to all the beneficiary farmers’ cooperatives.
The commissioner added that the loan was payable at nine per cent interest rate with seven years moratorium. He noted that agriculture held the key to rapid economic development and enjoined the farmers to reciprocate the government’s gesture by promptly repaying the loan, while assuring that the ministry would monitor the use of the fund by paying surprise visits to their farms Responding on behalf of the farmers, Chief Fidelis Uba, thanked the governor, the Federal Government, CBN and Zenith Bank for facilitating the loan. Uba pledged the farmers’ commitment to effectively utilise the funds and ensure prompt repayment of the loan. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Federal Government, through the CBN, provided N200 billion as Commercial Agriculture Fund out of which each of the 36 states and the FCT was allocated N1 billion for disbursement to farmers. (NAN)
PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2012
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Uganda to export fresh plantain to United States
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ith the introduction of the banana value chain project by the Ugandan government recently, all is set for the country to start the export of fresh peeled plantain bananas (matooke) to the United States. The Danish Development Agency (Danida) $2m funded project will be implemented under the Uganda Industrial Research Institute (UIRI). Winner of the Danida grant, Godfrey Atuheire said: “Under the new arrangements, quality matooke will be peeled and packed for export to the States and other European countries. The project is awaiting arrival of machines that will enhance quality of exports.” He said that the project will also include the production of packaging made in an environmentally
sustainable way. The banana bags will be made from banana, rice, sorghum, bamboo fibres, maize, sisal and wheat, adding that the bag making machine has already been ordered from India. The Chief Executive officer, Berteeen Business Systems and the LC councilor for Wakiso district, Herbert Kabafunzaki, who noted that such projects would help create employment for hundreds of jobless young people, said “I hail UIRI for training youths, some from as far as Kabale where they have left their families.” He pointed out that the solution to unemployment is not squarely on the shoulders of government. “Entrepreneurship is the way to go. It is the livelihood of improvement of man.” Source: www.newvision.co.ug
Agriculture: Kenya uses GPS to tackle war against cattle theft
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new system of tracking stolen livestock in regions prone to rustling will be launched this year, an Administration Police commandant, Kinuthia Mbugua, has said. The Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking device, Mbugua noted, will help not only fight cattle rustling but also recover stolen animals. “The new device will be fixed on one animal in a flock. With it, we can be able to monitor the movements of the flock,” he said. Speaking in Machakos when he opened the AP community offices in
Borno govt. to set up c’ttee on fertiliser distribution
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he Borno State Government is to set up a committee for effective fertiliser distribution, the Commissioner for Agriculture, Alhaji Usman Zannah, has said. He told journalists during the weekends in Maiduguri, that the committee would comprise local government officials, security personnel, district heads, traditional rulers and representatives of farmers across the state. “I doubt very much if there will be misuse of fertilisers because definitely, government will have a firm control and supervision over the distribution of fertilisers this year,” he said. The commissioner said the state had in stock, more than 39
tonnes of fertiliser which would be distributed judiciously to farmers in all parts of the state. According to him, “the fertiliser is further subsidised by 50 per cent and distributed to farmers while each of the 27 Local Government Areas got between 10 and 15 trucks of fertiliser for dry and rainy season farming.” He said that government had paid more than N400 million as the backlog of counterpart funds for all the ongoing programmes on agriculture being assisted by donor agencies. “The state government paid about N400 million backlog of counterparts funds for IFAD and FADAMA III food security programmes, and also purchased
200 tractors ahead of the rainy season,” he said. He said Governor Kassim Shettima recently led a delegation to Egypt and Thailand to replicate their best practises in agricultural development, adding that some youths would be sent abroad for training. “We are very impressed with the countries’ modern-day farming most especially in Egypt where we signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the government,” the Commissioner stated. Zannah said that the government was working on plans to draw water from Lake Alo in the state to Jere in Jere LGA to assist dry season farmers for an all-yearround cultivation. (NAN)
Mua Hills and Kasinga, Mr Mbugua said fighting cattle rustling was becoming a tricky as it has become commercialised. “Cattle rustling has been commercialised and stopping it through disarmament of communities had failed to end the criminal activity,” he said. Mr Mbugua said experiments had proven that the GPS system can work, adding that several officers in his unit had undergone training locally and abroad on modern ways of fighting crime using the latest technology. Sourse: CattleSite News Desk
Mozambique farmers benefit from US training
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ozambique’s mango growers are now in a better position to preserve and market their produce thanks to training they are being provided with by a Mississippi State University Specialist. An assistant research professor of food safety and microbiology with the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, Barakat Mahmoud, recently spent three weeks in the African country training 13 agriculture agents as part of the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Farmer-to-Farmer program, implemented by CNFA. CNFA is a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit organization dedicated to improving economic growth in developing countries by training the private sector. Mahmoud taught the agents how to dry foods, analyse the quality and food safety, natural preservation methods and how to process mangoes.
Mahmoud said: “Mangos are abundant in the marketplace and bring a very low price. Farmers in this area of Mozambique lose about 80 percent of their product every year after harvest. They can sell only a small amount of the fresh product before it spoils.” “We want to establish agents who can teach the farmers to produce a marketable product. The equipment to make jams, jellies, juices and dried fruit is not very expensive,” Mahmoud said. The training, he said, was not limited to those involved with the mango industry and will also take in those involved in the production of cassava and beans, amongst other crops. Meanwhile, Southern Africa Program Coordinator with CNFA, Lauren Day, lamented lack of access to technical support by African farmer saying, “farmers in developing countries often do not have access to the technical assistance they need.” Source: msucares.com
Rwanda gets new cassava processing plant
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10 million US Dollar new cassava processing plant set up by Rwanda Development Bank (BRD) in Kinazi sector, Ruhango district, will have it first product on market late next month, the BRD chief executive officer, Jack Kayonga, has said. The BRD chief executive officer, who inspected Kinazi Cassava Processing Plant, said that the factory will have an installed capacity of 20 tons of flour per day, adding that, “in order to achieve full capacity, the factory will need a daily supply of 60 tons of raw the material, cassava.”
Though run by BRD, the bank plans to allow farmers acquire shares and ultimately enable cassava growers to own and manage it themselves just as the plant comes as opportunities that will benefit the local population by enabling them add value to their produce. The mayor of Ruhango, Francois Xavier Mbabazi, said the facility which uses 15 cubic meters of water per hour and operates 10 hours a day, will make the people not only consume, but also exporters of good quality flour. Source: Rwanda Focus
Manual system of farming in Kenya
Japanese agency plans to boost rice production, processing in Nigeria
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he Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has said that it is embarking on a project to boost agriculture in the country through improved processing of rice to meet international standards. The Project Formulation Officer of the agency, Ms Masako Yamamoto, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recently in Abuja. She said the project with the theme: “Post Harvest Processing and Marketing Techniques”, which began in September 2011, was still ongoing in Nassarawa and Niger States. Yamamoto added that the agency was implementing the scheme to complement the effort of the Federal Government in its quest for enhanced production of rice to boost food security in the country. According to her, the project was to encourage the government to
achieve the National Rice Development Strategy, noting that “we do the project to support the Nigerian government and encourage them to meet the National Rice and Development Strategy presented in collaboration with the National Food Reserve Agency (NFRA).” She said the project would address the increasing local demand for the commodity and put an end to the importation of the commodity. According to her, the agency will provide incubation plants for the states it is working with and train the staffers of the Agricultural Development Programmes (ADPs) on how to process the crop neatly. She said once the ADP staffers were trained, they would in turn train local farmers on the international trend for rice processing and parboiled rice production. “We want to introduce the rating of the rice, then we can meet
international quality, we are trying to improve the skills of the parboiled rice - how to steam the rice and how long is the best way to parboil it; so if we train them on those level, they can improve their skills on rice processing,” she said. “Modern technology is not being used for the processing of rice in Nigeria. What people in Nigeria do is to dry the rice on the ground, and you find chickens running all over the rice,” she stressed. Yamamoto explained that the project in Nasarawa and Niger states would end in 2015 after which the agency would partner with another set of states to promote the production of the commodity. She gave the assurance that the project would be successful in Nigeria given the Japanese experience in the production of rice and the fact that rice was a staple food in the Asian country. (NAN)
PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2012
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The hypocrisy of the USUK Extradition Act (II)
The Extradition Act 2003, signed by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and President George W Bush, was designed and pushed through Parliament after 9/11
ANALYSIS By Siobhan Courtney
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he right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. Why isn't the British government following the US' lead of ferociously protecting their citizens? Let us take the case of US soldier Robert Bales, accused of killing 17 Afghan civilians in Kandahar. He will not be extradited to Afghanistan, where the alleged crime took place, but will be tried in the US. That is a separate debate, but nevertheless, an example of how the US will do everything and anything they can to protect their own. Referring back to the US constitution, why then is this coalition government not making sure the rights of the British people "are not violated" and that we are "secure in our persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures?" Why are we cheerfully waving off British citizens at the US' first request? Surely, the UK is not frightened to stand up to the US, scared to risk ruining a "special relationship" between "friends"?
No extradition reform in sight In The Coalition: our programme for government, David Cameron and Nick Clegg promised: "We will review the operation of the Extradition Act and the US/UK extradition treaty to make sure it is even-handed." Well, Prime Minister and Deputy PM, we are still waiting and wondering why it isn't even handed, two years after you made yet another promise that has not been fulfilled. "Between January 1, 2004, and December 31, 2011, the UK made 57 extradition requests to the US. In the same period, 134 incoming requests were received by the UK from the US." Our government, I'm sure will point to the Scott Baker Review as proof that they have acted, but the report concluded with the groundbreaking revelation that the "treaty does not operate in an unbalanced manner". Sir Scott Baker is wrong
and seems happy to stand in solitude over his muddled and deluded declaration. Liberty has led the condemnation stating: "We don't just disagree with this review but are completely baffled by it." Figures requested from the Home Office show that between January 1, 2004, and December 31, 2011, the UK made 57 extradition requests to the US. In the same period, 134 incoming requests were received by the UK from the US. The British public are deeply uneasy and uncomfortable with the fact that British citizens are permitted to be sent across the world under this grotesquely unfair and unbalanced treaty. This is further supported by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights, who published a report, concluding the act does not provide effective protections for the human rights of those extradited from the UK. They urgently urged the British
“
government to renegotiate the treaty - that seems to have fallen on deaf ears. Last month, the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee expressed particular concern "that it is easier to extradite a British citizen to the USA than vice versa". In their report, they warned the government: "Such extradition arrangements are now threatened by loss of public confidence in the UK and there is a risk that, with time, that lack of confidence will translate into wider disaffection." Cameron & Co would do well to pay heed to the recent public reaction over the extradition of 65year-old Christopher Tapppin whose life could end in an American jail. Speaking outside Heathrow airport in February, before being flown to El Paso, Texas, escorted by US marshals, Tappin said: I look to Mr Cameron to look after my rights and he's failed to do so. I have no rights. Abu Qatada is
The British public are deeply uneasy and uncomfortable with the fact that British citizens are permitted to be sent across the world under this grotesquely unfair and unbalanced treaty. This is further supported by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights, who published a report, concluding the act does not provide effective protections for the human rights of those extradited from the UK.
walking the streets of London today and we cannot extradite him. He has more rights than I have. If I was a terrorist I wouldn't be going to America. I think it's a shame, a disgrace. The Conservative government, while in opposition, promised to reform the law and they failed to do so and they've let me down, they've let you down, they've let the whole country down. Fate of Richard O'Dwyer David Cameron is now safely back to the UK after his recent fourday visit to the US. Watching the Prime Minister gush how "the special relationship is in a good place" and how "Barack tucked me up in bed" is not only extremely nauseating and cringe worthy, but incredibly insulting to Richard O'Dwyer, Christopher Tappin, Gary McKinnon and their loved ones. Where was the staunch declaration and reassurance that this contentious Extradition Act 2003 is a top priority for both leaders, and that it is to be overhauled to ensure "it is evenhanded" as promised? "Obama cannot even pretend that the Extradition Act, and in particular, the case of Richard O'Dwyer is not on his radar." Obama cannot even pretend that the Extradition Act, and in particular, the case of Richard O'Dwyer is not on his radar. The fate of Richard O'Dwyer is something that deeply concerns the US. In a recent Google online question and answer session, the number one voted question to be put to Barack Obama out of 135,000 submitted was concerning his extradition. Michael Mozart, an anti-piracy critic and satirical toy reviewer from Connecticut, challenged the president with his question: Why are you personally supporting the extradition of British citizen Richard O'Dwyer for solely linking to copyright-infringing works using an extradition treaty designed to combat terrorism and to bring terrorists to judgment in the USA? Obama, clearly flustered, desperately tried to wriggle out of associating himself with the extradition, saying it had nothing to do with him and it was the decision of the Justice Department. He then evaded answering the question and attempted to wrap things up as quickly as possible. The recent ruling in favour of extraditing terror suspect, Abu Hamza to the US could not be a clearer indication that the Extradition Act 2003, designed to deal with terrorism, should absolutely not be used to determine the fate of Richard O'Dwyer, Gary McKinnon and Christopher Tappin. This argument is not about anti-American sentiment, but an exposĂŠ of the abuse of a dangerous, chilling act which is exploiting the legal and human rights of innocent-until-proven-guilty British citizens. Concluded Culled from Aljazeera.
PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2012
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Guinea-Bissau moves towards transition deal Sudan denies bombing disputed oilfield
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udan yesterday denied its warplanes had bombed an oilfield seized by forces from South Sudan and blamed the south for any damage to the facility during fighting that has raged since last week. South Sudan's Information Minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin told reporters in Juba on Sunday that aerial bombardment of the oil facility in the Heglig region had caused serious damage. "They are bombing the central processing facility and the tanks to rubble," he said. The fighting in the border area has drawn widespread condemnation from global powers and raised fears the former civil war foes could resume full-blown conflict. The Heglig field was vital to Sudan's economy, producing about half of the 115,000 barrelper-day output that remained in its control after South Sudan seceded in July, taking with it about three-quarters of the formerly united country's output. "If any damage has occurred in Heglig it may have been on the part of the army of South Sudan. The Sudanese government charges South Sudan with any damage to the oil wells and facilities," Sudan's Information Minister Abdallah Ali Masar said, according to state news agency SUNA. Production at Heglig stopped shortly after South Sudanese forces seized the area, officials say. Any prolonged shutdown would be a further blow to Sudan's economy, struggling with high inflation and currency weakening on the black market. Landlocked South Sudan shut down its own 350,000 barrels a day of production in January in a dispute with Khartoum over how much it should pay to export crude via pipelines and other infrastructure to the Red Sea terminal at Port Sudan. Sudan's army said on Saturday it entered the Heglig region and was just kilometres from the oilfield. South Sudan said Sudan's forces were still at least 30 km away and were bombarding the South's positions with warplanes. Both sides regularly make conflicting claims and limited access to the remote region makes it difficult to independently verify their statements. South Sudan's military spokesman, Philip Aguer, said the South's armed forces (SPLA) had brought 14 prisoners of war to Juba on Sunday, the first to arrive in the South's capital since the fighting in Heglig began.
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he Guinea-Bissau army and opposition parties have agreed to set up a transitional body to run the country, ahead of talks yesterday with West African bloc ECOWAS, which has denounced the recent coup. The news came before shortly before coup leaders said on Sunday that it was closing all air and sea borders. That move was prompted by former colonial power Portugal's announcement that it was sending two navy ships and a military plane for a possible evacuation of its nationals, which number between 4,000 and 5,000. "Non-authorised Portuguese ships will not enter into our territorial waters. Guinea Bissau is a sovereign nation," said Fernando Vaz, spokesperson for the parties of the former opposition, following a meeting between them and the new coup leaders. The "military command" said in a statement that it had decided to shut down all air and sea access, without saying how long the measures would remain in place. On the political front, all existing institutions will be dissolved to make way for a National Transitional Council, Vaz said.
There have been several small protests since the military deposed the government in a coup on Thursday The size and composition of the council and the length of its mandate will be determined at a meeting on Monday between the political parties, which will then take their proposals to the junta, Fernando Vaz, a spokesman for the opposition parties, said on Sunday.
The junta set the terms of the new administration earlier this week and told opposition parties that it would keep the defence and interior ministries in any new government. According to Vaz, all existing institutions will be dissolved to make
way for a National Transitional Council. Two committees have been set up to run the country in the period leading up to the creation of the transitional council: one would handle diplomatic affairs and the other social issues.
been abducted. A neighbour of the abducted woman, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, also confirmed the incident. The kidnapped woman has been described as a missionary, and sources told Reuters that she was abducted in the neighbourhood of Abaradjou. Tuareg separatists and armed religious groups took control of the town from the Malian authorities on April 1.
The woman, in her 40s, was very active in the local community as a missionary and did not leave when the town was taken over. "She is very well known in the town. She would walk around the town trying to convert people [to Christianity]," a resident of the town told Reuters, asking not to be named. A spokesman for the Swiss foreign ministry said his government was looking into the report.
Timbuktu was known for centuries as a key trading town in the Sahara and a seat of Islamic learning. It was also a top tourist destination in Mali, but insecurity in recent years, including the abduction of several foreigners there by al-Qaeda-linked fighters last year reduced the number of visitors to a trickle. In the days leading to the capture of the town, most Westerners who were resident there had left, in fear of being kidnapped.
Swiss woman abducted in Mali’s Timbuktu
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Swiss woman has been abducted from her house in the northern Malian town of Timbuktu by several unidentified gunmen, witnesses and local officials say. "Beatrice, a Swiss national, was abducted this Sunday at Timbuktu by armed men," local official Mohamed Ould Hassen told the AFP news agency on Sunday. Yehia Tandina, a resident of the town, confirmed the identity of the woman and the fact that she had
Candidate cull dents Egypt’s election credibility
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gypt's search for a successor to Hosni Mubarak is losing credibility. A move by the authorities to bar 10 of the 23 candidates, including three top contenders, could reshape the presidential election just five weeks before the polls start. This will add to the concerns of investors who
should worry more about a timely, free vote than about who actually ends up in charge of the country. Liberals won't mourn the loss. The Muslim Brotherhood's primary nominee Khairat al-Shater, popular hard-line Salafi preacher Hazem Salah Abu Ismail, and Mubarak's former chief spy Omar Suleiman
: Egypt"s President Hosni Mubarak addresses the nation on Egyptian State TV in this still image taken from video, February 1, 2011.
were among those kicked out the race, pending appeals, by the election commission. Past criminal convictions, citizenship problems and some technicalities were given as reasons for disqualification. But this mass ouster from the candidates' ranks is a mixed blessing for foreign investors. True, they may have some reason to rejoice. The election of Abu Ismail would stoke fears about the impact of ultraconservative Islam on the economy. That of Suleiman would raise concerns of corruption from the old guard. A win by al-Shater, meanwhile, would consolidate power in the hands of one party, following the Brotherhood's dominance of parliamentary elections. Their exit leaves room for more market-friendly moderates like Amr Moussa, a former Arab League secretary general, or ex-Brotherhood member Abdul Moneim Abol Fotouh, who was expelled from the movement for launching his own presidential bid last year. The
Brotherhood also has a reserve nominee who made the list, but he may find it hard to mobilise support for a replacement at such a late stage. That's where Egypt's election risks coming unstuck. These disqualifications, after nominations have closed, will deprive key factions of the opportunity or time to rally support for alternative candidates. And it will leave a question mark over those, if any, that are reinstated. Under the current timeline, the work on a new constitution is unlikely to be finished before the elections. Without it, no one can be sure of the ultimate balance of power between the president and parliament. The Muslim Brotherhood is currently blocking much-needed financial aid from the IMF until the army hands over more power, something it has pledged to do by the end of June. Egypt's election turmoil increases the chance of a disputed vote, or of a delay that would prolong the country's financial uncertainty.
PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2012
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UN monitors arrive in Syria as fighting rages
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he first international observers tasked with monitoring a tenuous United Nations-backed ceasefire have arrived in Syria, where activists said government forces were continuing to attack opposition neighbourhoods. "They've arrived and they will start work tomorrow morning," said Kieran Dwyer, a spokesman for
the UN peacekeeping department, announcing that six unarmed military observers arrived in Damascus late on Sunday evening. The six observers were part of an initial batch of 30 UN monitors due to enforce the ceasefire. The UN says the final observer mission will involve about 250 monitors. Ahmed Fawzi, a spokesman for Annan, said the UN Security
Council would be asked to approve deployment of the full mission, assuming the ceasefire held, based on a report by UN chief Ban next week. "The mission will include civilians, political officers and human rights experts in order to observe the full implementation of the six-point plan, which includes a lot more than the cessation of
hostilities," he said. Earlier in the day, forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad's government shelled areas of the city of Homs that were mostly occupied by opposition fighters and activists. Activists said that at least five civilians had been killed in Sunday's violence. Ban Ki-moon, the secretarygeneral of the United Nations, said that he was "very much concerned" at the renewed killings, and he urged the government to ensure
that the ceasefire did not collapse. The state-run SANA news agency said that the government welcomed the observer mission, and hoped that the monitors would document the "crimes" committed by "armed terrorist groups" in the country. The Syrian government said that it would not be responsible for the safety of the monitors, however, unless it was involved in "all steps on the ground", Bouthaina Shaaban, a spokesperson and presidential adviser, said.
Gulf nations to meet over Iran island dispute
T Syrian refugees and local residents transport the bodies of Syrian refugees Fayyad, 25, and Mohammad, 22, during their funeral in the Jordanian city of Al Ramtha, near the Syrian border on Sunday.
he United Arab Emirates has summoned Iran's ambassador to Abu Dhabi to denounce a visit by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to a disputed island in the Gulf, the emirates' official state news agency said. The UAE's minister of state for foreign affairs, Anwar Gargash, "summoned the Iranian ambassador ... and handed him a letter of protest, denouncing" Ahmadinejad's visit on Wednesday to Abu Musa, the Emirates news agency (WAM) reported on Monday. Gargash called the visit a "violation of UAE sovereignty". The move came after Abu Dhabi recalled its ambassador to Tehran last Wednesday and lodged a protest with the United Nations over the visit, stressing that the territorial dispute should be resolved in talks or at the International Court of Justice. On Sunday, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan, the UAE foreign minister, met ambassadors representing UN Security Council member states in Abu Dhabi to
convey the "UAE's condemnation of this provocative visit," WAM said. "This will be an extraordinary meeting based on the UAE's request to discuss the Iranian president's recent visit to the island," a GCC official said. Tehran has insisted that Ahmadinejad's trip, during which he said historical documents proved Iran's claim that "the Persian Gulf is Persian," was a purely "domestic issue". Foreign ministers of the six Gulf Co-operation Council states are scheduled to hold a special meeting in the Qatari capital on Tuesday to discuss the dispute. Both Iran and the UAE claim territorial sovereignty over Abu Musa and two other islands in the southern Gulf. Iran, then under the rule of the Western-backed shah, gained control in 1971 of the islands of Abu Musa, Lesser Tunb and Greater Tunb, as Britain granted independence to its Gulf protectorates and withdrew its forces.
Israeli soldier suspended for gun-butt attack
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R-L: President Goodluck Jonathan with special envoy of the Australian Prime Minister, Joanna Hewit, during special envoy's official visit to the president, at the State House, yesterday in Abuja. Photo: Joe Oroye
UAE Foreign Minister, Anwar Gargash, summoned the Iranian envoy to denounce Iran's visit to Abu Musa
n Israeli soldier has been suspended after video footage showed him hitting a foreign pro-Palestinian activist in the face with his gun during a bicycle rally in the occupied West Bank, Israel's military said. Footage of the incident posted on YouTube, was picked up by Israeli television on Sunday, prompting condemnation from Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister. "Lieutenant Colonel Shalom Eisner has been suspended until the conclusion of the inquiry which has been opened," a military spokesman said yesterday. The assault took place on Saturday during a bicycle ride in the Jordan Valley near Jericho involving Palestinians and foreign activists. The footage shows a soldier smashing a male demonstrator in the face with the butt of a rifle in an apparently unprovoked attack as soldiers confront protesters. The demonstrator, reported to be a Danish national, falls to the ground and is then carried away by others at the scene. "Such behaviour is not characteristic of the soldiers and commanders of the IDF (Israel Defence
Forces)," Netanyahu said in a statement released on Sunday. "It has no place in the IDF and the State of Israel." Benny Gantz, the Israeli military's chief of staff, also condemned the attack which he said would be "thoroughly investigated and treated with the utmost severity." The military described the incident as "very serious" and said it was looking into "the circumstances leading up to this incident as well as on its repercussions," a spokeswoman said. Quoting a military source, Israel's Channel 10 television said the officer apparently lost his patience as he and his troops tried to turn away cyclists shouting anti-Israeli slogans and waving Palestinian flags from an area defined as a closed military zone. Meanwhile, Israel has barred nearly 80 foreign activists from flying into the country on grounds they were linked to a pro-Palestinian campaign, police said on Monday, with 60 of them still awaiting deportation. As of midnight, police at Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv had detained 78 people, more than twothirds of them French nationals, spokeswoman Luba Samri said.
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PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2012
Americas summit ends in acrimony
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summit of nearly 30 leaders of Americas nations has ended without a joint declaration due to divisions over Cuba and the Falkland Islands which prompted the Argentinian and Bolivian presidents to walk out. The two-day Summit of the Americas in the Colombian city of Cartagena, which ended on Sunday, saw the US and Canada at odds with Latin American nations calling for Cuba to attend future meetings and over Argentina's claim to the Britishcontrolled South Atlantic islands it calls Las Malvinas. "There is no declaration because there is no consensus," said Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos at a closing news conference. Washington, backed by Ottawa, rebuffed widespread demands to include in the meeting's final declaration language specifying that Cuba be present in future summits. They also refused to back Buenos Aires' claim to the Falklands, prompting Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner to storm out of the summit, followed by Bolivia's Evo Morales. "[Kirchner] was furious, we are told, because of the lack of
full, complete support for Argentina's claim of control of the Falkland Islands," Al Jazeera's Lucia Newman, reporting from Cartagena, said. "We understand she was very, very angry that [leaders] didn't even mention the dispute over the islands with the UK." "She was overheard saying, 'This is pointless. Why did I even come here?'" Latin America leftist leaders had been insistent that the meeting would be the last regional summit under the auspices of the Organisation of American States (OAS) unless Cuba, the communist island subjected to a US trade embargo since its 1959 revolution, was invited in the future. "All the countries here in Latin American and the Caribbean want Cuba to be present. But the United States won't accept," Morales told reporters late on Saturday. "It's like a dictatorship." Santos, however, said the leaders had agreed to meet again in 2015 in Panama. "Hopefully within three years we can have Cuba'' at the summit, he added. While US President Barack Obama faced public criticism over his country's objections to Cuban participation, a senior US
administration official told reporters that the matter had not been raised during sideline meetings with the leaders of Guatemala, El Salvador, Argentina and Peru. The foreign ministers of Venezuela, Argentina and
Uruguay had said their presidents would not sign any declaration unless the US and Canada removed their veto of future Cuban participation. The Cuba issue led Rafael Correa, the Ecuadorean president, to boycott the
summit. Daniel Ortega, Nicaragua's leftist president, also sat out the meeting, though he offered no explanation. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was also absent as he underwent further radiation therapy for cancer in Cuba.
The opening ceremony of the sixth OAS summit was marked by colourful cultural programmes
Karzai blames NATO Norway terrorist denies charges over Kabul attacks T
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amid Karzai, the Afghan president, has said intelligence failure allowed the Taliban to carry out the latest attacks in Kabul and elsewhere in the country. "The terrorists' infiltration in Kabul and other provinces is an intelligence failure for us and especially for NATO and should be seriously investigated," Karzai said in a statement yesterday. The president however, praised the "bravery and sacrifice of the security forces who quickly and timely reacted to contain the terrorists". In his first reaction after the series of attacks targeting western embassies and NATO bases, which continued till Monday morning, Karzai said that "Afghan security forces proved to the people that they can defend their country successfully".
Gun battles between Afghan security forces and Taliban fighters in the capital, Kabul, ended after almost 18 hours of fierce fighting, according to government and police officials. "The latest information we have about the Afghan parliament area is that the attack is over now and the only insurgent who was resisting has been killed," Hashmatullah Stanikzai, the Kabul police chief's spokesman, said on Monday. There were conflicting reports regarding the number of casualties in the co-ordinated attacks that targeted mainly western installations in Kabul, which the Taliban described as the launch of a "spring offensive". Afghanistan's defence ministry said 32 gunmen and three Afghan soldiers were killed in the operation against the multiple assaults, Reuters news agency reported.
A team of U.N. monitors walk through a hotel in Damascus April 16, 2012.
he man accused over a bombing and shooting spree that left 77 people dead in Norway has acknowledged carrying out the killings but pleaded "not guilty" on terror charges, as his trial got under way in Oslo. "I acknowledge the acts, but not criminal guilt," Anders Behring Breivik told the court yesterday morning, referring to the July 2011 attacks over which prosecutors accuse him of committing acts of terror. Breivik arrived in court for the morning's opening session in Oslo amid tight security and massive media attention, with proceedings set to focus on whether or not he is legally sane. If convicted, the 33-year-old
faces a 21-year sentence that could be extended indefinitely if he is still considered a threat to society. If deemed to be insane he would face closed psychiatric care, possibly for life. Upon his entrance to the court, Breivik lifted his right fist in an apparent far-right salute. "I do not recognise the Norwegian courts. You have received your mandate from political parties which support multiculturalism", Breivik told the court, adding that he wished to be tried in a military court. "I do not acknowledge the authority of the court." Wenche Elizabeth Arntzen, the lead judge responded, telling Breivik that he would have time to make statements later on in the
trial. Breivik diplayed little emotion as the prosecutor read out a list of those killed and how they had died as well as his charges, but later appeared tearful as the court was shown a 12-minute film that he had posted online on the day of the attacks. Breivik has confessed to a car bombing outside a government building in central Oslo which killed eight people and the subsequent killings of 69 people, most of them teenagers, during a shooting spree on the nearby island Utoya where Norway's ruling Labour Party was holding a youth summer camp. Entering his plea yesterday, he said he had acted in self-defence. His lawyers had earlier said he would argue that his actions were "cruel but necessary".
Italian ex-PM, Silvio Berlusconi, ‘hosted nun strippers’
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witness at the trial of Silvio Berlusconi has said strippers dressed as nuns performed for the former Italian prime minister at a party. Model Imane Fadil said she had been given 2,000 euros (ÂŁ1,650; $2,614) by Mr Berlusconi the first time she attended a "bunga bunga" party. She was one of several women who arrived at a Milan courthouse on Monday to testify in Mr Berlusconi's trial. He is accused of paying for sex with an underage nightclub dancer. The woman, Moroccan-born Karima el-Mahroug, was 17 when she allegedly had sex with the prime minister. He is also accused of abusing his powers by getting police to release Ms Mahroug - better
known by her stage name Ruby The Heart Stealer - from jail when she was arrested for stealing. Ms Fadil told the court she had attended several parties at Mr Berlusconi's villa outside Milan. She alleges that the first night she went, she saw two young women in nun costumes stripping for the prime minister. One, she said, was Nicole Minetti, now a regional councillor for Berlusconi's People of Freedom party in Milan. Ms Fadil claimed that Ms Minetti and the other woman dressed as a nun stayed the night at the villa, and that women who attended bunga bunga parties were paid more for sex. Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported last week that
Mr Berlusconi had paid a total of 127,000 euros to three female witnesses, including Ms Minetti, since the trial began last year. Mr Berlusconi's lawyer, Niccolo Ghedini, denied the payments were an attempt to influence the women's testimony, saying they were legal and reflected the former prime minister's "usual generosity", AFP news agency reports. This is one of three trials that the businessman and former prime minister is currently a defendant in. The other two relate to tax fraud and violating official secrets, while earlier this year an Italian court threw out a fourth case relating to bribery claims. Mr Berlusconi stepped down in November 2011 over concerns about Italy's economy.
PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2012
PAGE 35
Indian politicians place $2000 bounty on vampires ‘who have been sucking blood from cows in the night’
Horror: Christopher Lee as Dracula in the 1958 film. Indian politicians have offered a $2000 bounty to prove to terrified villagers that vampires don't exist
I
ndian politicians are offering a $2000 reward for the capture of vampires which terrified locals claim have been sucking the blood out of their cattle. Villagers around the town of Dharampuri in Tamil Nadu have been staying off the streets after sunset following the reports of strange goings on in the night.
Residents have painted holy signs outside their homes and written messages on doors begging the monsters, known locally as Ratha Kaatteri, to spare their lives. However local politicians claim the rumours are being spread by criminals who do not want people disturbing their late night deliveries of bootleg booze.
(File picture): Villagers claim the mythical monsters have been sucking the blood out of their cattle To prove the whole thing is hoax they have offered reward of 100,000 rupees - almost $2000 - for anyone bringing in a vampire corpse. Politician O. Jayaraman said: 'It is a big hoax. Anti-socials whose illegal night activities such as bootlegging and liquor brewing have been disturbed are spreading
rumours and killing cattle. 'Since people are not willing to believe us, we have challenged them with this reward.' Although vampires are usually associated with Western mythology, many believe the stories have their roots in Asia and were carried along the silk
route to Europe. Betails (or Vetalas) are supposedly evil spirits which inhabit the bodies of the dead and feed on the living. Legends describe them as being half-bat, half-man, extremely similar to the western stories.
Lucky strike! Teenager struck by lightning twice says he survived because his novelty hat took the hit
thing in the field and the lightning probably would have hit me no matter what, so the fact the hat took the brunt of it probably saved me from being electrocuted. Mr Wilks said he was embarrassed to 'think a fancy dress hat' saved his life. 'It wasn't until two or three hours afterwards that I started to feel dizzy, disorientated and my heart was racing. 'I went to St Mary's to be checked over, but they said I was OK. One of the doctors at A&E said I should buy a lottery ticket.'
believes the hat saved his life. 'I had gone into the garden to show my mum the hat, which had just arrived in the post, when it happened. 'It felt weird, like being hit on the head really hard,' said Matt, who lives in Ryde with parents Paul and Helen Wilks. 'There was this bright flash as a fork of lightning splintered
above us, and that's when I felt it hit me. 'There was so much static electricity in the air, it was really scary. 'Just before that, a bolt of lightning leapt from the metal garden gate and hit me like an electric shock. 'I'm 6ft 4ins, so I was the tallest
What are the chances of surviving when you have been struck?
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Lucky: Matt Wilks, 19, was wearing an umbrella hat, which cost him £3 from Ebay, when he was hit by two separate bolts of lightning during storms over the Isle of Wight on Thursday he chances of being struck £3 from eBay, when he says he by lightning once are high was hit by two separate bolts enough. But a teenager has during storms over the Isle of declared he was struck twice in Wight yesterday. an afternoon and only survived The storms knocked-out the because he was wearing a novelty power for 2,300 homes, while hat bought for a fancy dress pub lightning also struck a house and crawl. a riding stables. Matt Wilks, 19, was wearing Miraculously Mr Wilks, a an umbrella hat, which cost him student, was unharmed and
T
Beacon: 'I'm 6ft 4ins, so I was the tallest thing in the field and the lightning probably would have hit me no matter what, so the fact the hat took the brunt of it probably saved me from being electrocuted,' said Mr Wilks
hey are struck by 'side flashes,' said Vladimir Rakov, electrical engineer and co-director of the University of Florida Lightning Research Group to Life's Little Mysteries. 'Lightning might strike a building near them, for example, and there's a side flash that jumps to them carrying a small fraction of the original lightning bolt's energy. In that case, they can survive and even walk away.' Significantly less powerful than direct strikes, side flashes do still convey a massive amount of energy. While it's extremely rare that someone survives a direct lightning strike, those who do have usually experienced a phenomena called the flashover effect. This is when the full lightning current doesn't flow through the human body, because bodies have an extremely high impedance,' Rakov said to the website. An electric arc will form from
the person's head to the ground, because their body essentially resists the flow of current. Rakov said this means most of the current will flow along that arc over the body surface and usually only 5 amps will flow through the person that has been struck. Five amps, is enough to power an electric heater, so it is a significant but usually a nonfatal amount of current.
Each year around hundreds of thousands of people across the world are struck by lightning, but they usually do not get hit directly.
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PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2012
Don’t forget your toothbrush... it may be a lifesaver G
oing to the dentist is a chore, and a necessity if we want to keep our own teeth. But there may be more broad-ranging benefits. Regular check ups, clean teeth and a healthy mouth could increase lifespan and lead to early diagnosis, treatment and prevention of a range of diseases from anaemia to heart problems. Experts are increasingly discovering links between gum disease – which affects half the population – and dozens of other illnesses. Studies are also showing that treating it can lead to improvements in many of the conditions. The British Dental Association’s scientific adviser, Professor Damien Walmsley, says: ‘The good news is that most cases of gum disease are treatable and, more importantly, preventable.’ Here, we outline the ways in which good oral hygiene – brushing teeth twice a day with fluoride toothpaste, restricting intake of sugary foods and drinks to mealtimes, stopping smoking and visiting the dentist once every two years (or more often if you have problems) – can boost overall health. H E A R T DISEASE AND STROKE Gum disease usually begins with a build-up of plaque, a sticky coating made up of food and bacteria that can lead to irritation of the gums, bleeding and gingivitis. Research at New York State University showed that treating periodontal disease
(swollen gums) with scaling and root planing and antibiotic gel significantly lowered the levels of C-reactive protein and fibrinogen, which are associated with a higher risk of heart disease. In a second study at Sydney Dental Hospital, dentists removed teeth from about 70 patients with advanced forms of gum disease and found a big drop in the levels of the same compounds associated with heart disease risk. One theory is that periodontal bacteria get into the bloodstream and travels to major organs to begin new infections. It has also been suggested that the bacteria causing gum disease could increase the rate at which arteries become blocked. There may be a similar risk with stroke. Research based on 9,000 adults tracked for 15 years found that women with antibodies to P. gingivalis, the organism most associated with periodontal disease, were twice as likely to have a stroke. HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE A report from cardiologists at the University of Athens says there is a link between chronic periodontitis and increases in blood-
Brushing teeth twice a day with fluoride toothpaste, and restricting intake of sugary foods and drinks to mealtimes can boost overall health pressure levels and hypertension (high blood pressure). LUNG DISEASE Links have been found between oral health and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, or COPD, a respiratory condition whose main cause is cigarettesmoking. According to the American Academy of Periodontology, oral and other bacteria can get into the lungs to cause frequent bouts of infection in patients with COPD. DIABETES Gum-disease rates have been found to be threefold higher in people with diabetes. A study by the U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Kidney Disease found a link between
severity of periodontal disease and mortality in diabetes patients. Researchers at Newcastle University say there is evidence of a two-way effect, with diabetes increasing the risk for periodontitis, and periodontal inflammation worsening bloodsugar control. PREMATURE BIRTH Researchers have found higher rates of premature babies among women with periodontal disease. Research at the University of Alabama is showing that gum infections trigger an increase in the levels of prostaglandin and other compounds that induce labour. The researchers were able to reduce premature birth by up to 84 per cent in women who received scaling and root planing when
Eating nuts can help stave off obesity, says study D
ieters often dismiss them because of their high fat content, but research suggests that snacking on nuts can help keep you slim. A study found that those who consumed varieties such as almonds, cashews and pistachios demonstrated a lower body weight, body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference compared to non-consumers. They were also at lower risk of developing heart disease, type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Experts are now recommending a daily intake of 1.5 ounces, or three tablespoons of nuts as part of a healthy diet. Lead researcher Carol O’Neil, from Louisiana State University,
men and women participating in the 1999-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES). Nut consumers were defined as those who ate more than one quarter of an ounce a day. Tree nut - almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamias, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios and walnuts consumption specifically, was associated with higher levels of good cholesterol and lower risk of chronic diseases including heart disease. In addition, it was also linked to a lower prevalence of four risk factors for metabolic syndrome: abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, high blood sugar levels and low good cholesterol levels.
Dr O’Neil adds: ‘Tree nuts should be an integral part of a healthy diet and encouraged by health professionals—especially registered dietitians.’ Maureen Ternus, executive director of the International Tree Nut Council Nutrition Research & Education Foundation (INC NREF), also congratulated the recent data. She said: ‘In light of these new data and the fact that the FDA has issued a qualified health claim for nuts and heart disease with a recommended intake of 1.5 ounces of nuts per day, we need to educate people about the importance of including tree nuts in the diet.’ Source: Dailymail.co.uk
they were less than 35 weeks pregnant. OSTEOPOROSIS In periodontitis, there is a loss of bone into which the teeth are rooted, and this, as well as loss of the soft-tissue attachment to the tooth, is a major cause of tooth loss in adults. It has been suggested that in some patients gum disease could be an early indicator of the bonethinning condition osteoporosis. EARLY DEATH Those with severe gum disease were twice as likely to die, of any cause, before the age of 64 than those with no disease, according to a study based on a nationally representative U.S. sample of 11,000 people aged over 30. Source: Dailymail.co.uk
PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2012
PAGE 37
Borno PDP scheming to reverse ANPP’s Supreme Court victory – Party chairman INTERVIEW
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he opposition PDP in Borno state has in recent times published some petitions against the ANPP over the 2011 governorship elections insisting that your party didn’t win the elections in fact, we learnt the party is going back to the Supreme Court to re-open the governorship case which the court had delivered judgment in favour of Governor Shettima in your party, the ANPP back in February this year, what is your take on the twist? Thank you so much for this great opportunity to speak. First of all, let me reaffirm that Governor Kashim Shettima of the ANPP won the 2011 elections in a free, fair and credible elections. At least the PDP men themselves agreed that elections were held in Borno but because some of them are very naïve they claimed that in the areas or local government areas where the candidate of the PDP, our elder brother, Mohammed Goni won the elections by defeating the ANPP, the elections there were credible and should stand but in areas where they lost, which unfortunately for them made up for the ANPP, elections there were not credible whereas the elections in areas where the PDP won and the areas where the ANPP won were all conducted by the same INEC officials they are condemning, the same INEC that declared PDP winner of two Senate seats in Borno Central and Borno South, so they are just saying what doesn’t make sense at all. Regarding their return to the Supreme Court, I think they are doing it for three main purposes, the PDP is not on ground in Borno and they have never been, they operate from Abuja while the governor here is a grass roots man, relates with the people come rain or sunshine, the ANPP’s structure is fully on ground in Borno and this means the party will always win the heart of the masses especially with goal oriented and kind hearted governor that virtually everybody in Borno likes including sensible key leaders of the PDP, they admire Kashim so much, they say it… (cut in) … You earlier said the PDP is returning to the court for three purposes, what are these purposes and then the PDP is claiming that 5 judges instead of seven, constituted the panel that tried the Borno matter?
Chairman of the ruling All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP, in Borno state, Alhaji Mala Atuman, is one of the frontline politicians in the state. In an interactive session with newsmen recently in Abuja, the ANPP chairman decried what he called ‘desperate fresh moves by some persons in Borno PDP’ concerning the state’s governorship seat which was earlier decided by the Supreme Court in favour of Governor Kashim Shettima of the ANPP on February 17, 2012. Our man, Tobias Lengnaan was there. Excerpts: I was coming back to the three purposes, the fact is that the PDP is chasing shadows because many cases were tried by fiveman panel of judges in the Supreme Court even landmark cases were determined by a panel of five judges, PDP in Borno has other motives. The number one thing is that some people in the PDP in Borno are just too desperate for power because they shot themselves in the foot. They are making new desperate from what we gathered, they have been going to Aso Rock to mount serious pressures on the President and the Vice President to interfere with the case, so in order to achieve that, they need to be in the court no matter how unreasonable their basis may be, all they want is for the President to abuse his powers and manipulate the Supreme Court so that the court will just bring in the PDP, they don’t even want election because they know that insha Allah the ANPP with a credible and likeable person like His Excellency, Kashim Shettima, will win the elections 100 times over and over again. So, they are mounting extreme pressure on the President, there was even a time I learnt they thought of going to the international court of justice in Hague because of desperation as if Nigeria has no sovereign laws over political matters. But like our governor, Kashim Shettima has always told us whenever we are reviewing issues like this even before the Supreme Court gave us victory on 17 th of February, Kashim always say that he has confidence in the judges of the supreme court and the judiciary as a whole, he
Alhaji Mala Atuman knows that the judges consider their integrity as paramount which they displayed to us in February and the governor also tell us that he knows that the President and the Vice President will never succumb to pressures to interfere with the judiciary especially the supreme court, mind you the presidency was under the same pressure before the Supreme Court ruling in February but obviously the Presidency as well as the judges resisted the pressures which was why justice was rightly delivered in our favour and we believe this matter is over…
“
the supreme court is an institution whenever they deliver judgment, that judgment become laws that are used for reference and they can only be reversed by laws enacted by the national assembly
You said the matter is over but what about the fresh case? Like is explained earlier, there is no issue here, the supreme court is an institution whenever they deliver judgment, that judgment become laws that are used for reference and they can only be reversed by laws enacted by the national assembly. From the time the Supreme Court ruled on our matter, over five cases on governorship and other elective political offices were determined with Supreme Court judgment on our case mainly used as reference so is the PDP in Borno saying that all these cases should no longer be valid? Where do they want the courts to start? By asking the justices of the Supreme Court to reverse their own judgment, I think they just want to insult the collective integrity of the respected jurists and the highest court of the land because they want the judges to indict themselves, so that by the time they reverse themselves it will look like they don’t know what they are doing because if the supreme court can just afford to
make a mistake and decide on the matter in error like the PDP men in Borno want to mislead people to believe then there is a problem but we know there is no problem insha Allah. The PDP problem in Borno is that they shot their foot because the state has no representation even in the national exco of the PDP. About five of them came out to contest the seat of national chairman, no one was ready to step down for the other because of their usual ‘I too know’ attitude so at the end of the day, the two front runners where from PDP controlled states of Bauchi and Adamawa and ofcourse Adamawa got it, the PDP in Borno has nothing like it doesn’t deserve to have, so their focus is to get the governorship by hook or crook which they will never get insha Allah. Look at even the federal executive council, Borno as one of five states with highest population, with our proximity to three boarder countries, the state was former capital of the northeast, so much economic activities yet we couldn’t get a senior minister because of the division in the PDP men of wisdom in quote, ideally the state should have a senior minister of a key sector like Education, Agriculture, Works, Housing, Environment or so but we ended up having a state minister and we all know that a state minister can hardly enjoy the full political will to influence things in a setting like ours because whatever he is doing has to be first supported by the senior minister before it can cross to the executive council or president and the senior minister has interest in getting attention to his own state in addition to other parts of the country because he is there because of his state. This situation where Borno has lost out in the federal power sharing is caused by in fights between the PDP men. Remember there was a time Borno had the office of SGF under Yaradua, the state had the office of minister of works under President Jonathan but through intense fights amongst the PDP men in
Contiuned on page 39
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PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2012
PDP Chieftain calls for LG chairmanship aspirant to focus on agriculture massive establishment of From Sam Egwu, Lokoja agenda for the area. stem the orgy of violence distribution of farm inputs such as fertilizers, Uduh averred that for in the region. skills acquisition centres s the race to local the nation to overcome The chairmanship improved seedlings and
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PDP Chieftain in Kano state, Alhaji Gambo Dan-Pass, has called for massive establishment of skills acquisition centres to address the high level of unemployment in the country. Dan-Pass gave the suggestion in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kano. According to him, empowering the youths through skills acquisition and training programmes would also reduce the current security challenges. “Unless and until government at all levels realise the importance of youth empowerment, the country will continue to experience multi-faceted problems. “There is no way any country can achieve greatness if its youth, who constitute a larger percentage of the population, are not contributing to its economic growth.” He commended the Kano State Government for initiating various programmes aimed at empowering women and youths and called on other state governments to emulate it.
Dan-pass, who holds the traditional title of ‘Dan-saran Kano’, urged state governments in the country to work with the traditional institutions in the quest to tackle insecurity in their respective states. “Before now, traditional rulers played a significant role in ensuring security in their domain; visitors must report to Ward or Village Head before they could be allowed to stay in a place.” (NAN).
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g o v e r n m e n t councils in Kogi state hots up an aspirant has identified agriculture and human capital development as the bedrock for rapid transformation of the nation. Hon Isaiah Yusuf Uduh, an aspirant for the chairmanship of Omala Local government council, stated this yesterday while briefing newsmen in Lokoja on his
her security challenges, emphasis should be given to agriculture and agro allied industries to engage the teaming youths of the country. He added that the issue of Boko Haram has become a national embarrassment saying that President Goodluck Jonathan should intensify human d e v e l o p m e n t programmes, especially in the North in order to
aspirant noted that his priority for the people of Omala local government area is to invest massively in agriculture, stressing that with the vast arable land in the area the people have no need to be poor. To key into the transformation agenda of the federal government through agriculture, he maintained that his administration would assist farmers in the
insecticides even as the cultivation of cotton, cassava, beniseed, yams and Jathropha, a feed stock for the newly extablished biodiesel refinery in the state shall be a priority. He however urged the state governor, Captain Idris Wada, to create a level playing field for the aspirants to enable the people to elect candidates of their choice during the LG polls.
NOA to introduce e-polling information collation process D irector-General, N a t i o n a l Orientation Agency (NOA) Mr Mike Omeri said yesterday in Abuja that the agency would introduce an electronic information collation system to enable Nigerians to express themselves about governance and developmental issues. Omeri said at a forum
of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the system would entail voting on government's programmes and peoples' aspirations, using television promptings. He told NAN that it would equally facilitate exchange of information between the government and the citizens on developmental issues and activities.
He said the information collation system, called e-polling, would be of particular interest and use for people in the rural areas as it would create a platform for them to participate actively in the communication channel that would be created between the government and the people. Omeri said issues and programmes germane to development would be displayed on television screens and viewers would be requested to vote either in support or against the
issue. The NOA, he said, would then collate the voting result and use same as a guide in advising the government or the people themselves. “We are going to have e-polling arrangement; every morning we put a number on the television screen and people will be asked to vote on specific government policies, programmes and activities. ``And in fact even if there are not existing programmes, policies and activities, we'll ask people
to vote suggesting what they think government should do for them. ``Because this government wants to be a d e m a n d - d r i v e n government; that is the essence of the t r a n s f o r m a t i o n programme that President Jonathan is undertaking. ``So in the next one or two weeks specifically we will start the e-polling real time information collection from the people to enhance our `Pulse of the Nation' report.'' (NAN)
Lagos CNPP pleads with doctors on strike From Ayodele Samuel, Lagos
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he Lagos state Chapter of The Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) have expressed grieve concerns over the three day warning strike being embarked upon by Doctors in the state. Speaking through a statement by the CNPP Chairman, Akinola Obadia yesterday, CNPP said “without prejudice to the right of the concerned doctors to seek a better welfare package, we wish to warn against any act that could seriously jeopardise and threaten the precious lives and health of our people, especially those whose state of health are in great danger at the moment. We totally condemn the strike actions in its entirety.” According to them, the medical profession is the first and foremost humanitarian calling which ethically does not allow or give room for incessant strikes at the least provocation. They said whatever grouse
they may have with the government on the implementation of CONMESS and taxation of doctors must be weighed against the precious, irreplaceable lives that may be and will definitely be scuttled by their strike action. The moral imperative of their noble and humanitarian calling is to save lives. They also appeal to the doctors to resist the temptation of being unduly influenced or incited to strike action by selfish politicians with the motive of taking political advantage of the situation. The Lagos State CNPP, are of the humble view that the Administration of Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN) is enlightened and reasonable enough to listen to genuine and reasonable demands of the doctors, Lagos State being the first state of the Federation to implement the Federal Government negotiated Consolidated Medical
Salary Structure (CONMESS). They maintained that the Government has given a public assurance to perfect whatever error may be involved in its implementation. According to them, “we repeat that neither personal interests nor political motivation should be allowed to hold sway in this grave circumstance. “We in the CNPP are great advocates of good remuneration for our doctors who are colabourers with God to save lives and relief pains but we strongly appeal to them to shun the method of going on strike to achieve better conditions of service considering their humanitarian and sworn moral obligation to protect and save lives. We therefore wish to appeal to our noble doctors to shelve the strike action, either warning or otherwise, and resume negotiation with the government immediately. We cannot afford to toy with the lives of our people.”
PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2012
Ignore politicians who fail to perform, Kogi people told From Sam Egwu, Lokoja
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gainst the backdrop of absolute nonperformance of political office holders from the Eastern flank of Kogi state while in office,the Igala Cultural and D e v e l o p m e n t Association,ICDA, Lokoja branch, has called on the electorate to reject some of the non-performing legislators at both the national and state levels in future elections to avoid a repeat of the present predicament facing the zone. The Lokoja branch Chairman of the association, Honourable Mathew Ajodo, who stated this yesterday in Lokoja at the annual festival of the association, lamented that the people of the zone have suffered untold neglect from their elected representatives for years. The former councillor said Igalaland, which constituted the majority in the state population, has been greatly under-developed since the creation of the state, despite the fact that Igala people have been at the helm of the affairs. He said until the people of the state particularly the eastern senatorial district
decide to vote with their conscience and ignore moneybag politicians,the development which they are yearning for will continue to elude them. The tribal activist equally called on political appointees from the area to emulate their counterparts from the two other districts (Kogi West and Central), who have immensely attracted federal presence to their various constituencies through robust debate on the floor of house as well as on national issues. Earlier, the state governor who was represented by the state Security Adviser,Rtd,Commodore Martins Onekutu, congratulated the bold initiatives of Igala residents in Lokoja for coming together to promote unity in a diverse setting like the state. The governor while calling on all and sundry to support his administration, charged the people to be law abiding at all times, saying, “We are peace loving people where ever we find ourselves and you are enjoined to continue to leave in peace with our brothers and sisters as we are known for since the time of Kabba Province”.
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ACN to PDP: Stop using religion to destabilize the South-west By Tobias Lengnan Dapam
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he Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has raised an alarm alleging that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was playing a religious card in its desperate attempt to destabilize the South-west, warning that the consequences of such a misadventure would be too grave for the nation. ACN in a statement issued yesterday in Lagos by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the concocted accusations against Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola, that he was trying to Islamize the state and also engineer secession, were part of the PDP's grand plan to use religion as a destabilizing force in the South-west in particular and the whole country. It said the fact that the PDP desperadoes and their collaborators in the security services could even try to link Governor Aregbesola with Boko Haram was an indication of how low they were willing to sink just to carry out their nefarious plot. The party also expressed surprise that in its desperation, the PDP ensured that its collaborators in the security services - in routing their imaginary security report - bypassed the normal channel of communication on national security issues. ''The South-west as a region does not have a history of religious
Chief Bisi Akande
Alhaji Bamanga Tukuru
intolerance as, in most families; adherents of the various faith have co-existed peacefully through the ages. It is therefore curious that a party that prides itself as pan-Nigeria will seek to end the age-long religious tolerance in this region just for political expediency,'' the party said. ACN further said any keen observer of the way the PDPcontrolled federal government has handled the Boko Haram crisis will not be too surprised that the party's goons in the South-west, backed by their clueless bosses at the federal level, are resorting to religion in their inordinate quest to 'recapture' the region they so mindlessly plundered in their first coming. ''The Boko Haram crisis has become the meal ticket for the PDP
and its chop-I-chop members, what with the huge chunk (about a quarter of the 2012 budget) allocated to 'combating' it. It is also the party's trump card for maintaining a stranglehold on the nation; hence its flame must be kept aglow at all costs – human or material. his eyes firmly set on another mandate even when he has not justified the current one, he and his party believe that his surest ticket to another mandate is to keep the flame of Boko Haram burning, and continue misinforming the international community that the crisis is rooted in religion, rather than in years of irresponsible governance, the type of which the PDP has foisted on Nigeria since 1999”, ACN said.
2015: CPC cheiftain warns party against “hasty zoning”
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former CPC governorship candidate in Niger, Alhaji Ibrahim Shettima has warned the party against hasty zoning of elective positions in the state. Shettima said the call became necessary to protect the fortunes of the party between now and the 2015 general elections.
“Zoning at this point in time will amount to indecent haste capable of causing disharmony at a time that calls for cohesion”, he said at the party’s stakeholders meeting in Minna on Sunday. He called for aggressive membership drive in line with the party’s renewal agenda. Shettima urged the party
members in the National and State Assemblies to fulfil their campaign promises, so as to stay connected to the electorate. The CPC Chieftain said political parties in the country must join hands to tackle the rampart cases of electoral malpractice and ensure that INEC performs its constitutional duties effectively.
He challenged the party, which he said was the main opposition party in Niger, to provide credible alternative policies that would drive the state’s growth and development. The former candidate advised Gov. Babangida Aliyu to ensure administrative and financial independence of local government
councils in line with Nigeria’s constitution. The Chairman of the party in the state, Alhaji Umar Shuaibu told the stakeholders that the renewal drive was to ensure the success of the party in the 2015 elections, “as Nigerians are tired of PDP government policies and programmes”. (NAN)
Borno PDP scheming to reverse ANPP’s Supreme Court victory – Party chairman Contiuned from page 37 Borno, working against each other the state lost all these powerful seats even though I
Governor Kashim Shettima
like the current state minister, he was even at a flagging off ceremony for polio torch in Maiduguri about two weeks ago in solidarity with the state
government even when it was not his ministry’s event, I believe he is also impressed by Governor Kashim’s focus so far. You earlier said the PDP was acting for 3 main reasons… (cuts in) I explained two, first they want to use their second coming so that the pressures they are mounting on the President can have room for the Presidency to use which will not work, they are desperate because they lost the national chairmanship to Adamawa and because they put all their eggs in one heavily punched basket, they have not even an ex officio seat. Secondly, they want to insult the integrity of the supreme court judges but the third one is that they are trying to cause intense instability in Borno. They have seen how the governor is inspecting on going projects, they have been reading papers and watching NTA network, they have seen him brought in Germans currently working aiming at generating 20 megawatts of solar electricity,
they have seen Egyptian agricultural experts coming to Borno as follow up to the governor’s trip there which they thought was not meaningful but now the Egyptians want to set up a vehicle assembling plant and supply agro machinery, they have seen him creating employment for hundreds of graduates and thousands of skilled persons, they have seen him driving Borno back to agriculture through partnerships with Songhai farms in Benin Republic and other establishments in Thailand and Egypt to revive rice milling, irrigation, fish farming and general mechanized agriculture so they want to divert the governor’s attention with the new case so that he doesn’t achieve anything thinking that will make them relevant in 2015. The fact is that some of these PDP men are serious enemies of Borno, they do not want progress and stability at all other wise, any meaningful
Borno person should be thinking about peace and stability of progress now and not political litigations more especially when we all know that insha Allah, the case has already been decided since February and from that time, the governor has settled and people are seeing aggressive developments springing up. So, I join well meaning Nigerians to call on the President and the Vice President to ignore these desperate people that don’t even mean well for his government because they are the same people that will leak it out boastfully that he influenced things in their favour and rubbish him, above all, the supreme court judges should maintain their integrity like we know they will always do so that they remain ideal reference in our democratic experiments. I call on Nigerians to join in praying for peace, stability and progress of Borno and all Nigeria. These are what we want now more than ever before and not evil political machinations by few evils
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PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2012
Olubolade’s governorship ambition is destroying Ekiti PDP – Group warns S/South was his desperation to win the "The immediate past National March 18, 2012, thus stakeholders From Adesoji Oyinlola, Lagos itparty governorship ticket that Vice Chairman (Southwest), rendering the congress invalid. pressure group in the Peoples made him teamed up with people, Alhaji Tajudeen Oladipo even "This same inordinate demand fiscal ADemocratic Party (PDP), Ekiti who were not members of the PDP caused an advert to be placed in ambition made Olubolade to state, the Ekiti Patriots (TEP) has yet. the Nigerian Tribune where it flout the zoning guidelines of the warned that unless the Minister federalism In a release issued yesterday was stated clearly that Fayose was party and also supported for Police Affairs, Navy Capt Caleb By Lawrence Olaoye
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takeholders from the South-South geo-political zone of the country, including the region’s governors, members of the National Assembly as well as House of Assemblies Speakers from the zone yesterday advocated for introduction of fiscal federalism in the country. This was made public a communiqué issued after a day summit by the stakeholders in Uyo yesterday. The stakeholders held that enthroning the regime of fiscal federalism would enable every state of the federation to control its resources and develop in accordance to its capacity. The communiqué read by the governor of Cross River state who is also the chairman of the South-South Governors’ Forum urged the nation and the states to focus on agriculture which allows all states to contribute significantly to the national purse rather than the current overdependence on oil from South-South. On the issue of revenue allocation, the Forum faulted the attempts by some governors in the Northern part of the country to link insecurity in the country to the current revenue sharing formula insisting that the call for review in the sharing formula was misplaced. The meeting questioned the rationale of not exploiting other mineral deposits in different parts of the country while depleting the oil and gas reserves of the South-South. The Forum equally noted that the delay in the [passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill into law has impacted negatively on Bayelsa, Riveers, Akwa-Ibom Cross River, Edo and Delta (BRACED) states. The stakeholders noted the efforts of the President Goodluck Jonathan’s government to curtail the state of the nation’s insecurity even as it appealed to the aggrieved in some parts of the country to seek constitutional redress to their grievances rather than embark on destroying innecent lives and properties. Explaining the purpose of the meeting, both the Chairman of the Forum, Senator Imoke and the host Governor, Chief Godswill Akpabio said it was for the leaders of the SouthSouth to come together to deliberate on how to pull the huge resources of the zone to transform the region. The meeting was attended by the Governors of Bayelsa state, Henry Seriake Dickson, Akwa Ibom state Governor, Chief Godswill Akpabio, Cross River State Governor, Senator Liyel Imoke, Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, Delta State, Emmanuel Uduaghan and the Rivers state Deputy Governor, Engr. Tele Ikuru who represented the state Governor, Rotimi Ameachi, Senate Leader Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, The Minister for Tourism, Chief Edem Duke as well as south-south Legislators in the National Assembly and the Speakers of the State Houses of Assembly.
Olubolade is called to order over his gubernatorial ambition, there will be no peace in the party, insisting that the party risks total collapse. TEP, which appealed to President Goodluck Jonathan and other well meaning leaders of the PDP to call Olubolade to order, said
and signed by the group Coordinator, Chief Adewale Ogundele and Director of Publicity, Comrade Kola Akeju, TEP said "by directives from both the State Working Committee (SWC) and Zonal Executive Council of the party, former governor, Ayodele Fayose is not a member of the PDP yet.
yet to be admitted into the party. "However, because of his desperate bid to hijack the party to pave way for his emergence as the governorship candidate in 2014, Olubolade flouted the party's directives by allowing Fayose and other members of the Labour Party (LP) to take part in the botched congress of
L-R: Senate Leader, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, Deputy Senate President Ike Ekwaramadu, and Chairman, Senate Committee on Aviation, Senator Hope Uzodima, during a public hearing on violation of aviation laws and practices by foreign airlines in Nigeria, at the National Assembly, yesterday in Abuja. Photo: Mahmud Isa
members of LP that are yet to be admitted into the PDP as members of his own SWC of the party in Ekiti state. "Also, it is worrisome that the same Olubolade, who during the Ekiti Central Constituency II House of Representatives byelection was at his Ipoti-Ekiti country home, eating pounded yam with Governor Kayode Fayemi could muster so much resources and security presence during the party congress. "For instance, if half of the millions of naira Olubolade deployed into buying delegates and falsifying delegate lists during the party congress and the security personnel that invaded the congress venue were made available during the byelection, the story would have been different. "But the minister in his selfish agenda to remain the only one in high political office in the party choose to be eating pounded yam with Fayemi when votes were being manipulated by Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) people and even votes belonging to the PDP were being destroyed by the party (ACN) thugs. "It has therefore become necessary that Mr President and other leaders of our party, especially in the Southwest appeal to Olubolade to face his job as the minister of police affairs, and allow the PDP in Ekiti state to grow by having all aspirants work together to build the party."
PDP aligns with FG’s policy on appointments
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he Peoples` Democratic Party (PDP) said on Monday that it would join forces the Federal Government to ensure the return of merit as a major criterion for appointment into government offices. The party stated this in a statement issued in Abuja by its National Publicity Secretary Olisa Metuh. The statement said that the party shared completely the vision of President Goodluck Jonathan in removing favouritism in job placement in the country. It hailed and described the development as a critical step in government’s transformation programme. It noted that the recent declaration by Jonathan that merit rather than favouritism would henceforth determine appointments into federal government positions was shared by the party. It described ``as an arrow straight in the heart of corruption’’ the revelation by the President that
some heads of government agencies caught in budget inflation would be relieved of their positions. The statement commended the decision and said “the move is an arrow straight in the portal vein of the monster of corruption’’. It said that the decision tallied with the multi- pronged approach that had been adopted by the PDP new leadership which it had been advocating. ``We urge the President to go beyond the dismissal of these bad eggs to bringing them and their accomplices in other arms of government to book. He that must be corrupt must bear the full consequences of corruption,” the statement added. It noted that the deliberate inflation of budgets by ministries, departments and agencies of government in the past had been a major drain on the nation`s resources. It further stressed that the era where the nation`s budgets was to satisfy the greed of unpatriotic few must be stopped.
The statement commended the President; `` for his courage in frontally tackling national challenges ``without minding whose ox is gored’’. It said that Jonathan`s recent pronouncement; `` has left no one in doubt of his political will as well as high content value of his transformation road map’’. It added that the “the faithfulness of the President to his campaign promises has stunned and thrown opposition camp into confusion and disarray’’. This, it said, was the reason for the current criticisms which it noted lacked deep reflection. The statement said that “even though government`s transformation train has just left the station, the pace, tempo and result delivery, not withstanding well rehearsed distractions have put the opposition to shame’’. It said that Jonathan deserved the commendation of Nigerians for his giant strides in the recent past. ``Just in the last one week,
he commissioned the first phase of hundreds of the Almajiri Model Schools in Sokoto as part of his campaign promises.'' He also commenced the empowerment of successful beneficiaries of the Youth Enterprise with Innovation (YouWin)- a job creation scheme. ``In the same week, he signed 2012 budget and therein made a definitive declaration on the redefinition of our planning and budgetary system,'' the statement said. It, however, noted that the support of clergymen and various stakeholders was critical in ensuring the actualisation of Jonathan’s transformation agenda. “For our transformation programme to succeed, the President must be assisted by competent acolytes who not only share in his vision of development but have the capacity to help translate this vision into reality for the good of the people,” the statement said (NAN).
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NFF to inaugurate subcommittees tomorrow
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he Nigeria Football Federation will tomorrow inaugurate two standing committees and two ad-hoc committees. According to a release yesterday, the football federation’s president Aminu Maigari, will inaugurate the committees to formally set off for the task onn hand. The standing committees are the Organizing Committee and the Media & Publicity Committee, while the ad-hoc committees are the Committee on Roadmap for Sustainable Development and the Committee on Reconciliation. NFF’s 1st Vice President,
Aminu Maigari, NFF president
...Unveils Ikhana as Super Falcons’ Head Coach
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ormer U-23 National Team Head Coach, Kadiri Ikhana (MON) will be unveiled as Head Coach of the Senior Women National Team, nicknamed Super Falcons, on Wednesday. Ikhana’s appointment as Head Coach of the Super Falcons was ratified by the NFF Executive Committee at its emergency meeting in Abuja on Wednesday, March 28. The 1980 African Cup of Nations winner will be on a four-year contract. The Falcons remain Africa’s strongest team, with six wins out of seven African Women Championships since 1998, and having represented the continent in all FIFA Women’s World Cup since 1991, and at the Olympic Games in 2000, 2004 and 2008. With the Falcons’ strangely failing to qualify for the 2012 Olympic Games in London, after a penalty shoot-out defeat by Cameroon, Ikhana has a job to turn around the fortunes of the team and ensure that Nigeria not only qualifies for the World Cup, but starts to make appreciable impact at all global tournaments.
Chief Michael Okeke Umeh, a former Super Eagles’ Team Manager, is the Chairman of the Organizing Committee, which has the pioneer Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Premier League, Mallam Salihu Abubakar as Vice Chairman. The members are former Leventis United FC supremo Mr. John Mastoroudes, former NFF Executive Committee member Alhaji Abubakar Ladan, Alhaji Maigari Joji and Barrister Jude Obikwelu. The secretary is Dr. Sanusi Mohammed, NFF’s Director of Competitions. High Chief Emeka Inyama is the Chairman of the Media & Publicity Committee, while the members include Mr. Ibikunle Solaja, Ade Ojeikere, Mallam Ismaila Lere, Mr. Joseph Ighile and Mallam Yakubu Ibn Mohammed. NFF’s Chief Media Officer, Mr. Ademola Olajire, is the secretary. Heading the ad-hoc Committee on Roadmap for Sustainable Development of Nigeria Football is former NFF General Secretary, Hon. Sani Ahmed Toro. Others are Shehu Dikko, Alhaji Mumuni Alao, Onochie Anibeze and Mr. Simeon Ikya as members, while former NFF Head of International, Mr. Charles Ojugbana is secretary. The ad-hoc Committee on Reconciliation is headed by High Chief Emeka Inyama, with NFF Executive Committee members Barrister Olaleye Adepoju, Chief Felix AnyansiAgwu and Honourable Suleiman Yahaya-Kwande as members. The secretary is Mr. Ademola Olajire.
Blessing Okagbare
Chief Patrick Ekeji, DG, NSC
London 2012: Team Nigeria to hit Games Village July 18
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he Nigerian contingent to the 2012 Olympic Games in London will move into the Olympic Games Village on July 18, an official of the National Sports Commission (NSC) said yesterday in Abuja. Alhassan Yakmut, who is the Chairman of the Ministerial Advisory and Coordinating Committee for the 2012 Games, revealed that the contingent, which is to camp first in Surrey, will arrive in the Games Village just after the opening ceremony. “Our contingent will move into the Olympic Village from their pre-Games Surrey camp by the evening of July 18. This is about 24 hours after the official opening of the village. “But more than anything, this will give Nigerian athletes about nine days to familiarise themselves with the village ahead of the Games’ commencement on July 27,” he said. The Summer Olympic Games is scheduled to hold from July 27 to Aug. 12 and the Paralympic Games from Aug. 29 to Sept. 9, both in London. However, some activities in
such events as men and women football and archery would be holding as from July 25. Yakmut said the Nigerian contingent was being expected to arrive in Surrey in batches from the various off-shore camps which had already opened for the athletes at the moment. “The Nigerian contingent will move to the Olympic Village in a batch, but movement to the Surrey camp cannot be the same as many members of the contingent all have different schedules. “For example, the athletics camp has already opened in Atlanta, U.S,” Yakmut, who is also the Deputy Director, NSC’s Federations and Elite Athletes Development (FEAD) Department, said. “The other camps in Busan, South Korea for taekwondoists and all the special sports and Kohl in Germany for the boxers and some field events in paraathletics will open in due course. “The basketball team will be the last to arrive the Surrey camp if they qualify, as its own qualifying competition is to hold from July 2 to July 8 in
Venezuela, and the team is being expected to join the camp immediately after. “But there are no fears about when they will all arrive in the Surrey camp and the Olympic Village. Our committee has taken care of all the necessary details,” he said. The committee chairman disclosed that the commission had also perfected plans about when to hand over the Nigerian contingent to the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC). “What obtains is that the contingent should be handed over to the NOC not more than 21 days to the Olympic Games. But we at the National Sports Commission (NSC) plans to hand the contingent over to the NOC as soon as possible. “We are thinking of doing so between July 10 and July 12, and that’s about 18 days or less to the Games. “But, officially, the contingent is to be handed over to the NOC at a proper ceremony at a date to be chosen by the NSC leadership and approved by the government,” he said.
NIPOGA: Bamalli Polytechnic, Zaria wins four gold medals in taekwondo
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he Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic, Zaria, has won the taekwondo event at the ongoing NIPOGA in Ede, Osun, with four gold, one silver and three bronze medals. The results sheet made available yesterday showed the Federal Polytechnic, AdoEkiti, placed second place with three gold, one silver and two bronze medals, while the third place went to the Federal Polytechnic, Nekede,that had two gold and five silver. The result sheet was signed by the taekwondo chairperson, Mrs Victoria Bedeteri. Meanwhile, Lagos State
Polytechnic has qualified for the second round of the male football competition following the team’s 3-1 defeat of the Kaduna Polytechnic yesterday. Ajayi Oluwasegun got a hattrick in the second, 23 rd and 49 th minutes of play while Jamiu Yusuf scored the only goal for KADPOLY in the 51th minute. LASPOTECH had in its first match defeated Nuhu Bamali Polytechnic with 1-0 and played a goalless match with the host school Federal Polytechnic Ede in the second match. The LASPOTECH coach, Joseph Ogunbowale,
attributed the victory of his team to hard work and discipline, adding that he was confident that his team would reach the final. In the women’s football match, Yaba College of Technology, Lagos, defeated Plateau Polytechnic by 4-0 with a hat-trick by Temitope Oyekunle being the highlight of yesterday’s match. She had the hat-trick in the 43 rd, 54 th and 65 th minutes of the match while Daye Okotie scored the fourth goal in the 47th minute. The Yaba College of Technology in their first match on Friday defeated Federal Polytechnic Bauchi5-
0 and are expected to meet Federal Polytechnic Ado-Ekiti on Wednesday in their third match. The Federal Polytechnic Bauchi women’s handball team defeated Kogi State Polytechnic by 33-9 while the Auchi Polytechnic men’s handball team defeated the Nuhu Bamali Polytechnic 26-25. In basketball, Kaduna Polytechnic women’s team defeated Yaba College of Technology by 24 points to 22 points while LASPOTECH defeated the host team by 18 points to 16 points. No fewer than 43 institutions are participating in the one week sports event.
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amuel Emehelu, a former member of the board of the Nigeria Golf Federation (NGF), has called for the involvement of the Professional Golf Association (PGA) in nurturing the sport in the country. Emehelu said yesterday that such a collaborative initiative would help to popularise the sport. He said that the key step to achieving this objective was for sponsors to identify with open championships that would expose the country’s potentialities in the development of the sport. The former board member reiterated fact thatBasketball emphasis he the Nigeria shouldFederation continue to be on the grass (NBBF) roots yesterday where emerging in Abuja talents said it could rise through the amateur would open its senior male cadre and the national team possibly camp this professional level. weekend to in place of the “Our involvement in golf cancelled All Stars Weekend investment has always been Game. about amateur golfpresident, to the The federation’s detriment of the professional Tijjani Umar, said that the arm of theopening sport. camp’s has been “Nigerian golf designed to fit intohas the always NBBF being towards board’s programmesustaining for the amateur team. golf which is not national terribly bad, but conflicts The 2012 All when Stars itWeekend with each other then it’s Game, a part of the 2011/2012 unacceptable,” the League golf DSTV Premier Basketball consultantwas said. calendar, earlier scheduled what 22 hisduring focus forWhen April asked 20 to April would be if he were to be in a the league’s mid-season break. position to implement “During our lastdecisions board that would foster the kind of meeting, it was decided that we scenario he utilise had our proposed, should rather money Emehelu said he would first on other programmes instead of embark on it a tour states of spending on of thetheAll Stars the federation to carry out an Game. assessment of thewhen available “Since 2010 we facilities on the ground. introduced it, we have been “I will so go much roundofthe to spending ourstate money promote the sport and possibly on the Game as the DSTV build a golf range at least get sponsorship money doesto not kids to practise and imbibe the cover it. rudiments of the “We then decided that game,” if none Emehelu said. He stressed the of our clubs offers to host and need to attract from underwrite its youngsters expenses or no a tender age andsponsor to make golf company or any comes facilities accessible them round to easily pick the bills, wetoshould as well as making the equipment just leave it out of our more affordable to purchase. programme. “Government should a “This is because we canbuild better small range like one holedisposal even if utilise the funds at our they can’t build ateams golf course; we as the national are there should start from attention somewhere at needing financial at all least,” the former NGF board times,” Umar said. member He saidsaid. the NBBF was already planning to open camp for the national team, known as the D’Tigers, ahead of the 2012 Olympic Games qualifying competition in Venezuela in July. “The federation has long realised the need for the team to
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PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2012
Ex-NGF board wants collaboration between amateur, professional golf
be in camp and this will be its first official camp and it is also going according to our schedule,” Umar said. He said the team’s first official camping exercise, which is scheduled for April 19 to April 21 in Lagos, would offer a better alternative to the All Stars Weekend Game for the players. “It is a pity we can’t hold the All Stars Weekend Game, but since most of the players to be at the game are the ones that will be in the national team camp, the players are not missing much. “Rather, the camping exercise will give them room to prepare for something bigger in the 2012 Olympics qualifiers. “This is because the next camp is scheduled for China in May when the team will go on a training tour and camping,” the NBBF president said.
Umar, however, gave assurance that the NBBF would not give up on the All Stars Weekend Game returning to the annual Premier Basketball League calendar. “We are not giving up on the game. What we want now is that since we will soon go into discussion with DSTV on a new contract for the league’s sponsorship, we need to ensure the game’s inclusion. “We have to put the game into part of our negotiations. We only put it in 2010 a year after the DSTV sponsorship started as a valueadded package. But now, we need it more and we will go for it,” he said. NAN reports that DSTV started its four-year sponsorship of the Nigerian Premier Basketball League in 2009, and the sponsorship package will end at the end of the 2011/2012 season.
All Stars Weekend Game gives way to national team camp
D’Tigres in action
100 teams expected at Abuja Motor Treasure Hunt, organisers say
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o fewer than 100 motor teams are expected to participate in the Abuja Motor Treasure Hunt, scheduled for April 22, an official said yesterday. The President of Automobile and Touring Club of Nigeria, Ishaku Bamaiyi, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that the event was a public safety programme. He said it was designed to educate motorists on safe driving as part of the club’s annual safety programmes. “Motor Treasure Hunt is a driving event on public roads to test the skills and ability of drivers to pay attention to detail.
This event has a lot to do with driving, hunting for treasures as well as creating awareness for road safety and it is intended to keep participants busy,” Bamaiyi said. The club president said the event involved the formation of teams of a minimum of two persons and not more than 4 persons, including the driver. “You have the driver who drives and the other person who is the navigator and gives directions and reads out the questions based on the map that was issued to the team. “In the event where you have more than two people in a team, the other person or persons can
assist by answering the questions,” he said. Bamaiyi said government agencies, such as the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) and or the Directorate of Vehicle Inspection (VIO) would be involved in the programme. “A map is given to teams after a brief address by the FRSC and or the VIO. Of course, the driver is expected to come with his or her car and team members depending on the number of people in the team,” he said. The Automobile and Touring Club president said the programme which would be the third edition since its inception in 2008, would offer many gains
to the Nigerian public. “We have realised the need to constantly educate Nigerians, and particularly the Abuja public on the needs for safe driving. This is what this event offers. “It offers to make people imbibe road safety skills and also be able to drive with their environment in their minds. “This is why we are bringing in the FRSC and VIO, and we hope that at the end of the day, the Nigerian driving public would have been better for it,” he said. The Motor Treasure Hunt is to take off in the afternoon of April 22 from AbujaCity Park and terminate at the same point.
Bolaji Abdullahi, Supervising Minister of Sports
PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2012
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Brazilian superstar, Ronaldo status’ as a lethal goal getter speak volumes: O Fenômeno’s as the all-time leading scorer in FIFA World Cup history, the proud owner of two FIFA World Cup winners’ medals, a three-time FIFA World Player and two-time Ballon d’Or winner. He overcome plenty of adversities in order to write his name large in the annals of world football, the prolific former front-man is currently a member of the Management Board of the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil Local Organising Committee (LOC). The man who plundered goals aplenty for the likes of PSV Eindhoven, Barcelona, Inter Milan and Real Madrid spoke to FIFA.com on issues including his glittering career, the pressure on today’s Seleção and their chances of success in 2014.
World Cup 2014: Brazil have the talents to be world champions again, says Ronaldo
aldo
r and
now
Coming back to the present day, which team do you like most at the moment? I’m Merengue and I really like the way Madrid are playing, but you can’t ignore Barcelona, who have a fantastic team. They may not be the most spectacular, but they make everything look so simple. Every single player in every area of the side knows what they have to do at any given time, then you’ve got their ability to keep hold of the ball and the way they patiently
Ron
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s part of the Brazil 2014 LOC, what are your expectations for the tournament? We’re very proud to be hosting the World Cup in Brazil. We’re going to have a great opportunity for growth, which is what’s most important for the population as a whole, because there’ll be huge investment in infrastructure, airports, motorways, hospitals and hotels. There’ll be a legacy that will remain for the rest of our lives, one that only a World Cup can provide. How ready do you think A Seleção are for the tournament? There’s been a generational overhaul in the national squad, which definitely isn’t playing its best football yet. And I think it’s going to take more time still for it to peak. But between now and 2014 there’s time to find a good level of consistency, competitiveness and become capable of being crowned champions. Neymar, Alexandre Pato and Ganso would appear to be the standout players of this new Brazilian generation. What’s your verdict on this trio? They’re three very young and very talented Brazilians who are shining for their clubs. I think Neymar is the most gifted and, at just 19 years of age, he’s already got incredible ability. He scores loads of goals and has won Brazil over. The international experience he had against Barcelona [in Santos’ 4-0 final defeat at the FIFA Club World Cup 2011] wasn’t a good one, but I’m sure it’ll have taught him a lot. Pato, for his part, has already proven his talent in Europe, while Ganso is also very good he just needs better luck with injuries. Do you think there’s still room for experienced performers such as Ronaldinho or Kaka? They’re important players, of course. In terms of their role out on the pitch, it’ll depend on their form and if they’re playing their best football once the World Cup comes around. But they’ve also got an important role off the pitch, and their experience will be vital in a squad of such young players. Where would you rank the current Brazil side in global terms? We’re not in the top three right now, but I do think we’re among the world’s top five national teams, even though we’re not on fire at the moment. Making changes is never easy and these new young players need time to mature. There’s no need to panic, they must be given time to get good results. If you had to pick out one player to tag as ‘the new Ronaldo’, who would it be? Leandro Damiao, from Internacional de Porto Alegre. He’s tall, strong, a very good goalscorer, a threat in the air and skilful with both feet. He’ll play a big part in 2014. Let’s look back at your own playing days. You played in Brazil, Spain and Italy, so where would you say are the fans most passionate? I think that they’re all football-mad countries, though they enjoy the game in different ways. In Brazil the stadiums are very old and in a lot of them the fans have to stand, and support their team by jumping up and down and breaking a sweat. Aside from the heat, it’s not as formal as in Europe and the atmosphere’s more passionate. In Europe, even though it’s colder, the spectators also really make their presence felt, particularly in big derbies, which are a great spectacle. Based on your own experience, how would you compare European and Brazilian club football? The European game continues to be faster, more competitive and harder-fought than in Brazil, where it’s still in our culture to play a slower and more controlled style of football. The game has changed everywhere and that’s something we’ve got to get to grips with. I think that the standard in Europe is better than anywhere else. However, I think that once the World Cup is over, and thanks to the new stadiums and improved infrastructure, this change will take place in Brazil too. Of all the teams you’ve played for, which have remained closest to your heart? I look back at my time at Real Madrid with a lot of affection, I think it was the best period of my career. I also really enjoyed it at Inter, I fell in love with the team and the city of Milan. But wherever I played I made a lot of friends and had a great time. Looking back at your early career, how important was it for you to travel to USA 1994 at just 17 years of age? It was very important. Seeing players of the calibre of Romario and Bebeto up close had a real impact on my future. I was able to learn from them, look out for the small details, how they trained, how they found their focus. Romario used to boss me about, getting me to fetch his boots and his coffee, as if I was a youth-team player! But he’d always treat me with respect, that was just the pecking order in the side. By France 1998 you had made a starting berth your own, though the team went on to lose in the Final against the hosts. What feelings does that experience stir in you? I’ve got very good memories of 1998. We had a spectacular World Cup until the Final, when we played really poorly against France. But I prefer to remember the atmosphere that day. I tried to play well in that match, we all did, but it’s very tough to play a World Cup Final against the host nation, particularly when (Zinedine) Zidane is enjoying an inspired evening. Later on when we were team-mates he’d wind me up about that, but of course I got my own back in 2002, when we won the title and they went home after the first round. Tell us more about your experiences at Korea/Japan 2002… I got injured and there were doubts as to whether I’d be ready in time. But as soon as I started playing our warm-up friendlies I knew we were going to have a great World Cup. We had a really top side, which was very solid, very united and ended up being very effective. That was the best Brazil team I played in; we had quality to spare in every area. Moreover, it’s my greatest memory, because you simply can’t describe what it’s like to win a World Cup.
work their way towards the opposition goal. The great job that [Pep] Guardiola’s done shines through: it’s one of the best teams I’ve seen in my 35 years on the planet. It hurts to say that, since I’m Madridista, but I still think we can pip them to some titles this year. Finally, which players would be included in your all-time Brazil XI? That’s a tough one, but I’d go with Taffarel; Cafu, Aldair, Lucio, Roberto Carlos; Junior, Zico, Rivelino; Pele, Romario and me, of course! It’s a very attacking team! Everyone would be bombing forward! (laughs)
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Making changes is never easy and these new young players need time to mature. There’s no need to panic, they must be given time to get good results.
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PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2012
Gelana becomes women fourth fastest Rotterham Marathoner
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iki Gelana became the fourth fastest woman of all time with a 2:18:58 victory at the 32nd edition of the ABN-AMRO Rotterdam Marathon to set up an Ehtiopian double following Yemane Tsegay Adhane’s victory in the men’s race in 2:04:48. The ABN-AMRO Rotterdam Marathon is an IAAF Silver Label Road Race. The 24-year-old Gelana clocked the fourth fastest personal best time ever run by a woman. It was her second win in a great Dutch marathon. Last year, on October 16, she won the Amsterdam Marathon in a then personal best of 2:22:08. In the weekend race, Gelana was in a class of her own after five kilometres as she led the pack five seconds ahead of compatriot Merima Hasen, who eventually finished third in 2:25:48. The Italian Valeria Straneo finished extremely strongly, the mother of two clocking 2:23:44 for second place, a personal best and a new national record. In the men version of the race, Adhane beat compatriot Getu Feleke into second place two second back, while the pre-race favourite Moses Mosop of Kenya finished third in 2:05:03. The two Ethiopians made their decisive move between 21 and 24 kilometres. Yemane Tsegay Adhane At the half way marker a rather big group which included the pace makers Geoffrey Kipsang, Jonathan Maiyo and John Mwangangi (all Kenya) led Getu Feleke, Yemane Tsegay, the Kenyans Sammy Kitwara, Moses Mosop, Peter Kirui, Stephen Kibet and Stephen Chemlany in 1:01:38, six seconds inside the halfway time of Patrick Makau’s intermediate time during his world record race (2:03:38) in Berlin last year. About four kilometres further (25 kms in 1:13:00) Feleke and Tsegay still paced by Kipsang had gained a gap of seven seconds on Mosop, Kibet, Kitwara and pace Mwangangi. The three leaders were at that point eighteen seconds faster the Makau’s World record split. At 30kms all the pace makers were out and Feleke and Tsegay working together perfectly passed 35 kilometres in 1:42:33 but had lost the chance for bettering the World record which Rotterdam hoped for as they were then seventeen seconds back on Makau’s split. Later the two Ethiopians said they never thought of a World record. “We went for a fast time,” said winner Tsegay through an interpreter. “Qualification for the Olympic Games in London is the most important thing.’’ At the 35 kilometres point Mosop was slightly struggling 25 seconds back. In between Kitwara and Tiki Gelana Kirui had left the race. Although Mosop tried to reduce the MEN distance between himself and the two 1. Yemane Tsegay Adhane ETH 2:04:48 PB Ethiopians he was still 23 seconds back on 2. Getu Feleke ETH 2:04:50 PB them - 1:58:19 to 3. Moses Mosop KEN 2:05:03 1:57.56 - at 40 4. Stephen Kibet KEN 2:08:05 PB kilometres. It was 5. Stephen Chemlany KEN 2:10:08 clear then that 6. Koen Raymaekers NED 2:10:35 PB Rotterdam after 7. Dylan Wykes CAN 2:10:47 PB many years would 8. Mariusz Gizynski POL 2:11:20 PB get a non-Kenyan winner. WOMEN In final kilometre Tsegay made his move. He opened a gap 1. Tiki Gelana ETH 2:18:58 NR PB of some twenty metres 2. Valeria Straneo ITA 2:23:44 NR PB and won in 2:04.48, 3. Merima Hasen ETH 2:25:48 the second fastest time 4. Miranda Boonstra NED 2:27:32 PB of the year behind 5. Lanni Marchant CAN 2:31:51 PB compatriot Ayele 6. Heleen Plaatzer NED 2:31:51 Correct PB Abshero (2:04:23), the winner of the 7. Krista Duchene CAN 2:32:06 PB Dubai Marathon on 27 8. Wilma Arizapana COL 2:34:11 PB January.
Yohan Blakes
Blake clocks 9.90, pairs Bolt to set new world relay time
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urrent 100m world best, Yohan Blakes showed flashes of what to expect at the London 2012 Olympic Games when dashed a sub-10 seconds at the UTech Classic on Saturday. The Jamaican, who had earlier combined with Olympic 100m and 200m champion Usain Bolt in a delectable relay race against top athletes, clocked 9. 90 seconds in a drizzling evening. As usual, Blake’s last 30 metres, usually being the most impressive, he was all alone after 60 metres and crossed the line in 9.90 seconds. Blake took two youngsters, Harvey, who did 10.10 and Sheldon Mitchell 10.18, with him to personal best times. Oshane Bailey, the 2010 National champion, was fourth, also in 10.18sec. After the race, Blake said the time was just a tip of the iceberg. “I am a bit ahead of schedule. I feel good knowing that I could run fast today, but given the condition I will have to work with it,” he said noting that he believes he could have gone faster if it wasn’t for the condition. Blake clinched the season’s opener after teaming up with Bolt for what many believe would be the hottest 4x100m relay before this summer’s Olympic Games. In the Racers Track Club vs MVP Track Club 4x100m, Bolt anchored Racers TC team to a world leading meet record at 4x100m of 37.82. Lead-off man Mario Forsythe, left behind Britain’s /MVP Dwain Chambers, before handing off to Blake, who never gave Michael Frater any chance to get back on the backstretch. Although Nesta Carter made up some ground on Kimmari Roach, MVP’s top man Asafa Powell was not going to catch Bolt running from behind, and it was no surprise when it ended the same with Racers in a world leading and meet record 37.82secs to MVP’s 38.27. Bolt believes top clashes like these, which had the small crowd on its feet the entire race, are good for the spectators. “It’s always good to run with each other, it’s always good for the crowd because they always come out to see a good meet, so it was good.” He commented on his first outing of the season. “It’s my first run, and I am happy, I got through it… It was a little bit chilly, because of the rain, but this is what we used to it Europe. I went out, just executed and I felt good.” Powell, who watched as Bolt collected the baton, said it was always going to be
hard beating Bolt from behind. “It was a good race. I knew if Usain got the stick in front of me it would be hard to catch him, so I wasn’t really trying too hard to catch him.” Powell said the baton changes weren’t the best and “I was expecting a lot more from the guys, but they did their best. I felt good coming down, I crossed the line healthy. I am still happy, I still have a lot of work to do.” Meanwhile, Rosemarie Whyte delivered the evening’s other world season leading mark, 51.13 to win the women’s 400m race. She beat Anneisha McLaughlin 52.49 and Stephenie McPherson 52.98. Former Jamaica national champion Oral Thompson of Swept Track Club, 45.95secs, was the only runner to dip under 45secs in the men’s 400m. Carter ran 20.48 in the men’s 200m to beat Antiguan Daniel Bailey, who was representing Racers Track Club, 20.60secs. Rushell Clayton of Mico University College ran a personal best 57.67secs to win the women’s 400m Hurdles while Jade Bailey of Barbados took the women’s 200m in 23.89. UTech’s O’Dayne Richards threw a meet record of 18.89m in the men’s Shot Put to beat GC Foster College’s Raymond Brown 18.40m.
Asafa Powell
PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2012
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PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2012
Bekele records year’s fastest 10km road race time
Knock outs galore in weekend of thrilling bouts D N
Albert Mensah
Miguel Soto
Tyson Fury
o fewer than half a dozen knock outs were recorded in almost about a 10 bouts fought last weekend in various places across the world. First, unbeaten Irish heavyweight, Tyson Fury, enhanced his credentials when he knocked out Martin Rogan in Belfast at the weekend. Fury knocked the 40-year-old Rogan down in the third round before finishing the bout with a body shot right at the bell in the fifth. With 13 knockouts in 18 professional fights, Fury should start looking for better opponents and more lucrative fights. Victory over Rogan, who dropped to 14-3; 7, gave Fury the Irish heavyweight title. On the same bill, middleweight Chris Eubank Jr stopped Paul Allison on the fourth round. Eubank, the son of a former British crowd pleaser by the same name, has won two of his three fights by knockout. Allison’s record now stands at 5-1-1, with 1 knockout. In Neuquen, Argentina, former welterweight champion Carlos Baldomir went another bridge too far when Billy Godoy beat the 40-year-old veteran on points over ten rounds in a middleweight bout. Godoy, who remains undefeated after 25 fights, has stopped 13 of his opponents but had to settle for a points victory this time – 99-91, 97-93 and 98-93. Baldomir’s record now stands at 48-14-6; 14. Lima, Peru: Alberto Rossel improved to 28-8; 13 when he beat Jose Rodriquez on points. The Peruvian won 118-110, 115-113 and 116-112 against the previously unbeaten Mexican, who holds the WBA interim light-flyweight title. Rodriguez now stands at 28-1; 17. On the same card, junior middleweight David Zegarra was one of a number of young boxers who retained their unbeaten records at the weekend. He stopped Juciel Lima Nascimento from Brazil in the eleventh round. Zegarra now stands at 18-0; 14 and Nascimento at 2213-1; 15. In a featherweight bout, Carlos Zambrano remained undefeated at 14-0; 8 when he stopped Willy Condori in the third round. Arandas, Mexico: Victor Terrazas improved to 34-21; 19 when he knocked out Colombian Jose Palma (15-62; 10) in the fourth round. Terrazas, the No 4 super-bantamweight on the WBC list, finished the bout 57 seconds into the round to retain his WBC “silver” belt. Palma dropped to 15-6-2; 10. Gilberto Ramirez also remained undefeated, improving to 21-0; 18, when he beat Jaime Barboza of Costa Rico on points over ten rounds. The Mexican retained his WBC youth middleweight title. Barboza dropped to 17-7; 7. Chicago, Illinois: Edner Cherry moved his record to 30-6-2; 16 by beating Juan Carlos Martinez by majority decision in a lightweight bout. The scores were 97-93, 99-91 and 95-95. Martinez dropped to 19-14-1; 7. In a super-middleweight fight, Lamar Russ (10-0; 6) knocked out Jose Alonzo (13-1; 7) in the fourth round. Hatillo, Puerto Rico: Super-featherweight Miguel Soto of Puerto Rico knocked out Leopoldo Gonzalez (12-7-1; 7) only 2 minutes and 16 seconds after the opening bell. Unbeaten super-bantamweight Angel Pret (13-0; 10) stopped Eduardo Melendez (4-11; 1) in the fourth round. Atlantic City, New Jersey: Garrett Wilson (13-5-1; 7) knocked out Andres Taylor (20-2-1; 7) in the twelfth round to retain his USBA cruiserweight title and take over the vacant NABF title. Las Vegas: Junior welterweight Albert Mensah (20-31; 7) won by majority decision over ten rounds against Michael Katsidis (28-6; 23). The scores were 98-92 and 96-94 for Mensah and 95-95. In a welterweight bout, Alan Sanchez (10-2-1; 4) knocked out Artemio Reyes (15-2; 12) after only 2 minutes and 8 seconds to avenge a previous loss to Reyes. Kissimmee, Florida: Junior featherweight Jose Nieves improved to 20-2-3; 9 when he beat Alejandro Delgado (15-6; 7), whose corner threw in the towel in the eleventh round. The victory gave Nieves the WBO Latino title. Junior middleweight Jorge Melendez moved to 22-2-1; 21 when he knocked out Marcus Willis (11-3-2; 3) in the fifth round. Kangawa, Japan: Tepparith Singwancha (20-2; 13) retained his WBA super-flyweight title when he stopped Tomonobu Shimizu (19-4-1; 9) in the ninth round.
ouble Olympic champion Kenenisa Bekele ran the fastest 10-km road race time of the year when winning the Great Ireland Run in Dublin in 27 minutes 49 seconds on Sunday. The Ethiopian, who has struggled with injuries over the past two years and could manage only 11th at the Edinburgh Cross Country in January, crushed the field with a dominant display of front running, finishing almost a minute ahead of Spaniard Ayad Lamdassam. Bekele, who has yet to decide whether to defend his 5,000 and 10,000 metres titles at the London Olympics, was keen to play down his performance. “This is not meant to be a message to any of my Olympic opponents. We cannot start talking like this until we all meet on the track in the summer,” said the 29-year-old, who starts his Games build-up at the Diamond League meeting in Doha on May 11. “I wasn’t nervous about coming here to run and I don’t have anything to prove about my condition,” added the 5,000 and 10,000 world record holder.
Donald surrenders world number one to McIlroy at Heritage
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uke Donald surrendered his world number one ranking to Rory McIlroy after finishing the RBC Heritage in the United States in joint 37th. Donald needed a top-eight placing in South Carolina to stay ahead of the Northern Irishman, but his second successive level-par round of 71 to end the week on two over, could not guarantee that. The tournament was won by Sweden’s Carl Pettersson, with Donald never in contention after an opening-round 75. Englishman Donald, who lost a playoff to Brandt Snedeker at the same venue last year, made a poor start to Sunday’s final round with a double-bogey six on the first, before birdies on the fifth and sixth helped him salvage some respectability. Pettersson shot a final round of 69 to finish a comfortable winner on 14 under, five shots ahead of American Zach Johnson. Colt Knost was one shot further back in third after a disappointing 74. US Open champion McIlroy briefly overtook Donald at the top of the rankings last month, and will now do so again despite sitting out this tournament. The 22-year-old is not expected to play again until next month’s Wells Fargo Championship in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Rory McIlroy
PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2012
PAGE 47
NFF says N221m UEFA Champions League: Feuding available for giants Bayern, Real rekindle rivalry today construction of technical centres
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he Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has revealed that N221m ($1.4m) has been set aside for the construction of four newly approved FIFA technical centres in the country. The secretary general of the NFF, Barrister Amadu Musa, who made this known in Abuja said the funds for the construction to be cited in Abuja, Anambra, Bauchi and Lagos has been approved. He said part of the fund was from FIFA while the NFF would equally contribute to the construction of the centres. “The fund for the project has been released by FIFA to us as part of support to it members for the round leather game development across the global. The football house has chosen four centres in Abuja, Bauchi, Anambra and Lagos where the befitting structure will be carryout. “These technical centres are meant especially for football development because the idea of FIFA is to develop the game from grassroots and Nigeria is not excluded, “he noted. Further, Musa said that the federation is working hard to ensure the glasshouse have the entire players database to avert age cheat in cadet competitions as require by the apex body.
Lack of funds may halt U20 invitational tourney
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lans for an eight-nation Under-20 tournament to be played in South Africa in May are in the pipeline but the competition has yet to be confirmed as going ahead. Hosts South Africa have invited Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Kenya, Brazil, Argentina and Japan to the event to be played in Cape Town between May 24 and June 3. All participants have accepted the invitation, but organisers are still waiting to hear if their application for funds from the National Lottery to help pay for the event has been successful. If the funds do not come through, organisers will approach competition sponsors SuperSport and SAFA to assist with costs. They are hoping to hear this week whether their application has been successful. The tournament is the brainchild of SAFA Cape Town, who hosted a successful, smaller, four-nation event before the 2010FIFA World Cup that included South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana and Brazil. Brazil are champions at Under-20 level and a major drawcard for the event, while Argentina have had great success at this level too. To have three of Africa’s big guns in the form of Nigeria, Ghana and Cameroon is also a major coup for the organisers. They had tried to get Egypt as well, but events within that country earlier this year made their participation impossible. They have been replaced by Kenya. The intention is to ultimately have an Under-20 tournament that is a junior version of the FIFA Confederations Cup, with at least one country from each of FIFA’s six confederations namely Africa, Asia, Europe, Oceania, North, Central America and Caribbean, and South America.
F
rom Juanito stamping on Lothar Matthaeus’ head to an entire team storming off the pitch in a friendly, there is no love lost between Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, who resume their bitter rivalry today. The luck of the draw has ensured a fiveyear truce between the two swaggering giants, who have been European champions 13 times between them. But the peace will be shattered when they clash at the Allianz Arena in their Champions League semifinal first leg. It will their fifth semifinal meeting in Europe’s top club competition and offers Real Madrid, well on course to win La Liga, the chance to bring Bayern’s season to a miserable conclusion. The Bavarians have already seen their Bundesliga title challenge fizzle out and are now playing to keep alive their dream of playing the Champions League final in their own stadium. There is an endless list of ingredients to spice up an encounter whose history of violence, slanging matches and red cards would not be out of place in South America. Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes and forward Arjen Robben both have scores to settle, having left the Bernabeu through the back door after their spells at Real. Heynckes was the coach who ended Real’s 32-year wait for their sixth European Cup title in 1997/98 yet despite this was removed. Dutchman Robben was booted out after being told he was not wanted by club president Florentino Perez. The pre-match comments have been the usual banal fare with players and officials offering respect for the opposition and playing down rivalries. “There are a lot of elements to take into consideration and the first of those is Bayern’s history,” said Real director Emilio Butragueno. “They are a club with great pride and they know this is probably their last chance to end the season on a high, not to mention the fact that the final is at their stadium. “As professionals and as a team they will want to prove their mettle and they will try their hardest against Real Madrid.” Yet Butragueno is all too aware of the bitterness between the two clubs, having played for Real during the 1980s. The first meeting between the two sides, in the 1975/76 semifinals, set the
Angel Di Maria
Arjen Robben tone. Real’s Roberto Martinez broke his nose in a collision with Bayern goalkeeper Sepp Maier and a fan known as “El Loco del Bernabeu” (The Bernabeu madman) ran onto the pitch and attacked the referee and Bayern striker Gerd Mueller. Bayern went on to the win the competition for the third year in a row. Their next competitive meeting, another semifinal 11 years later when Bayern again won, brought the infamous incident where Juanito stamped on the back and then the head of Matthaeus while a teammate kicked the German playmaker’s thigh. Juanito, who died in a car crash in 1992 at the age of 37, was given a five-year European ban. Even when the matches were supposedly friendly, there was trouble. In 1981, Bayern’s entire team stormed off the pitch during a match in Real’s preseason Santiago Bernabeu trophy tournament after they had a player sent off for making obscene gestures to fans. It got little better during Real’s so-called Galacticos era when Bayern goalkeeper Oliver Kahn became public enemy No 1 among Real fans, while the Spaniards were seen in Bavaria as showboaters.
Cristiano Ronaldo
Franck Ribery Before a first knockout round meeting in 2004, Bayern’s Peruvian striker Claudio Pizarro said: “We’re going to score five goals against those clowns.” It brought a predictably furious reaction from Spain but Real had the last laugh, winning 2-1 on aggregate. There was none of the trash talk from Bayern’s Bastian Schweinsteiger following Saturday’s 0-0 draw against Mainz 05.
Doubts hang over Eagles, Gabon friendly
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ext month’s friendly between Nigeria and Gabon is likely to be moved as it is too close to a busy month of qualifiers, officials said. The friendly between the Eagles and the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations co-hosts was scheduled to be played on May 27 in Libreville at the instance of Gabon President Ali Bongo Ondimba. But Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) general secretary Musa Amadu said that they are now having second thoughts over the game because it is too close to June, when Nigeria will play three straight important qualifiers. “We are still not concluded with the Gabon game. We are having second thoughts over the game due to its nearness to the Eagles busy June schedule,” he said. Musa though would confirm that all arrangements for another friendly in Lima, Peru, next month have been concluded. “But I can confirm to you that the May 23 game against Peru has been finalised,” he disclosed. “We are putting these games together to ensure that the Eagles are in top shape because the three games in June would go a long way in determining our participation at the AFCON 2013 and the World Cup in 2014.” Nigeria take on Namibia, Malawi and Rwanda in a busy three weeks in June.
QUO TABLE Q UO TE UOT QUO UOTE Be faithful to that which exists nowhere but in yourself - and thus mak ey our self make your ourself indispensable — Andre Gide
TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2012
Muamba discharged from hospital
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olton midfielder Fabrice Muamba has paid tribute to the London Chest Hospital staff after being discharged. The 24-year-old was technically "dead" for 78 minutes after suffering a cardiac arrest and collapsing in a game against Tottenham on 17 March and had been in hospital since then. "There's a long way to go in terms of recovering fully. We don't know what the defibrillator means for his playing career," he said. Bolton Wanderers manager Owen Coyle said: "It is absolutely fantastic news that Fabrice has been discharged from hospital and everyone at the club is delighted. Muamba collapsed after 41 minutes of the FA Cup quarterfinal tie with Spurs and was given mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and 15 defibrillator shocks before he arrived at the intensive care unit of the heart attack centre at the London Chest Hospital. The former England Under21 international was helped on the pitch by Deaner, consultant cardiologist at London Chest Hospital, who was at the game as a fan, and ran out of the stands to lend his expertise.
Van Persie heads PFA award shortlist
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rsenal striker Robin van Persie headed the list of nominees for the 201112 Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) Players' Player of the Year award announced yesterday. The Dutchman, who has scored 27 league goals this season, is joined on the shortlist by the Man City trio of goalkeeper Joe Hart, midfielder David Silva and striker Sergio Aguero. Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Scott Parker and England striker Wayne Rooney of league leaders Man United complete the line-up. Aguero was also named on the shortlist for the young players' equivalent prize, alongside Spurs pair Kyle Walker and Gareth Bale, Arsenal's Alex OxladeChamberlain, Chelsea's Daniel Sturridge and United's Danny Welbeck.
ADVERT: BUSINESS: NEWS: LAGOS:
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i don't know
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A semi-circular protractor used in basic geometry has a scale of how many degrees?
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Degrees (Angles)
Degrees (Angles)
We can measure Angles in Degrees.
There are 360 degrees in one Full Rotation (one complete circle around).
(Angles can also be measured in Radians )
(Note: "Degrees" can also mean Temperature , but here we are talking about Angles)
The Degree Symbol: °
We use a little circle ° following the number to mean degrees.
For example 90° means 90 degrees
One Degree
This is how large 1 Degree is
A Full Circle is 360°
Half a circle is 180°
(called a Right Angle )
Why 360 degrees? Probably because old calendars (such as the Persian Calendar) used 360 days for a year - when they watched the stars they saw them revolve around the North Star one degree per day.
Also 360 can be divided evenly by 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 15, 18, 20, 24, 30, 36, 40, 45, 60, 72, 90, 120 and 180, which makes a lot of basic geometry easier.
Measuring Degrees
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one hundred and eighty
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Which automotive corporation uses the marketing strapline 'The Power of Dreams'?
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Measuring angles with a protractor - lesson & video
Reviews
Measuring angles with a protractor - lesson & video
This 4th grade geometry lesson explains angle measure, how to measure angles with a protractor, and has varied exercises for the students.
The video below explains what an angle measure is, how to measure angles with a protractor, and how to draw angles with a protractor.
Remember how one side of the angle traces out a circular arc? We use that circle to measure how big the angle is. We look at how much the angle has “opened” as compared to the full circle.
Angles are measured in degrees. The symbol for degrees is a little circle °.
The FULL CIRCLE is 360° (360 degrees).
A half circle or a straight angle is 180°.
A quarter circle or a right angle is 90°.
Show the angles below using two pencils. Try to “see” the circle that is traced out in the air.
This is a 1-degree angle!
an obtuse angle; 127°
How to measure an angle with a protractor:
Place the midpoint of the protractor on the VERTEX of the angle.
Line up one side of the angle with the zero line of the protractor (where you see the number 0).
Read the degrees where the other side crosses the number scale.
Take care to read from the right set of numbers. A protractor has two sets of numbers: one set goes from 0 to 180, the other set from 180 to 0. Which one you read depends on how you place the protractor: place it so that one side of the angle lines up with one of the zeros, and read that set of numbers.
In the examples above we lined up the one side of the angle with the zero of the lower set of numbers, so we need to read the lower set of numbers.
1. Measure the angles.
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i don't know
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Name the UK Culture Secretary accused in 2012 of bias and rule-bending in approving News Corp's 2011 takeover of BSkyB?
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Ayes To The Left: July 2011
Ayes To The Left
The blog that exposes Cameron's lies and disinformation on the NHS, education, the economy, unemployment and his broken promises.
Pages
The Country Is falling to Bits and Dave, George and Nick are off on their "Hols"!
The Camerons Are on Their THIRD Foreign Holiday This Year!
I remember the last time that dear little Billy Hague was left in charge it was when "call me Dave" Cameron was out of the country on a jaunt (flogging arms to small Arab countries), with his his Tory financial backing arms dealer mates. At that time Billy totally misread the Egyptian and Libyan crisis and had thousands of our citizens stranded in Egypt and Libya. Little "Billy no mates" Hague barring one mate - (his driver) then went on to make bizarre comments that Gaddafi was on a flight deserting Libya on his way to an undisclosed destination [as he spoke] and Billy boy Hague knew this apparently because "someone told him"!
Also at the time Defence Minister Liam Fox couldn't be asked to bother about any of it and was off down the pub with his mates drinking pints - Osborne the chancellor was off on a freebie skiing holiday as the economy sank, while the deputy PM Nick Clegg had to be reminded he was in charge of the country because he had forgotten, and anyway it didn't really matter because it was nearly his usual knocking off time (3 pm) and then he was off on a half term skiing holiday with the family. so "someone else would have to do it" (take charge of the country).
Meanwhile the Foreign secretary William Hague who no one had actually told was supposed to be running the country while Dave, George and Nick were away enjoying themselves had apparently had enough of it all and he was booked to fly out of the country himself to Washington that very night, which left the UK with not one single person in charge!
But then (as is the case now) we are told shouldn't worry because really "we're all in this together" and call me Dave is in charge, this time from his luxury villa in Tuscany (budget of course - lmao).
Now there is another crisis developing in Libya the Libyan rebels who Hague and Cameron have just declared as the formal government of Libya and just a day after the UK releasing £92 MILLION to these "so-called" Libyan "rebels" (probably the Libyan branch of al-qada) have just shot dead and murdered one of their own people because they did not trust him! Now as it is the Foreign Secretary's job (William [Billy-boy] Hague) to deal with it and sort it out, I am a bit concerned. Hague is also supposed to be in charge of the country while the rest of them are out of it playing in swimming pools and drinking refreshing cool drinks while basking in hot foreign sunshine. Dave is in Tuscany enjoying his THIRD luxury foreign holiday of this year - Nick is in Spain on his 3rd or 4th f holiday of this year and despite the British economy is almost in free-fall the chancellor George Osborne has flown out to Hollywood to join his wife and family for a luxurious holiday in one of LA’s smartest hotels, while leaving us behind to grapple with feeding and school clothing our families, struggling with utility bills and scared stiff of filling the fuel tank up. Osborne has forgotten about Britain’s economic woes as he relaxes at Mr C’s, a new hotel where rooms can cost as much as £1,000 a night and this is the chancellor's THIRD luxury holiday so far this year. I am rather concerned if "Billy no-mates barring one" is actually up to the job.
God forbid we are the subject of a terrorist attack because the deputy assistant police commissioner in charge of anti-terrorism, John Yates, was forced to resign the other week over the telephone hacking and police corruption scandal engulfing News International and David Cameron and the Conservative government. Also Britain's top police Sir Paul Stephenson has also resigned, so in effect we have absolutely no one at the helm of this country, although Stephenson apparently is still in his post for a few weeks, but he is busy winding his tenure in charge of the Met up.
So forgive me for asking "just what the bloody hell is going on with this farce of a Tory government"?
Posted by Gracie Samuels at
This is the type of misleading headline that is encouraged by David Cameron and his government
in Tory Britain today!
Do the Tories and their supporters really feel proud of their government? What do people think when they read banner headlines like this? They do not even have to buy the paper it can be read instantly on passing and the damage done almost as instantaneously. Newspapers like the basket cases Express, Sunday Express, Mail, Mail on Sunday and Rupert Murdoch's Sun have been running headlines like this for about a year now, true these papers have always gone from the sublime to the ridiculous with their hysterical headlines which have until a year ago mainly been reserved for "immigrants" but now seem to have a new cause and purpose in their existence - to bash disabled people. What these so-called newspapers have deliberately engaged in for this past year with their headlines which boarder on the hysterical, has been taken to an altogether different level and there is a reason for this.
Ever since this "pretendy" coalition government managed to assume power, cabinet ministers, government ministers and even MPs from both parties have engaged in a systematic attack on the claimants of all benefits, but nowhere has this government from the prime minister, David Cameron down been more vitriolic and vociferous than on its "attacks" on those who claim disabled benefits of any kind. In my opinion it appears as if there has been some kind of briefing message gone round and MPs briefed to sing from the same hymn sheet and if this is the case then most have stayed "on message" throughout the year.
This Tory government (I make no apologies for calling them that, because this is what it is) right from its "coalition" birth and the ripping up of the Tory and Lib Dem promises in their manifestos and the rapid publication of the "coalition agreement" (which was forgotten about just as fast) declared an all out "assault" on benefit claimants, they have in my opinion made a conscious commitment to divide the nation and set ordinary workers against other ordinary people and they have used the politics of hate, bitterness and envy to do it and disabled people have been caught in this, I believe intentionally, in order to allow this Tory government to get through its draconian welfare reform bill with as little protest and as few lost votes as is possible. they got elected ( or nearly elected) posing as sheep but they had hidden their wolfs clothing.
I am not going to point out the "blindingly" obvious about the state of health of disability benefit claimants, I would not blight their cause by doing so. In this country of the so-called civilised, disabled people should not have to defend themselves against such attacks and justify their needs to people that know "naff all" about what they criticising and opining, let alone be forced to defend themselves to our own prime minister and Department For Work and Pensions and sadly the minister for the disabled Maria Miller- right? Especially because our prime minister had a little disabled son who so sadly passed away. When our prime minister was in opposition he reiterated time and time again to disabled people, to their carers, their parents and relatives and friends, to anyone who would listen, that he knew "personally" the uphill struggle some faced when they have a disabled child/relative/friend, he knew how they depended on the NHS and the "system" and he knew how badly the "system" could let some people down. David Cameron leader of the Conservative opposition maintained this stance right up until May 5th 2010, then a week later when he managed to get himself into number 10 and become the nation's prime minister he seems to have had some kind of attack of amnesia and he has forgotten all he said and promised to disabled people.
Getting back to the rancid headlines in the hysterical rabid right wing press. These headlines are being actively encourage by our prime minister and his cabinet and his government ministers, since becoming prime minister Cameron appears to have declared war on those claiming benefits and has not missed an opportunity to label people as "welfare scroungers" and "benefit cheats" and "fraudsters", here is a quote from the prime minister "There is no way of dealing with an 11 per cent budget deficit just by hitting either the rich or the welfare scrounger," and of course hardly surprising it was published in one of Rupert Murdoch's papers The Times which is behind a paywall (Murdoch wants us to pay for our news).
The situation against disabled people has deteriorated so badly that disabled Labour MP Anne Begg is forced to defend disabled people's rights in parliament when "Benefits assessment firm (Atos) are causing fear and loathing among claimants". All this stress would have a dreadful affect on able bodied people's lives but to heap this on top of the fear and distress that disabled people suffer day in day out because of their conditions is unforgivable and disabled people are having to fight 24 hours per day and wade through a sea of prejudice actively being encouraged by prime minister, David Cameron, until it gets to this stage where disabled people are being physically and verbally and abused in our streets and car parks in Suffolk a 60% increase in attacks on disabled people has been recorded since Cameron and the newspapers have embarked on their "attacks" on so-called "benefit cheats" and this is the story across the country. Some disabled people are in such fear of these attacks and of Atos appraisals that they have taken their own lives and others are contemplating such a horrendous move. The government's flagship Welfare to Work policy is inciting hatred and violence towards the disabled by portraying them as cheats and benefits scroungers , an alliance of charities has warned. The Daily Mail is forced to clarify one of their misleading articles , yet still cannot bring itself to apologise and as usual it is tucked away in some obscure part of the paper and online, why doesn't the Press Complaints Commission force them to retract such articles and also apologise in the same banner headlines it misleads people with? See here how minister Chris Grayling has been forced to deny fuelling "attacks on workshy".
Does Cameron and the newspapers accept their part in the way that people now think it is socially acceptable to abuse and treat disabled people so appallingly? These levels of government "attacks" have only started since this Tory government came to power. The abuse is even happening in our care homes ! Do the same newspapers who scream abusive untrue and misleading headlines from their front pages, the headlines that encourage the abuse that is now taking place against disabled people the length and breadth of this country report the assaults and abuse against disabled people that is now taking place which can in large part be seen to be encouraged by this kind of totally spurious and scurrilous misleading reporting? Is this what really passes as journalism in the UK in 2011? So much so that it is now got so serious that it is having to be debated in parliament? Is this really what the British prime minister wants when he utters his careless words in order to appeal to the base instincts of the masses so he can push through his welfare reforms largely unchallenged?
Finally after a year of pure hell disabled people get a response like this "fit to work tests are flawed - MPs say" really?No s*** Sherlock, I guess disabled people would not have known this if someone in Westminster had not finally - *finally* noticed that "Atos kills", yes it does and so does the cheap and nasty comments purposefully put out by prime minister David Cameron, Deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg and our "mystery disappearing man" Tory chancellor, George Osborne, Chris Grayling, Iain Duncan-Smith and Disability Minister Maria Miller ( call for Maria Miller to be investigated ) and all the rest of them who have gleefully joined in with the Westminster bullies and merrily taken up the new craze sweeping Britain seemingly "endorsed" by the prime minister's careless words and acts and got "benefit bashing". They have bashed and bashed, through TV, radio and newspaper headlines and internet blogs and messageboards until some disabled people have caved into into submission, until some are so weak, so tired and so ill, and so mentally affected by all of this they just stop claiming, *NOT* because they are not genuine, but because they just haven't got the strength left to continue their fight - Welcome to Tory Britain in 2011 - some "civilised caring" and "big bloody society" this country and this government turned out to be!
If this government are doing everything they can for disabled people, then why did thousands of people attend a rally of the "Hardest Hit" in London recently at great cost to themselves and their health? A rally that our "esteemed" prime minister totally ignored, yet he above all should know the true cost to the majority of those who attended the march and rally and how much personal organisation attending such an event had to be undertaken, yet his silence was "deafening". Why are newspapers like the Guardian being forced to run articles like this to try and raise awareness of what is happening to disabled people and the problems they are facing as a direct consequence of this government's actions?
Why have we got a Tory government that allows its MPs to infer that disabled people should work for less money than the national minimum wage because they are less productive than able bodied people and think that it is a perfectly acceptable to portray disabled people as second class citizens? Where were the banner headlines on the Express Group newspapers, the Murdoch Newspapers and the Mail group newspapers condemning such a despicable and outrageous inference as this from Philip Davies, the Conservative MP for Shipley? Especially when the same unbelievably hypocritical Tory MP rakes in large amounts of cash for himself .
I don't really want to hear from those that protest about the cost of welfare, I have heard enough of that particular brand of "sickness" to last me a lifetime and I point out it never seemed to be a problem before the recession hit, when mostly people were happy and content with their lot and before we had a government that blamed a global financial recession on just one man and then proceeded to talk the UK economy down (just to get elected) and before we had a government that is actively using the so-called "deficit" as an excuse to attack us ordinary folk, and it is an excuse, because this country has run on larger deficits than this (and under the Tories) before without a government purposefully harming our economy just so it has an excuse to rid us of the welfare state, the NHS and state education. I would also point out that so-called "fraudulent" welfare claims pale into complete insignificance against the tax dodging Tory financial backers in the shape of individuals and corporations, companies like Vodafone for example, where the chancellor Osborne has waived their £6 BILLION tax bill owed to the UK Treasury and where collectively these elitist mainly Tory voting, Tory doning people and companies. BANKS and hedge funds owe upwards of £120 BILLION to the UK treasury per year. yet this Tory government does absolutely nothing other than utter a few mealy mouthed words about closing tax loopholes, that NEVER EVER come to fruition. I would like to remind people at this point before we see the complete demise of everything we hold dear in this country, that absolutely none of us know what life has in store, or when we or our loved ones may need the help of the welfare state or the NHS and if people think they can afford the insurance it will take to cover them and their families against such events in their lives, then I say good luck to them and it must be really great to be so well placed as to be able to pay out approximately a quarter of your income each month to some insurance company, that should you claim will do everything in their power to bring your attention to small print that actually voids your entire claim - good luck with that.
When a country has a government that actually cares about its people, it is a true mark of decency and democracy, by and large under Labour we used to have such a government (I fully acknowledge the labour government's total and utter mistake by introducing Atos etc in the first place and hopefully it is something that a new Labour government will immediately correct) but now it is all disappearing in amongst Tory manipulation and deliberate misleading of the general public, for all their faults (and there were many) the previous Labour government were never like this and now to our immense shame our country can be compared with other profoundly undemocratic countries, where there is little or no decency and where corruption is rife and the rich prosper and the poor are just stamped on and kicked out of the way and hidden as an embarrassment. I used to be proud of my country, today, I have never felt more ashamed of it and believe me, this is a first for me. The way we are allowing ourselves to be influenced by the likes of the privileged elitist millionaire Tory government that now runs our country, the way we are allowing newspapers like the Sun, Express and Mail etc to colour our better judgements and attack those less fortunate than ourselves and the way most of us in pure ignorance sit in judgement on others who we know precious little about, is not only excruciatingly embarrassing, it is truly and profoundly degrading to us as a civilised nation, it is also an exceedingly dangerous position because it literally fosters hatred and the the kind of fascism this country fought so hard against throughout its history and for that we can thank Messrs. Cameron, Clegg and Osborne, Grayling, Duncan-Smith and Miller etc who in barely one year have managed to turn our country from a civilised caring society, to one of narrow minded mean spirited and wholly prejudicial towards disabled people and others less fortunate, and have turned many into people who have it seems lost the ability to reason and logic and see beyond their noses, that is if they haven't yet got around to cutting it off to spite their faces, because none of us know what is around the next corner! We are fostering a deeply uncaring and dangerous society for our children and grandchildren etc to inhabit and that is just about the most awful legacy we can leave future generations.
Is this government really what the people of Britian actually voted for? Are people really happy to have themselves branded as "haters" of others who are less fortunate? There must be some truth in it because if there wasn't, then many more people would protesting to this government about this sickening abuse than currently is. Or is it that this government are so devious that they have successfully moved to the politics of governing by fear, hatred, confusion and chaos? They have certainly caused chaos, disruption and confusion in every major reform from Welfare, Education, defence, Policing to the NHS and have shown themselves to be totally incompetent and completely out of their depth, yet such is the copious amounts of spin from Cameron's spin doctor and the rabid right wing press, this evil government are just being allowed to get away with it.
The newspapers will only print their prejudicial garbage if they think we will buy their papers to read it. However, what I really would like to know is why isn't the Press Complaints Commission taking action against such despicable behaviour?
What I also want to know is why the Conservative government under the leadership of prime minister David Cameron, DPM Nick Clegg, Chancellor George Osborne, Works and Pensions secretary Iain Duncan-Smith, Minister for the Disabled Maria Miller and Employment Minister, Chris Grayling in what seems to be a concerted effort by the whole government - have decided to turn citizen against citizen and portray all those on welfare or disability benefits as "cheats and scroungers and fraudsters" even though they fully realise that the vast majority of claimants are actually *genuine*? and why has the Tory government apparently actively engaged certain newspapers to run their spurious and misleading reports? Among them the Murdoch press?
It's abuse Dave - pure and simple.
If Rupert Murdoch really, truly and genuinely wanted to atone for what "gutter-press reports" its papers have published for the past 3/4 years, he could do no better than start printing the truth and unbiased reports and start publicising the plight of disabled people and those others who are in genuine receipt of benefits and the way they are being shamelessly used, abused and deliberately singled out for "attack" by the British Conservative government today.
Posted by Gracie Samuels at
The UK Economy Is In Real Terms Decline and Tory Chancellor George Osborne is in Hiding and Denial
Let's face it 0.2% "growth is not growth at all, in real terms this figure is probably masking a small contraction.
Yesterday we were treated to a whole plethora of excuses from the Office National Statistics (ONS) and George Osborne himself. I was absolutely astonished at the patheticness of the excuses, it wasn't the Conservative chancellor's fault, said the ONS it was erm *the royal wedding - *The extended May Bank Holiday - * The wrong kind of Spring weather - * Unseasonal fall in oil production - * The Japanese tsunami and nuclear incident - FGS this from the people in charge of our economy? Not forgetting that later George Gideon Osborne took to the airwaves to tell us all how wonderful 0.2% "growth" really is and how the UK is a wonderful beacon of stability in a global storm (apparently).
Just a minute wasn't it Cameron that informed us all of how wonderful the royal wedding was going to be for the country and how manufacturing was going to benefit from the making of memorabilia etc, and it would have been too if only that pesky sun had not got in the way. (I do mean the sun as in sunshine and not the Sun as in that other Tory story that will not go away). So let's get this straight, when people questioned how much the royal wedding was going to cost us they were told that the millions spent on security for the couple would all be recouped out of the revenue raised for the economy by the event itself - so what happened then? The royal wedding was trumpeted as a boost for the economy now its blamed as one of the causes for poor performance. Which is it they cannot have it both ways!
Why is this being used as an excuse? Is it because the government does not want us to remove the royal wedding revenue factor from the figures because if we did this then suddenly we see that the service sector is really not doing that well and that it was only the service sector that stopped the figures going into negative territory, so far better to blame the wedding for the poor performance?
Also another little mentioned fact, apparently the financial sector has once again started to recover - why? It isn't for the loans they are giving out to hard pressed struggling businesses is it? Perhaps it could be that as Osborne's austerity measures bite, the income that families have to manage on has fallen dramatically with wage freezes, VAT increases, fuel increases, food increases, utility increases etc that families incomes have dropped so much and they simply cannot manage so they are being forced to borrow on credit cards just to get by? In fact, as a direct consequence of George Osborne families are being forced to borrow a further 14% just to survive and who is the recipient of over priced credit card transactions? Well of course it is the people that caused the problem in the first place the greedy bankers! So their sector is recovering by George Osborne first of all forcing everyone to pay for the bankers greed and then forcing them to pay for the recovery by being forced to borrow yet more money simply to exist. It is pure madness! But don't worry because while we are all being forced to do this by George Osborne the bankers income and profits will go up so "bless 'em" they will still get their golden hellos, their golden goodbyes, their golden pensions and of course their solid gold bonuses.
The income gap between rich and poor is increasing daily and George Osborne's proposals? Is to cut tax for the rich and lower corporation tax and who will this benefit? Oh and apparently they are going to have some scheme for fibre optic cables, but hang on, that scheme is already in operation and has been for the last 4 years and meanwhile Vince Cable is prattling on about forcing the banks to loan to small businesses ( yawwwn again) this is all very well but can Vince Cable please explain what Osborne's "Project Merlin" was supposed to be all about? What has happened to project Merlin by the way? Osborne doesn't even mention it these days.
This Tory government (for that is exactly what it is) assumed power claiming the country is bankrupt and has no money to pay welfare to terminal cancer patients, or payments to disabled people, or fuel allowances to pensioners and. yet suddenly finds the cash to bomb and bankroll the so-called Libyan rebels. They have cut Sure Start centres, libraries, the police and defence, they are cutting the number of training places for doctors and nurses, despite david Cameron bizarrely claiming in the House of Commons that since the Tories came to power the number of doctors has increased! Unless doctors training now takes place inside one year, I honestly fail to see how he can claim that, once again he is taking us for idiots and misleading parliament and the British people.
The truth is that Osborne's austerity measures are only just beginning, just starting to bite and if they are this bad so early on then what on earth is it going to be like another year or two down the line? There are still the hundreds of thousands more public sector workers waiting to lose their jobs, yet more money to be taken out of the economy as these people will not be spending and this is on top of the further £13 billion yet to be taken out of the economy this year alone.
Unemployment will start to rise, the only reason it hasn't now is because of the disproportionate number of part time jobs that people are being forced to take. I would not be surprised to learn that Osborne has asked companies to offer more in the way of part-time positions so the unemployed figure will not keep rising. There is definitely some kind of discrepancy occurring there. Why is there suddenly a glut of part-time positions being made and fewer full-time positions? This is the reason why the number of those claiming benefits is now soaring, this is because people are being forced to claim top-up benefits because they cannot manage on part-time wages and this in turn means we are heavily subsidising big companies wage bills as it is cheaper for them to hire part-time workers than full-time and is probably the reason why there is suddenly a surge in the number of part-time positions being made.
All this and the chancellor is blaming external influences, by that he means he is blaming other countries and that really is a big joke! When in opposition Cameron and Osborne insisted that the recession was all Brown's fault brought on by his spending, now they are in government they seem to think they can blame the state of the world's economies for their abysmal stifled UK growth, but they cannot, they simply cannot have it both ways. Fact is that despite all the problems with other countries economies in Greece, Portugal and Spain etc and despite coming out of the steepest recession fro a 100 years Labour still managed to return the country to growth and achieve falling unemployment and because of growth of 1.1% they were able to reduce government borrowing by a huge £43 billion, the Tories were handed an economy in recovery and what have they done with it?
May 2010 (under labour) growth in Q2 was 1.1%.... The Tories took over growth in Q3 dropped to 0.7%...Q4 contracted by 0.5% and Q1 grew 0.5% which only managed to cover the amount we contracted in the previous quarter and then in Q2 (yesterday) Q2 growth was only 0.2%.
So you can see that ever since the Tories have been in power they have managed to put growth on a downward spiral proving that the Tories have actually managed to slow our economy and because the chancellor and Cameron are in denial and because they have absolutely no idea what to do, this trend looks set to continue and I estimate by next year unless these idiots are booted out of office, then this country will be back in recession.
The chancellor emerged briefly yesterday to deny his measures are actually harming the British economy before retreating into hiding again (so he couldn't be questioned over his many visits to the Murdochs). I fear this is probably the last we will see of him over the summer recess, he has probably gone on another holiday like the prime minister has, Cameron is due to go on his 3rd foreign holiday of the year. Alright for some I suppose! Still they had better take all the freebie holidays while they can, I have a sneaking suspicion they will not be in power much longer!
Posted by Gracie Samuels at
Liberal Democrats, Coalition Partners or Tory Cheer Leaders?
It's hard to tell exactly what the Liberal Democrat party actually stands for these days, they appear to back everything their new "bestest" Friends say and do. Even when they say they disagree it is only for a short time until Cameron throws them a few scraps and then they come running through the government's lobby like good little MPs, cheering the Tories on as they go.
They have wagered their entire party on a little bit of power and on George Osborne's insane gamble with the country's economy and as time ticks by it looks very much like Osborne's insane economics are not working. There is no way he will be able to meet his own deficit reduction targets they are now blown completely out of the water and at this rate the economy will be back in recession next year. Yet they still back this government! Well they have to I suppose, in Scotland a latest poll puts the Lib Dems on only 3%, a small sample, but apparently even bigger samples and an overall rating of a few polls does not put them much higher. They have gambled everything on Osborne's economic gamble coming good by the time the next election comes around, which they believe will be in 2015.
Nick Clegg said he backs Cameron over the phone hacking scandal and that Cameron "should absolutely not resign". Of course Clegg would say this, he knows very well if Cameron resigned now this leaves him even further up the creek without the proverbial paddle.
Personally I do not think that this government will last until 2015, it is already cracked and divided no matter how much they all protest to the contrary. I believe what has been revealed so far in the phone hacking scandal and what is yet to be revealed will see Cameron forced to resign, what do the Liberal Democrats and the Tories do when that happens? Elect another leader to become prime minister? I don't think so, after all both of these parties constantly accused Gordon Brown of being an unelected prime minister, so it would be very hypocritical if they did this, however, even if they did this would not work as the Liberal democrats would have to walk away from this insane government because the flack that will be flying around would contaminate what is left of their party and then 3% will be like a high in their polling.
Posted by Gracie Samuels at
So Sam Cam Smelt A Rat? Not a Nice Thing To Call Your Hubby Sam!
Whatever next is going to s come out of the spin office at number 10? Now we are expected to believe (if we can believe anything that appears in the Mail on Sunday), that apparently
" Mrs Cameron pleaded with her husband back in the spring to end contact with the so-called Chipping Norton set and, in particular, News International chief Rebekah Brooks. Mrs Cameron, a successful businesswoman, was also dubious about Andy Coulson, with whom she clashed repeatedly after he entered Downing Street as her husband’s director of communications."
I suspect that this story has been made up in order to get David Cameron off of the hook and divert attention away from the ongoing saga of his close associations with Rebekah Brooks, James Murdoch and Andy Coulson, which they thought would now have gone away but show little signs of abating as still more seedy facts seem to emerge daily. It's strange that in retrospect we hear that Mrs Cameron smelt a rat. Samantha Cameron has had since 2007 to make her husband Dave see sense. Andy Coulson, was a previous employee of the Conservative Party, in a government job at Tax Payers expense, a huge salary of £275.000 per year granted at a time when his masters were "gleefully" taking away the benefits from disabled people, the winter fuel allowance from elderly people and allowing utility bills to rise by a huge 19% etcetera...etcetera!
If Samantha Cameron objected so much to the Chipping Norton Set then why did she simply refuse to accompany him on the various social gatherings of that set? I know I would, if I suspected my husband of becoming embroiled in something that was going to prove detrimental to his career, I would have been very vociferous, I simply do not believe this, I think it is a pack of lies made up by Craig Oliver, Cameron's present spin doctor.
Melissa Kite gushes that Sam is a successful business woman? Oh please spare us the guff, Samantha Cameron is a member of the aristocracy and has all the privileges that come with that, including money and connections she had every advantage handed to her on a plate, she has been given succession of jobs by elitist city firms providing goods for other well heeled people. A successful business person is someone who has little or no funding who can scrape together enough money and take risks and make their ideas work and pay, someone who can succeed against all the odds, or someone that is forced to put their meagre home on the line for security for an over priced loan to fund their business. How many members of the aristocracy will buy their goods from someone who lives on a council sink estate? I have already heard and read enough elitist snobbery about the writing of someone called J K Rowling, who was condemned by literary snobs.
The truth of the matter is that Sam Cameron went along with her hubby on free holidays, flown out on private jets owned by Matthew Freud to luxury Murdoch yachts moored in the sun drenched Mediterranean, where she watched her children frolic in the luxury swimming pool and she enjoyed every bit of her over privileged lifestyle. Matthew Freud being the Tory doning husband of Elisabeth Murdoch, daughter of Rupert Murdoch - no less!
Don't make me laugh Sam.
Posted by Gracie Samuels at
Dodgy Dave Cameron and His Dodgy Tory Government and Sir Gus O'Donnel Cabinet Secretary
Let's face it Britain hesitated on May 6th 2010 and produced a hung parliament, through that hesitation Britain acquired one of the dodgiest prime ministers in the history of this country.
When on the few occasions Britian produced a hung parliament the normal course of action would have been that the largest party form a minority government, govern for a few months and let democracy set the course and another general election would follow within usually a year. During that time several things may have happened to trigger an early general election. Any "pact" made between the largest party and "another" would usually fall apart and this would lead to a vote of no confidence in the government - Or some other issue would trigger a vote of no confidence in the House, the government would lose and a general election would be triggered - or the largest party would simply chance their arm and go to the country again and try to get a working majority to form a new government. Whatever the combination of things, this would have been the normal course of events. However, that was before the interference of Britain's top civil servant the Cabinet Secretary, Sir Gus O'Donnell, who many believe overstepped his brief to interfere in the formation of the so-called "Coalition government" between the Conservative party and the Liberal Democrats.
Cabinet Secretary - Sir Gus O'Donnell Britain's Top Civil Servant
May 2010 - Post General Election - Sir Gus O’Donnell intervened in the dramatic weekend after the General Election to advise the Tories and Lib Dems that they risked market meltdown if there were no stable government in place by the Monday.
Well this may well have been the case (we'll never know), but the country had just travelled an economic nightmare in the form of a global financial recession triggered by the greed of bankers and induced by the reckless greedy actions of these very people the City Bankers, City Analysts and City Financiers that Sir Gus O'Donnell was so "concerned" about, many of which are Tory supporters who bankroll the Tory party to the tune of millions of pounds. How does O'Donnell thinks his interference on behalf of Tory bankers in order to produce what is ostensibly a Tory government now looks to the public?
More than half the donations raked in by David Cameron's Tories in 2010 came from City bankers.
This Tory party is the richest political party in this history of this country.
Financial services firms and individuals donated £11.4m to the Conservative party in the first nine months of 2010, according to figures compiled by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism.
That was 51% of the total £22.5 million raised over the period - up from a quarter in 2005.
Given that the country had just experienced a virtual banking collapse in the financial system and are witnessing an ongoing struggle over its regulation, the scale of Tory party funding from the City must be an extremely pertinent and serious issue. So why was Sir Gus O'Donnell interfering in the workings of our democracy in favour of bankers and the City? Thanks to O'Donnell we now have a situation where Tory donors are heavily influencing policy making and no one could have failed to note the disastrous consequences of this from the failed NHS reforms and Tory doning private healthcare companies, to the way that Rupert Murdoch's News International has been allowed to infiltrate the heart of the British government and influence policy decisions.
Why was Sir Gus O'Donnell so insistent to get the Conservative Party into government and locked into a position that could not be challenged through the normal democratic route that has served Britain so well in the past? Left alone without O'Donnell's interference it is highly unlikely that we would have what is proving to be a disastrous and wholly incompetent government and the Liberal Democrats would not have been shunted into a position where they are now being used and abused daily by Cameron and his "inner circle" of "Cameroons". By the end of this so-called "coalition administration", the Liberal Democrats will be a spent political party with nowhere to go, led by a weak ineffectual leader who has lied so much that no one now trusts and all that even depends on if Nick Clegg manages to cling on to his Sheffield Hallam seat, which is looking increasingly unlikely.
It appears to me that Sir Gus O'Donnell is hardly the unbiased character that he would have people believe that he is. A small probe into his profile reveals that he was once former Conservative prime minister, Lord John Major's press secretary. Sir John Major took him to Downing Street as his press secretary after working with him as chancellor in the Margaret Thatcher government, where the two had forged a friendship.
Strangely he shared power with Ed Balls, Gordon Brown's long-standing political advisor who became chief economic adviser in 1999, yet when the Tories barrack Ed Balls for being Gordon Brown's adviser, they neglect to mention that Sir Gus O'Donnell held that title at the same time - why?
It seems that O'Donnell has long been involved in the financial workings of this country, so was he really the one to be advising on the formation of a coalition government using the financial markets as a leverage?
Sir Gus O'Donnell and the Inquiry Into Phone Hacking (that never was)
When the News of the World reporter Clive Goodman and the private investigator Glenn Mulcaire were found guilty and accused of hacking into the voicemail messages of the royal princes, that was thought to be the end of the matter, it was put down to this one rough NotW reporter and Mulcaire, the two were duly sentenced to serve a term of imprisonment. However, when fresh allegations surfaced again in 2009 then then former prime minister Gordon Brown suspected his phone had been hacked and wanted to hold an inquiry into the matter. Mr Brown said that he had wanted to hold a full investigation into phone hacking in February 2010, when the Culture, Media and Sport Committee reported that the number of victims was more than the handful that had been claimed.
He said he asked Sir Gus to agree to launch a judicial inquiry but had been told that doing so would appear politically motivated. A seven page briefing note issued by the Cabinet Office confirms what Mr Brown said in parliament to MPs on Wednesday 13th July 2011.
In the summary issued by Sir Gus O'Donnell it states that there is limited information available on which to hold such an inquiry, supposedly then he knew nothing of the thousands of pieces of information contained in bin bags at Scotland Yard?
O'Donnell goes on to say that any decisions to hold such an inquiry could be challenged by a judicial review, particularly if the inquiry were extended to the media in general, and it is not inconceivable that such a challenge may succeed.
O'Donnell goes on to list other points.
Cost - any inquiry carries costs to the public purse which will depend on the breadth of the terms of reference and the composition of the inquiry panel.
Setting a precedent - creating an inquiry in this case could increase calls for public inquiries e.g. following future adverse Select Committee reports.
Timing - the immediate proximity to an election would inevitably raise questions over the motivation and urgency of an inquiry.
Yes Sir Gus deftly points to the fact that to hold an inquiry, or not, is the prime minister's decision, but O'Donnell left Mr Brown in no doubt what he actually thought about the holding of an inquiry at that time and that it would be seen as being politically motivated.
It showed Sir Gus had advised Mr Brown that launching a probe just two months before the General Election would "inevitably raise questions over the motivation and urgency of an inquiry" and that this could lead to a legal challenge.
If Brown had decided to hold that inquiry at that time it would have been extremely doubtful if Cameron would have even been in a position to form a minority government - so once again we have seen Sir Gus O'Donnell apparently "step-in" to save the day for the Conservative party.
John Denham, the Shadow business secretary wrote to Sir Gus asking whether Mr Hunt was a ‘fit and proper person’ to determine media tycoon Rupert Murdoch’s bid for full control of BSkyB, he pointed to what he described as ‘prejudicial statements’ previously made by Jeremy Hunt, the Culture Secretary appearing to support the takeover.
While in Opposition and in government, Mr Hunt made a series of BSkyB friendly statements and has also had meetings with senior executives from the media giant. Jeremy Hunt even flew to the United States where he met representatives of News Corp, as well as other media organisations.
Astonishingly and despite the above the Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O’Donnell actually cleared Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt to rule on the controversial BSkyB takeover - why? How did he come to this conclusion? Surely this opens up charges of political bias by Sir Gus? He revealed that prime minister David Cameron had sought his advice about whether there was any legal impediment to the shift in ministerial responsibilities from Vince cable to Jeremy Hunt before making a decision, so far from asking to be removed from any decision making concerning BSkyB, we clearly see that it was David Cameron's decision to give this part of Vince Cable's brief to Jeremy Hunt, which is at the very least a controversial decision, so controversial that O'Donnell felt he had to take legal advice. Who gave the legal advice to Sir Gus? Was it the Conservative Attorney General Dominic Grieve?
The Cabinet Secretary also made clear that there was so much doubt about Jeremy Hunt’s suitability for this role that they were forced to consult top lawyers.’
‘It is very hard to see how any decision Jeremy Hunt makes will enjoy complete confidence. Yet despite all of this and despite what was known to Hunt, he was within hours of granting permission to Rupert Murdoch for the BSkyB takeover.
So we had a situation where Vince Cable was ousted from his position as final judge over whether Murdoch may buy out the remaining 61% of BskyB shares due to bias against the company. He was then replaced by Jeremy Hunt, who has exhibited astonishing bias toward the company and all in the name of fairness? Fairness to whom? Rupert Murdoch?
It appears to me at that time Rupert Murdoch actually ran the Tory party and had great influence over Sir Gus O'Donnell too and this is something that clearly needs to be debated in parliament.
This is remarkable especially when you consider that all of this has been conducted amid fears of a Tory takeover at the BBC after party grandee Chris Patten was appointed by the Tories for the Corporation’s top job.
Fears about the Tory Peer Chris Patten's appointment appeared to have been realised as the Tory-led Government’s close links to Rupert Murdoch and News International have emerged in recent weeks and suspicions that the Tories had struck some kind of a deal with the tycoon, whose newspapers championed the party in the run-up to the May 2010 election look to be gaining traction. Yet knowing all of this Sir Gus O'Donnell still allowed Jeremy Hunt to preside over the BSkyB bid?
Sir Gus O'Donnell also has ducked questions on the controversy over the tax status of millionaire Tory donor Lord Ashcroft in 2007.
Many people believe that the peer has reneged on a commitment to become domiciled in Britain for tax purposes in return for his elevation to the House of Lords. In fact William Hague now the Foreign Secretary famously refused to answer questions out to him by Jeremy Paxman over Lord Ashcroft's status.
On one of his trips abroad with the former prime minister John Major, Gus O'Donnell – Sir Gus, as he is now – intrigued the attendant press corps by claiming to have a system for winning at roulette, which only required a casino foolish enough to have a roulette wheel with no zero for it to be infallible.
It was simple, but required a big pile of chips and a steady nerve. The idea was to make only those bets that had a 50-50 chance of success, such as putting everything on red. If you won, you would keep your winnings and repeat the bet. If you lost, you would double your stake, and keep doubling until you won. If you started by betting a pound, and lost 10 times in a row, your 10th bet would have to be £1,024 – but win that, and you would recover all that you had lost.
How deeply embarrassing for our country that a senior civil servant thinks that this doubling strategy is a winner and this man was once employed as Permanent Secretary to the Treasury! No wonder then that he pulled out all the stops for the Markets when he was forming a coalition government for Britain and overriding the country's democracy in doing so!
In his earlier post as Permanent Secretary of the Treasury, O'Donnell sacked a Treasury official who was too partisan in attacking the Tories. The sacked official was then taken on by Gordon Brown as a political adviser. His name was Damian McBride.
Now recall recently what name has been flowing off of the lips of David Cameron in the form of an "attack" on Ed Miliband? What name was on the "dossier" of ways to attack labour, which was quickly circulated to Tory and Liberal Democrat MPs as a way of "attacking" Labour over the phone hacking scandal? The exact same dossier that asked Tory MPs to cheer from the rafters when David Cameron stood up in the House to debate the developments in the hacking scandal when he was forced by Ed Miliband and Labour to recall parliament? Yes of course it was Damien McBride, who had previously been sacked by none other than Sir Gus O'Donnell.
Early in 2002, O'Donnell suddenly propelled himself into the limelight by speaking the blunt truth to a student audience, when he told them that the five conditions set by Gordon Brown which had to be met before Britain even thought of joining the Euro, would never be met, and that the decision to join the euro was not economic but political. Again at the time this was gleefully picked up as evidence that Brown's carefully built economic case against the euro was a sham. It wasn't of course and because of Brown we have escaped much of what is happening in the Euro-Zone today.
The question is why? Why is Sir Gus O'Donnell constantly busting a gut in favour of the Conservative party and to such an extent? The very fact that people have to ask the question about the "impartiality" of Sir Gus O'Donnell means there could be a problem and if there is then this needs to be investigated, but in a government so heavily implicated in sleaze and scandal after only just 15 months what hope have we got of seeing the machinations of government in Britian working properly and fairly?
Meanwhile the Phone Hacking Scandal - Dodgy Deals - Dodgy Lobbyists - Dodgy Donors - All Part of a Day In the Life Of Dodgy Dave Cameron's "Tory" Government and Sir Gus appears to do nothing about it - why?
Posted by Gracie Samuels at
Glad that James Murdoch, David Cameron and George Osborne
think the mess they have created and the people they have have hurt
so amusing!
Writing a blog on the subject of the phone hacking scandal is difficult, the news often changes before I have the chance to complete a paragraph. Yesterday I wrote about "How Deep Is David Cameron's Involvement With The Murdochs, Brooks and Newscorp? " I pointed out how "close" David Cameron is to senior Newscorp employees and mentioned that Will Lewis formerly of the Telegraph, before it was "Daily Mail-ised" and how when Lewis had no place in the new Daily Maile-esque' Telegraph set-up, a place near the top of the Newscorp echelons as a senior employee was quickly found for him. Will Lewis was also named as a replacement for Andy Coulson when Coulson was forced to resign. It has since turned out that Will Lewis who is now the senior executive of Newscorp is the very person who is now suspected of leaking the audio recording of Vince Cable talking to two undercover Telegraph reporters last November, in which he famously said he was going to "declare war on Rupert Murdoch". The Daily Telegraph did not want the audio to be leaked because it was contrary to their business interests. However, not so for Newscorp, the leak about Vince Cable would definitely be beneficial for them because of course action would have to be taken on Vince Cable, either he would lose his ministerial position, be moved sideways etc or as it happened he had the part of his brief that dealt with the BSkyB take-over bid removed from him and given to Culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt - how convenient for Newscorp was this?
Obviously Newscorp, James Murdoch, Rupert Murdoch, Rebekah Brooks and Will Lewis knew that Vince Cable was more than likely going to refer their bid for BSkyB to the Competition Commission, they did not want this and it was no secret that Vince Cable was hostile to the take-over bid, so Cable had to be got rid of or made impotent in some way and this is exactly what happened. The take-over brief was taken from Cable and given to the Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt who just happens to be an open admirer of Rupert Murdoch, could it really have gone to a more pro-Murdoch minister than Jeremy Hunt?
This whole take-over business stinks to high heaven and I believe this could be the "smoking-gun" that topples prime minister, David Cameron. Cameron has said that he has asked to be excluded from all decisions regarding the BSkyB bid, this of course is a total lie, for a start it was his decision to take the BSKyB bid away from Vince Cable and hand it to an ultra pro-Murdoch minister, Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt! That was in November 2010 and just a few weeks later Cameron attended a Christmas dinner party at the Oxfordshire home of his neighbour now former CEO of News International, Rebekah Brooks. Also in attendance at this "cosy" party was James Murdoch.
The prime minister has been questioned several times and asked to deny that the BSkyB bid was discussed and he has declined to deny it every single time insisting on only saying "I did not have inappropriate conversations about BSkyB". He was asked eleven times in the House of Commons last week and Cameron was weak, ineffectual, slippery and evasive. The prime minister could not deny he had discussed the take-over bid with Rebekah Brooks and James Murdoch because obviously he had discussed it with them! I also seriously doubt that this would have been thr first time that the bid was discussed, as you will see as you read further, there have been ample time for David cameron to discuss this bid with Rupert Murdoch, james Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks at several social engagements. It matters not that Cameron asked to be excluded from the decision making because everyone knows how close he is to James Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks and even Will Lewis.
Lap dog, Jeremy Hunt was always going to grant permission for the BSkyB takeover, oh for sure he played about with the press issuing "false statements" giving the impression that he was going to refer the bid to the Competition Commission but as you will see, he was never serious about doing this, it was just a huge stitch up from the very beginning and Vince Cable was blatantly set-up and used and yet the silly man and his foolish ego still does not see how he was totally set-up.
Just weeks before a decision was due to me made about the BSkyB bid the Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt had said he intended to order a full-scale competition probe. Then out of the blue Hunt suddenly performed a huge U-turn and accepted that a plan by Murdoch to spin off Sky News as an independent company and accepting that it would prevent Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation getting too tight a grip on the British media if the £8billion BSkyB takeover went ahead. Jeremy Hunt, David Cameron and George Osborne were just hours away from approving Rupert Murdoch’s controversial attempt to seize full control of broadcaster BSkyB and this would have happened if the sickening depths of phone hacking scandal had not become public knowledge.
The Tory chancellor, George Osborne, has also attended the lavish parties hosted by Matthew and Elisabeth Freud (Rupert Murdoch's daughter) at their sprawling Oxfordshire mansion. It has also been exposed that George Osborne, flew to New York and had dinner with Rupert Murdoch two weeks before the media regulator was due to decide on whether to approve his takeover of BSkyB.
At the time Ofcom, the media regulator, had until Dec 31 to decide whether to refer News Corp’s bid for the remaining 61 per cent shares in BSkyB to the Competition Commission.
Just how close to the Murdoch enterprises is David Cameron and George Osborne? It has been mooted that when Osborne's links to the Murdochs are revealed he is going to make David Cameron look like a "saint"!
Now today we are told that not only was Will Lewis previously of the Telegraph and now a senior executive of Newscorp suspected of deliberately leaking the Vince Cable audio tapes at a sensitive time, but the judge that David Cameron has placed to lead one of the *TWELVE* inquiries he has set up is himself connected at least socially to Matthew Freud and Elisabeth Murdoch.
Lord Justice Leveson actually attended two parties in the past year at the London home of Matthew Freud, a PR executive married to Elisabeth Murdoch, the daughter of Rupert Murdoch who is widely tipped to be her father’s successor.
Near the Prime Minister's and Rebekah Brooks Home
In Oxfordshire.
It is made up of powerful political and media figures who have homes in a tiny triangle in one of the most scenic parts of England – the Cotswolds. The group go to the same house parties, dine together and even ride together. Bizarrely, Rebekah Brooks lives very near to a road called "Hackers lane"!
David Cameron knows he should *not* have asked Lord Justice Leveson and the Lord Justice knows he should *not* have accepted, how on earth do these people think this is going to look to the general public? Whatever David Cameron touches or becomes involved in rapidly descends into one huge farce after another where is it all going to end?
Who do these privileged people think they are? Do they honestly think we are all too stupid to find out or understand what they are doing? Did Cameron honestly think we would not discover this? Or do they all subscribe to the belief that we are totally nothing, just thick "plebish forelock tuggers" who will remove our caps and avert our eyes while in the presence of these arrogant well heeled people and just bow and accept everything they tell us and blindly follow orders? The arrogance of David Cameron is beyond breathtaking, it is totally off this planet and his deceit is appalling, Cameron and his cronies are treating the people of this country with utter contempt.
A year before the now infamous 2010 Oxfordshire dinner party at Brooks House, on December 20th, 2009, Matthew Freud had thrown another lavish party that had also been attended by David Cameron (then leader of the opposition) and Elisabeth's father - Rupert Murdoch. I wonder what was discussed at that particular party? Perhaps someone should ask David Cameron if as leader of the opposition did he ever discuss the BSkYB takeover-bid with Rupert Murdoch?
Registered on 15th September 2008 On David Cameron's expenses:
16th August 2008 - David Cameron and his wife and children took advantage of a private plane trip from Farnborough to Istanbul. Then from Istanbul to Santorini, and return to Dalaman. This was provided by Matthew Freud.
Cameron took three flights flights so he could meet media tycoon Rupert Murdoch. These were all funded by Matthew Freud, the husband of Elisabeth Murdoch. Lord Justice Leveson who Cameron has asked to lead the inquiry into the Murdochs/Newscorp phone hacking scandal has also attended social functions at the home of Matthew Freud and Elisabeth Murdoch.
The judge will be able to call any journalist, politician or proprietor, raising the possibility that Rupert Murdoch could face further questions. It emerged yesterday that Lord Leveson, while chairman of the Sentencing Council that advises the Government on punishing criminals, met Mr Freud at a dinner in February last year in an Oxford University college.
Yet again we are seeing the judgement and competence of David Cameron brought into serious question, his ability to be prime minister and lead this country's government must now be in grave doubt. Cameron must have known that Lord Justice Leveson has connections with the Murdochs, surely the judge himself informed Cameron?
One other question that must be asked of Cameron and answered, just what did Andy Coulson see and was able to ferry back to the Murdochs? By the prime minister's own admission Coulson was not fully security vetted so any shady links of his in the past would not have come to light, every Director of Communications before Coulson and since Coulson are subjected to the full security clearance so why wasn't Coulson? Was the PM aware of what they would find and so ordered the lesser security checks?
David Cameron is bringing the role of British Prime Minister into serious disrepute, it is hard to envisage that he can survive the next four years without destroying the image of the British government and Britain's reputation abroad.
Posted by Gracie Samuels at
How Deep Is David Cameron's Involvement With The Murdochs, Brooks and Newscorp?
Reuters reports today that Will Lewis a senior executive of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation is allegedly behind the leak that exposed Vince Cable's anti Murdoch comments late last year. Kroll one of the world's biggest corporate investigations firm, was hired by London's Telegraph Media Group, a competitor of Murdoch's London-based News International, to find out who had leaked unpublished excerpts of a secret audio recording that Telegraph reporters had made of Business Secretary, Vince Cable. He was heard telling two Daily Telegraph reporters who were posing as constituents of Cable's that he was "going to declare war on Rupert Murdoch". The Telegraph hired the investigations firm to try and trace the leak because it is thought that the Telegraph did not want this part of the report to be made public because it could harm their business interests.
When Kroll reported their findings to the Telegraph they advised that if the leak investigation continued it would be highly unlikely to produce a conclusive result because of the number of people that had access to data banks, including employees of BT, whom the Telegraph use to outsource technical support functions.
"However, Kroll investigators say in the report that they have strong reason to suspect that Will Lewis, a former chief editor at the Daily Telegraph and by late 2010 a senior executive at News International, was involved in facilitating the leak, along with another former Telegraph employee who also later moved to News International."
Here is where the story gets even murkier. When the "new" Telegraph order was set up taking in former senior employees from the Daily Mail, and there was no place for Will Lewis in the new set-up a place was very rapidly found for him near the top at Newscorp - how? At Newscorp Will Lewis reported to none other than Rebekah Brooks (before her recent forced resignation).
Will Lewis is also good friends with the BBC's Robert Peston, the same Robert Peston that repeatedly comes up with exclusive scoops.
If this story was not coincidental enough, when Andy Coulson resigned as David Cameron's Director of Communications last January, Will Lewis was immediately in the frame for Coulson's ex- position. David Cameron, Andy Coulson and Rebekah Brooks were included on the guest list of Will Lewis 40th Birthday party in 2009. However it appears for once cameron listened to the doubts of others (in the way he had failed to listen to them before over Andy Coulson) and he subsequently went on to hire Craig Oliver former editor of the BBC as his new Director of Communications and Craig Oliver has been reported to repeatedly contact his former staff at the BBC in a effort to control the news.
Over the years Cameron and the Tories have come to depend heavily on the support of News International’s power, which has led to the huge amount of trouble they now find themselves in. Now they have alienated News International, they must be wondering when the thunderbolt will strike them but they need to be aware - strike them that "thunderbolt" will!
Before the last election David Cameron was accused of making a "contract" with Britain's biggest media company to trade political support before the general election for government favours afterwards if the Tories won.
It was obvious to anyone who follows politics that before the last election the Conservative Party was tailoring its policies on media regulation and the BBC to suit the commercial interests of News International. Did Cameron do a deal with Murdoch?
David Cameron and George Osborne's relationship with news International appears to be far deeper than people realise and if that relationship is above board, why have clandestine meetings over Christmas with James Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks – what would be the point and why won't the prime minister deny outright that the BSkyB take-over bid was not discussed? David Cameron, George Osborne and Jeremy Hunt came very close to allowing a disproportionate chunk of the UK's media to be owned by people (the Murdochs) who are not resident here and do not pay tax here - why? Further, why haven't these questions been picked up and asked by the UK's other newspapers? Why have all the other newspapers barring 2 or 3 kowtowed to Cameron and the Tory party's every whim? If we believe what the newspapers say and how they all value "investigative journalism" then their job was to investigate expose the kind of thing that was happening between David Cameron, George Osborne, the Conservative party and the Murdochs, Rebekah Brooks and Newscorp. yet they fundamentally and systematically failed to do so on virtually v every single count and still today the Telegraph and the Mail are still toadying up to the Tories and Cameron - why?
It seems to me that the Murdochs and News International were trying to buy government and police protection from the hacking scandal, the private dinners, the phone hacking that was all but ignored by the Met and somewhere mixed up in that was some kind of deal for Cameron and his Tories (especially when they were in opposition) and no matter what the next twist and turn is revealed to be in the hacking scandal, somehow all roads lead back to David Cameron and Newscorp - every single time! Now we have Sue Akers of the Met investigating the Met and to date the idiotic British government who is panicking has set up at least 12 different inquiries into this scandal. If that doesn't confuse the issue entirely I really do not know what will. Why so many inquiries? it is utterly ridiculous, but what else do you expect from and inept, incompetent government run by fools who are completely out of their depth? And it is this kind of government that Rupert Murdoch, James Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks have helped inflict upon the people of this country and all because they wanted to get their hands on BSkyB to make themselves even richer - greed- power - greed and corruption.
When questioned by MPs in last Tuesday's select Committee hearing Rebekah Brooks said she did not advise David Cameron to hire Andy Coulson, that it was George Osborne who persuaded Cameron to hire Coulson, in that case I would have asked Brooks if it were her that asked George Osborne to persuade the PM to hire Andy Coulson. In any event Rebekah Brooks is such a proven liar that I simply do not believe anything she says and I would not be surprised to learn that she did urge cameron to hire Coulson in a "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" kind of thing.
However, initial discussions with Mr Coulson are believed to have taken place with Mr Osborne and Steve Hilton, Mr Cameron's chief strategist, who also moved to Downing Street with the Prime Minister. It was Francis Maude who negotiated Mr Coulson's £275,000 salary. Coulson's huge salary went on to be paid by the taxpayer at a time when the government he was "helping" was slashing the benefits to disabled people and others struggling on low incomes.
Earlier in this report I mentioned BT. This is something of a puzzle to me because I recall BT was being mentioned at one time as a possible source that supplied unlisted telephone numbers and other information to the journalists involved in the hacking scandal which enabled journalists to access people's voicemails and possible email accounts and I have not seen mention anywhere that this obvious irregularity and possible criminal offence committed at BT is being investigated by the police.
Add the untimely and highly "coincidental" death of Sean Hoare who's honesty helped this deeply buried hacking scandal escape. his body was discovered at approximately 10.30 am and within the hour the police were saying his death was "unexplained but not suspicious", if it unexplained how do the police know it was not suspicious. How could the police issue such a statement when a post mortem had not even taken place and no toxicology results known? Until Mr Hoare spoke out last September, pressure had eased on Mr Coulson, I bet Andy Coulson is not shedding any tears! How strange that the one man that was willing to speak up and out about Andy Coulsons's alleged lies over phone hacking died alone in his flat in the middle of the increasing furore over phone hacking!
Now Scotland Yard has possession of cryptic financial records and emails said to suggest that Andy Coulson did know about phone hacking, just like Sean Hoare said he did. Cash records are said to tally with payments suggested in an email discussion between Coulson and the newspaper's disgraced royal correspondent, Clive Goodman. Every day this scandal is coming still closer to David Cameron who appears to be in this up to his "crimson neck"! If he did not know about Andy Coulson then Cameron is one of two things, he is either stupidly incompetent or a blatant corrupt liar!
Posted by Gracie Samuels at
Cameron - I Did Not Have Inappropriate Conversations With That Woman
Last Tuesday the prime minister, David Cameron said no less than 11 times that he "did not have inappropriate conversations with that woman" [Rebekah Brooks], then perhaps he should be forced to reveal just what conversations he did have and has had with Rebekah Brooks and the rest of the "Chipping Norton Set".
Last Christmas the pressure was mounting on Cameron and and his then chief of communications, Andy Coulson and Rebekah Brooks over alleged phone hacking at the now defunct Sunday newspaper the News of the World. When Rebekah Brooks was editor of the News of the World, Andy Coulson was her deputy editor and they were said to be "close" and inseparable. They both (and David Cameron) expect the public to believe that they did not know about the papers despicable phone hacking of the Dowler family, the relatives of dead soldiers and the relatives of victims of the 7/7 terrorist attacks in London. Hacking was so widespread at the paper, that as editor Rebekah Brooks would have been signing off the large cheques to private detectives for "services" rendered to the NotW on a regular basis, does she really expect people to believe that she just signed those cheques without once questioning where they were going and what the paper was paying for? As editor, Brooks's reporters were coming back to her with sensational stories on various people and again, Brooks and Coulson are asking the public to believe that they never asked the source of those stories? Despite them having to be cleared by the paper's legal department in case of any libel accusations?
There are two possibilities, 1).Rebekah Brooks and her sidekick Andy Coulson did not know, in that case she was the world's worse and thickest editor who let her journalists do and write what they want without checking up and thus putting the Murdoch empire and the paper in serious jeopardy with all the legal implications that holds, and if so, what was Murdoch paying her for? and why did he promote her to CEO of News Corp? Or 2)..Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson knew all along what was happening and they are now lying through their back teeth.
Vince Cable the Business Secretary was then duped into believing that two reporters from the Daily Telegraph were his constituents, during their taped conversation Cable said that he "was going to declare war on Murdoch" the result of this was that Cameron removed the BSkyB take-over bid from him and gave the brief to Jeremy Hunt instead. Hunt's impartiality was questionable right from the start as Hunt is a known admirer of Rupert Murdoch.
With all this going on the prime minister, David Cameron attended a dinner party at the Oxfordshire home of Rebekah Brooks last Christmas and among the other guests was James Murdoch, strangely enough, Andy Coulson the friend of both Cameron and Brooks was not present at that party. The prime minister has now been asked 11 times if he discussed the BSKyB deal with Brooks and Murdoch and as he will deny outright that he did not discuss the deal and will only say "I did not have inappropriate conversations" with Rebekah Brooks we can safely assume that the prime minister did in fact discuss the BSkyB deal. Cameron says he asked to be removed from all the decision process of that deal, well sorry that is not good enough, we need to know if he discussed this deal with Rebekah Brooks and James Murdoch at her home. Since the last election Mr Cameron met with executives from News International 27 times. Among those meetings was two in four days with Rebekah Brooks, the former News International chief executive. What was so important that Cameron had to meet with Brooks twice in four days and was Coulson and or the BSkyB bid discussed?
The prime minister should also reveal if he has ever discussed the BSkyB deal with his Culture secretary Jeremy Hunt.
Jeremy Hunt has said:
"Rather than worry about Rupert Murdoch owning another TV channel, what we should recognise is that he has probably done more to create variety and choice in British TV than any other single person because of his huge investment in setting up Sky TV, which, at one point, was losing several million pounds a day.
We would be the poorer and wouldn't be saying that British TV is the envy of the world if it hadn't been for him being prepared to take that commercial risk. We need to encourage that kind of investment."
After saying that how on earth could Cameron give the decision to Jeremy Hunt to make? Obviously his impartiality was under great question-ability. Jeremy Hunt said he was going to refer the deal to the Competition Commission which would have taken some time, however, he then suddenly decided to take assurances from the Murdochs over the deal and then suddenly Jeremy Hunt changed his mind and was actually within hours of giving the go ahead for the Murdochs to purchase the remaining BSkyB shares which would have given him a monopoly on news in this country.
It is obvious that Cameron has spoken to Hunt and Brooks and Murdoch about the BSkyB bid and the public must be told what exactly it was that he discussed, he said the discussions were not inappropriate, well any mention at all of the BSkyB bid would have been deemed as inappropriate.
The prime minister's integrity, honesty and judgement is at question and either the prime minister, David Cameron has appalling judgement or he is a liar, or maybe he is both, whatever he is, he is doing great harm to this country's reputation because under cameron's stewardship we have seen Britain's top police man Sir Paul Stephens resign and also his deputy John Yates after both men become embroiled in the phone hacking scandal. From the prime minister down no one seems to want to accept blame or responsibility for their own actions and we have a reached the ludicrous situation when the prime minister, or the the country's top police officers do not seem to be able to tell right from wrong then we are in dire trouble.
Since he became PM he and his chancellor have caused confusion and mayhem, every single reform they have tried to introduce from the NHS to education, to welfare, to the police, defence or forestry has resulted in utter chaos. When problems have arise abroad neither the Pm or Foreign secretary, William Hague have been able to get a grip on them which has resulted in our citizens lives being put at risk abroad and Osborne has the country's economy on a collision course with absolute catastrophe and now we have the country's top police resigning and people being arrested all over the place.
In just over one year this country has been reduced to a complete mess by Cameron, Osborne, Clegg and all the rest of them, they have made a complete hash of running this country. This is what happens when we have weak ineffective leadership from incompetent people trying to punch above their weight placed in a position of government, this government did not win the election, Cameron and Osborne just got lucky.The PM has no idea what it is he is doing and allows people like Rupert Murdoch, James Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks and other assorted businessmen many from the banking sector (who caused this country's problems) too much influence over the formation of policy and the running of the country. Cameron is discovering that you cannot run the country by popular public opinion and every action he takes has further consequences and seems completely oblivious to the messes he is creating. David Cameron is simply not up to the job, he has no head for detail and has no idea what is happening in the country half the time. Everything the man does is questionable at best and dowright incompetent at worse.
David Cameron's position has become untenable and before further revelations emerge he would do well to resign and call an immediate general election because there is now no way out for him and he knows it, what is about to emerge from Coulson about Cameron will finish him off so he may just as well go now and save this country further grave problems of his making. He is in this hacking scandal right up to his crimson ears!
Cameron can say he "did nit have inappropriate conversations with thet woman" all he likes, the truth will come out and prove otherwise, he should go and go now, he is a walking disaster waiting to happen, the man is a buffooon and a liability.
Posted by Gracie Samuels at
Cameron Adds Insult To Injury Over Bombardier Contract
This Tory-led government have pinned all hopes on the recovery of the British economy on manufacturing and exports, they have taken the most extraordinary gamble on manufacturing growing like it has never grown before even in the height British manufacturing at its best. Some have not forgotten that former Conservative prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, obliterated the steelworks, ship building, the car industry and closed nearly all the coal mines, decimating the manufacturing industry, while deregulating the City's financial sector forcing Britain to become virtually dependent on the financial sector, the result of this was the credit crisis and banking crash coupled with a global financial recession which has caused the majority of the recessional problems in the UK. While the Labour government did try to revive British industry it still did not do enough to stop the Tory rot eating into manufacturing and we were still too dependent upon the City. Now since 2010 we have a Tory-led government that has placed all their eggs in the manufacturing sector basket and yet the past two sets of statistics show the manufacturing sector is slowing down dramatically and with it the hopes of the British economic recovery, knowing this it's most strange that the government have acted in such an enigmatic way on at least two occasions which could have proved fantastic for British manufacturing right at a time when the country needed it the most.
I refer back to the mess that this government made of a promised loan to Sheffield Forgemasters, which incidentally is in the Sheffield Hallam constituency of Nick Clegg the Deputy Prime Minister. In 2010 the incoming Tory government reneged on an £80 million loan to Sheffield Forgemasters promised to the company by the previous Labour government. The company had also secured a further £100 million loan from a European bank which was promised to the company on the proviso that the British government also loaned £80 million, without the loan from the British government Sheffield Forgemasters also lost the promise of the loan from the European bank, leaving the company over £180 million short of the money it required for new technological investment. The loans were to help Forgemasters install a high precision piece of equipment that would have enabled the company to make parts for *green* nuclear energy. When installed, this machine would have been the only machine in the world to make precision parts of a certain size and would have put this British company right at the forefront of green nuclear energy technology. It would have supported the local Sheffield Hallam economy, it would have supported the UK economy as a whole, it would have provided extra jobs and apprenticeships, in fact it was a pretty good deal for just an £80 million loan yet the Tories renege on that promise - why? Well the government tried to give several reasons none of which stood up to scrutiny. One such reason given by Clegg was that this would have been a cheap loan which would have benefited the company directors and shareholders and that the company should look to the private sector for the loan, neglecting to inform parliament that the company had already secured £100 million from the private sector, Clegg went on to deliberately mislead parliament as he knew that the shareholders were in actual fact employees of the company and they had never take a bonus from the company preferring instead to plough profits back into investing in their company, Clegg was found to have mislead the House of Commons, yet one year on the country is still waiting fr or him to acknowledge this. The second reason the government gave is because the country could not afford the loan which is another deliberate deception! Not least because the Tory chancellor George Osborne was pinning hopes of an economic recovery for the country on British manufacturing and exports and it would have been hard to find a more suitable business proposition than Sheffield Forgemasters, which fitted that description perfectly. If all had gone to plan and the present government had kept to the loan promised by the previous Labour government then British company, Sheffield Forgemasters would have been exporting all over the world. This being so along with all the other advantages of the loan surely it would have meant that the country couldn't afford not to grant the loan? A loan that was due to be repaid to the government and which made perfect business sense. Also if the country could not afford it why did prime minister David Cameron, give over a £100 million to Nick Clegg to waste on his vanity AV referendum project which was a complete and total waste of money? Add to this the Andrew Cook factor and the whole thing takes on a more sinister and shady reason for the Tory government not granting the loan. Andrew Cook is a Yorkshire businessman who has made several failed attempts to buy out Sheffield Forgemasters. Cook also boasts to being the largest single donor to the Conservative party in Yorkshire. Andrew Cook - Mr Cook donated £500,000 to the Conservative party, along with the £54,000 worth of plane flights to David Cameron largest donor in Yorkshire and caused uproar when it emerged that Cook had successfully lobbied to prevent Sheffield Forgemasters from getting a government loan, which remains a highly controversial issue - Nick Clegg deliberately mislead the House over this issue.
The man who donated almost £750,000 in cash and flights to Cameron's campaign started an email "I am the largest donor to the conservative party" and then went on to call for the loan to Forgemasters to be axed.
Downing Street are unable to confirm if Cameron was personally lobbied.
Question; Why? It is in the public interest, possible corruption of our government always is!
Six more questions spring to mind
a). Why was Forgemasters loan cancelled when other loans to business weren't?
b). Was Cameron lobbied by Andrew Cook, the owner of a rival company to Sheffield Forgemasters and who has made several unsuccessful bids to buy the company in the past?
c). And was Mr Cook, the Tory donor, present on any one of the 23 flights David Cameron accepted from him?
d). Why was the loan refused, when it so obviously more than met the criteria Cameron, Osborne, Clegg and Vince Cable (remember him?) set to try and grow British manufacturing jobs?
e). And what an earth was Nick Clegg doing allowing this to happen in his own back yard?
f). Nick Clegg has still not been reprimanded for deliberately misleading the House of Commons - why not, why has he not gone to the House to apologise for this matter?
DAVID Cameron sacrificed British jobs by awarding a contract to supply high speed trains not to Bombardier here in Britain but to Siemens in Germany and the to add insult to injury he bumped Bombardier off his recent trade mission to Africa. Colin Walton, boss of the Derby-based train manufacturer, was booked to join the Prime Minister on the trip aimed at drumming up business for UK companies.But on Friday, just 48 hours before he was due to set off for South Africa and Nigeria, Mr Walton was told he wasn’t welcome by the Tory government. Mr Walton had hoped to use the African trip to win work for Bombardier, which faces making massive cuts to its 3,000-strong workforce after losing out on a £3billion contract to Germany’s Siemens, yet after the Tories awarded the contract to Siemens David Cameron was to embarrassed to face Mr Walton on the trip. Why did this government do this to British manufacturing when our economic recovery is depending on manufacturing and exports? When quizzed about why the contract was awarded to the German company the PM claimed the tendering process forced ministers to give the work to Siemens, but the Mirror has produced a document showing they are free to award the work to the Derby firm, if they choose. David cameron and the Tory government have treated the Bombardier workforce with utter contempt and if that wasn't bad enough they then lied to each and every one of them, what a despicable way to behave, I hope they remember this come election day.
So much for encouraging British manufacturing, it's all lies, this government is all lies, it is corrupt at the very heart run by an arrogant conman ex spin doctor spiv, this government have reneged on virtually every single promise it has ever made, especially when it promised to be open and transparent, that is lies too.
David Cameron and the Tory government should no be allowed to get away with this blatant lying and deliberate misleading of people and they should be forced to explain the real reason why they gave away a contract that would have safe guarded thousands of British jobs. How can we expect the prime minister to effectively govern when he hires corrupt crooks and places them at the heart of government? There must be a reason why they gave the Bombardier contract to a German company and Cameron should be forced back to the House of Commons to answer to the workers of Bombardier the British people what he has done it is nothing short of a disgrace. No doubt at some time we will probably discover more sinister and "corrupt" reasons why the Tories decided to rob British workers of a contract that could have secured thousands of British jobs.
Yet again it is simple to uncover shady deals of a corrupt nature regarding this Tory government, the government who promised to be "open and transparant" and "whiter than white".
Posted by Gracie Samuels at
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Jeremy Hunt
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The famous Mesquita Mosque, within a Roman Catholic Cathedral, is in which country?
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Ayes To The Left: July 2011
Ayes To The Left
The blog that exposes Cameron's lies and disinformation on the NHS, education, the economy, unemployment and his broken promises.
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The Country Is falling to Bits and Dave, George and Nick are off on their "Hols"!
The Camerons Are on Their THIRD Foreign Holiday This Year!
I remember the last time that dear little Billy Hague was left in charge it was when "call me Dave" Cameron was out of the country on a jaunt (flogging arms to small Arab countries), with his his Tory financial backing arms dealer mates. At that time Billy totally misread the Egyptian and Libyan crisis and had thousands of our citizens stranded in Egypt and Libya. Little "Billy no mates" Hague barring one mate - (his driver) then went on to make bizarre comments that Gaddafi was on a flight deserting Libya on his way to an undisclosed destination [as he spoke] and Billy boy Hague knew this apparently because "someone told him"!
Also at the time Defence Minister Liam Fox couldn't be asked to bother about any of it and was off down the pub with his mates drinking pints - Osborne the chancellor was off on a freebie skiing holiday as the economy sank, while the deputy PM Nick Clegg had to be reminded he was in charge of the country because he had forgotten, and anyway it didn't really matter because it was nearly his usual knocking off time (3 pm) and then he was off on a half term skiing holiday with the family. so "someone else would have to do it" (take charge of the country).
Meanwhile the Foreign secretary William Hague who no one had actually told was supposed to be running the country while Dave, George and Nick were away enjoying themselves had apparently had enough of it all and he was booked to fly out of the country himself to Washington that very night, which left the UK with not one single person in charge!
But then (as is the case now) we are told shouldn't worry because really "we're all in this together" and call me Dave is in charge, this time from his luxury villa in Tuscany (budget of course - lmao).
Now there is another crisis developing in Libya the Libyan rebels who Hague and Cameron have just declared as the formal government of Libya and just a day after the UK releasing £92 MILLION to these "so-called" Libyan "rebels" (probably the Libyan branch of al-qada) have just shot dead and murdered one of their own people because they did not trust him! Now as it is the Foreign Secretary's job (William [Billy-boy] Hague) to deal with it and sort it out, I am a bit concerned. Hague is also supposed to be in charge of the country while the rest of them are out of it playing in swimming pools and drinking refreshing cool drinks while basking in hot foreign sunshine. Dave is in Tuscany enjoying his THIRD luxury foreign holiday of this year - Nick is in Spain on his 3rd or 4th f holiday of this year and despite the British economy is almost in free-fall the chancellor George Osborne has flown out to Hollywood to join his wife and family for a luxurious holiday in one of LA’s smartest hotels, while leaving us behind to grapple with feeding and school clothing our families, struggling with utility bills and scared stiff of filling the fuel tank up. Osborne has forgotten about Britain’s economic woes as he relaxes at Mr C’s, a new hotel where rooms can cost as much as £1,000 a night and this is the chancellor's THIRD luxury holiday so far this year. I am rather concerned if "Billy no-mates barring one" is actually up to the job.
God forbid we are the subject of a terrorist attack because the deputy assistant police commissioner in charge of anti-terrorism, John Yates, was forced to resign the other week over the telephone hacking and police corruption scandal engulfing News International and David Cameron and the Conservative government. Also Britain's top police Sir Paul Stephenson has also resigned, so in effect we have absolutely no one at the helm of this country, although Stephenson apparently is still in his post for a few weeks, but he is busy winding his tenure in charge of the Met up.
So forgive me for asking "just what the bloody hell is going on with this farce of a Tory government"?
Posted by Gracie Samuels at
This is the type of misleading headline that is encouraged by David Cameron and his government
in Tory Britain today!
Do the Tories and their supporters really feel proud of their government? What do people think when they read banner headlines like this? They do not even have to buy the paper it can be read instantly on passing and the damage done almost as instantaneously. Newspapers like the basket cases Express, Sunday Express, Mail, Mail on Sunday and Rupert Murdoch's Sun have been running headlines like this for about a year now, true these papers have always gone from the sublime to the ridiculous with their hysterical headlines which have until a year ago mainly been reserved for "immigrants" but now seem to have a new cause and purpose in their existence - to bash disabled people. What these so-called newspapers have deliberately engaged in for this past year with their headlines which boarder on the hysterical, has been taken to an altogether different level and there is a reason for this.
Ever since this "pretendy" coalition government managed to assume power, cabinet ministers, government ministers and even MPs from both parties have engaged in a systematic attack on the claimants of all benefits, but nowhere has this government from the prime minister, David Cameron down been more vitriolic and vociferous than on its "attacks" on those who claim disabled benefits of any kind. In my opinion it appears as if there has been some kind of briefing message gone round and MPs briefed to sing from the same hymn sheet and if this is the case then most have stayed "on message" throughout the year.
This Tory government (I make no apologies for calling them that, because this is what it is) right from its "coalition" birth and the ripping up of the Tory and Lib Dem promises in their manifestos and the rapid publication of the "coalition agreement" (which was forgotten about just as fast) declared an all out "assault" on benefit claimants, they have in my opinion made a conscious commitment to divide the nation and set ordinary workers against other ordinary people and they have used the politics of hate, bitterness and envy to do it and disabled people have been caught in this, I believe intentionally, in order to allow this Tory government to get through its draconian welfare reform bill with as little protest and as few lost votes as is possible. they got elected ( or nearly elected) posing as sheep but they had hidden their wolfs clothing.
I am not going to point out the "blindingly" obvious about the state of health of disability benefit claimants, I would not blight their cause by doing so. In this country of the so-called civilised, disabled people should not have to defend themselves against such attacks and justify their needs to people that know "naff all" about what they criticising and opining, let alone be forced to defend themselves to our own prime minister and Department For Work and Pensions and sadly the minister for the disabled Maria Miller- right? Especially because our prime minister had a little disabled son who so sadly passed away. When our prime minister was in opposition he reiterated time and time again to disabled people, to their carers, their parents and relatives and friends, to anyone who would listen, that he knew "personally" the uphill struggle some faced when they have a disabled child/relative/friend, he knew how they depended on the NHS and the "system" and he knew how badly the "system" could let some people down. David Cameron leader of the Conservative opposition maintained this stance right up until May 5th 2010, then a week later when he managed to get himself into number 10 and become the nation's prime minister he seems to have had some kind of attack of amnesia and he has forgotten all he said and promised to disabled people.
Getting back to the rancid headlines in the hysterical rabid right wing press. These headlines are being actively encourage by our prime minister and his cabinet and his government ministers, since becoming prime minister Cameron appears to have declared war on those claiming benefits and has not missed an opportunity to label people as "welfare scroungers" and "benefit cheats" and "fraudsters", here is a quote from the prime minister "There is no way of dealing with an 11 per cent budget deficit just by hitting either the rich or the welfare scrounger," and of course hardly surprising it was published in one of Rupert Murdoch's papers The Times which is behind a paywall (Murdoch wants us to pay for our news).
The situation against disabled people has deteriorated so badly that disabled Labour MP Anne Begg is forced to defend disabled people's rights in parliament when "Benefits assessment firm (Atos) are causing fear and loathing among claimants". All this stress would have a dreadful affect on able bodied people's lives but to heap this on top of the fear and distress that disabled people suffer day in day out because of their conditions is unforgivable and disabled people are having to fight 24 hours per day and wade through a sea of prejudice actively being encouraged by prime minister, David Cameron, until it gets to this stage where disabled people are being physically and verbally and abused in our streets and car parks in Suffolk a 60% increase in attacks on disabled people has been recorded since Cameron and the newspapers have embarked on their "attacks" on so-called "benefit cheats" and this is the story across the country. Some disabled people are in such fear of these attacks and of Atos appraisals that they have taken their own lives and others are contemplating such a horrendous move. The government's flagship Welfare to Work policy is inciting hatred and violence towards the disabled by portraying them as cheats and benefits scroungers , an alliance of charities has warned. The Daily Mail is forced to clarify one of their misleading articles , yet still cannot bring itself to apologise and as usual it is tucked away in some obscure part of the paper and online, why doesn't the Press Complaints Commission force them to retract such articles and also apologise in the same banner headlines it misleads people with? See here how minister Chris Grayling has been forced to deny fuelling "attacks on workshy".
Does Cameron and the newspapers accept their part in the way that people now think it is socially acceptable to abuse and treat disabled people so appallingly? These levels of government "attacks" have only started since this Tory government came to power. The abuse is even happening in our care homes ! Do the same newspapers who scream abusive untrue and misleading headlines from their front pages, the headlines that encourage the abuse that is now taking place against disabled people the length and breadth of this country report the assaults and abuse against disabled people that is now taking place which can in large part be seen to be encouraged by this kind of totally spurious and scurrilous misleading reporting? Is this what really passes as journalism in the UK in 2011? So much so that it is now got so serious that it is having to be debated in parliament? Is this really what the British prime minister wants when he utters his careless words in order to appeal to the base instincts of the masses so he can push through his welfare reforms largely unchallenged?
Finally after a year of pure hell disabled people get a response like this "fit to work tests are flawed - MPs say" really?No s*** Sherlock, I guess disabled people would not have known this if someone in Westminster had not finally - *finally* noticed that "Atos kills", yes it does and so does the cheap and nasty comments purposefully put out by prime minister David Cameron, Deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg and our "mystery disappearing man" Tory chancellor, George Osborne, Chris Grayling, Iain Duncan-Smith and Disability Minister Maria Miller ( call for Maria Miller to be investigated ) and all the rest of them who have gleefully joined in with the Westminster bullies and merrily taken up the new craze sweeping Britain seemingly "endorsed" by the prime minister's careless words and acts and got "benefit bashing". They have bashed and bashed, through TV, radio and newspaper headlines and internet blogs and messageboards until some disabled people have caved into into submission, until some are so weak, so tired and so ill, and so mentally affected by all of this they just stop claiming, *NOT* because they are not genuine, but because they just haven't got the strength left to continue their fight - Welcome to Tory Britain in 2011 - some "civilised caring" and "big bloody society" this country and this government turned out to be!
If this government are doing everything they can for disabled people, then why did thousands of people attend a rally of the "Hardest Hit" in London recently at great cost to themselves and their health? A rally that our "esteemed" prime minister totally ignored, yet he above all should know the true cost to the majority of those who attended the march and rally and how much personal organisation attending such an event had to be undertaken, yet his silence was "deafening". Why are newspapers like the Guardian being forced to run articles like this to try and raise awareness of what is happening to disabled people and the problems they are facing as a direct consequence of this government's actions?
Why have we got a Tory government that allows its MPs to infer that disabled people should work for less money than the national minimum wage because they are less productive than able bodied people and think that it is a perfectly acceptable to portray disabled people as second class citizens? Where were the banner headlines on the Express Group newspapers, the Murdoch Newspapers and the Mail group newspapers condemning such a despicable and outrageous inference as this from Philip Davies, the Conservative MP for Shipley? Especially when the same unbelievably hypocritical Tory MP rakes in large amounts of cash for himself .
I don't really want to hear from those that protest about the cost of welfare, I have heard enough of that particular brand of "sickness" to last me a lifetime and I point out it never seemed to be a problem before the recession hit, when mostly people were happy and content with their lot and before we had a government that blamed a global financial recession on just one man and then proceeded to talk the UK economy down (just to get elected) and before we had a government that is actively using the so-called "deficit" as an excuse to attack us ordinary folk, and it is an excuse, because this country has run on larger deficits than this (and under the Tories) before without a government purposefully harming our economy just so it has an excuse to rid us of the welfare state, the NHS and state education. I would also point out that so-called "fraudulent" welfare claims pale into complete insignificance against the tax dodging Tory financial backers in the shape of individuals and corporations, companies like Vodafone for example, where the chancellor Osborne has waived their £6 BILLION tax bill owed to the UK Treasury and where collectively these elitist mainly Tory voting, Tory doning people and companies. BANKS and hedge funds owe upwards of £120 BILLION to the UK treasury per year. yet this Tory government does absolutely nothing other than utter a few mealy mouthed words about closing tax loopholes, that NEVER EVER come to fruition. I would like to remind people at this point before we see the complete demise of everything we hold dear in this country, that absolutely none of us know what life has in store, or when we or our loved ones may need the help of the welfare state or the NHS and if people think they can afford the insurance it will take to cover them and their families against such events in their lives, then I say good luck to them and it must be really great to be so well placed as to be able to pay out approximately a quarter of your income each month to some insurance company, that should you claim will do everything in their power to bring your attention to small print that actually voids your entire claim - good luck with that.
When a country has a government that actually cares about its people, it is a true mark of decency and democracy, by and large under Labour we used to have such a government (I fully acknowledge the labour government's total and utter mistake by introducing Atos etc in the first place and hopefully it is something that a new Labour government will immediately correct) but now it is all disappearing in amongst Tory manipulation and deliberate misleading of the general public, for all their faults (and there were many) the previous Labour government were never like this and now to our immense shame our country can be compared with other profoundly undemocratic countries, where there is little or no decency and where corruption is rife and the rich prosper and the poor are just stamped on and kicked out of the way and hidden as an embarrassment. I used to be proud of my country, today, I have never felt more ashamed of it and believe me, this is a first for me. The way we are allowing ourselves to be influenced by the likes of the privileged elitist millionaire Tory government that now runs our country, the way we are allowing newspapers like the Sun, Express and Mail etc to colour our better judgements and attack those less fortunate than ourselves and the way most of us in pure ignorance sit in judgement on others who we know precious little about, is not only excruciatingly embarrassing, it is truly and profoundly degrading to us as a civilised nation, it is also an exceedingly dangerous position because it literally fosters hatred and the the kind of fascism this country fought so hard against throughout its history and for that we can thank Messrs. Cameron, Clegg and Osborne, Grayling, Duncan-Smith and Miller etc who in barely one year have managed to turn our country from a civilised caring society, to one of narrow minded mean spirited and wholly prejudicial towards disabled people and others less fortunate, and have turned many into people who have it seems lost the ability to reason and logic and see beyond their noses, that is if they haven't yet got around to cutting it off to spite their faces, because none of us know what is around the next corner! We are fostering a deeply uncaring and dangerous society for our children and grandchildren etc to inhabit and that is just about the most awful legacy we can leave future generations.
Is this government really what the people of Britian actually voted for? Are people really happy to have themselves branded as "haters" of others who are less fortunate? There must be some truth in it because if there wasn't, then many more people would protesting to this government about this sickening abuse than currently is. Or is it that this government are so devious that they have successfully moved to the politics of governing by fear, hatred, confusion and chaos? They have certainly caused chaos, disruption and confusion in every major reform from Welfare, Education, defence, Policing to the NHS and have shown themselves to be totally incompetent and completely out of their depth, yet such is the copious amounts of spin from Cameron's spin doctor and the rabid right wing press, this evil government are just being allowed to get away with it.
The newspapers will only print their prejudicial garbage if they think we will buy their papers to read it. However, what I really would like to know is why isn't the Press Complaints Commission taking action against such despicable behaviour?
What I also want to know is why the Conservative government under the leadership of prime minister David Cameron, DPM Nick Clegg, Chancellor George Osborne, Works and Pensions secretary Iain Duncan-Smith, Minister for the Disabled Maria Miller and Employment Minister, Chris Grayling in what seems to be a concerted effort by the whole government - have decided to turn citizen against citizen and portray all those on welfare or disability benefits as "cheats and scroungers and fraudsters" even though they fully realise that the vast majority of claimants are actually *genuine*? and why has the Tory government apparently actively engaged certain newspapers to run their spurious and misleading reports? Among them the Murdoch press?
It's abuse Dave - pure and simple.
If Rupert Murdoch really, truly and genuinely wanted to atone for what "gutter-press reports" its papers have published for the past 3/4 years, he could do no better than start printing the truth and unbiased reports and start publicising the plight of disabled people and those others who are in genuine receipt of benefits and the way they are being shamelessly used, abused and deliberately singled out for "attack" by the British Conservative government today.
Posted by Gracie Samuels at
The UK Economy Is In Real Terms Decline and Tory Chancellor George Osborne is in Hiding and Denial
Let's face it 0.2% "growth is not growth at all, in real terms this figure is probably masking a small contraction.
Yesterday we were treated to a whole plethora of excuses from the Office National Statistics (ONS) and George Osborne himself. I was absolutely astonished at the patheticness of the excuses, it wasn't the Conservative chancellor's fault, said the ONS it was erm *the royal wedding - *The extended May Bank Holiday - * The wrong kind of Spring weather - * Unseasonal fall in oil production - * The Japanese tsunami and nuclear incident - FGS this from the people in charge of our economy? Not forgetting that later George Gideon Osborne took to the airwaves to tell us all how wonderful 0.2% "growth" really is and how the UK is a wonderful beacon of stability in a global storm (apparently).
Just a minute wasn't it Cameron that informed us all of how wonderful the royal wedding was going to be for the country and how manufacturing was going to benefit from the making of memorabilia etc, and it would have been too if only that pesky sun had not got in the way. (I do mean the sun as in sunshine and not the Sun as in that other Tory story that will not go away). So let's get this straight, when people questioned how much the royal wedding was going to cost us they were told that the millions spent on security for the couple would all be recouped out of the revenue raised for the economy by the event itself - so what happened then? The royal wedding was trumpeted as a boost for the economy now its blamed as one of the causes for poor performance. Which is it they cannot have it both ways!
Why is this being used as an excuse? Is it because the government does not want us to remove the royal wedding revenue factor from the figures because if we did this then suddenly we see that the service sector is really not doing that well and that it was only the service sector that stopped the figures going into negative territory, so far better to blame the wedding for the poor performance?
Also another little mentioned fact, apparently the financial sector has once again started to recover - why? It isn't for the loans they are giving out to hard pressed struggling businesses is it? Perhaps it could be that as Osborne's austerity measures bite, the income that families have to manage on has fallen dramatically with wage freezes, VAT increases, fuel increases, food increases, utility increases etc that families incomes have dropped so much and they simply cannot manage so they are being forced to borrow on credit cards just to get by? In fact, as a direct consequence of George Osborne families are being forced to borrow a further 14% just to survive and who is the recipient of over priced credit card transactions? Well of course it is the people that caused the problem in the first place the greedy bankers! So their sector is recovering by George Osborne first of all forcing everyone to pay for the bankers greed and then forcing them to pay for the recovery by being forced to borrow yet more money simply to exist. It is pure madness! But don't worry because while we are all being forced to do this by George Osborne the bankers income and profits will go up so "bless 'em" they will still get their golden hellos, their golden goodbyes, their golden pensions and of course their solid gold bonuses.
The income gap between rich and poor is increasing daily and George Osborne's proposals? Is to cut tax for the rich and lower corporation tax and who will this benefit? Oh and apparently they are going to have some scheme for fibre optic cables, but hang on, that scheme is already in operation and has been for the last 4 years and meanwhile Vince Cable is prattling on about forcing the banks to loan to small businesses ( yawwwn again) this is all very well but can Vince Cable please explain what Osborne's "Project Merlin" was supposed to be all about? What has happened to project Merlin by the way? Osborne doesn't even mention it these days.
This Tory government (for that is exactly what it is) assumed power claiming the country is bankrupt and has no money to pay welfare to terminal cancer patients, or payments to disabled people, or fuel allowances to pensioners and. yet suddenly finds the cash to bomb and bankroll the so-called Libyan rebels. They have cut Sure Start centres, libraries, the police and defence, they are cutting the number of training places for doctors and nurses, despite david Cameron bizarrely claiming in the House of Commons that since the Tories came to power the number of doctors has increased! Unless doctors training now takes place inside one year, I honestly fail to see how he can claim that, once again he is taking us for idiots and misleading parliament and the British people.
The truth is that Osborne's austerity measures are only just beginning, just starting to bite and if they are this bad so early on then what on earth is it going to be like another year or two down the line? There are still the hundreds of thousands more public sector workers waiting to lose their jobs, yet more money to be taken out of the economy as these people will not be spending and this is on top of the further £13 billion yet to be taken out of the economy this year alone.
Unemployment will start to rise, the only reason it hasn't now is because of the disproportionate number of part time jobs that people are being forced to take. I would not be surprised to learn that Osborne has asked companies to offer more in the way of part-time positions so the unemployed figure will not keep rising. There is definitely some kind of discrepancy occurring there. Why is there suddenly a glut of part-time positions being made and fewer full-time positions? This is the reason why the number of those claiming benefits is now soaring, this is because people are being forced to claim top-up benefits because they cannot manage on part-time wages and this in turn means we are heavily subsidising big companies wage bills as it is cheaper for them to hire part-time workers than full-time and is probably the reason why there is suddenly a surge in the number of part-time positions being made.
All this and the chancellor is blaming external influences, by that he means he is blaming other countries and that really is a big joke! When in opposition Cameron and Osborne insisted that the recession was all Brown's fault brought on by his spending, now they are in government they seem to think they can blame the state of the world's economies for their abysmal stifled UK growth, but they cannot, they simply cannot have it both ways. Fact is that despite all the problems with other countries economies in Greece, Portugal and Spain etc and despite coming out of the steepest recession fro a 100 years Labour still managed to return the country to growth and achieve falling unemployment and because of growth of 1.1% they were able to reduce government borrowing by a huge £43 billion, the Tories were handed an economy in recovery and what have they done with it?
May 2010 (under labour) growth in Q2 was 1.1%.... The Tories took over growth in Q3 dropped to 0.7%...Q4 contracted by 0.5% and Q1 grew 0.5% which only managed to cover the amount we contracted in the previous quarter and then in Q2 (yesterday) Q2 growth was only 0.2%.
So you can see that ever since the Tories have been in power they have managed to put growth on a downward spiral proving that the Tories have actually managed to slow our economy and because the chancellor and Cameron are in denial and because they have absolutely no idea what to do, this trend looks set to continue and I estimate by next year unless these idiots are booted out of office, then this country will be back in recession.
The chancellor emerged briefly yesterday to deny his measures are actually harming the British economy before retreating into hiding again (so he couldn't be questioned over his many visits to the Murdochs). I fear this is probably the last we will see of him over the summer recess, he has probably gone on another holiday like the prime minister has, Cameron is due to go on his 3rd foreign holiday of the year. Alright for some I suppose! Still they had better take all the freebie holidays while they can, I have a sneaking suspicion they will not be in power much longer!
Posted by Gracie Samuels at
Liberal Democrats, Coalition Partners or Tory Cheer Leaders?
It's hard to tell exactly what the Liberal Democrat party actually stands for these days, they appear to back everything their new "bestest" Friends say and do. Even when they say they disagree it is only for a short time until Cameron throws them a few scraps and then they come running through the government's lobby like good little MPs, cheering the Tories on as they go.
They have wagered their entire party on a little bit of power and on George Osborne's insane gamble with the country's economy and as time ticks by it looks very much like Osborne's insane economics are not working. There is no way he will be able to meet his own deficit reduction targets they are now blown completely out of the water and at this rate the economy will be back in recession next year. Yet they still back this government! Well they have to I suppose, in Scotland a latest poll puts the Lib Dems on only 3%, a small sample, but apparently even bigger samples and an overall rating of a few polls does not put them much higher. They have gambled everything on Osborne's economic gamble coming good by the time the next election comes around, which they believe will be in 2015.
Nick Clegg said he backs Cameron over the phone hacking scandal and that Cameron "should absolutely not resign". Of course Clegg would say this, he knows very well if Cameron resigned now this leaves him even further up the creek without the proverbial paddle.
Personally I do not think that this government will last until 2015, it is already cracked and divided no matter how much they all protest to the contrary. I believe what has been revealed so far in the phone hacking scandal and what is yet to be revealed will see Cameron forced to resign, what do the Liberal Democrats and the Tories do when that happens? Elect another leader to become prime minister? I don't think so, after all both of these parties constantly accused Gordon Brown of being an unelected prime minister, so it would be very hypocritical if they did this, however, even if they did this would not work as the Liberal democrats would have to walk away from this insane government because the flack that will be flying around would contaminate what is left of their party and then 3% will be like a high in their polling.
Posted by Gracie Samuels at
So Sam Cam Smelt A Rat? Not a Nice Thing To Call Your Hubby Sam!
Whatever next is going to s come out of the spin office at number 10? Now we are expected to believe (if we can believe anything that appears in the Mail on Sunday), that apparently
" Mrs Cameron pleaded with her husband back in the spring to end contact with the so-called Chipping Norton set and, in particular, News International chief Rebekah Brooks. Mrs Cameron, a successful businesswoman, was also dubious about Andy Coulson, with whom she clashed repeatedly after he entered Downing Street as her husband’s director of communications."
I suspect that this story has been made up in order to get David Cameron off of the hook and divert attention away from the ongoing saga of his close associations with Rebekah Brooks, James Murdoch and Andy Coulson, which they thought would now have gone away but show little signs of abating as still more seedy facts seem to emerge daily. It's strange that in retrospect we hear that Mrs Cameron smelt a rat. Samantha Cameron has had since 2007 to make her husband Dave see sense. Andy Coulson, was a previous employee of the Conservative Party, in a government job at Tax Payers expense, a huge salary of £275.000 per year granted at a time when his masters were "gleefully" taking away the benefits from disabled people, the winter fuel allowance from elderly people and allowing utility bills to rise by a huge 19% etcetera...etcetera!
If Samantha Cameron objected so much to the Chipping Norton Set then why did she simply refuse to accompany him on the various social gatherings of that set? I know I would, if I suspected my husband of becoming embroiled in something that was going to prove detrimental to his career, I would have been very vociferous, I simply do not believe this, I think it is a pack of lies made up by Craig Oliver, Cameron's present spin doctor.
Melissa Kite gushes that Sam is a successful business woman? Oh please spare us the guff, Samantha Cameron is a member of the aristocracy and has all the privileges that come with that, including money and connections she had every advantage handed to her on a plate, she has been given succession of jobs by elitist city firms providing goods for other well heeled people. A successful business person is someone who has little or no funding who can scrape together enough money and take risks and make their ideas work and pay, someone who can succeed against all the odds, or someone that is forced to put their meagre home on the line for security for an over priced loan to fund their business. How many members of the aristocracy will buy their goods from someone who lives on a council sink estate? I have already heard and read enough elitist snobbery about the writing of someone called J K Rowling, who was condemned by literary snobs.
The truth of the matter is that Sam Cameron went along with her hubby on free holidays, flown out on private jets owned by Matthew Freud to luxury Murdoch yachts moored in the sun drenched Mediterranean, where she watched her children frolic in the luxury swimming pool and she enjoyed every bit of her over privileged lifestyle. Matthew Freud being the Tory doning husband of Elisabeth Murdoch, daughter of Rupert Murdoch - no less!
Don't make me laugh Sam.
Posted by Gracie Samuels at
Dodgy Dave Cameron and His Dodgy Tory Government and Sir Gus O'Donnel Cabinet Secretary
Let's face it Britain hesitated on May 6th 2010 and produced a hung parliament, through that hesitation Britain acquired one of the dodgiest prime ministers in the history of this country.
When on the few occasions Britian produced a hung parliament the normal course of action would have been that the largest party form a minority government, govern for a few months and let democracy set the course and another general election would follow within usually a year. During that time several things may have happened to trigger an early general election. Any "pact" made between the largest party and "another" would usually fall apart and this would lead to a vote of no confidence in the government - Or some other issue would trigger a vote of no confidence in the House, the government would lose and a general election would be triggered - or the largest party would simply chance their arm and go to the country again and try to get a working majority to form a new government. Whatever the combination of things, this would have been the normal course of events. However, that was before the interference of Britain's top civil servant the Cabinet Secretary, Sir Gus O'Donnell, who many believe overstepped his brief to interfere in the formation of the so-called "Coalition government" between the Conservative party and the Liberal Democrats.
Cabinet Secretary - Sir Gus O'Donnell Britain's Top Civil Servant
May 2010 - Post General Election - Sir Gus O’Donnell intervened in the dramatic weekend after the General Election to advise the Tories and Lib Dems that they risked market meltdown if there were no stable government in place by the Monday.
Well this may well have been the case (we'll never know), but the country had just travelled an economic nightmare in the form of a global financial recession triggered by the greed of bankers and induced by the reckless greedy actions of these very people the City Bankers, City Analysts and City Financiers that Sir Gus O'Donnell was so "concerned" about, many of which are Tory supporters who bankroll the Tory party to the tune of millions of pounds. How does O'Donnell thinks his interference on behalf of Tory bankers in order to produce what is ostensibly a Tory government now looks to the public?
More than half the donations raked in by David Cameron's Tories in 2010 came from City bankers.
This Tory party is the richest political party in this history of this country.
Financial services firms and individuals donated £11.4m to the Conservative party in the first nine months of 2010, according to figures compiled by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism.
That was 51% of the total £22.5 million raised over the period - up from a quarter in 2005.
Given that the country had just experienced a virtual banking collapse in the financial system and are witnessing an ongoing struggle over its regulation, the scale of Tory party funding from the City must be an extremely pertinent and serious issue. So why was Sir Gus O'Donnell interfering in the workings of our democracy in favour of bankers and the City? Thanks to O'Donnell we now have a situation where Tory donors are heavily influencing policy making and no one could have failed to note the disastrous consequences of this from the failed NHS reforms and Tory doning private healthcare companies, to the way that Rupert Murdoch's News International has been allowed to infiltrate the heart of the British government and influence policy decisions.
Why was Sir Gus O'Donnell so insistent to get the Conservative Party into government and locked into a position that could not be challenged through the normal democratic route that has served Britain so well in the past? Left alone without O'Donnell's interference it is highly unlikely that we would have what is proving to be a disastrous and wholly incompetent government and the Liberal Democrats would not have been shunted into a position where they are now being used and abused daily by Cameron and his "inner circle" of "Cameroons". By the end of this so-called "coalition administration", the Liberal Democrats will be a spent political party with nowhere to go, led by a weak ineffectual leader who has lied so much that no one now trusts and all that even depends on if Nick Clegg manages to cling on to his Sheffield Hallam seat, which is looking increasingly unlikely.
It appears to me that Sir Gus O'Donnell is hardly the unbiased character that he would have people believe that he is. A small probe into his profile reveals that he was once former Conservative prime minister, Lord John Major's press secretary. Sir John Major took him to Downing Street as his press secretary after working with him as chancellor in the Margaret Thatcher government, where the two had forged a friendship.
Strangely he shared power with Ed Balls, Gordon Brown's long-standing political advisor who became chief economic adviser in 1999, yet when the Tories barrack Ed Balls for being Gordon Brown's adviser, they neglect to mention that Sir Gus O'Donnell held that title at the same time - why?
It seems that O'Donnell has long been involved in the financial workings of this country, so was he really the one to be advising on the formation of a coalition government using the financial markets as a leverage?
Sir Gus O'Donnell and the Inquiry Into Phone Hacking (that never was)
When the News of the World reporter Clive Goodman and the private investigator Glenn Mulcaire were found guilty and accused of hacking into the voicemail messages of the royal princes, that was thought to be the end of the matter, it was put down to this one rough NotW reporter and Mulcaire, the two were duly sentenced to serve a term of imprisonment. However, when fresh allegations surfaced again in 2009 then then former prime minister Gordon Brown suspected his phone had been hacked and wanted to hold an inquiry into the matter. Mr Brown said that he had wanted to hold a full investigation into phone hacking in February 2010, when the Culture, Media and Sport Committee reported that the number of victims was more than the handful that had been claimed.
He said he asked Sir Gus to agree to launch a judicial inquiry but had been told that doing so would appear politically motivated. A seven page briefing note issued by the Cabinet Office confirms what Mr Brown said in parliament to MPs on Wednesday 13th July 2011.
In the summary issued by Sir Gus O'Donnell it states that there is limited information available on which to hold such an inquiry, supposedly then he knew nothing of the thousands of pieces of information contained in bin bags at Scotland Yard?
O'Donnell goes on to say that any decisions to hold such an inquiry could be challenged by a judicial review, particularly if the inquiry were extended to the media in general, and it is not inconceivable that such a challenge may succeed.
O'Donnell goes on to list other points.
Cost - any inquiry carries costs to the public purse which will depend on the breadth of the terms of reference and the composition of the inquiry panel.
Setting a precedent - creating an inquiry in this case could increase calls for public inquiries e.g. following future adverse Select Committee reports.
Timing - the immediate proximity to an election would inevitably raise questions over the motivation and urgency of an inquiry.
Yes Sir Gus deftly points to the fact that to hold an inquiry, or not, is the prime minister's decision, but O'Donnell left Mr Brown in no doubt what he actually thought about the holding of an inquiry at that time and that it would be seen as being politically motivated.
It showed Sir Gus had advised Mr Brown that launching a probe just two months before the General Election would "inevitably raise questions over the motivation and urgency of an inquiry" and that this could lead to a legal challenge.
If Brown had decided to hold that inquiry at that time it would have been extremely doubtful if Cameron would have even been in a position to form a minority government - so once again we have seen Sir Gus O'Donnell apparently "step-in" to save the day for the Conservative party.
John Denham, the Shadow business secretary wrote to Sir Gus asking whether Mr Hunt was a ‘fit and proper person’ to determine media tycoon Rupert Murdoch’s bid for full control of BSkyB, he pointed to what he described as ‘prejudicial statements’ previously made by Jeremy Hunt, the Culture Secretary appearing to support the takeover.
While in Opposition and in government, Mr Hunt made a series of BSkyB friendly statements and has also had meetings with senior executives from the media giant. Jeremy Hunt even flew to the United States where he met representatives of News Corp, as well as other media organisations.
Astonishingly and despite the above the Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O’Donnell actually cleared Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt to rule on the controversial BSkyB takeover - why? How did he come to this conclusion? Surely this opens up charges of political bias by Sir Gus? He revealed that prime minister David Cameron had sought his advice about whether there was any legal impediment to the shift in ministerial responsibilities from Vince cable to Jeremy Hunt before making a decision, so far from asking to be removed from any decision making concerning BSkyB, we clearly see that it was David Cameron's decision to give this part of Vince Cable's brief to Jeremy Hunt, which is at the very least a controversial decision, so controversial that O'Donnell felt he had to take legal advice. Who gave the legal advice to Sir Gus? Was it the Conservative Attorney General Dominic Grieve?
The Cabinet Secretary also made clear that there was so much doubt about Jeremy Hunt’s suitability for this role that they were forced to consult top lawyers.’
‘It is very hard to see how any decision Jeremy Hunt makes will enjoy complete confidence. Yet despite all of this and despite what was known to Hunt, he was within hours of granting permission to Rupert Murdoch for the BSkyB takeover.
So we had a situation where Vince Cable was ousted from his position as final judge over whether Murdoch may buy out the remaining 61% of BskyB shares due to bias against the company. He was then replaced by Jeremy Hunt, who has exhibited astonishing bias toward the company and all in the name of fairness? Fairness to whom? Rupert Murdoch?
It appears to me at that time Rupert Murdoch actually ran the Tory party and had great influence over Sir Gus O'Donnell too and this is something that clearly needs to be debated in parliament.
This is remarkable especially when you consider that all of this has been conducted amid fears of a Tory takeover at the BBC after party grandee Chris Patten was appointed by the Tories for the Corporation’s top job.
Fears about the Tory Peer Chris Patten's appointment appeared to have been realised as the Tory-led Government’s close links to Rupert Murdoch and News International have emerged in recent weeks and suspicions that the Tories had struck some kind of a deal with the tycoon, whose newspapers championed the party in the run-up to the May 2010 election look to be gaining traction. Yet knowing all of this Sir Gus O'Donnell still allowed Jeremy Hunt to preside over the BSkyB bid?
Sir Gus O'Donnell also has ducked questions on the controversy over the tax status of millionaire Tory donor Lord Ashcroft in 2007.
Many people believe that the peer has reneged on a commitment to become domiciled in Britain for tax purposes in return for his elevation to the House of Lords. In fact William Hague now the Foreign Secretary famously refused to answer questions out to him by Jeremy Paxman over Lord Ashcroft's status.
On one of his trips abroad with the former prime minister John Major, Gus O'Donnell – Sir Gus, as he is now – intrigued the attendant press corps by claiming to have a system for winning at roulette, which only required a casino foolish enough to have a roulette wheel with no zero for it to be infallible.
It was simple, but required a big pile of chips and a steady nerve. The idea was to make only those bets that had a 50-50 chance of success, such as putting everything on red. If you won, you would keep your winnings and repeat the bet. If you lost, you would double your stake, and keep doubling until you won. If you started by betting a pound, and lost 10 times in a row, your 10th bet would have to be £1,024 – but win that, and you would recover all that you had lost.
How deeply embarrassing for our country that a senior civil servant thinks that this doubling strategy is a winner and this man was once employed as Permanent Secretary to the Treasury! No wonder then that he pulled out all the stops for the Markets when he was forming a coalition government for Britain and overriding the country's democracy in doing so!
In his earlier post as Permanent Secretary of the Treasury, O'Donnell sacked a Treasury official who was too partisan in attacking the Tories. The sacked official was then taken on by Gordon Brown as a political adviser. His name was Damian McBride.
Now recall recently what name has been flowing off of the lips of David Cameron in the form of an "attack" on Ed Miliband? What name was on the "dossier" of ways to attack labour, which was quickly circulated to Tory and Liberal Democrat MPs as a way of "attacking" Labour over the phone hacking scandal? The exact same dossier that asked Tory MPs to cheer from the rafters when David Cameron stood up in the House to debate the developments in the hacking scandal when he was forced by Ed Miliband and Labour to recall parliament? Yes of course it was Damien McBride, who had previously been sacked by none other than Sir Gus O'Donnell.
Early in 2002, O'Donnell suddenly propelled himself into the limelight by speaking the blunt truth to a student audience, when he told them that the five conditions set by Gordon Brown which had to be met before Britain even thought of joining the Euro, would never be met, and that the decision to join the euro was not economic but political. Again at the time this was gleefully picked up as evidence that Brown's carefully built economic case against the euro was a sham. It wasn't of course and because of Brown we have escaped much of what is happening in the Euro-Zone today.
The question is why? Why is Sir Gus O'Donnell constantly busting a gut in favour of the Conservative party and to such an extent? The very fact that people have to ask the question about the "impartiality" of Sir Gus O'Donnell means there could be a problem and if there is then this needs to be investigated, but in a government so heavily implicated in sleaze and scandal after only just 15 months what hope have we got of seeing the machinations of government in Britian working properly and fairly?
Meanwhile the Phone Hacking Scandal - Dodgy Deals - Dodgy Lobbyists - Dodgy Donors - All Part of a Day In the Life Of Dodgy Dave Cameron's "Tory" Government and Sir Gus appears to do nothing about it - why?
Posted by Gracie Samuels at
Glad that James Murdoch, David Cameron and George Osborne
think the mess they have created and the people they have have hurt
so amusing!
Writing a blog on the subject of the phone hacking scandal is difficult, the news often changes before I have the chance to complete a paragraph. Yesterday I wrote about "How Deep Is David Cameron's Involvement With The Murdochs, Brooks and Newscorp? " I pointed out how "close" David Cameron is to senior Newscorp employees and mentioned that Will Lewis formerly of the Telegraph, before it was "Daily Mail-ised" and how when Lewis had no place in the new Daily Maile-esque' Telegraph set-up, a place near the top of the Newscorp echelons as a senior employee was quickly found for him. Will Lewis was also named as a replacement for Andy Coulson when Coulson was forced to resign. It has since turned out that Will Lewis who is now the senior executive of Newscorp is the very person who is now suspected of leaking the audio recording of Vince Cable talking to two undercover Telegraph reporters last November, in which he famously said he was going to "declare war on Rupert Murdoch". The Daily Telegraph did not want the audio to be leaked because it was contrary to their business interests. However, not so for Newscorp, the leak about Vince Cable would definitely be beneficial for them because of course action would have to be taken on Vince Cable, either he would lose his ministerial position, be moved sideways etc or as it happened he had the part of his brief that dealt with the BSkyB take-over bid removed from him and given to Culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt - how convenient for Newscorp was this?
Obviously Newscorp, James Murdoch, Rupert Murdoch, Rebekah Brooks and Will Lewis knew that Vince Cable was more than likely going to refer their bid for BSkyB to the Competition Commission, they did not want this and it was no secret that Vince Cable was hostile to the take-over bid, so Cable had to be got rid of or made impotent in some way and this is exactly what happened. The take-over brief was taken from Cable and given to the Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt who just happens to be an open admirer of Rupert Murdoch, could it really have gone to a more pro-Murdoch minister than Jeremy Hunt?
This whole take-over business stinks to high heaven and I believe this could be the "smoking-gun" that topples prime minister, David Cameron. Cameron has said that he has asked to be excluded from all decisions regarding the BSkyB bid, this of course is a total lie, for a start it was his decision to take the BSKyB bid away from Vince Cable and hand it to an ultra pro-Murdoch minister, Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt! That was in November 2010 and just a few weeks later Cameron attended a Christmas dinner party at the Oxfordshire home of his neighbour now former CEO of News International, Rebekah Brooks. Also in attendance at this "cosy" party was James Murdoch.
The prime minister has been questioned several times and asked to deny that the BSkyB bid was discussed and he has declined to deny it every single time insisting on only saying "I did not have inappropriate conversations about BSkyB". He was asked eleven times in the House of Commons last week and Cameron was weak, ineffectual, slippery and evasive. The prime minister could not deny he had discussed the take-over bid with Rebekah Brooks and James Murdoch because obviously he had discussed it with them! I also seriously doubt that this would have been thr first time that the bid was discussed, as you will see as you read further, there have been ample time for David cameron to discuss this bid with Rupert Murdoch, james Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks at several social engagements. It matters not that Cameron asked to be excluded from the decision making because everyone knows how close he is to James Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks and even Will Lewis.
Lap dog, Jeremy Hunt was always going to grant permission for the BSkyB takeover, oh for sure he played about with the press issuing "false statements" giving the impression that he was going to refer the bid to the Competition Commission but as you will see, he was never serious about doing this, it was just a huge stitch up from the very beginning and Vince Cable was blatantly set-up and used and yet the silly man and his foolish ego still does not see how he was totally set-up.
Just weeks before a decision was due to me made about the BSkyB bid the Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt had said he intended to order a full-scale competition probe. Then out of the blue Hunt suddenly performed a huge U-turn and accepted that a plan by Murdoch to spin off Sky News as an independent company and accepting that it would prevent Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation getting too tight a grip on the British media if the £8billion BSkyB takeover went ahead. Jeremy Hunt, David Cameron and George Osborne were just hours away from approving Rupert Murdoch’s controversial attempt to seize full control of broadcaster BSkyB and this would have happened if the sickening depths of phone hacking scandal had not become public knowledge.
The Tory chancellor, George Osborne, has also attended the lavish parties hosted by Matthew and Elisabeth Freud (Rupert Murdoch's daughter) at their sprawling Oxfordshire mansion. It has also been exposed that George Osborne, flew to New York and had dinner with Rupert Murdoch two weeks before the media regulator was due to decide on whether to approve his takeover of BSkyB.
At the time Ofcom, the media regulator, had until Dec 31 to decide whether to refer News Corp’s bid for the remaining 61 per cent shares in BSkyB to the Competition Commission.
Just how close to the Murdoch enterprises is David Cameron and George Osborne? It has been mooted that when Osborne's links to the Murdochs are revealed he is going to make David Cameron look like a "saint"!
Now today we are told that not only was Will Lewis previously of the Telegraph and now a senior executive of Newscorp suspected of deliberately leaking the Vince Cable audio tapes at a sensitive time, but the judge that David Cameron has placed to lead one of the *TWELVE* inquiries he has set up is himself connected at least socially to Matthew Freud and Elisabeth Murdoch.
Lord Justice Leveson actually attended two parties in the past year at the London home of Matthew Freud, a PR executive married to Elisabeth Murdoch, the daughter of Rupert Murdoch who is widely tipped to be her father’s successor.
Near the Prime Minister's and Rebekah Brooks Home
In Oxfordshire.
It is made up of powerful political and media figures who have homes in a tiny triangle in one of the most scenic parts of England – the Cotswolds. The group go to the same house parties, dine together and even ride together. Bizarrely, Rebekah Brooks lives very near to a road called "Hackers lane"!
David Cameron knows he should *not* have asked Lord Justice Leveson and the Lord Justice knows he should *not* have accepted, how on earth do these people think this is going to look to the general public? Whatever David Cameron touches or becomes involved in rapidly descends into one huge farce after another where is it all going to end?
Who do these privileged people think they are? Do they honestly think we are all too stupid to find out or understand what they are doing? Did Cameron honestly think we would not discover this? Or do they all subscribe to the belief that we are totally nothing, just thick "plebish forelock tuggers" who will remove our caps and avert our eyes while in the presence of these arrogant well heeled people and just bow and accept everything they tell us and blindly follow orders? The arrogance of David Cameron is beyond breathtaking, it is totally off this planet and his deceit is appalling, Cameron and his cronies are treating the people of this country with utter contempt.
A year before the now infamous 2010 Oxfordshire dinner party at Brooks House, on December 20th, 2009, Matthew Freud had thrown another lavish party that had also been attended by David Cameron (then leader of the opposition) and Elisabeth's father - Rupert Murdoch. I wonder what was discussed at that particular party? Perhaps someone should ask David Cameron if as leader of the opposition did he ever discuss the BSkYB takeover-bid with Rupert Murdoch?
Registered on 15th September 2008 On David Cameron's expenses:
16th August 2008 - David Cameron and his wife and children took advantage of a private plane trip from Farnborough to Istanbul. Then from Istanbul to Santorini, and return to Dalaman. This was provided by Matthew Freud.
Cameron took three flights flights so he could meet media tycoon Rupert Murdoch. These were all funded by Matthew Freud, the husband of Elisabeth Murdoch. Lord Justice Leveson who Cameron has asked to lead the inquiry into the Murdochs/Newscorp phone hacking scandal has also attended social functions at the home of Matthew Freud and Elisabeth Murdoch.
The judge will be able to call any journalist, politician or proprietor, raising the possibility that Rupert Murdoch could face further questions. It emerged yesterday that Lord Leveson, while chairman of the Sentencing Council that advises the Government on punishing criminals, met Mr Freud at a dinner in February last year in an Oxford University college.
Yet again we are seeing the judgement and competence of David Cameron brought into serious question, his ability to be prime minister and lead this country's government must now be in grave doubt. Cameron must have known that Lord Justice Leveson has connections with the Murdochs, surely the judge himself informed Cameron?
One other question that must be asked of Cameron and answered, just what did Andy Coulson see and was able to ferry back to the Murdochs? By the prime minister's own admission Coulson was not fully security vetted so any shady links of his in the past would not have come to light, every Director of Communications before Coulson and since Coulson are subjected to the full security clearance so why wasn't Coulson? Was the PM aware of what they would find and so ordered the lesser security checks?
David Cameron is bringing the role of British Prime Minister into serious disrepute, it is hard to envisage that he can survive the next four years without destroying the image of the British government and Britain's reputation abroad.
Posted by Gracie Samuels at
How Deep Is David Cameron's Involvement With The Murdochs, Brooks and Newscorp?
Reuters reports today that Will Lewis a senior executive of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation is allegedly behind the leak that exposed Vince Cable's anti Murdoch comments late last year. Kroll one of the world's biggest corporate investigations firm, was hired by London's Telegraph Media Group, a competitor of Murdoch's London-based News International, to find out who had leaked unpublished excerpts of a secret audio recording that Telegraph reporters had made of Business Secretary, Vince Cable. He was heard telling two Daily Telegraph reporters who were posing as constituents of Cable's that he was "going to declare war on Rupert Murdoch". The Telegraph hired the investigations firm to try and trace the leak because it is thought that the Telegraph did not want this part of the report to be made public because it could harm their business interests.
When Kroll reported their findings to the Telegraph they advised that if the leak investigation continued it would be highly unlikely to produce a conclusive result because of the number of people that had access to data banks, including employees of BT, whom the Telegraph use to outsource technical support functions.
"However, Kroll investigators say in the report that they have strong reason to suspect that Will Lewis, a former chief editor at the Daily Telegraph and by late 2010 a senior executive at News International, was involved in facilitating the leak, along with another former Telegraph employee who also later moved to News International."
Here is where the story gets even murkier. When the "new" Telegraph order was set up taking in former senior employees from the Daily Mail, and there was no place for Will Lewis in the new set-up a place was very rapidly found for him near the top at Newscorp - how? At Newscorp Will Lewis reported to none other than Rebekah Brooks (before her recent forced resignation).
Will Lewis is also good friends with the BBC's Robert Peston, the same Robert Peston that repeatedly comes up with exclusive scoops.
If this story was not coincidental enough, when Andy Coulson resigned as David Cameron's Director of Communications last January, Will Lewis was immediately in the frame for Coulson's ex- position. David Cameron, Andy Coulson and Rebekah Brooks were included on the guest list of Will Lewis 40th Birthday party in 2009. However it appears for once cameron listened to the doubts of others (in the way he had failed to listen to them before over Andy Coulson) and he subsequently went on to hire Craig Oliver former editor of the BBC as his new Director of Communications and Craig Oliver has been reported to repeatedly contact his former staff at the BBC in a effort to control the news.
Over the years Cameron and the Tories have come to depend heavily on the support of News International’s power, which has led to the huge amount of trouble they now find themselves in. Now they have alienated News International, they must be wondering when the thunderbolt will strike them but they need to be aware - strike them that "thunderbolt" will!
Before the last election David Cameron was accused of making a "contract" with Britain's biggest media company to trade political support before the general election for government favours afterwards if the Tories won.
It was obvious to anyone who follows politics that before the last election the Conservative Party was tailoring its policies on media regulation and the BBC to suit the commercial interests of News International. Did Cameron do a deal with Murdoch?
David Cameron and George Osborne's relationship with news International appears to be far deeper than people realise and if that relationship is above board, why have clandestine meetings over Christmas with James Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks – what would be the point and why won't the prime minister deny outright that the BSkyB take-over bid was not discussed? David Cameron, George Osborne and Jeremy Hunt came very close to allowing a disproportionate chunk of the UK's media to be owned by people (the Murdochs) who are not resident here and do not pay tax here - why? Further, why haven't these questions been picked up and asked by the UK's other newspapers? Why have all the other newspapers barring 2 or 3 kowtowed to Cameron and the Tory party's every whim? If we believe what the newspapers say and how they all value "investigative journalism" then their job was to investigate expose the kind of thing that was happening between David Cameron, George Osborne, the Conservative party and the Murdochs, Rebekah Brooks and Newscorp. yet they fundamentally and systematically failed to do so on virtually v every single count and still today the Telegraph and the Mail are still toadying up to the Tories and Cameron - why?
It seems to me that the Murdochs and News International were trying to buy government and police protection from the hacking scandal, the private dinners, the phone hacking that was all but ignored by the Met and somewhere mixed up in that was some kind of deal for Cameron and his Tories (especially when they were in opposition) and no matter what the next twist and turn is revealed to be in the hacking scandal, somehow all roads lead back to David Cameron and Newscorp - every single time! Now we have Sue Akers of the Met investigating the Met and to date the idiotic British government who is panicking has set up at least 12 different inquiries into this scandal. If that doesn't confuse the issue entirely I really do not know what will. Why so many inquiries? it is utterly ridiculous, but what else do you expect from and inept, incompetent government run by fools who are completely out of their depth? And it is this kind of government that Rupert Murdoch, James Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks have helped inflict upon the people of this country and all because they wanted to get their hands on BSkyB to make themselves even richer - greed- power - greed and corruption.
When questioned by MPs in last Tuesday's select Committee hearing Rebekah Brooks said she did not advise David Cameron to hire Andy Coulson, that it was George Osborne who persuaded Cameron to hire Coulson, in that case I would have asked Brooks if it were her that asked George Osborne to persuade the PM to hire Andy Coulson. In any event Rebekah Brooks is such a proven liar that I simply do not believe anything she says and I would not be surprised to learn that she did urge cameron to hire Coulson in a "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" kind of thing.
However, initial discussions with Mr Coulson are believed to have taken place with Mr Osborne and Steve Hilton, Mr Cameron's chief strategist, who also moved to Downing Street with the Prime Minister. It was Francis Maude who negotiated Mr Coulson's £275,000 salary. Coulson's huge salary went on to be paid by the taxpayer at a time when the government he was "helping" was slashing the benefits to disabled people and others struggling on low incomes.
Earlier in this report I mentioned BT. This is something of a puzzle to me because I recall BT was being mentioned at one time as a possible source that supplied unlisted telephone numbers and other information to the journalists involved in the hacking scandal which enabled journalists to access people's voicemails and possible email accounts and I have not seen mention anywhere that this obvious irregularity and possible criminal offence committed at BT is being investigated by the police.
Add the untimely and highly "coincidental" death of Sean Hoare who's honesty helped this deeply buried hacking scandal escape. his body was discovered at approximately 10.30 am and within the hour the police were saying his death was "unexplained but not suspicious", if it unexplained how do the police know it was not suspicious. How could the police issue such a statement when a post mortem had not even taken place and no toxicology results known? Until Mr Hoare spoke out last September, pressure had eased on Mr Coulson, I bet Andy Coulson is not shedding any tears! How strange that the one man that was willing to speak up and out about Andy Coulsons's alleged lies over phone hacking died alone in his flat in the middle of the increasing furore over phone hacking!
Now Scotland Yard has possession of cryptic financial records and emails said to suggest that Andy Coulson did know about phone hacking, just like Sean Hoare said he did. Cash records are said to tally with payments suggested in an email discussion between Coulson and the newspaper's disgraced royal correspondent, Clive Goodman. Every day this scandal is coming still closer to David Cameron who appears to be in this up to his "crimson neck"! If he did not know about Andy Coulson then Cameron is one of two things, he is either stupidly incompetent or a blatant corrupt liar!
Posted by Gracie Samuels at
Cameron - I Did Not Have Inappropriate Conversations With That Woman
Last Tuesday the prime minister, David Cameron said no less than 11 times that he "did not have inappropriate conversations with that woman" [Rebekah Brooks], then perhaps he should be forced to reveal just what conversations he did have and has had with Rebekah Brooks and the rest of the "Chipping Norton Set".
Last Christmas the pressure was mounting on Cameron and and his then chief of communications, Andy Coulson and Rebekah Brooks over alleged phone hacking at the now defunct Sunday newspaper the News of the World. When Rebekah Brooks was editor of the News of the World, Andy Coulson was her deputy editor and they were said to be "close" and inseparable. They both (and David Cameron) expect the public to believe that they did not know about the papers despicable phone hacking of the Dowler family, the relatives of dead soldiers and the relatives of victims of the 7/7 terrorist attacks in London. Hacking was so widespread at the paper, that as editor Rebekah Brooks would have been signing off the large cheques to private detectives for "services" rendered to the NotW on a regular basis, does she really expect people to believe that she just signed those cheques without once questioning where they were going and what the paper was paying for? As editor, Brooks's reporters were coming back to her with sensational stories on various people and again, Brooks and Coulson are asking the public to believe that they never asked the source of those stories? Despite them having to be cleared by the paper's legal department in case of any libel accusations?
There are two possibilities, 1).Rebekah Brooks and her sidekick Andy Coulson did not know, in that case she was the world's worse and thickest editor who let her journalists do and write what they want without checking up and thus putting the Murdoch empire and the paper in serious jeopardy with all the legal implications that holds, and if so, what was Murdoch paying her for? and why did he promote her to CEO of News Corp? Or 2)..Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson knew all along what was happening and they are now lying through their back teeth.
Vince Cable the Business Secretary was then duped into believing that two reporters from the Daily Telegraph were his constituents, during their taped conversation Cable said that he "was going to declare war on Murdoch" the result of this was that Cameron removed the BSkyB take-over bid from him and gave the brief to Jeremy Hunt instead. Hunt's impartiality was questionable right from the start as Hunt is a known admirer of Rupert Murdoch.
With all this going on the prime minister, David Cameron attended a dinner party at the Oxfordshire home of Rebekah Brooks last Christmas and among the other guests was James Murdoch, strangely enough, Andy Coulson the friend of both Cameron and Brooks was not present at that party. The prime minister has now been asked 11 times if he discussed the BSKyB deal with Brooks and Murdoch and as he will deny outright that he did not discuss the deal and will only say "I did not have inappropriate conversations" with Rebekah Brooks we can safely assume that the prime minister did in fact discuss the BSkyB deal. Cameron says he asked to be removed from all the decision process of that deal, well sorry that is not good enough, we need to know if he discussed this deal with Rebekah Brooks and James Murdoch at her home. Since the last election Mr Cameron met with executives from News International 27 times. Among those meetings was two in four days with Rebekah Brooks, the former News International chief executive. What was so important that Cameron had to meet with Brooks twice in four days and was Coulson and or the BSkyB bid discussed?
The prime minister should also reveal if he has ever discussed the BSkyB deal with his Culture secretary Jeremy Hunt.
Jeremy Hunt has said:
"Rather than worry about Rupert Murdoch owning another TV channel, what we should recognise is that he has probably done more to create variety and choice in British TV than any other single person because of his huge investment in setting up Sky TV, which, at one point, was losing several million pounds a day.
We would be the poorer and wouldn't be saying that British TV is the envy of the world if it hadn't been for him being prepared to take that commercial risk. We need to encourage that kind of investment."
After saying that how on earth could Cameron give the decision to Jeremy Hunt to make? Obviously his impartiality was under great question-ability. Jeremy Hunt said he was going to refer the deal to the Competition Commission which would have taken some time, however, he then suddenly decided to take assurances from the Murdochs over the deal and then suddenly Jeremy Hunt changed his mind and was actually within hours of giving the go ahead for the Murdochs to purchase the remaining BSkyB shares which would have given him a monopoly on news in this country.
It is obvious that Cameron has spoken to Hunt and Brooks and Murdoch about the BSkyB bid and the public must be told what exactly it was that he discussed, he said the discussions were not inappropriate, well any mention at all of the BSkyB bid would have been deemed as inappropriate.
The prime minister's integrity, honesty and judgement is at question and either the prime minister, David Cameron has appalling judgement or he is a liar, or maybe he is both, whatever he is, he is doing great harm to this country's reputation because under cameron's stewardship we have seen Britain's top police man Sir Paul Stephens resign and also his deputy John Yates after both men become embroiled in the phone hacking scandal. From the prime minister down no one seems to want to accept blame or responsibility for their own actions and we have a reached the ludicrous situation when the prime minister, or the the country's top police officers do not seem to be able to tell right from wrong then we are in dire trouble.
Since he became PM he and his chancellor have caused confusion and mayhem, every single reform they have tried to introduce from the NHS to education, to welfare, to the police, defence or forestry has resulted in utter chaos. When problems have arise abroad neither the Pm or Foreign secretary, William Hague have been able to get a grip on them which has resulted in our citizens lives being put at risk abroad and Osborne has the country's economy on a collision course with absolute catastrophe and now we have the country's top police resigning and people being arrested all over the place.
In just over one year this country has been reduced to a complete mess by Cameron, Osborne, Clegg and all the rest of them, they have made a complete hash of running this country. This is what happens when we have weak ineffective leadership from incompetent people trying to punch above their weight placed in a position of government, this government did not win the election, Cameron and Osborne just got lucky.The PM has no idea what it is he is doing and allows people like Rupert Murdoch, James Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks and other assorted businessmen many from the banking sector (who caused this country's problems) too much influence over the formation of policy and the running of the country. Cameron is discovering that you cannot run the country by popular public opinion and every action he takes has further consequences and seems completely oblivious to the messes he is creating. David Cameron is simply not up to the job, he has no head for detail and has no idea what is happening in the country half the time. Everything the man does is questionable at best and dowright incompetent at worse.
David Cameron's position has become untenable and before further revelations emerge he would do well to resign and call an immediate general election because there is now no way out for him and he knows it, what is about to emerge from Coulson about Cameron will finish him off so he may just as well go now and save this country further grave problems of his making. He is in this hacking scandal right up to his crimson ears!
Cameron can say he "did nit have inappropriate conversations with thet woman" all he likes, the truth will come out and prove otherwise, he should go and go now, he is a walking disaster waiting to happen, the man is a buffooon and a liability.
Posted by Gracie Samuels at
Cameron Adds Insult To Injury Over Bombardier Contract
This Tory-led government have pinned all hopes on the recovery of the British economy on manufacturing and exports, they have taken the most extraordinary gamble on manufacturing growing like it has never grown before even in the height British manufacturing at its best. Some have not forgotten that former Conservative prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, obliterated the steelworks, ship building, the car industry and closed nearly all the coal mines, decimating the manufacturing industry, while deregulating the City's financial sector forcing Britain to become virtually dependent on the financial sector, the result of this was the credit crisis and banking crash coupled with a global financial recession which has caused the majority of the recessional problems in the UK. While the Labour government did try to revive British industry it still did not do enough to stop the Tory rot eating into manufacturing and we were still too dependent upon the City. Now since 2010 we have a Tory-led government that has placed all their eggs in the manufacturing sector basket and yet the past two sets of statistics show the manufacturing sector is slowing down dramatically and with it the hopes of the British economic recovery, knowing this it's most strange that the government have acted in such an enigmatic way on at least two occasions which could have proved fantastic for British manufacturing right at a time when the country needed it the most.
I refer back to the mess that this government made of a promised loan to Sheffield Forgemasters, which incidentally is in the Sheffield Hallam constituency of Nick Clegg the Deputy Prime Minister. In 2010 the incoming Tory government reneged on an £80 million loan to Sheffield Forgemasters promised to the company by the previous Labour government. The company had also secured a further £100 million loan from a European bank which was promised to the company on the proviso that the British government also loaned £80 million, without the loan from the British government Sheffield Forgemasters also lost the promise of the loan from the European bank, leaving the company over £180 million short of the money it required for new technological investment. The loans were to help Forgemasters install a high precision piece of equipment that would have enabled the company to make parts for *green* nuclear energy. When installed, this machine would have been the only machine in the world to make precision parts of a certain size and would have put this British company right at the forefront of green nuclear energy technology. It would have supported the local Sheffield Hallam economy, it would have supported the UK economy as a whole, it would have provided extra jobs and apprenticeships, in fact it was a pretty good deal for just an £80 million loan yet the Tories renege on that promise - why? Well the government tried to give several reasons none of which stood up to scrutiny. One such reason given by Clegg was that this would have been a cheap loan which would have benefited the company directors and shareholders and that the company should look to the private sector for the loan, neglecting to inform parliament that the company had already secured £100 million from the private sector, Clegg went on to deliberately mislead parliament as he knew that the shareholders were in actual fact employees of the company and they had never take a bonus from the company preferring instead to plough profits back into investing in their company, Clegg was found to have mislead the House of Commons, yet one year on the country is still waiting fr or him to acknowledge this. The second reason the government gave is because the country could not afford the loan which is another deliberate deception! Not least because the Tory chancellor George Osborne was pinning hopes of an economic recovery for the country on British manufacturing and exports and it would have been hard to find a more suitable business proposition than Sheffield Forgemasters, which fitted that description perfectly. If all had gone to plan and the present government had kept to the loan promised by the previous Labour government then British company, Sheffield Forgemasters would have been exporting all over the world. This being so along with all the other advantages of the loan surely it would have meant that the country couldn't afford not to grant the loan? A loan that was due to be repaid to the government and which made perfect business sense. Also if the country could not afford it why did prime minister David Cameron, give over a £100 million to Nick Clegg to waste on his vanity AV referendum project which was a complete and total waste of money? Add to this the Andrew Cook factor and the whole thing takes on a more sinister and shady reason for the Tory government not granting the loan. Andrew Cook is a Yorkshire businessman who has made several failed attempts to buy out Sheffield Forgemasters. Cook also boasts to being the largest single donor to the Conservative party in Yorkshire. Andrew Cook - Mr Cook donated £500,000 to the Conservative party, along with the £54,000 worth of plane flights to David Cameron largest donor in Yorkshire and caused uproar when it emerged that Cook had successfully lobbied to prevent Sheffield Forgemasters from getting a government loan, which remains a highly controversial issue - Nick Clegg deliberately mislead the House over this issue.
The man who donated almost £750,000 in cash and flights to Cameron's campaign started an email "I am the largest donor to the conservative party" and then went on to call for the loan to Forgemasters to be axed.
Downing Street are unable to confirm if Cameron was personally lobbied.
Question; Why? It is in the public interest, possible corruption of our government always is!
Six more questions spring to mind
a). Why was Forgemasters loan cancelled when other loans to business weren't?
b). Was Cameron lobbied by Andrew Cook, the owner of a rival company to Sheffield Forgemasters and who has made several unsuccessful bids to buy the company in the past?
c). And was Mr Cook, the Tory donor, present on any one of the 23 flights David Cameron accepted from him?
d). Why was the loan refused, when it so obviously more than met the criteria Cameron, Osborne, Clegg and Vince Cable (remember him?) set to try and grow British manufacturing jobs?
e). And what an earth was Nick Clegg doing allowing this to happen in his own back yard?
f). Nick Clegg has still not been reprimanded for deliberately misleading the House of Commons - why not, why has he not gone to the House to apologise for this matter?
DAVID Cameron sacrificed British jobs by awarding a contract to supply high speed trains not to Bombardier here in Britain but to Siemens in Germany and the to add insult to injury he bumped Bombardier off his recent trade mission to Africa. Colin Walton, boss of the Derby-based train manufacturer, was booked to join the Prime Minister on the trip aimed at drumming up business for UK companies.But on Friday, just 48 hours before he was due to set off for South Africa and Nigeria, Mr Walton was told he wasn’t welcome by the Tory government. Mr Walton had hoped to use the African trip to win work for Bombardier, which faces making massive cuts to its 3,000-strong workforce after losing out on a £3billion contract to Germany’s Siemens, yet after the Tories awarded the contract to Siemens David Cameron was to embarrassed to face Mr Walton on the trip. Why did this government do this to British manufacturing when our economic recovery is depending on manufacturing and exports? When quizzed about why the contract was awarded to the German company the PM claimed the tendering process forced ministers to give the work to Siemens, but the Mirror has produced a document showing they are free to award the work to the Derby firm, if they choose. David cameron and the Tory government have treated the Bombardier workforce with utter contempt and if that wasn't bad enough they then lied to each and every one of them, what a despicable way to behave, I hope they remember this come election day.
So much for encouraging British manufacturing, it's all lies, this government is all lies, it is corrupt at the very heart run by an arrogant conman ex spin doctor spiv, this government have reneged on virtually every single promise it has ever made, especially when it promised to be open and transparent, that is lies too.
David Cameron and the Tory government should no be allowed to get away with this blatant lying and deliberate misleading of people and they should be forced to explain the real reason why they gave away a contract that would have safe guarded thousands of British jobs. How can we expect the prime minister to effectively govern when he hires corrupt crooks and places them at the heart of government? There must be a reason why they gave the Bombardier contract to a German company and Cameron should be forced back to the House of Commons to answer to the workers of Bombardier the British people what he has done it is nothing short of a disgrace. No doubt at some time we will probably discover more sinister and "corrupt" reasons why the Tories decided to rob British workers of a contract that could have secured thousands of British jobs.
Yet again it is simple to uncover shady deals of a corrupt nature regarding this Tory government, the government who promised to be "open and transparant" and "whiter than white".
Posted by Gracie Samuels at
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i don't know
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Name the English artist/sculptor famous for large public bronze works including 'Two Large Forms' and many reclining figures and mother and child abstracts?
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Sculptor & Sculpture
Posted by Zong Zai Thursday, May 31, 2012 1 comments Labels: art sculpture , arthur ganson , contemporary sculpture , ganson sculpture , Kinetic Sculpture , metaphysical art , moving sculpture , ted talks
An explorer of the mechanical world, Arthur Ganson seeks excitement in the creation of motion. A profound demonstrator of existentialism-themed kinetic wonders, Ganson creates displays that showcase movement in many variable ways. His pieces fondly play with the process of Rube Goldberg machines and shed a new light on the role kinetic sculpture plays in philosophical symbolism.
The piece here is entitled the Thinking Chair. It's a miniscule chair that moves fluidly around a rock base in a peculiar pattern.
Ganson's curious sculptures make use of entertaining displays of action and reaction. The well-known sculptor was welcomed to do a talk on his craft at the TED conferences. Videos on his moving works are readily accessible by just searching with his name online. Ganson moves the world forward with his interesting passion for art and movement. His influence spreads across to younger generations as well as older art enthusiasts. His habit of making over complex machines to execute simple tasks give them the new purpose of becoming art rather than simply existing as purely mechanical objectives. His connection with metaphysical themes also influences his inspiration to create. His elegant style of perfecting his craft makes it easy to admire his interest in sculpture.
Posted by Zong Zai Thursday, February 9, 2012 0 comments Labels: Fish Sculpture , Goldfish Art , Goldfish Salvation , Japanese Sculpture , Organic Sculpture , Painted Sculpture , Riusuke Fukahori
Some have always wondered where the boundaries between painting and sculpture are set. For Japanese artist Riusuke Fukahori, boundaries are merely beautiful illusions in his craft.
This remarkable modern day master creates a single favorite subject in a complex and beguiling manner. Using several layers of water-clear resin, his hands move like a 3D printer, meticulously painting layer after layer in tones that reflect a certain portion of his goldfish art. His creations have been exhibited internationally, with a recent show in London entitled "Goldfish Salvation". Dominic Alves photographed several of Fukahori's wonderful masterpieces during the show.
The sheer impact of such a process would bewilder most creatives. Fukahori's dream of rediscovering a synthesis between two artforms bridges the gap of classical VS modern art. His wonderful creations resemble both the real-life creatures as well as traditional Japanese fish paintings, but at the same time make use of a technique that became the inspiration for modern day design technology (3D computer aided machining).
Posted by Zong Zai Monday, January 16, 2012 6 comments Labels: Anastassia Elias , contemporary sculpture , french sculpture , modern sculpture , Paper Sculpture , Toilet Paper Roll Sculpture
From the most miniscule things, art can be created to give beauty in many ways. A lot of the things we think of as garbage or residue are actually capable of becoming something much more than the trivial purpose we give them. Take this example of sculpture media by Anastassia Elias: toilet paper tube as scenic displays of art and creativity. Today's green movements influence every field of design- including sculpture, and what better way to promote a better earth than to create something beautiful our of something that's usually thrown away.
A great mixed media artist in her own right, Elias showcases a wonder of fine and brilliant thought by transforming value in the most simplest of items. Being a collage artist and painter from France, Elias is probably aware of the traditional fine and classical motif that surrounds French art, however the mere fact that she forgoes the traditional for the contemporary makes her one of our favorite modern artists for 2012. Paper sculptures are not new in the art circles, however innovative uses for them is definitely something to look into. We hope to find more brilliant masterpieces by Elias in the near future.
Posted by Zong Zai Friday, December 23, 2011 2 comments Labels: Alexander Calder , Andrea del Verrocchio , Barton Rubenstein , David Reekie , Harry Bertoia , henry moore , ken rinaldo , Kylo Chua , Michael Tom , Neil Dawson , Ng Eng Teng , Peter Newsome , Seymour Lipton
As the year draws to a close, our team at Sculptor & Sculpture heads out to plan our very first art themed- Christmas party, but before that let's take a quick look back at some of this year's roster of featured sculpture artists.
Who could forget the curious "sketch-like" characters of glass artist David Reekie? His kiln-made creations of childhood wonder and interest are some of our favorites. Harry Bertoia's magnificent kinetic artworks proved to be a great addition to our collection of articles about contemporary works. His is truly a medley of dynamic motion, air and balance, much like the interactive beauties made by Ken Rinaldo, a man whose attention to society is conveyed in several of his creative ideas. Rinaldo uses his study of fine arts to manifest symbolisms that the present-day societies can deeply relate to.
On the more traditional side, Henry Moore and Alexander Calder's timelessness is something that's always worth marveling at. The two art-world heavyweights still command a highly sought-after global respect amidst the new generation of art enthusiasts. Many of Moore's inspirational sculptures initially served as the motivational creativity for many youngsters approaching aesthetic maturity in their own artistic careers. Speaking of the younger generation, abstract figure artist Kylo Chua's fluid female characters poise themselves in an undulating beauty of curves and potential. The young Chinese sculptor experiments with modernity as a reference for representational abstraction. While the genre of abstract is strictly a breadwinner in today's art circles, contemporary non-representational abstract is another big wave in the community. Barton Rubenstein's water-based kinetic monument was featured as a wonderful and somehow scenic sight for people with an interest in both physics and artistic design.
Many great works were discovered and written about this year, including works by Peter Newsome, Pierre Granche, Seymour Lipton, Tony Rosenthal, Michael Tom and Marvin Lipofsky among other master carvers and mixed-media sculptors.
We hope to see a fascinating round up of new and powerful artworks next year with the international emergence of newer and bolder styles from across Asia Pacific, Europe and America.
Posted by Zong Zai Tuesday, June 14, 2011 1 comments Labels: american sculpture , Barton Rubenstein , Contemporary Water Art , Fountain Art , Kinetic Sculpture , modern sculpture , Water Sculpture
A true blue American Sculptor, Barton Rubenstein is a keen observer of nature and kinetics. His sculptural configurations can be likened to a modenist's take on the natural flow of worldly liquids froma higher point to s lower point in space. His adamant passion has brought him a numerous amount of followers including kinetic sculptors and fountain enthisiasts from around the globe. He began first as a studying scientist of Physics at Haverford Colllege, Pensylvania, but had pursued a minor in art. He had also acquired an MSc in both Mathematics and Computer Science, while culminating a PhD in Neuroscience. Needless to say, Rubenstein is indeed a multi-talented personality, but his fondness for moving sculpture draws our attention to him the most.
Sculpture by Barton Rubenstein - Photography by Bartsher
He began experimenting with metal sculpture during his stay at the Corocoran College of Art and Design. There he learned the various processes of mold-making, wax casting and welding. He learned to create a body of work that encompassed the flow of water as part of its natural appeal. His waterworks had launched him into the modern art scene by 1994, beginning his speedy growth as an international sculptor. Rubenstein's also received several recognitions like being a member of a committee at the National Academies to design the next generation of US monetary currency. This committee directly influenced the new 100$ bill design we know today.
Posted by Zong Zai Tuesday, May 17, 2011 1 comments Labels: english sculptors , Metal Craft , Metal Sculpture , modern sculpture , Neil Dawson , New Zealand Sculpture , Ornamental Design , Patterned Sculpture , Sculpture Optical Illusion
One of the more prominent New Zealand sculptors is Neil Dawson; a metal-worker of natural geometries and ornamental modernity. Best known for many of his large-scaled monuments, Dawson first gained his artistic progress at the Canterbury University in 1970 where he received his Honorary Diploma of Fine Arts. His teachers; Tom Taylor and Eric Doudney were among some of the famous mentors that gave Dawson his passion to succeed in the world of aesthetics. Despite a groundbreaking academic journey in Canterbury, Dawson moved on to acquire a Graduate Diploma in Sculpture from the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne during the latter 70's period.
Dawson is very fond of using techniques that imply some sort of illusion methodology. His wall-hanging and free standing sculptures are often observed to be done with optical patterns such as Moiré. He prefers gaining subject-inspiration from everyday patterned items such as a deck of playing cards and crockery work. Some of Dawson's best works include The Chalice, a huge inverted cone-shaped structure in Cathedral Square, Christchurch (his birthplace), and the Globe, a large scaled sculpture based in Pompidou Centre, Paris. He taught drawing and design classes at Christchurch Polytechnic and was also awarded with the Arts Laureate by the Arts Foundation of New Zealand in 2003.
Posted by Zong Zai Saturday, April 23, 2011 0 comments Labels: american sculpture , contemporary sculpture , electric sculpture , interactive sculpture , ken rinaldo , mechanical sculpture , sculpture installations
Drawing a hybrid inspiration from both nature and technology, interaction-sculptor Ken Rinaldo aspires to meld the aesthetics of organic designs with the complex style of mechanical instruments. He has held several exhibitions in the past that were themed accordingly, showcasing a degree of bio-art and electromechanical sculpture. Rinaldo relates his interactive art to several issues plaguing society today, such as the abandonment ecological situations in favor of technological evolution. He graduated from programs in Computer Science and Communications as well as a Fine Arts Masterals program. His diversity in specialization allows him to conceptualize new ways of intertwining media into innovative ways of expression.
Sculpture by Ken Rinaldo and Amy Young - Photography by Samuel Mann
In the year 2000, he won the first prize at the VIDA 3 International Artificial Life Competition and during the succeeding year, the same winning piece also received an honorary mention during the Arts Electronica Festival. Since then, Rinaldo's work on bio-mechanical and bio-electrical art has skyrocketed into newer forms and compositions of hybrid variety. He believes that the intersection between these two fields holds the key to understanding many modern concepts, such as inter-species communication and the process of co-evolution in human technological society.
Posted by Zong Zai Tuesday, April 5, 2011 3 comments Labels: abstract sculpture , assemblage sculpture , contemporary sculpture , english sculptors , Glass Sculpture , modern sculpture , Peter Newsome
The contemporary techniques of glass artist; Peter Newsome have been some of the curiosities many artists become fascinated with. Newsome has been a passionate sculptor of glass since the early 1990's and has mastered both traditional glazier and glassworker techniques as well as some adaptive contemporary techniques. His skills allow him to hand-slice layers upon layers sheet glass in precise forms for his assembled compositions. Many of his works resemble organic strands or waves depending on the contortion of his subject. Newsome's background in the glass engineering industry has led him to acquire several original methodologies for practicing original glasswork. He has exhibited several of his sculptures at many international art hubs such as the London Art Fair at Burton's Court, Chelsea and at Newby Hall Sculpture Park, Yorkshire.
Sculpture by Photography by Gerardus
Newsome employs a sort of ray-like intensity by focusing on the overlapping transparencies of the media. The edges where the glass cuts off into air become patterns when pit against each other in natural light. The artist's ability to materialize designs in three dimensional space is coupled with his capability to imagine the unique transparencies of their compositions as well. Since his popularization in the glass art industry, Newsome has been a well recognized modern sculptor, especially within the communal Chelsea areas.
Posted by Zong Zai Tuesday, March 22, 2011 0 comments Labels: abstract sculpture , Geometric Sculpture , Large Sculpture , modern sculpture , Pierre Granche , public sculpture
A notable public arts sculptor; Pierre Granche was very popular in the art community of Quebec for his works in the field of combining sculptural art with the fundamentals of architecture. Mainly working with aluminum as his primary material, Granche exhibits a unique style that bases on geometrical tendencies in abstraction. He prefers the rigid, poly-sided orientations over smooth curvatures or organic shapes. Granche studied at the École de Beaux-Arts de Montréal and the Université de Vincennes in Paris, honing his sculptural skills to obtain a degree of great capability in metalsmithing and abstract conceptualizing.
Sculpture by Pierre Granche - Photography by François Proulx
Granche's public art has been seen in London (Canada Memorial in Green Park), Montreal (Systeme Sculpture in Namur), and many other locations around the world. His work Totem; was also exhibited at the McCord Museum in Montreal. Some of his skyline-type of works hang overhead with a certain degree of playfulness when it comes to lighting. His Systeme sculpture in Namur is comprised of several geometrically shaped aluminum polygons thar hang above the transit way. The artwork reflects light that bounces off any movement in the area, and for a transportation system, blinking lights are virtually everywhere.
Posted by Zong Zai 2 comments Labels: Abstract Esxpressionism , abstract sculpture , contemporary sculpture , hirshhorn museum and sculpture garden , modern sculpture , Seymour Lipton
Born on November 6 1903, Seymour Lipton was someone who did not initially plan to become a sculptor, but did so eventually in an admirable leap of career. He actually studied to be a dentist, training in dexterity and the accurate usage of finer tools. In 1932 though, he decided to switch his main focus to sculpture instead. He moved from media to media, specializing in wood, then lead, then eventually settling with bronze. He is a passionate abstract expressionist who is definitely well known today for many of his exquisite bronze and metal sculptures. Lipton also made several contributions to the world of sculpting techniques as well. He discovered that brazing nickel-silver rods onto Monel sheets could create rust-resistant surfaces.
Sculpture by Seymour Lipton - Photography by Ser Amantio di Nicolao
Lipton selects the themes of his art forms by drawing inspiration from natural things such as flight, and man-made chaos such as war. The photograph above was of Lipton's 1957 Winter Solstice II made of his specialty nickel-silver on monel sheet. It is currently at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. As an abstract expressionist sculptor, his compositional style varies a bit from piece to piece, but one may notice his chaotic drive in some works that may be attributed to his inspiration (war). Lipton's works are usually random in contour, but his media's unique properties make use of his flared protrusions and curving shapes in a good way. They reflect light through the shapes and convey a beautiful and interesting composition as a whole.
Posted by Zong Zai 3 comments Labels: abstract sculpture , gemometric sculpture , moden sculpture , monochrome sculpture , public sculpture , Tony Rosenthal
If you've ever seen the Alamo sculpture at the Astor Place in Manhattan, New York, then you're like to have heard of Tony Rosenthal, the public sculptor. Rosenthal's work is most often with large scaled abstractions that are quite basic in shape, but very distinct in style. His use of geometrical fundamentals adds in the overall beauty of every one of his projects.
Sculpture by Tony Rosenthal Photography by David Shakbone
Rosenthal was born on August 9, 1914 at Highland Park, Illinois. Like many American sculptors, he did undergo formal schooling at art schools, starting with the famous Art Institute of Chicago in 1932. Shortly after, he also attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor where he graduated with a B.A. In 1939, he went to the Cranbrook Academy of Art and studied with artist Carl Miles. After all these years of education, he served for a period of time in the US Army and even acquired the title of commander. Rosenthal decided to become a teacher after his years of service because he wanted to pass on the knowledge given to him through all his years of studying.
Many of his public sculptures today are widely appreciated by American citizens around the nation. His sculpture Rondo at the 59th Street off Park Avenue is a frequently remembered display by visitors. Big Six, a sculpture he completed in 1975 is resident art piece of the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, Virginia. Rosenthal's masterpieces were meant to be in the public view because that's how he sees them fit. He desires for art to become a communal thing, shared in the essence of society and its history.
Posted by Zong Zai Monday, March 21, 2011 0 comments Labels: Abstract Sculptures , Contemporary Sculptures , Minimalism , Modern Sculptures , Richard Serra , Sheet Sculpture
Serra created his very first sculptures in the late 1960's. He made use of materials such as fiber glass and rubber, a simple combination that would eventually lead him to discover more innovative applications in his later years. Now known for his minimalist beauty, Serra previously installed several works of art around the world, such as the Tilted Arc in New York City's Federal Plaza and Snake, permanently located at the largest gallery of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. Many people tend to describe his sculptural style as an elegant distortion of planes. He tends to use many flat surfaces that can either be straight or curved, to display an array of complementary elegance to one another. His simplicity in design gives even more reason to his theme of minimalism, however many of his artworks are created on a grand scale, encompassing a large area.
In 2001, the MoMA or Museum of Modern Art actually presented some of Serra's sculptural work in its New York location. there were around five works of his that were set on display, including Torqued Eclipse IV which he did in 1998 and Intersection II which he did in 1993. Serra fondly takes into consideration the different perspectives and viewing angles that go with his works. He likes to play around with the contour of the objects when seen from other spatial points. A fun fact from the artist's history reveals that his sculpture "Out-of-Round X" was used as a cover for a musical album called Monoliths and Dimensions by a famous drone band. Serra had several recognitions for his artist's passion, including a feature on BBC and an honorary degree for Fine Arts from William College. His works, though basic in their foundation and conception, have found their way into the hearts of many art enthusiasts because of their sublime beauty and relaxed orientation.
Posted by Zong Zai Sunday, March 20, 2011 1 comments Labels: abstract sculpture , British Art , cast sculpture , contemporary sculpture , David Reekie , Glass Sculpture , Sketch Artist
Glass has always been a tricky media, because of its material traits and difficulty in handling. Throughout the years many glass sculptors have found it hard to stretch the spectrum of their subject matter, today however, there are those who seek to bring the art medium of glass into a contemporary frontier.
David Reekie has exhibited his sketched art and glass creations at several museums around the globe, such as the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh. He also maintains many collections in various locations spanning the UK's art societies. Reekie's love of drawing initially fed his creative desire to portray the human condition, but eventually it also led him to find a new love; the creation of cast glass. Today, Reekie uses both media to convey caricatures of satirical humor and an expression of the external forces that shape human life. Reekie's art was also inspired by his childhood activities of watching television shows like Forbidden Planet. One of Reekie's artful messages to us is the comparison of man's routinized lifestyle to a robot's mindless behavior.
Reekie uses an adapted method of casting glass- the lost wax process. He also adds a bit of his own tried and tested techniques to this age old way of casting glass. His kiln time and annealing process can take up to ten and seven days respectfully. He also paints a type of vitreous enamel inside the still damp mold to give the glass material its original exterior later on. Reekie's latest project was a solo exhibition hosted by Dan Klein Associates and was entitled An Exchange of Information. Humanshaped glass heads and ceramic birds allow Reekie to showcase both a sense of surrelism and a pinch of humor at the same time by illustrating the gap between subjects in existence.
-Sculptures by David Reekie
Posted by Zong Zai Monday, March 14, 2011 1 comments Labels: Belgian Sculpture , Classic Sculpture , English Sculpture , FIne Art , King James II , Peter Van Dievoet
Van Dievoet's intricate classicism during the 16th century was a demonstration of old-style mastery and detailed masonry. His portrayal of famous personalities like King James II was well known throughout England. Born in Brussels, Van Dievoet was was at the church of Sainte-Gudule midyear in 1661. His brother; Philippe Van Dievoet had a link in art history as well, being the formal goldsmith of Louis XIV.
Peter Van Dievoet was a passionate sculptor, whose talent became quickly noticed by King James II during a period when he was residing in Van Dievoet's locale. He took the sculptor's artistry to his fancy and decisively took him to London with him when he returned.
James II Statue by Peter Van Dievoet - Photography by Fin Fahey
While Van Dievoet was in London in the late 1680's he honored his patron by creating a fine sculpture at St. James Park. He was also considered as a frequent visitor of the Grinling Gibbons studio as well, having a distinct interest in the fine art of casting sculpture. After the revolution, the returned to his hometown of Brussels where he continued to pursue his craftsmanship. He was also one of the artists who created the new Grand-Place in a baroque mannerist style.
Van Dievoet's life as as a sculptor exhibited some of the historical influences observable in parts of Belgium and England in the earlier periods of classical mannerism. Sculpture used to be an isolated genre that spoke through detail, accuracy and portrayals of the concrete world. Nowadays, with the emergence of contemporary, modern, minimalist and kinetic sculptures, we still have to remember where our artistry originated from.
Posted by Zong Zai Sunday, March 6, 2011 0 comments Labels: abstract sculpture , Art Deco , Art Nouveau , Glass Sculpture , Lalique , Naturalistic Sculpture
Lalique today is a very well-known name in the glass craft industry. Born in Ay, a small village in France, the young Lalique drew much of his influence from the frequent trips back to his home town. His naturalistic style of sculpting glass creations is a frequent sight in many of the Lalique boutiques around the world. He studied art all his life, since his time at the College Turgot to the evening classes at the Ecole des arts décoratifs and the two years at Sydenham Art College. Lalique trained as a goldsmite and jeweller at first, moving around work areas like Cartier and Boucheron honing his skills. in the late 1800's Lalique was already seen as one of France's leading designers of Art Nouveau. He also moved on to become one of the top artists in the Art Deco style, further adding to his popularity as a designer. As a glass maker, he was unparallelled by rivals. The line of artistry also continued on to his daughter Marie Claude Lalique, who followed diligently in his footsteps.
I believe that what makes the creations of the Lalique family so inspiring is their play of elegance using the unique traits of glass. Light, reflections and finishes are always combined in the perfect way with every glass creation that comes out of their process. These days, the brand of glass that Lalique has strived to achieve is directly synonymous to quality and creativity in the highest grade.
Posted by Zong Zai Thursday, February 24, 2011 0 comments Labels: Air Art , contemporary sculpture , Harry Bertoia , modern sculpture , Wire Art , Wire Sculpture
Harry Bertoia was born on March 10, 1915. Aside from his passion in the world of sculpture, he was also into modernist furniture design. Despite being born in Italy, Bertoia decided to stay in Detroit during his teenage years, studying high school at Cass Technical. It was here where Bertoia developed his skills in design as well as handcrafting jewelry. He moved on to the College for Creative Studies (back then called by another name) in the late 1930's.
Bertoia taught jewelry design and metal-smithing in his new found workshop in 1939. During the war, he made use of hi time crafting rings for prestigious personalities like Edmund Bacon's wife and Ray Eames. Eventually he settled down with a woman named Brigitta Valentiner in the early 1940's. He had several moves during his life, including one to California and another one to Pennsylvania. He later started to design several wire pieces such as the famous "Diamond Chair".
Sculpture by Harry Bertoia - Photography author: N. Jeppson
Bertoia described his artistic chairs as artworks that are curiously present as a result of space passing through them. Many of his works, whether in wire sculpture or kinetic sculpture, revolve around the theme of air. Whether it be to produce sound, like those exhibited in his performance album "Sonambient" or to merely coexist within the chambers of his composition, Bertoia's pronouncement of air as an artistic element is as admirable as it is interesting.
Today, many of his works can be found at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, the Honolulu Academy of Arts and the Detroit Institute of Arts among others.
Posted by Zong Zai 2 comments Labels: abstract sculpture , cast sculpture , Kylo Chua , Lover's Sculpture , modern art , modern sculpture , White Sculpture
A modernist abstract sculptor from the Philippines, Chua was born into a Chinese family in Richmond, British Columbia in 1988- a year considered within Chinese circles to belong to the Dragon zodiac. The interplay of Chinese traditions and western influences in the Philippines cultivated an aesthetic hybridity in Kylo Chua's cast sculptures during his college years. In 2006, while studying at the Ateneo de Manila University under a Bachelor of Fine Arts Program, Chua began creating elegant pieces that resembled a continuous flow of liquid white. There exists a purity and sensuality in his artistry that permeates the visual appreciation of his patrons.
Currently at 22 years of age, Chua has garnered a following of modernists and art enthusiasts because of his abstract mannerisms. He has exhibited pieces nationally around the Philippines, but takes up his residency as the youngest sculptor of the Artasia Gallery in Quezon City. He has also exhibited several works through esteemed shows held in Atlanta, Georgia.
Sculpture by Kylo Chua (2009) - Photography by Philip Yu
Chua was the first to receive the Loyola Schools Awards for the Arts in Sculpture when he graduated in 2010 at the Ateneo. He has also won an Honorary Mention at the Shell National Art Awards held at the Ayala Museum in 2009.
Sculpture by Kylo Chua (2009) - Photohraphy by Philip Yu
His figures of serpentine contour often resemble an infinity trait that can also be understood as the numerical 8. Chinese trace the number eight to be a fortunate symbol in their traditions and lifestyle. Aside from female and paired figurines, Chua also makes use of animal subjects, such as his creation "River Swan" in 2010 and an upcoming moving cheetah sculpture in 2011.
Posted by Zong Zai 0 comments Labels: Abtract Sculpture , contemporary sculpture , Metal Sculpture , Metalsmithing , Michael Tom , modern art , modern sculpture
Born on 1946 in Honolulu, Hawaii, Michael Tom was an American sculptor who practices the art of metalsmithing abstract compositions through his own aesthetic depiction. Tom originally pursued painting as an artistic career, however he gradually moved in favor to the three-dimensional forms of modern art. He received his degree in painting and metalsmithing from the Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park, California, and eventually went to the San Diego State University for his graduate studies. From painting, he turned to the world of art jewelry, combining the intricacies of art with the presence of luxury in today's jewelry. This endeavor gave him the inspirations to aspire more out of metalsmithing as well. He pursued the craft of mixed media and honed his working skills with copper and brass.
Sculpture Work by Artist Michael Tom - 1985 - (East West Center)
Tom's works showcase a variety of geometric elements such as ridges, angular surfaces and platform contours. His spectrum of elements combine with one another to create an overall composition that is lasting to the eye as it is to the touch. His works allow viewers to see a perceived sense of texture that they can imagine in their heads to be something never felt before. He was very famous for his small copper sculptures created by several hammering techniques.
In 1992, Tom obtained the Catharine E.B Cox Award for Excellence in the Visual Arts. His works are still housed today in the Hawaii State Art Museum and the East-West Center.
Posted by Zong Zai 0 comments Labels: abstract art , abstract sculpture , Christopher Bathgate , contemporary sculpture , Metal Sculpture , modern sculpture
A Metal sculptor residing in Baltimore Marland, Bathgate's pieces exude a sense of mechanical complexity in their aesthetics. The contours in his artworks often reflect on the shapes associated with industrial beauty and design. He practices multiple variations of craftsmanship, including handworking, electoplating, heat coloring and computer aided design. For Bathgate, his art is also as much about the process as the final output. The long and tedious creation of each and every work allows Bathgate to further develop his self-taught style of metal-sculpting.
Sculptures and Photography by Christopher Bathgate
Bathgate's metal artworks have been exhibited throughout the Maryland area, as well as in New York, Cincinnati, Washington, D.C., and also in North Carolina. He is currently being represented by Fine Arts Gallery Imperato in Baltimore. Bathgate is also a member of Viridian Artists Inc, an artist cooperative.
Posted by Zong Zai 0 comments Labels: contemporary sculpture , Giant Sculpture , modern sculpture , Representative Abstract , Wooden Sculpture
Hailing from Sweden, this curious sculptor is famous for his crafting of larger-than-life wooden artworks. The very first big sculpture he produced was entitled the Jätten Vist which meant the Giant Vist. It stands eleven meters tall and is located next to route E4 at Huskvarna in Europe. The sculpture art comes with its very own legend background: This giant was coming home from Vastergotland when he threw a mix of grass and dirt into the lake Vattern for his wife to trudge through. This act created the island of Visingso. Örnemark's creations, intimidating in size, stand to us as a great novelty in the world of art. He shares a proud uniqueness through these works and they give a bold insight to the international community of sculptors and art enthusiasts.
Sculpture by Calle Örnemark - Photography by Melo Man
In the 1980's, he created a sculpture that resembled a giant ship. The artwork was entitled Bounty. Along with another artwork; Indiska reptricket, Örnemark's pieces drew up huge crowds to marvel at their sheer size and impact. Indiska reptricket at the time, became the world's highest sculpture, standing at 103 meters into the sky. In 2007, both of Örnemark's pieces had to be taken down though due to natural deterioration. Today, he currently lives and works in Gränna, but still maintains a sculpture studio in Visingso. Other famous works include a huge wooden balloon in his home-place of Gränna and a replica of the wreckage of Henry Morgan's ship in Gratangen, Norway.
Posted by Zong Zai 0 comments Labels: abstract art , abstract sculpture , contemporary sculpture , Glass Sculpture , Glassblowing , modern art , modern sculpture
Lipofsky was an integral catalyst in the spreading of glass art throughout America. He was the artist who introduced the craft to the state of California by teaching at various universities like the state university, Berkley and the College of Art and Crafts. Born on Sept. 2, 1938, Lipofsky always had a knack for the language of the arts. Though raised with a family-business in mind, he graduated as a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Industrial Design from the University of Illinois and eventually graduated with an MS and MFA in sculpture from the University of Wisconsin in 1964. The studio-glass movement was Lipofsky's central passion. While studying in Wisconsin, he encountered Harvey Littleton as an art mentor who taught him varying degrees of exploring the media. Dominick Labino also met Lipofsky there, and together they shared information, lessons and creative ideas.
Creative Glass by Marvin Lipofsky - Photography by Chris Miller
Later on, he took up tenure at the the University of California, Berkeley up until 1972. John Lewis and Richard Marquis were among the students who were able to learn under Lipofsky's guiding hand. He became a well-travelled workshop instructor as well, traveling as far off as Japan, Spain and the Netherlands. This didn't mean that he had abandoned doing seminars locally though. He had also instructed many students at the Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood and the Columbus College of Art and Design.
In 1967, He founded and headed a university's formal glass program (California College of Arts and Crafts). He also founded the Glass Art Society, where he became president for two years. He was also famous for being one of the pioneer glass artisans to travel to Czechoslovakia.
His work when described, could be considered as rather colorful and truly organic in structure. Dan Klein described his art as visceral and gestural. Lipofsky preferred to create his glass works in partial translucency and contour them into curvaceous shapes such as bubbles and irregular objects. Glassblowing was his to conquer with his adamant skills and talents. He garnered many awards for his passion, including the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass in Chicago, as well as two National Endowment for the Arts grants in 1974 and 76'. His works can currently be found at many locations spread across the United States and other countries. He has art pieces at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the National Museum of Modern Art in Kyoto (Japan).
Posted by Zong Zai Thursday, February 10, 2011 1 comments Labels: Asian Sculpture , Mixed Media , modern sculpture , Ng Eng Teng , Singaporean Sculpture
Singaporean artist Ng Eng Teng was well known for his legacy of figure-shaped sculptures, including themes such as maternal love and human emotion. Forever remembered as the grandfather of sculpture in Singapore's culture, he lived up to the name ever since his human creativity began. In 1934, Ng was a child who loved to play with plasticine. He would make figures out of the material and shape miniature artworks in his play sessions. The young Ng graduated from his Senior Cambridge exams in 1955 and together with fellow artist Liu Kang, went to the British Council to take classes of painting and sculpture. In 1959, Jean Vullock introduced Ng to ciment fondu, a novelty medium at the time.
Sculpture by Ng Eng Teng, Picture taken by Marcus Lim
Studying at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Georgette Chen often invited him to talk about art at her home. There, Ng would find himself amazed by the aesthetic beauty of the ceramic displays. Chen realized that the Singapore she knew did not house any notable sculptor at the time. She told Ng that because of his talent and his fluency with the English language, he should seek to become a pioneer in this artistic field for Singapore. Heeding her advice, Ng left Singapore for the potteries in Stoke-on-Trent in England after he graduated. He also later worked at the Carrigaline Pottery in County Cork as an industrial designer. His designs were often exhibited at the Arts and Crafts Centre of Britain and at various Spring Fairs.
Eventually, after making a name for himself, he came back to Singapore to set up a potter workshop and teach ceramics to the local youths. He also wanted to provide support for his family by doing so. Initially he had wanted to set upa workshop at his alma matter; the Nanyang Academy, however he was rejected by the Academy's administration, so he set up his workshop elsewhere with the help of his father. Despite their good efforts, profit was very little and Ng soon had to seek employment to pay the bills. His friend Vincent Hoisington had recommended him to the International Planned Parenthood Federation in 1968 where he worked for over a year as a visual aids personnel.
In 1970, Ng had his first solo 5-day exhibition held at the lecture hall of the National Library. Since that exhibition, Ng's career skyrocketed and he became known as a well-deserving artist all over Singapore and Australia. He was given the Cultural Medallion Award in 1981 by his country; Singapore. 1988 proved to be an interesting year for Ng as well. He met up with the director of the Paris Arts Centre who acted as the representative of the Olympic Selection Commitee at the time. Ng was commissioned to do a work for the Olympics in Seoul. They eventually agreed on replicating Ng's piece entitled "Portrait" as a larger artwork. This was used in the Olympic ceremony, making Ng a worldwide accomplished sculptor.
He received the Patronage Award from the Singapore Art Museum in 2001. He was also presented several other awards, because of his generous donation of paintings, drawings, pottery and sculptures to the museum. Ng was remembered as a pioneer of sculpture for Singapore, and to this day, lasts in the memory of young and old sculptors alike who wish they could follow in his footsteps and bring greatness to the Singaporean art world.
Posted by Zong Zai Tuesday, February 8, 2011 5 comments Labels: abstract sculpture , cast sculpture , english sculptors , henry moore , Kinetic Sculpture , modern sculpture
Born on July 30, 1898 in Castleford, West Yorkshire, the English artist Henry Spencer Moore eventually went on to become one of the world's leading creative minds on the theme of abstract sculpture. His monuments of bronze and metals highlight the landscape of several art galleries, museums and sculpture parks across the globe. Moore began his fond interest for sculpture at an early age in his home town. He would constantly be seen playing with modeling clay and carving small designs out of wood. He decided that he wanted to become a great sculptor at the age of 11 when he was introduced to the history of a great sculptor: Michelangelo.
Henry Moore's "Two Piece Reclining Figure"
Photography by Andrew Dunn
At school, his talent and interest was fostered by his teachers, who granted him a scholarhip to Castleford Secondary School. His parents however, did not agree with the young man's ambition to pursue a full-time sculpting career, so in time Moore began a career as a teacher at the school he studied in. He also joined the army soon after that. He was one of the youngest participants in the Prince of Wales' Own Civil Service Rifles Regiment, but was injured during a gas attack in the Battle of Cambrai (1917). He eventually found his war-time experience to be beneficial to his career as an artist though. They granted him a way to continue his education and become the first student of sculture at the Leeds College of Art. There he met many famous sculptors and became good friends with many of them. He also won a scholarship to the Royal College of Art in London, where he studied extensively about primitive art and the Victorian style of romanticism in sculpture. Moore later on had a clash with his teacher- his method of carving involved leaving the natural scratchmark and toolmark from carving as part of the piece's finishing. This methodology was too modern for the professors at the college. Despite this, nothing hampered his desire to grow as a modernist sculptor.
Henry Moore's "Reclining Figure"
Photography by Andrew Dunn
Eventually, after spending time via another sculpture grant in Italy. Moore returned to London and became a teacher at the Royal College of Art. There, he married Irina Radetsky, a painting student. They later moved to Hampstead and joined a small groud of modernist artists.
In 1932, Moore became Head of the Sculpture Department at the Chelsea School of Art. Moore and several other sculptors playfully experimented with influences from Surrealism and other art movements, but this was called to a halt at the outbreak of World War II. Moore was commissioned to be a war artist and did several powerful artworks depicting the turmoil going around. After their home was hit by a bomb, they moved to a place called Hoglands near Hertfordshire. During these years, Moore had a daughter- Mary Moore, named after his mother. His subjects then took a turn towards depicting family life. He later exhibited at the MoMA in New York City. This was followed by several achievements like the International Sculpture Prize at the Venice Biennale, the Companion of Honor (1955) and the Order of Merit (1963). He even turned down knighthood because he thought it might separate him from his place with the local artists.
Posted by Zong Zai 1 comments Labels: Alexander Calder , Kinetic Sculpture , Mobile
Alexander Calder a.k.a Sandy was an American Sculptor whose name became most famous for his invention of a particular form of kinetic sculpture: 'the mobiles'. Although not limited to this specific way of doing sculpture, Calder excelled at it the most, creating stunningly beautiful hanging monuments. Both his father and grandfather were also sculptors who were famous themselves, while his mother was a portrait painter. Calder's very first sculpture of a clay elephant was completed in 1902. His family home in Pasadena, California held a cellar which eventually became his very first art studio. in 1909 Calder created one of his very first kinetic sculptures; a duck made out of sheet brass which rocked back and forth when touched. Calder eventually went on to study Mechanical at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey. Later on in his youth, Calder decided to move to New York and become a real visual artist. He enrolled at the Art Students' League and worked for the National Police Gazette. One of his assignments was to sketch a Ringling Brothers' Circus, and that project got him deeply fascinated with the subject. in 1962, Calder moved to Paris and began trying his creativity at toy making. It was there he made his Cirque Calder a portable circus which filled up about five suitcases. It allowed him to give performances similar to a real circus enactment. This gave rise to his popularity as a toymaker and unconventional artist. In 1929, Calder held his very fist solo show at the Galerie Billiet in Paris. This consisted mostly of wire sculptures he had fashioned into original designs. In 1931, he eventually moved into creating more aero-inclined sculptures, gaining the kinetic energy they needed by utilizing natural flowing air currents from the surroundings. Duchamp eventually called these curious works "mobiles"; a French Pun meaning both "motive" and "mobile". The 1950's led Calder to produce more monument-sized works to quench his thirst for creativity. Most of his works rose to about 24 meters tall and some employed his kinetic style of motion as well. After completing many notable works, Calder published his autobiography in 1966. One of his famous works was WTC Stabile (also known as Bent Propeller) which was stationed in front of the World Trade Center's North Tower in America (1971)
Additional Resources Can be Found at the The Calder Foundation
Posted by Zong Zai Monday, February 7, 2011 0 comments Labels: Andrea del Verrocchio , Art History , Donatello , Leonardo Da Vinci , Marble Sculptures , Renaissance , Renaissance Sculpture , Sculpture History
What does the word Renaissance mean? Its definition correspondingly refers to the term “rebirth” and the reason why this time in history was called as such is because art historians found out that society during this period re-submerged itself in the classical and secular undertakings that were done away with in the past. Renaissance sculptures reflected mainly on classical antiquity, giving rise to many master such as Donatello di Niccolò di Betto Bardi (Donatello’s real name) and Andrea del Verrocchio. Both of these men were Florentine artists. Donatello’s prime masterpiece was the sculpture of David. Standing at five feet tall in solid bronze, he made it for the Medici family of Italy’s famous history. The sculpture was later erected at the Palazzo Medici as the first human-sized nude sculpture piece since Antiquity. Verrocchio, for his part, was an accomplished painter and sculptor whose works certainly rivaled the great Donatello. He was made even more famous however, for being the teacher of another young artist we all know- Leonardo De Vinci.
Growing from the area of Florence, Italy in the 15th century, the Renaissance movement extended on to the north, reaching the Alps during the early 16th century. There was a huge desire to move beyond the old ways of thinking and drive art back into the high standards of Greek and Roman art.
Common subjects during the Renaissance period (aside from religious art) were young greek male figures, nude and proportioned to proper anatomical perspective. Other artists also deviated and turned to human emotion and/or suffering as a prime subject for depicting sculpture, such are some works by Michelangelo- “Young Slave, for the tomb of Julius II” made in 1520 at Florence, and “Prisoner”; a sculpture thought to be depicting the titan Atlas, which was also made for the tomb of Julius II.
Philosophy played a significant role in the development of humanism as a way of viewing artistic endeavors. The subject selection at the time prioritized human beings and human life over other important aspects such as religion. This type of art placed man at the center focus of things.
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Henry Moore
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In what sport did Swede Oscar Swahn become the oldest gold medallist at 64 years (1912), and the oldest medallist, at 72 (silver, 1920)?
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1000+ images about Henry Moore Sculpture on Pinterest | Helmets, Public and Search
Large Two Forms, Henry Moore, 1966. Bronze. - Henry Moore at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park
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i don't know
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What is the common medical name for the increasingly popular recreational drug referred to as a 'horse tranquillizer'?
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Dangerous Liaison: Club Drug Use and HIV/AIDS - TheBody.com
Dangerous Liaison: Club Drug Use and HIV/AIDS
By Jan Swanson and Alan Cooper
References
Introduction
Club drugs, or recreational drugs, as they are sometimes called, have only recently been associated with increased high-risk sexual behaviors which, in turn, may cause higher incidence of HIV/AIDS. By club drugs, we mean a number of illegal, mostly synthetic drugs that are commonly used in nightclubs, "raves," and circuit parties. 1 In this article, we will be referring to club drugs and recreational drugs interchangeably.
Injection drug use has been known almost since the outbreak of the epidemic to be a means of spreading the virus by way of contaminated blood. In recent years, it has become increasingly clear that injection drug users (IDUs) are not only at increased risk of HIV infection from infected needles and shared drug paraphernalia but also as a result of high-risk sexual behaviors. The latter include trading sex for money and unprotected sex fueled by high sex drive associated with cocaine and amphetamine use. 2
Even among short-term young IDUs, sexual practices, and not just injecting practices, were found to be important predictors of HIV infections. 3 Gay and bisexual men who inject drugs appear to be at greatest risk, as indicated, for example, by their HIV seroprevalence increasing in San Francisco from 25 percent in 1996 to 42 percent in 2000, while heterosexual male IDUs remained at a stable rate. 4
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A study by Strathdee et al. followed 1,800 IDUs for 10 years in Baltimore and found that high-risk sexual behavior was a better predictor of HIV infection than was sharing needles while injecting drugs. They found a gender difference in the type of sexual activity that predicted greatest risk, however. Among men, high-risk homosexual activity was the best predictor. Among women, high-risk heterosexual activity was the most important factor. 5
Club drug users, not wanting the stigma or risks of injection drug use, prefer drugs such as MDMA (Ecstasy), ingested in pill form. This allows users to avoid track marks, and other signs of hard drug use and contribute to a belief that taking club drugs is harmless as well as fun. 6
Particularly in the gay/bisexual community, drugs such as MDMA have become increasingly popular within a significant drug-using subset. A large probability telephone sample of urban men who have sex with men (MSMs) taken at four large American cities found a 52 percent prevalence of recreational drug use. 7 A separate study in New York City found that 13.7 percent of a sample of MSMs reported using MDMA within the past six months, using it an average of 6.24 times in that period. Compared with non-users, MDMA users were found to have more male partners, have more one-night stands with men, and have more unprotected anal sex with men. 8 There was clearly an association between club drug use and high-risk sexual behaviors.
This article will examine club drugs, their effects and risks, as well as some of the settings in which they are used. We will also look at the relationship between drug use, sexual behavior, and risk for HIV/AIDS. We will discuss how recreational drugs may interact with highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). We will also look at some of the efforts that have been made in prevention and harm reduction strategies to reduce the transmission of HIV. Finally, we will discuss the role of the physician or allied health professional in assessing and treating the drug abusing or dependent patient with or at risk for HIV/AIDS.
Raves and Circuit Parties
Raves have become increasingly popular since the 1980s. They are nighttime dance parties originally held in large, abandoned warehouses or in farm fields and more recently in legal spaces such as concert halls and underground parking lots. 9 Attendance has been as high as 20,000 participants. Raves attract primarily middle-class heterosexual 15- to 25-year-olds who hear about them on the Internet or by word of mouth. They can involve up to two days of dancing, lights, and electronic music, often presided over by a popular DJ. Raves are characterized by consumption of club drugs in "cafeteria" fashion, in which whatever drugs are available are often sampled. The pills often contain adulterants which may be more toxic than the club drug itself. Also, as drugs are combined during the same event, undesirable and unpredictable effects can result. 10 , 11
Circuit parties have also grown in popularity and are common throughout the world. They are large-scale dance events that last for several days and tend to occur each year at about the same time in a particular city. These annual events are so named because they appear to follow a circuit from one city to another every few weeks. 12
Unlike raves, circuit parties are attended primarily by gay and bisexual men who come to participate in late-night dance events, as well as in multi-event entertainment such as popular singers, all male revues, and frequently homoerotic events. Large parties can attract 20,000 men to a particular community. This is typically a somewhat older crowd than those attending raves, often upper-middle-class white men in their 30s. 12 , 13
More than 80 percent reported drug use during these events, according to one recent study. 14 According to the Circuit Party Men's Health Survey of the San Francisco Bay Area, 13 78 percent of the participants were between 25 and 39, attended a median of three parties in the previous year, and a significant number (25 percent) reported at least one incident of drug overuse during that same time. Most of the men had taken MDMA or ketamine, as well as other popular substances, during the most recent circuit party weekend. While nearly all participants were motivated by the desire "to listen to music and dance," and "to be with friends," a majority of men endorsed "getting high on drugs" as a motivation, whereas nearly a third were there to "have sex." When the authors compared three-day drug use rates with six-month rates from a general population sample of gay men, 7 men reported much lower use of amphetamines, cocaine, and Ecstasy during the six-month time period. Mansergh et al. conclude that a "substantial drug culture permeates the circuit party environment."
Some organizations that provide case management, medications, and other services to persons with HIV/AIDS, such as AIDS Arms, Inc., in Dallas, have refused to be a recipient of funds from these events (circuit parties) because of the illicit drug use "that dramatically impair[s] an individual's judgment increasing the likelihood of engaging in unsafe sexual practices." 15
Club Drugs
The U.S. National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) describes club drugs as a vague term that refers to a wide variety of drugs that grew in popularity along with dance club culture in the 1990s. Older party drugs such as cocaine, popular in the 1980s, are not as widely used since their health risks have become more widely known. Drugs that have become increasingly abused include methamphetamines, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB), flunitrazepam (Rohypnol), and ketamine. Each can cause serious health problems, and even death, in spite of a popular misconception that taking them is a safe way to enhance the dance party experience. 6 In the United States, 9.1 percent of college students and 7.2 percent of young adults (ages 19-28) reported in 2000 that they used MDMA at least once in the last year. 16 Similarly, a study of over 3,000 university students in the United Kingdom reported that 13 percent had used MDMA. 17 Winstock et al. reference reports of use and related problems in Denmark, Germany, Spain, Australia, and the Netherlands. 18
3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)
Street Names: Ecstasy, X, E, Adam, Hug Drug
Ecstasy is an amphetamine with both stimulant and hallucinogenic properties. It is usually taken orally as a tablet or capsule. It is used to reduce inhibitions and create feelings of empathy for others as well as deep relaxation. The stimulant effect allows the user to stay up all night, as its effects last four to six hours. With repeated use, the user may stay up for two- to three-day parties. 1 , 19 It can produce significant increases in heart rate, myocardial oxygen consumption, and blood pressure, which is particularly risky for persons with circulatory or heart disease.
MDMA, along with other popular substances, such as alcohol, is used for extended dancing in hot and crowded conditions. These factors increase its toxicity and lead to dehydration, hyperthermia, seizures, kidney and cardiovascular system failure, and may lead to death. 20 , 21
Regular use causes lasting damage to neurons that release serotonin, changes that have been shown to persist for many years in animals, and may cause memory impairments, disrupted sleep, depression , and anxiety. Studies in Great Britain and Germany found that MDMA users, even after six months of non-use, performed more poorly on some memory and learning tests than non-users. 20
A case study of club drug using MSMs in Boston and New York found that more than 50 percent of the men in the study combined MDMA with other drugs such as ketamine, cocaine, methamphetamines, and Viagra. 22
Gamma-Hydroxybutyrate (GHB)
Street Names: Liquid Ecstasy, Grievous Bodily Harm, G, Georgia Home Boy, Fantasy
GHB is a central nervous system depressant banned by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It generates feelings of euphoria, sedation, and well-being, and can also be used to counteract over-stimulation by MDMA. It is available in clear liquid or a white powder that can be added to water and mixed with flavorings. It may also be sold as a capsule or tablet. 19
Adverse effects include its ability to slow down breathing and heart rate to dangerous levels. At lower dosages, it causes sedation, nausea, and visual changes. Overdose may occur rather quickly, and can lead to seizures, hypothermia, loss of consciousness, coma, and ultimately death. In 1999, there were 2,960 medical emergencies related to GHB use in the United States compared to 790 in 1998. 23 As of January 2000, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) reported 60 GHB-related deaths. 1
GHB has also been implicated in sexual assaults and is considered a "date rape" drug. It can cause the victims to be incapable of resisting rape and to have difficulty remembering the details of the assault at a later time, rendering them unreliable witnesses. 1 It has been incorrectly perceived as a safe drug because, until recently, it was available in health food stores as a supplement. 23
Ketamine
Street Names: K, Special K, Vitamin K, Cat Valium, Horse Tranquilizer
Ketamine is marketed as a short-acting general anesthetic for human and veterinary use. As a liquid or powder, it can be injected, added to smokable materials, or consumed in drinks. It produces dreamlike or hallucinatory effects. 19 , 24 Low doses produce a mellow, colorful experience whereas higher doses can create "out of body" or "near death" experience, loss of consciousness, delirium, amnesia, seizures, and even, in some cases, fatal respiratory events. 1 , 25
When combined with alcohol, the greatest risk is falling asleep or collapsing, and then vomiting and possibly choking on one's own emesis. 26
Flunitrazepam (Rohypnol)
Street Names: Roofies, Roche, Forget-me pill, Mexican Valium, Rope, Ropies, Roaches
Rohypnol is a benzodiazepine illegal in the United States but available in many countries as a sedative or presurgery anesthetic. It can be taken orally in tablets or dissolved in drinks even without the person's knowledge, since it is tasteless and odorless.
It is known as a date rape drug because it can render its victim helpless and unable to remember clearly what took place. It can also lower blood pressure and cause drowsiness, dizziness, confusion, and visual disturbances. 1 , 19
Methamphetamine
Street Names: Speed, Ice, Crank, Meth, Fire, Glass, Crystal
Methamphetamine is a very addictive stimulant. It is a white powder that can be snorted, smoked, injected, or taken by mouth. It has become an alternative to MDMA at some clubs and raves although it is not as popular as other synthetic drugs at these settings. Like MDMA, it is used for high levels of energy needed in raves, clubs, and circuit parties, as well as for feelings of euphoria, increased self-confidence, and hypersexuality. 1 , 27
Abuse can result in damage to the central nervous and cardiovascular systems, irritability, hypothermia, aggressiveness, paranoia, and anxiety, as well as strokes, myocardial infarctions, and permanent damage to the blood vessels. Long-term use has been linked to an induced paranoid psychosis associated with delusions of persecution and hallucinations. 27
In the major metropolitan areas of the western United States and their gay communities, it seems to be reaching epidemic levels of abuse. 28 It also appears to be on the rise among sexually active gay men in New York City. 27
d-Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD)
Street Names: Acid, Yellow Submarines, Cubes, Trips
This powerful hallucinogen is easily available at concerts and raves. Its potency varies from 20 to 80 micrograms per dosage unit, much less than the 100 to 300 microgram dosages common in the 1960s. It is now distributed in thin squares of gelatin, treated sugar cubes, or applied to blotter paper. At today's lowered potency, fewer emergency room visits occur, accounting for some of its continuing popularity. 1
LSD produces distortions in sensory perceptions and rapid mood swings, ranging from intense fear to euphoria. 25 Typically, the effects of the drug include higher body temperatures, increased heart rate and blood pressure, sweating, sleeplessness, and tremors. Long-term effects include persisting perception disorders known as "flashbacks." 19
Sildenafil (Viagra)
Viagra is being combined with such club drugs as MDMA to enhance sexual experience. In a study in a sexually transmitted disease clinic in San Francisco, 32 percent of gay respondents and 7 percent of heterosexual male respondents reported using Viagra.
Combinations such as amyl nitrite (poppers) and Viagra can result in priapism, myocardial infarctions, and stroke. Gay men who use Viagra report more sexual partners and more risky sex (partners who are HIV-positive or are of unknown HIV status) than straight men. 29
A study of more than 2,000 night club customers in the United Kingdom found 3 percent who reported using Viagra recreationally, usually simultaneously with illegal drugs such as cocaine, methamphetamines, or cannabis. They reported feeling enhanced sexual desire and "warmth." Less than half reported negative effects such as headaches and genital soreness. 30
Drug Use, Sex, and the Risk of HIV
The relationship between drug use and unsafe sexual practices among gay men has been shown in many studies. 27 , 31-33 These unsafe sexual practices put gay and bisexual men at greater risk for HIV infection. Gay and bisexual men who do not use drugs report fewer acts of insertive and/or receptive anal intercourse without condoms than do recreational drug-using gay and bisexual men. 34
Methamphetamine shows documented prevalence rates ranging between 5 percent and 25 percent of the gay and bisexual men studied across many cities from Honolulu to Denver. 27 It is used to increase sensory experiences, especially sexual ones, and to create feelings of euphoria, which may contribute to increased sexual risk-taking. It has been associated with infrequent use of condoms, perhaps as a result of the above factors. 35
Methamphetamines can also increase risk for HIV/AIDS by increasing sexual sensation at the same time that it may interfere with erections, colloquially referred to as "crystal dick." A result of this problem can create "instant bottoms," a term applied by gay and bisexual men to drug users who take on the receptive role during anal intercourse. This practice is the riskiest sexual behavior that may cause HIV infection, 36 particularly when condoms are not used. Gay and bisexual men who use amphetamines have 2.9 times greater risk of HIV infection through receptive anal intercourse than men who do not use the drug. 27 Use of any stimulant drug, not just methamphetamines, has been associated with unprotected anal intercourse. 37
MDMA was reported to be in wide use among gay and bisexual men recruited from three dance clubs in New York City, 14 and was found to be the only recreational drug associated with unsafe sex in this sample. Other drugs have been related to high-risk sexual behavior in different studies. 32 , 38-40
Circuit party weekends have also been associated with high-risk sexual behavior. A study by Mansergh et al. reported that 29 percent of their sample of gay and bisexual men had multiple sex partners during a single circuit party weekend. Of this higher-risk group, 47 percent reported unprotected anal sex. They concluded that sexual activity, including unprotected anal sex, was relatively common during these weekends. 13
Colfax and his associates studied 295 gay/bisexual men in San Francisco and measured drug use and sexual risk-taking during a San Francisco circuit party (CP), a circuit party held in another geographical area (distant CP), and non-CP party weekends. They found a high use of drugs during CPs. For example, at a distant CP, 80 percent used MDMA, 66 percent used ketamine, and 43 percent used crystal methamphetamines. Drug use during CP weekends was greater than during non-CP weekends.
Unprotected anal sex with partners of unknown or opposite HIV serostatus was most prevalent during distant CP weekends, perhaps because the gay/bisexual men felt less inhibited away from their own city and took more sexual risks. The strongest predictors of unprotected anal sex with opposite or unknown serostatus partners were being HIV-positive and use of crystal methamphetamines, Viagra, or amyl nitrites. The authors conclude that the level of high-risk activity during circuit parties suggests significant potential for HIV transmission . 41
In another study on circuit parties, Mattison et al. found that use of amyl nitrites (poppers), MDMA, ketamine, crystal methamphetamines, and GHB were associated with unsafe sex. In a large nonrandom sample of party attendees, more than 50 percent reported using alcohol, MDMA, and ketamine. Frequent use of MDMA, ketamine, and poppers had a significant association with unsafe sex at parties. Crystal methamphetamines and GHB only showed a trend although in the expected direction. 42
Chesney et al. suggest that seroconversion may be mediated by these drug-related factors:
Stimulants and inhalants increasing arousal and delaying ejaculation.
Disinhibition effects of drugs.
Substance abuse and high-risk sexual behaviors occurring within social networks if unprotected anal intercourse is a norm in such networks and there is a high-risk background prevalence of HIV. 43
Club drugs, in particular MDMA, methamphetamines, and poppers, encourage risky sexual practices, at least among gay/bisexual men, such as multiple sexual partners and unprotected anal or receptive anal intercourse, and thus increase the risk of HIV/AIDS. Circuit parties, especially distant circuit parties, encourage high-risk sexual behaviors and club drug use among gay and bisexual men. We are not aware of studies focusing on raves with a primarily heterosexual population and increased risk for HIV/AIDS.
The Effects of Club Drugs on HAART and Adherence to HAART
Club drugs can affect HAART both through drug interactions and by affecting adherence to HIV drugs. Interestingly, although alcohol interacts with many club drugs, alcohol appears to have the least interactions with protease inhibitors and non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors. Methamphetamines and MDMA have a potential interaction with all of the protease inhibitors and delavirdine. GHB has a potential interaction with ritonavir. Marijuana has a potential interaction with lopinavir and ritonavir. 44
MDMA is demethylated by CYP2D6, an isozyme. The protease inhibitor ritonavir is a potential inhibitor of CYP2D6. Thus, taking MDMA with ritonavir could theoretically lead to toxic effects due to a high plasma concentration of MDMA. This may be caused by this inhibition of demethylenation, the principle pathway by which MDMA is metabolized. 45
Henry and Hill describe a fatal interaction between ritonavir and MDMA in a man who had been HIV positive since 1991 and developed AIDS in 1995. In September, 1996, his regimen of zidovudine 200 mg three times a day and lamivudine 150 mg twice a day was altered to include 600 mg of ritonavir twice a day. He had taken MDMA on several occasions without problems on his prior medication regimen. He went to a club on October 6, 1996 and swallowed three tablets of MDMA. He drank beer and four hours after his arrival, he became seriously ill and died. A nurse who was attending the club described him as hypertonic, sweating, breathing rapidly, tachycardic, and cyanosed. The subject told the nurse that he had taken about 180 mg of Ecstasy. He then had a tonic-clonic convulsion. A few minutes later he vomited and had a cardiorespiratory arrest and could not be resuscitated. An autopsy was done. His lungs were edematous and congested. It was felt that the gentleman died from a severe serotoninergic reaction to Ecstasy. It is hypothesized that the ritonavir increased the level of the Ecstasy to a toxic level. The authors believe that ritonavir could react with many drugs metabolized by CYP2D6, including amphetamine derivatives, and people who use party drugs should be advised of this interaction. 45 Other researchers have noted that the effect of methamphetamines has been demonstrated to be two to three times greater for individuals on combination therapy, especially combinations including ritonavir. 46
Protease inhibitors are metabolized primarily by the hepatic cytochrome P450 system (isozyme CYP3A4) and also inhibit and induce this enzyme in varying degrees. Ritonavir also affects three other P450 cytochrome enzymes, CYP2D6, CYP2C9, and CYP2C19. 47 Three party drugs -- amphetamine, MDMA, and methamphetamine -- are metabolized by the CYP2D6 isoform of the cytochrome P450 system. Ritonavir can increase levels of these party drugs. Interestingly, ritonavir, by induction of the CYP3A4-mediated metabolism and glucuronidation of several drugs, decreased drug levels of methadone, alprazolam and meperidine hydrochloride, which are metabolized by CYP3A4. This has caused a withdrawal syndrome with these drugs.
Other drugs whose metabolic pathways are altered by protease inhibitors are benzodiazepines, opiates, marijuana, zolpidem, and Viagra. These drugs are not infrequently used with recreational drugs. The question that arises is what happens when many drugs are used together that are metabolized by the same metabolic pathway. Harrington and colleagues in Seattle believe that HIV providers should caution their patients that drug interactions between recreational drugs and medications are complex, unpredictable, and even dangerous. Some interactions are known and some are not, making this an even more serious situation. 47
Khalsa et al. believe that directions for future research should include studying the underlying mechanisms of drug interactions and metabolic pathways, interactions between illicit drugs, licit drugs, and prescription drugs. They recommend developing educational programs for clinicians to understand and treat drug interactions among drug users. 48
Adherence
Halikitis and colleagues presented an abstract at the XIV International AIDS Conference on adherence to HIV medications and club drug use among gay and bisexual men. The researchers sampled 300 gay/bisexual men; 51.9 percent missed one dose of their medicines in the two-month period prior to assessment and 47.5 percent missed one dose in the last two weeks. Based on the Abuse Screening Test, substance users/abusers reported more doses missed than nondrug users. Individuals who used club drugs were less adherent than those reporting no substance use and less adherent than those individuals who abused drugs other than club drugs. The researchers concluded that club drug use impacted adherence to HAART and needs to be addressed. They believe that this lack of adherence could be a result of the disinhibitions caused by the use of club drugs, as well as the contexts in which the substances are used. 49
This is an important observation, as other researchers have found a similar association between alcohol and drugs and adherence to HAART. Lucas et al. in a study of 764 HIV-1 infected patients found that active drug users were more likely to report nonadherence to medication and to have smaller median reductions in HIV-1 RNA from baseline and smaller median increases in CD4 counts from baseline than patients who were non-users and former drug users. 50
The data regarding adherence problems to HAART medication and alcohol and recreational drugs are not always consistent. For example, Sauders et al. studied 78 subjects with varying use of alcohol and recreational drugs (heavy users, moderate users, non-users). In this small sample they found no relationship between alcohol and recreational drug use and adherence problems. The heavy users had reported few problems with adherence but this may have been due to motivation to exaggerate actual compliance. 51
Current research suggests that alcohol and drug use may affect adherence to HAART and possibly affect T cell counts and viral loads. The reasons for these effects are unclear. The reasons may relate to psychological and social problems stemming from drug use. Club drug users may have higher nonadherence rates possibly due to disinhibition of behavior caused by the recreational drugs.
Recreational drugs may also interact with antiretrovirals and with other substances, such as alcohol, Viagra, opiates, and marijuana, possibly creating a potentially dangerous and life-threatening drug combination. Club drugs may affect adherence to HAART and may have serious drug interactions with antivirals, such as ritonavir. Further study on this important topic is required.
Prevention and Harm Reduction
What is the difference between prevention and harm reduction?
Prevention programs aim to lower the rate of onset of particular disorders, such as illicit drug use in a community, by intervening when potentially harmful conditions exist. 52 Examples of prevention programs are programs that encourage individuals not to attend raves or circuit parties to prevent exposure to the considerable drug use in these settings, programs that encourage saying no to drugs, and programs that encourage individuals not to start smoking. Harm reduction approaches, in contrast, attempt to prevent the potential harmful effects of drug use rather than preventing the drug use itself. 53 They are, however, compatible with prevention approaches and are in no way opposed to them. Examples of harm reduction programs are needle exchange programs and methadone maintenance.
Harm reduction is the opposite of prohibition. For instance, Great Britain responded to the health risks posed by raves by attempting to prohibit them. Rave organizers faced heavy fines and imprisonment. These measures failed because the parties moved to legitimate clubs where the dancers mixed alcohol with drugs, thereby increasing the health risks. Prior to the law, enacted by the British government prohibiting raves, only 9 percent of respondents in the 16- to 29-year-old range used Ecstasy. This rose to 91 percent among members of the dance club scene. 9 A harm reduction approach, by contrast, could try to ensure that buildings met safety and health standards and had adequate security, and that education about health effects of the drugs was available from trained volunteers. This approach has been adopted by leaders of the rave community and by various health departments. 9
Prevention programs are often based on the results of studies focused on the targeted communities. At other times, the prevention programs stem from members in the affected communities developing community-based programs. The following ideas come from both research and community organizations. Colfax et al. recommended the following strategies of prevention based on their research on drug use and sexual risk behavior among 295 gay/bisexual men from the San Francisco Bay area. 41
Because one third of HIV-positive men in their study used Viagra and its use was associated with unsafe sexual practices, they suggested that physicians should reinforce safer sex messages before prescribing Viagra, and that HIV prevention programs should address potential recreational Viagra use.
Colfax and colleagues found that men who participated in distant city circuit parties engaged in more high-risk behaviors. The researchers believed that these men were less inhibited away from their home community rules, friends, and lovers, and recommended that health prevention programs focus on helping circuit party participants maintain safer practices both within and outside of their local communities.
Colfax et al. also suggest that prevention programs should educate gay/bisexual men who attend circuit parties about the risks of drug use and associated high-risk sexual behavior. They believe that prevention programs should also target HIV-positive men, who reported in their study engaging in more unprotected sex, in order to reduce the behaviors that place others at risk for HIV. This includes practicing safer sex and being open about their HIV status with their sexual partners.
Klitzman et al. also noted that MDMA users often feel it is safe to use this drug because they believe it is non-addictive. 8 Prevention activities could include distributing facts about MDMA's toxicity, about which club or party event participants may not be aware. Halkitis et al. wrote that interventions to reduce methamphetamine use will not be effective until addiction specialists and researchers look at the underlying sexual motivations that promote the use of the drug. Since the drug is viewed as a powerful aphrodisiac that prolongs sexual enjoyment, what can gay men do to replace this drug? Is drug use worth the risks they are taking? 27
Harm reduction approaches accept that many individuals will probably continue to attend raves and circuit parties, and use drugs as well as continue to engage in sexual activity at these events. They hope to lessen the harm that occurs at such events by promoting safe behaviors.
Ryan and colleagues studied the relationship between substance use disorders and risk of HIV infection in gay men, and suggested the following strategy: Community-based HIV risk reduction programs need to target heavy substance users by developing active outreach programs that go into bars and clubs and have booths at raves and circuit parties to recruit participants for multi-session cognitive-behavioral intervention programs. These sessions should include strategies for reducing the use of alcohol and other drugs. 54
Weir, and Dillon and Degenhardt, suggested the following educational harm reduction messages for users of recreational drugs: 9 , 24
Encourage dancers to replenish fluids and sodium (500mL/hr if dancing, 250 mL/hr if inactive).
Take breaks from dancing.
To help recreational drug users avoid drug overdosage and illness from drug interactions, encourage patients:
To know the risks of adulterated drugs and the inaccuracies of labels.
To know the signs and symptoms of toxicity.
To seek immediate medical attention if one develops signs and symptoms of drug toxicity.
To avoid alcohol if consuming recreational drugs.
To always eat when using GHB. Using GHB on an empty stomach causes nausea and vomiting.
To use small doses of any drug and wait at least two hours between doses.
To advocate that organizers of raves and circuit parties are responsive to health and safety issues:
Educate organizers about the need to have medical staff or a paramedic team on site.
Encourage participants to insist that medical care be on site before attending an event.
Encourage participants of raves, circuit parties and recreational drug users to care for their own health needs and to be protective of their friends:
Advise patients not to attend a rave or circuit party alone. Encourage patients to contract with a friend to look out for each other. (This may also help prevent date rape.)
Tell patients to tell their friends what they are using and to stay with them if something goes wrong.
Advise patients that if they are taken to the hospital, not to be afraid to tell physicians and nurses what drug they used.
We would also encourage HIV-positive patients to know how party drugs will interact with Viagra and HAART to avoid life-threatening combinations.
Individuals might use drugs intravenously at circuit parties and raves. The U.S. National Institute of Drug Abuse recommends the following harm reduction strategies if individuals are not able to stop using and injecting drugs and do not want to enter and complete drug abuse treatment:
Do not reuse or share syringes, water, or drug preparation equipment.
Always use a new sterile syringe to prepare and inject drugs.
Safely dispose of syringes after one use. 55
Harm reduction can result from effective role modeling by community leaders. An example of this is a harm reduction program that came out of the Mississippi Medical Center. In the early 1990s, Kelly and associates conducted harm reduction programs in three relatively small U.S. cities: Biloxi, Mississippi; Hattiesburg, Mississippi; and Monroe, Louisiana. First, they identified opinion leaders among gay men and then they trained these leaders in the social skills needed to help reduce the risk of acquiring HIV within the gay community.
In all three cities, intervention reduced high-risk behavior (unprotected anal intercourse) from 15 percent to 29 percent of baseline levels. This study illustrated that by recruiting community opinion leaders, teaching them concepts of harm reduction, and how to pass this information on to others, harmful behavior can be decreased. 56
Rave participants often have peer support groups for their parties. Some have also developed Web sites, such as raversunity.com and dancesafe.org , that have harm prevention messages. Organizations hoping to decrease harm at circuit parties might also want to determine who the opinion leaders are at these events and use these individuals to pass on safety messages and to model safer behaviors such as using condoms, not drinking alcohol along with drugs or mixing drugs, and taking breaks from dancing.
Social marketing is another method of harm reduction. Social marketing uses the elements of price, promotion, and other factors to introduce a product or behavior to the public. Social marketing of condoms is considered a key element of a global strategy to reduce AIDS. People at risk for AIDS know about condoms, but often do not use them. The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals' Office of Public Health hypothesized that increasing condom accessibility would increase condom use. Between 1994 and 1996, more than 33 million condoms were distributed to 93 public health clinics, 39 community mental health centers, 29 substance abuse treatment centers, and more than 1,000 businesses. An example of findings from the study show that use of condoms increased among African-American women and their partners from 28 percent in 1994 to 36 percent in 1996. Condom use increased among African-American men from 40 percent in 1994 to 54 percent in 1996. 57 Circuit parties and raves are places of heightened sexual activity. Having condoms available at these events would reduce the risk of HIV and STD transmission and would be an excellent method of harm reduction that would be low cost and effective.
Harm reduction strategies that come about from input from members of the community involved can be especially effective. Researchers from the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies at the University of California, San Francisco, developed and started an HIV prevention program in a mid-sized Oregon community, and in a similar community in Santa Barbara, California. 58 Young gay men in Eugene, Oregon, along with an advisory board made up of local community leaders, developed a program they named "The Mpowerment Project." Mpowerment taught safer sex practices through a peer-run community outreach program. The outreach activities included a publicity campaign as well as parties and social events such as bike rides and small group sessions. By using this community-based HIV harm reduction program, unprotected anal intercourse decreased from 41 percent to 30 percent in one year in the Oregon community. A peer-oriented approach to reducing recreational drug use could be developed in college communities, gay communities, circuit parties, and raves, drawing from local community members' knowledge of their peer group's beliefs, norms, and behaviors.
Harm reduction is already being instituted at some circuit parties. In 2001, in Palm Springs, California, Mayor Will Kleindienst cited concerns about drug use because of 13 overdoses at the 2001 "White Party." He had asked the City Council to consider banning the annual "White Party," which derives its name from the approximately ten thousand men who dress in mostly white clothing to attend this event. However, the city decided to allow the White Party to return to its convention center in 2002 because of the huge economic impact of the party. The organizers, to address the mayor's concerns, used harm reduction techniques and emphasized the dangers of drugs, gave out condoms, and had an ambulance waiting at the 2002 party. In 2002, there were only two overdoses at the White Party. 59
Primary prevention methods, which aim to lower the onset of behaviors that are harmful to individuals and their communities, and harm reduction, which attempts to decrease the harm created by dangerous behaviors, both play roles in preventing and decreasing the use of party drugs, in stemming the drugs' association with high-risk sexual behaviors, and in reducing rates of HIV infection at such settings as dance clubs, raves, and circuit parties. More work needs to be done in understanding what strategies are most effective and how to best apply these concepts.
Role of the Physician and Allied Healthcare Professionals
Physicians and other healthcare professionals should become more skilled at identifying alcohol and drug abuse in their practices, become more involved in educating their patients, learn how to treat medical emergencies that are club-drug related, make more use of prevention and harm reduction strategies, and become better informed about available treatment approaches for substance abusers.
1. Identifying Alcohol and Drug Abuse
Initially, one should assess a patient's current and past use of drugs and alcohol. This should cover types of substances used, routes of administration, frequency of use, age of first use, age of first regular intoxication, and the usual amount used, as well as the highest dose used. Drug and alcohol treatment history is also valuable information. Types of programs (inpatient, outpatient, methadone maintenance, Alcoholics Anonymous, residential treatment) as well as dates of treatment should be inquired about. A complete physical examination can provide evidence of alcohol and drug abuse, such as injection marks, nasal septum erosion, skin abscesses, ascites, and physical trauma. 60
Brief assessment tools such as the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) developed by the World Health Organization 61 and the CAGE questionnaire are helpful in identifying alcoholism, the CAGE having a 96 percent specificity for two or more positive answers. 62 CAGE is a mnemonic for the following:
Have you ever felt you ought to Cut down drinking?
Have people Annoyed you for criticizing your drinking?
Have you ever felt Guilty about your drinking?
Have you ever had a drink first thing in the morning (Eye opener)?
Blood work can be helpful in identifying stigmata of alcohol abuse, such as elevated SGOT/SGPT, GGT, bilirubin (total), and uric acid. Alcohol is frequently mixed with club drugs in nightclubs and circuit parties. Drug screens can be performed when suspicions of drug abuse are present.
2. Education to Prevent Possible Problems
Education about the suspected role of chronic substance abuse in accelerating HIV infection and how injection drug use in particular increases overall risk, such as the risk of bacterial infections, including pneumonia and sepsis, should be undertaken. Such education should present risks for both HIV-positive and -negative drug users. 60 , 63
Information about club drugs and their adverse effects, in particular their role in increasing risky sexual behavior and possible medical emergencies, can be provided through handouts and brief office consultations.
3. Treating Medical Emergencies Caused by Drug and Alcohol Abuse
When adolescents and young adults present with alterations of consciousness, the physician needs to consider rave-related problems such as hyperthermia, dehydration, electrolyte imbalance, and drug overdosage. The first assessment should be the ABCs (airway-breathing-circulation) and measurement of the patient's core temperature. The level of consciousness and level of hydration need to be assessed and treated as well. Active cooling may be needed. Oral charcoal and sorbitol may be used if drug ingestion occurred within 30 to 60 minutes. Serum chemistries, liver function tests, complete blood count, creatine kinase, and arterial blood gases should be ordered. A foley catheter to prevent urinary retention should be considered. The physician should treat hypertension, tachycardia, and metabolic acidosis if present. Intensive Care Unit admission with close monitoring of blood chemistries, hepatic transaminase levels and urine output should be considered. The clinician should also be alert to the possibility that the patient was a victim of sexual assault. Finally, the doctor should be able to make referrals to drug treatment once the patient is stabilized and treated. 9 , 11
4. Harm Reduction
The U.S. National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) recommends that healthy men limit their drinking to 14 drinks per week and that women limit it to seven. Men who consume an average of more than two drinks per day have higher incidences of hypertension and cancers, with problems for women beginning above an average of one drink per day. 64 Limiting alcohol use to social drinking levels may be helpful in reducing harm when not mixed with club drugs. Alcohol can interact with other party drugs in harmful and unpredictable ways, and the patient who intends to use club drugs in spite of the risks would be advised not to drink alcohol at all.
Ways in which club drug users can reduce their risk of HIV/AIDS include:
Stopping the use and injection of club drugs.
Using only sterile syringes if the patient continues to inject drugs.
Using only sterile supplies and never sharing if injecting drugs continues. 55
The physician may have HIV/AIDS patients who intend to continue to use club drugs in spite of the risks involved in drug interactions with their HAART regimen. In such cases, the physician can select antivirals that interact minimally with club drugs. For example, ritonavir should be avoided by patients who regularly use MDMA.
In some instances, community interventions that have successfully reduced high-risk sexual behavior from baseline levels utilized popular peers within a community to encourage such behaviors as:
Keeping condoms nearby if sexually active.
Avoiding sex when intoxicated.
Assertively refusing unsafe sex coercions. 56
5. Treatment Strategies
Education, prevention, and harm reduction are more appropriate strategies than a treatment focus for the occasional club drug user. When patients meet criteria for alcohol or drug dependency, consider:
Alcohol- and drug-dependent patients may benefit from a brief hospitalization to detoxify when they meet criteria for substance dependency.
In treating alcohol dependency, naltrexone (ReVia), particularly in combination with coping skills therapy, can be effective in reducing craving. 65 Disulfiram (Antabuse) can also be helpful in motivating the alcoholic not to drink. 60
Treating underlying psychiatric conditions, such as clinical depression and anxiety disorders, with non-addictive medications such as SSRIs, or referring to a psychiatrist when screening has been positive for psychiatric disorders, is advisable. Referrals to a psychologist specializing in dual diagnoses (substance abuse and psychiatric disorders) for outpatient psychotherapy may also be appropriate.
Support groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous have been correlated with successful outcomes in a large-scale study 66 and can be recommended for many.
No single treatment is appropriate for all individuals, and intervention needs to be matched to the individual's problems. 55
One effective treatment is a cognitive-behavioral therapy known as relapse prevention. Relapse prevention focuses on the identification of the individual's high-risk situations for alcohol and drug abuse and on learning coping strategies that can take the place of the substances. 67 , 68
The physician or allied healthcare professional can increase his or her skills to motivate the substance abuser to seek out help by learning motivational interviewing skills. 69 , 70
Additional information can be gathered from www.drugabuse.gov , and www.clubdrugs.org .
Other Web sites of interest for harm reduction messages are: www.raversunity.com and www.dancesafe.org .
By utilizing some of the above approaches, physicians and other healthcare professionals can better assess and counsel the patient who is using or is considering using club drugs as part of their recreational activities.
Conclusions
Much evidence is available to support the association between club drugs and high-risk sexual behaviors. Documentation showing how such behavior leads, in turn, to higher rates of HIV infection is available almost exclusively for the gay and bisexual community. Not much is known about the high-risk sexual behaviors associated with club drug use among the largely heterosexual ravers. Club drugs themselves have other serious medical consequences for their users, gay or heterosexual, and are particularly dangerous for the HIV/AIDS patient on HAART because of possible drug interactions and adherence problems. Prevention and harm reduction approaches can be helpful in protecting persons thinking of or engaging in club drug use. Physicians and other healthcare professionals can play a role in assessing, supporting, and counseling the at-risk patient by providing education and options even when the patient is not inclined to make the same choices that the professional would have made.
Alan Cooper has a private practice of clinical psychology in Arlington, Garland, and Rockwall, Texas, as an associate of The Lakewood Group. Jan Swanson has a private practice of internal medicine in Arlington, Texas. Cooper and Swanson are coauthors of The Complete Relapse Prevention Skills Program published by Hazelden Educational Materials.
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Doherty M.C., Garfein R.S., Monterroso E. et al. Correlates of HIV infections among young short-term injection drug users. AIDS 2000;14:717-726.
Blumenthal R.N., Kral A.H., Gee L., Lorvick J. et al. Trends in HIV seroprevalence and risk among gay and bisexual men who inject drugs in San Francisco, 1998 to 2000. JAIDS 2001;28264-269.
Strathdee S.A. et al. Sex differences in risk factors for HIV seroconversion among injection drug users. Arch Internal Med 2001;161: 1281-1288.
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Klitzman R.L., Greenberg J.D., Pollack L.M., Dolezal C. MDMA ("Ecstasy") use, and its association with high-risk behaviors, mental health, and other factors among gay/bisexual men in New York City. Alcohol and Drug Dependence 2002;66:115-125.
Weir E. Raves: A review of the culture, the drugs and the prevention of harm. Canadian Medical Association Journal 2000;162:1843-1848.
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Halkitis P.N., Parsons J.T., Stirratt M.J. A double epidemic: Crystal methamphetamine drug use in relation to HIV transmission among gay men. J Homosexuality 2001;41:17-35.
Reback C.J. The social construction of a gay drug: Methamphetamine use among gay and bisexual males in Los Angeles. Report funded by the city of Los Angeles (Contract#93427) 1997.
Kim A.A., Kent C.K., Klausner J.D. Increased risk of HIV and sexually transmitted disease transmission among gay or bisexual men who use Viagra, San Francisco 2000-2001. AIDS 2002;16:1425-1428.
Aldridge J., Measham F. Sildenafil (Viagra) is used as a recreational drug in England. British Med J 1999;318:669.
Crosby G.M., Stall R., Paul J.P., Barrett D.C., Midanik L.T. Condom use among gay/bisexual male substance abusers using the timeline follow-back method. Addictive Behaviors 1996;21:249-257.
Dolezal C., Meyer-Bahlburg H.F.L., Remien R.H., Petkova E. Substance use during sex and sensation seeking as predictors of sexual risk behavior among HIV+ and HIV- men. AIDS and Behavior 1997;1:19-28.
Van de Ven P., Campbell D., Kippax, S. et al. Factors associated with unprotected anal intercourse in gay men's casual partnerships in Sydney, Australia. AIDS Care 1997;9:637-649.
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Catania J.A., Coates T.J., Kegeles S., et al. Condom use in multi-ethnic neighborhoods of San Francisco: The population-based AMEN (AIDS in Multi-Ethnic Neighborhoods) study. American J Public Health 1992;82:284-287.
Vittinghoff E., Buchbinder S.P., Judson F., McKiman D., MacQueen K. Per-contact risk of HIV associated with four types of homosexual contact. Paper presented at the Fifth Annual Conference of Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections. Chicago, IL 1998.
Shoptaw S., Reback C.J., Frosch D.L., Rawson R.A. Stimulant abuse treatment and HIV prevention. J Addictive Diseases 1998;17:19-32.
Dolezal C., Carballo-Dieguez A., Nieves-Rosa L., Diaz F. Substance use and sexual risk behavior: Understanding their association among four ethnic groups of Latino men who have sex with men. J Subst Abuse 2000;11:323-336.
Ostrow D.G., Beltran E.D., Joseph J.G., et al. Recreational drugs and sexual behavior in the Chicago MACS/CCS cohort of homosexually active men. J Subst Abuse 1993;5:311-325.
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Colfax G.N., Mansergh G., Guzman R., Vittinghoff E., et al. Drug use and sexual risk behavior among gay and bisexual men who attend circuit parties: A venue-based comparison. JAIDS 2001;28:373-379.
Mattison A.M., Ross M.W., Wolfson T., Franklin D. HNRC group circuit party attendance, club drug use, and unsafe sex in gay men. J Subst Abuse 2001;13:119-126.
Chesney M.A., Barrett D.C., Stall R. Histories of substance abuse and risk behavior: Precursors to HIV seroconversion in homosexual men. American J Public Health 1998;88:113-116.
Pau A.K. Polypharmacy problems: Drug interactions in the multidrug therapy of HIV infection. Source: www.hiv-druginteractions.org . January 2002.
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Harrington R.D., Woodward J., Hooton T.M., Horn J.R. Life-threatening interactions between HIV-1 protease inhibitors and the illicit drugs MDMA and gamma-hydroxybutyrate. Arch Intern Med 1999;159: 2221-2224.
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Kegeles S.M., Hays R.B., Coates T.J. The Mpowerment project: A community-level HIV prevention intervention for young gay men. American J Public Health 1996;86:1129-1136.
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Bradley K.A., Boyd-Wickizer J., Powell S.H., Burman M.L. Alcohol screening questionnaires in women. JAMA 1998;280:166-171.
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Back to the December 2002 issue of IAPAC Monthly.
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Ketamine
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In chemistry a solution is a?
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Accu-Metrics- Hair Drug Testing, Hair Drug Test
Hair Drug Testing
All testing is performed using the two stage GOLD standard LC/MS/MS quantitative test
IMPORTANT: ONLY VIAGUARD PROVIDES OUR PHARMACOLOGISTS DETAILED EXPLANATION OF ANY POSITIVE RESULTS.
COURT LEGAL DRUG TESTS ARE IDENTICAL TO AN INFORMATIONAL DRUG TEST OTHER THEN THE CHAIN OF CUSTODY. COURT LEGAL DRUG TESTS CAN BE DONE AT OUR PREMISES OR REMOTELY. PLEASE CALL FOR DETAILS.
Viaguards Accu-metrics lead scientists are members of the society of hair testing. Our extensive knowledge and adherence to proper protocols and procedures makes our test results reliable and legally defensible. Our laboratory performs proficiency testing in order to ensure the highest standards of testing.
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SAMPLES COLLECTED FROM ANY LOCATION
CERTIFIED RESULTS IN 5 DAYS
COMPLETELY CONFIDENTIAL
CALL -1 877 842 4827- FOR AN ANSWER TO YOUR QUESTION
Court legal and informational drug tests are also done by viaguard on urine, blood, or saliva samples. Call for details.
Date Rape Drug Testing
Viaguard can now detect even a single dose of a suspected date rape drug in a hair sample, several weeks after its administration
Using viaguard gc/ms technology, rohypnol, GHB, ketamine and related drugs can now be detected in a hair sample.
Call to discuss your circumstances
DRUG AND UNKNOWN SUBSTANCE IDENTIFICATION
WE WILL IDENTIFY THE POWDER OR LIQUID UNKNOWN YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT
The test provides a complete 90 day drug history and costs only $195.00. Collection kits are complete, easy to use and include a pre-addressed return envelope for your convenience.
The complete drug test can now be done using nail clippings if hair is not practical.
Gives quantitative results and level of drug use (if any) for:
cocaine products and derivatives
opiates and codeine derivatives (oxycontin etc.)
amphetamine and derivatives, including mephedrone
marijuana/hashish (THC)
phencyclidine
If a test is needed for legal purposes, samples can be taken at our facility, and photo I.D. and fingerprints will be recorded on the certified documentation. If at a distance, our remote chain of custody forms can be used.
DRUGS AND IMPULSIVE BEHAVIOUR
IMPULSIVITY IS A PERSONALITY TRAIT CHARACTERIZED BY BEHAVIOURAL ACTIONS THAT LACK FORETHOUGHT,OR IN WHICH THE CONSEQUENCES HAVE NOT BEEN CONSIDERED. WHILE NORMAL IN SOME CIRCUMSTANCES, EXTREME AND IRRATIONAL IMPULSIVITY IS IS TRIGGERED BY SUBSTANCE ABUSE,AND PROBLAMATIC FOR SOCIETY IN GENERAL.
Download "How Long do Drugs Stay in the Body" Document
HOW DO DRUGS ADDICT?
All drugs have a unique methodology of habituation and addiction and the causative factors involve complex neurological changes. In the case of oppiates , including morphine , and cocaine there are opposite modes of addiction.
A protein called brain-derived neurotropic factor (bdnf) is increased in cocaine addiction ,and inhibited in opiod addiction . Morphine creates rewards by inhibiting BDNF, cocaine acts by enhancing it.
BDNF is critical to several functions in the brain and peripheral nervous system. ,it allows the formation of new nerve cells ,and helps the survival of existing ones.
Cocaine causes an increase in the presence of BDNF in a reward center of the brain called the nucleus accumbens, and activating the reward/ addiction center
Morhine suppresses BDNF in a different reward center known as the ventral tegmental area, causing reward and addiction.
Both addictions are tenacious, but reversible.
THE CRITCAL RELATIONSHIP OF GENDER AND DRUG/AND/OR ALCOHOL LEVELS IN BLOOD
Two people ingest an identical amount of a drug or alcohol. the factors affecting the blood level concentration of the drugs is subject to multiple variables , including gender,height,weight,metabolism, obesity, level of fitness, number of neurons in the affected brain areas etc
The major factor is that the "average" female has a blood volume of about 3.6 litres, the" average" male about 5.2 litres. this means that an average female need only consume about 60% of a substance compared to a male to be similarly affected. this often overlooked phenomena has broad implications.
OXYCONTIN AND OXYNEO SPECIFIC ANALYSIS NOW AVAILABLE
THE RESEARCH DIVISION OF ACCU-METRICS HAS NOW DEVELOPED A PRECISION TECHNIQUE THAT ALLOWS FOR THE NEW OXYNEO AS WELL AS OXYCONTIN TO BE QUANTITATIVELY ANALYZED AS PART OF YOUR REPORT.
ALTHOUGH OXYCONTIN HAS ALWAYS BEEN INCLUDED UNDER THE COMPOSITE OPIATE CATEGORY, INDIVIDUALS AND AGENCIES CAN REQUEST A SEPARATE OXYCONTIN/OXYNEO QUANTITATIVE REPORT.
Various individuals have argued that since the composite opiate category determines the levels of drugs such as codeine, a high reading in that category could be due to sometimes excessive use of over-the-counter codeine products, such as Tylenol with codeine, 222's, various cough preparations, etc. and not Oxycontin
Accu-metrics new advanced specific analysis resolves this issue and is available on request at no additional cost, as part of our complete hair drug test.
MEPHEDRONE (4-METHYLEPHEDRONE)
In today's world of designer drugs, mephedrone is the current fashion statement. It is an increasingly popular street drug linked closely to drugs of the amphetamine and cathinone classes. Its use is becoming extremely wide spread, spurred on by virtue of the fact that it falls into a legislative grey area with doubts of its legality in various jurisdictions. It is a potent drug which users can swallow, snort, or inject and produces similar effects to amphetamine and cocaine. Mephedrone causes euphoria, decreased hostility, mild sexual stimulation, and an appreciation for shared social experiences. The drug has many side effects; one of the most obvious is a tendency toward teeth grinding. The drug can cause hallucinations, vomiting, paranoia, delusion, and circulatory problems. If snorted, it can cause noise bleeds. Viaguard’s drug screen test includes mephedrone in its analysis for amphetamine class drugs as a group. Technology is being developed that will allow for determination of the levels of mephedrone specifically.
If you have any questions regarding the Sample Collection Kit or our sample collection services, call 1-877-842-4827 (toll free) or 1-416-691-4167 (direct),(Mon-Fri / 9 AM - 5 PM EST).
Drug Panel
Viaguard Accu-metrics offers testing for all of the most commonly abused drugs, including extended opiates. We also test for the metabolites associated with these drugs, where applicable.
Drug Type
THCA - Metabolite of THC
Medical & Forensic Laboratory Results
The Accu-Metrics forensic drug test is a quantitative and optionallyanonymous analysis for the presence of illicit drug metabolites in thecore structure of human hair shafts. The drug abuse hair testinganalysis meets US, FDA, and international testing standards. Analysis results will indicate a negative or positive for each drug tested. Results are available within 5 business days upon receipt of a sample.
In-vitro urine, saliva, and blood drug test detection is limited tothe metabolic half life of drugs while in the body's system.Abstinence for several days prior to a drug test using these media canproduce a negative result when in fact the individual has a history ofdrug abuse. Sample hair is obtained by cutting a lock from the backof the head at the root line. Since the average growth rate of hairis one half inch per month, one and a half inches of hair length wouldproduce approximately a 90 day history of drug use. If required, a hair samplecollection kit can include documentation for a legal chain of custody procedure. Applicants may also have samples taken on site at our facility.
Please contact Accu-Metrics for any additional information.
Test Results
Test results indicate a negative or positive result for each drug or metabolite tested with readings expressed in picograms per milligram of hair. A negative test is defined as one below the permissible limits established by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
HAIR DOSE RESPONSE*
Why are minimal drug levels considered a negative result?
We are often asked why test results are considered negative below a certain level.
The reason the world health organization and all national regulators have these levels is because these drugs exist in an infinite variety of products in minute quantities and are normally present in our bodies in these trace amounts
Foods, prescription and non-prescription drugs, illness, cosmetics, herbal products and even personal hygiene products are possible reasons for trace amounts and even false positives.
For example ibuprofen (Advil) can influence THC levels, inhalers and nasal sprays affect amphetamine results, and dextromethorphan, found in over the counter cough syrups may affect opiate levels.
Many of us are familiar with the fact that poppy seeds used in baking etc are a low level source of opiates, and the list goes on.
Viaguard relies on a process based on DNAffirm technology that identifies many of these false positives, so you can have complete confidence in our results.
Drug Use and the Facilitation of Severe Infections
It is well established that such practices as unsterile injections, contaminated needles, syringes, and the use of cutting agents facilitate avenues by which pathogenic organisms enter the body. Diseases such as Tetanus, Group A Strep, and even Anthrax have been associated with these practices.
But the further concern is that drug abuse not only enhances exposure to pathogenic organisms but increases the risk of infection by enhancing the growth of organisms as drug use suppresses an individual’s immune response. Drugs such as marijuana and opiates have exhibited the suppression of the body’s response mechanism.
Drug use accounts for a percentage of HIV infections that may rise to 40%.
It is important that persons using the drugs covered by Viaguard Hair Drug Test are aware of the potential microbial complications and take adequate precautions.
Principles of Hair Drug Testing
The metabolites of chronic drug use, Illicit and repetitive is incorporated into hair for a period of about 90 days.
Drug avoidance for brief periods DOES NOT affect the results. The tests are not impacted by bleaching, hair colour, or shampoo.
The presence of drugs in hair is based on a simple principle. Drugs which are ingested circulate in the bloodstream which nourishes developing hair follicles. As a result, trace amounts of the target drug or drug metabolite are deposited in the hair follicle and become entrapped in the core of the hair shaft as it grows out from the hair follicle. Normal growth rates for human hair are approximately one-half inch per month. By testing for the presence of drugs in the hair shaft core on a given length of hair, a historical record of past drug usage can be constructed. Since target drug or drug metabolite residues are chemically and structurally stable for an extended period of time within the hair shaft core, they cannot be externally washed, bleached, chemically treated or flushed out of the hair structure. Consequently there is little possibility of sample contamination or manipulation. For this reason many courts and legal entities have chosen a forensic hair drug test as the preferred method of drug testing. Liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) forensic laboratory analysis of the hair shaft from an individual can achieve highly accurate drug test results and provide a historical use record. Generally it takes approximately 5 days for drugs to show up in a person's hair and they will continue to be detectable in the hair for several months.
Have more questions or concerns? Please visit our contact page .
To schedule an appointment or to arrange to send samples for testing please click here .
Hair Drug Testing-Alcohol Testing and the Physiological Role of Hair
Hair is a remarkable medium for recording drug and alcohol abuse but the functional characteristics of hair and its role as a sample source are very complex. Hair is an annex of skin. It originates from hair follicles in which the germination center is formed by active matrix cells. These cells give rise to the different layers of the hair shaft-cuticle, cortex, and medulla. The hair follicle cells are in constant active proliferation but in the shaft there is virtually no metabolic activity.The hair follicle, located about 4mm below the surface of the skin is supplied by a capillary blood system, and surrounded by three types of glands which literally bathe each follicle and appear on the skin surface as sweat.Hair grows in three distinct cycles, an active phase (anagen), transitional phase (catgen), and resting phase (telogen). Scalp hair grows an average of about 10mm (slightly less then a half inch) per month, but there are significant differences in the growth rate of hair from various anatomical parts of the body and growth rate might be effected genetics, age, sex, health, etc….Drugs and various metabolites including those of alcohol, enter the hair shaft by passive diffusion from the capillaries surrounding the follicle as well as diffusion from the sweat glands and deep skin compartments. The quantitative rates of incorporation of these substances has been extensively documented allowing for the physiochemical properties of the substances and the polarity of drugs and metabolites. Hair can be collected from anywhere on the body but the preferred location is the posterior vertex of the scalp. Ideally about 200 mg of hair is used either in total as a composite test or segmented into a sequence of lengths for yielding a chronological level of use based on 30 day increments. The original hair sample is always washed with a variety of solvents to remove possible external contaminates then dried and powdered. The powdered sample is weighed and subjected to extraction and analysis. Hair samples are increasingly used for the detection of chronic drug and alcohol abuse because the results are specific and precisely stated in picograms or nanograms per milligrams of sample. Urine and saliva testing remain useful tools for immediate evaluation, but generally are accurate for a period not exceeding 72 hours of ingestion.
DrugTesting-90 Day Record of Use
New Fingernail Clippings Option!
Viaguard / Accu-metrics has developed an advanced technology that allows drug testing using nail clippings.
The test results using nail clippings are identical to hair sample based tests and provide a 90 day precise, quantitative, record of the levels of the substances tested. There may be circumstances where securing an appropriate hair sample is not possible. This happens if the scalp hair is not of sufficient length and underarm or genital hair is not feasible.
Like hair, fingernails (and toenails) are essentially keratin. Keratin is formed from genetically programmed epithelial skin cells during a process of keratinization. Hair and nails are examples of keratinized cells. Drugs and drug metabolites make their way to the blood stream.
As the nail grows, the metabolites of various substances diffuse into epithelial cells and the epithelial cells evolve into keratin embedding the drugs and their metabolites. Toenail clippings which grow at less then half the rate of fingernails will give the same precise usage level of drugs but over a much longer period of time, often up to 8 months.
In the past the difficulty with using fingernails as a source for drug and metabolite testing has been the complexity of the extraction process needed to isolate and analyze these compounds from their keratin coating. Keratin is an extremely hard material in nails because of the formation of cysteine disulfide bridges which form very strong internal bonds. The Viaguard extraction process is based on the exclusive Accu-Keritinase Enzymitic Hydrolysis System which ensures complete extraction and precision results.
The sample collection kit has complete instructions.
The test result and reports are identical to the hair results described on this site, as is the cost is $175.00.
Order the nail clippings sample collection kit.
Call Viaguard at 416-691-4167 or toll free at 1-877-842-4827.
Collecting Nail Clippings
Use a nail clipper, cuticle or other scissors and ensure the scissors are clean by wiping off with soap and water, rinsing and drying with a tissue.
Use Finger or Toenails
Clip the equivalent of 1/8 to ¼ of an inch from each of 6-8 fingernails or toenails. Since composite volume of nail clippings is important it is better to submit the maximum amount if possible.
Insert the clippings in the collection envelope, seal, return to us in the mailing envelope along with the filled out form.
AN OVERVIEW OF THE PROCESS OF HAIR DRUG TESTS
Hair drugs of abuse testing offers a long term window for detection of drug use1 prior to the test date and a convenient collection process that can be performed almost anywhere.
Specimen Collection
The collector obtains a 100 milligram sample of hair (90 to 120 strands) cut at the scalp and completes chain-of-custody documentation., the process minimizes the likelihood of sample adulteration or specimen substitution Viaguard offers hair specimen collections across Canada and the USA.
Testing Process
Viaguard performs an initial screening test by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) with confirmation of presumptive positive screens by gas chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (GC/MS/MS) or liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS). Results for specimens that screen negative for all drugs are generally available within 48-72 hours after specimens are received at the laboratory. Results for confirmation testing of presumptive positive screens are usually available within an additional 72 hours.
HAIR DRUGS OF ABUSE TESTING FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q: What is hair drug testing?
Drug and drug metabolite(s) are incorporated into the hair matrix from the bloodstream following drug use. Hair drug testing detects drugs that are embedded in the hair.1
Q: How much hair is needed for a hair drug test?
A hair drug test with initial screen and confirmation requires 100 milligrams of hair (90 to 120 strands).
Q: What time period does a hair drug test cover?
Hair growth rates vary; typically, head hair grows at an average of one-half inch per month. Therefore, a 1.5 inch hair sample detects drug use up to 90 days prior to testing.1
Q: How does the drug detection window for hair compare to urine and oral fluid?
Drug detection times vary depending on the dose, sensitivity of the testing method used, preparation and route of administration, duration of use (acute or chronic), the matrix that is analyzed, the molecule or metabolite that is looked for, the pH and concentration of the matrix (urine, oral fluid), and variations in metabolic and renal clearance.2 In general, the detection time is longest in hair, followed by urine and oral fluid.2 Drugs in hair may be detectable for approximately 90 days, whereas drugs in urine are generally detectable for one to seven days or longer in chronic users and in oral fluid from five to 48 hours.2
Q: How soon after use can a drug be detected in hair?
Drug (and/or metabolite) can be detected approximately seven to 10 days from the time of drug use. This is the time in which the affected hair grows from the follicle to emerge above the scalp.1
Q: How can tests be run on people with little or no hair?
Hair may be collected from several head locations and combined to obtain the required amount of hair. If no head hair is collectable body hair or finger and toe nails can be used
Q: Can hair collected from a brush be used?
Yes, but there will not be a legal chain of custody
Q: When testing for drugs, what are the differences between hair testing cut-off levels and urine testing cut-off levels?
Urine cut-off levels are expressed in nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL) or as a weight of drug per unit volume of urine. Hair cut-off levels are expressed in picograms per milligram (pg/mg) or as a weight of drug per unit weight of hair.
Q: How does the laboratory address external exposure to certain drugs like marijuana or crack (cocaine) smoke?
While washing the hair sample may remove some of the contamination, ultimately external exposure can be differentiated from actual use because of the presence of the drug metabolite, which is not present when environmental contamination is the source of the drug.
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i don't know
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What vast (originally Spanish state monopoly) corporation owns the O2 and Movistar communications brands?
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Telefonica : definition of Telefonica and synonyms of Telefonica (English)
Telefónica, S.A. (
Spanish pronunciation:
[teleˈfonika] ) is a Spanish broadband and telecommunications provider in Europe , the United States and Latin America . Operating globally, it is the sixth largest mobile network provider in the world. The company is the former public monopoly of telecommunications in Spain . Its head office is in the Distrito Telefónica in Madrid . [2]
Telefónica is a supporter of the Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV (HbbTV) initiative (a consortium of broadcasting and Internet industry companies including SES , OpenTV and Institut für Rundfunktechnik ) that is promoting and establishing an open European standard for hybrid set-top boxes for the reception of broadcast TV and broadband multimedia applications with a single user interface, and has run pilot HbbTV services in Spain. [3]
Contents
The logo of O2 , which Telefónica operates in most of Europe as.
Czech Republic
Main article: Telefónica Czech Republic
In 2005, Telefónica bought Český Telecom (Czech Telecom), the former state-owned Czech phone operator which still dominates the Czech fixed-line market. As part of this deal Telefónica also gained its 100% subsidiary Eurotel , one of three mobile phone operators in the Czech Republic. Starting July 1, 2006, both companies were merged into one legal entity and renamed Telefónica Czech Republic .
Germany and Isle of Man
Main articles: Telefónica Germany and Manx Telecom
On 26 January 2006 Telefónica completed its £17.7 billion (€ 25.7 billion) acquisition of the UK-based operator O2 which provided mobile phone services in the UK , Ireland , Germany and Isle of Man (Uniquely to the O2 group Manx Telecom also offered fixed-line services). Manx Telecom was sold by Telefónica O2 in June 2010.
Telefónica is also the parent of O2 in the UK and Germany , two alternative IP carriers which provide of the merger of two ISPs, Telefónica subsidiaries, ' mediaWays ' and ' HighwayOne ' merged in January 2003, purchased by Telefónica in 2001 and February 2002 respectively.
Since its acquisition of O2, Telefónica have merged their German operations (Telefónica Deutschland and O2 Germany) into a single business.
Ireland
Main article: Telefónica Ireland
On 31 October 2005 (2005-10-31), it was announced that Telefónica had began proceedings to take over O2 Ireland's parent company, O2 plc . The takeover was approved by shareholders. In Ireland, Telefónica is the 2nd largest mobile phone operator, operating a GSM and high-speed HSPA+ wireless broadband network to residential and business customers through its "O2" brand. Telefónica Ireland also provide fixed broadband to business customers.
Italy
You can help by adding to it .
Slovakia
Main article: Telefónica Slovakia
In summer of 2006, Telefónica won the tender to be the 3rd mobile phone operator in Slovakia , under the brand O2. It began providing services on the 2 February 2007 under the name Telefónica O2 Slovakia, s.r.o. .In the beginning, it only provided a prepaid service but in the 2nd quarter of 2007, it started selling contract phones.
Spain
New Telefónica's headquarters on Las Tablas in Madrid .
Aerian view of Telefónica's headquarters on Las Tablas in Madrid .
Telefónica is the second largest corporation in Spain, behind Grupo Santander . [6] It owns Telefónica de España which is the largest fixed phone and ADSL operator in Spain, Telefónica Móviles, the largest mobile phone operator in Spain (under the Movistar brand), and Terra Networks, S.A. , an Internet subsidiary.
United Kingdom
Main article: Telefónica UK
On 31 October 2005 (2005-10-31), O2 agreed to be taken over by Telefónica, with a cash offer of £17.7 billion, or £2 per share. [7] According to the merger announcement, O2 retained its name and continued to be based in the United Kingdom, keeping both the brand and the management team. The merger became unconditional on 23 January 2006 (2006-01-23). O2 is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Telefónica.
Americas
Telefónica operates the Movistar mobile phone brand throughout Latin America. In Mexico it occupies a distant second place and it is the largest in Chile , Venezuela , Brazil and Peru . See movistar article for a complete country list.
Argentina
Telefónica owns Telefónica de Argentina which is the largest fixed-line operator in the country. It provides broadband, local and long distance telephone services in southern part of the country as well as the Greater Buenos Aires area. The Telefónica Group has been in the country since 1990. The mobile business is run by Telefónica Móviles through Movistar , a local subsidiary.
Brazil
Telefónica's largest fixed-line operation in Latin America is in Brazil where it provides broadband, local and long distance telephone services in the aforementioned state, which alone represents the highest GDP of South America. It also owns a majority stake in the Brazilian mobile operator Vivo , having agreed on July 28, 2010 to buy Portugal Telecom 's stake in the firm for €7.5 billion, after increasing its original offer by €1.8bn over three months of incident-rich negotiations. [8] The Telefónica group has been in the country since 1996 when it acquired CRT, a fixed-line and mobile operator in the southern part of the country. The landline division is currently part of Brasil Telecom . Telefónica is the parent of Telefônica ǀ Vivo
In 2009, after four big "blackouts" on Telefónica's broadband "Speedy", ANATEL ordered Telefónica to stop sales of its broadband service until improvements were made on the infrastructure to provide better quality service. [9] After the release of sales of broadband internet in August 2009, ANATEL expects the company's service investments to keep on par with the sales. On 24 July 2010 Telefónica announced that the number of Speedy subscribers had passed the 3 million mark.
Chile
Telefónica owns Telefónica Chile, formerly CTC (Compañía de Teléfonos de Chile) which is the biggest fixed-line operator and internet service provider in the country. The Telefónica Group has been in the country since 1989. The mobile business is run by Telefónica Móviles through a local subsidiary. On October 25 of 2009, Telefónica Chile changed its name to Movistar, including cellphone, landline, satellite TV and internet [10]
Colombia
On April 18, 2006, Telefónica's president Cesar Alierta signed an agreement with the Colombian government to buy 50% and one share of the state-owned communications company, Colombia Telecomunicaciones (TELECOM). With this sale, Telefónica became the largest Colombian land-line operator, and also gained an important presence in the local, long-distance and broadband market. The mobile business is run by Telefónica Móviles through the brand movistar . It is unknown what will happen with their previous established subsidiary Telefónica Empresas, being most probable a merger with TELECOM. Now the company is known as Telefónica - Telecom.
Costa Rica
Telefonica signed a contract for 15 years (extendable for 10 additional years) on 12 May 2011 with the government of Costa Rica. It is expected to start operations on 2011 under its Movistar branding.
Dominican Republic
In 2000, Telefónica acquired a 26.5% stake in TRICOM when it purchased part of the shares Motorola had obtained in 1993. [11]
Ecuador
After acquiring 100% of OTECEL S.A. (Bellsouth), Telefónica Móviles Ecuador started its operations on October 14, 2004 as Movistar. It offers mobile solutions for the Ecuadorian market and is one of only three mobile operators in Ecuador. Telefónica in Ecuador has started offering 3G service from the second half of 2009.
Guatemala
After acquiring 100% of Paysandú S.A., Telefónica Guatemala Centro América started its operations in 1998 as Telefónica Movistar and just Telefónica for landlines. In 2004, acquired 100% of BellSouth Guatemala, relaunching mobile operations as movistar in 2005, with mobile services based on CDMA technology, in 2004 as Telefónica Movistar launch national service with GSM/GPRS technology, and CDMA 1x EV-DO for data. It offers mobile solutions for the Guatemalan market and is one of only three mobile operators in Guatemala, international operator as Millicom ( TIGO ) and América Móvil ( Claro ). Telefónica Móviles Guatemala (renamed in 2005) offers services on UMTS / HSPA since June 2009, and it was the last operator to launch commercial services on this technology, with coverage in all mayor cities.
Panama
Telefonica started its operations in Panama in 2004 as Telefonica acquired 100% of Bellsouth Panama. Since then it has operated using the name Movistar for mobile services. It migrated from CDMA technology used by Bellsouth to GSM 850. It also offers 3G using UMTS 850 and UMTS 1900. The company also offers land lines.
Peru
The Telefónica Group has been in the country since 1994 and owns the largest fixed-line operator in the country. The local subsidiary offers local, long distance and broadband services nationwide. The mobile business is run by Telefónica Móviles through a local subsidiary. The mobile telephone business goes by the name Movistar and competes with major provider Claro. Their main offices are located in Santa Beatriz on Av. Arequipa 1155.
Starting January 2011, Telefónica operates in the market under the Movistar brand.
Puerto Rico
Telefónica in Puerto Rico has presence through Telefónica Empresas, Telefónica Larga Distancia - TLD, Telefónica International Wholesale Services - TIWS (formerly Emergia) and Atento. Telefónica Moviles, through its Movistar brand, had presence in Puerto Rico until mid 2007 that they sold the Puerto Rico network to a private equity group who renamed it Open Mobile .
Venezuela
Telefónica offers EvDO-based Internet access at low rates[ citation needed ] from 2004 and owns movistar, the first and larger mobile operator of Venezuela, being in second place movilnet of CANTV (Government). Telefónica offers in Venezuela EvDO/1x and GSM GPRS networks and in December 2008 launched its UMTS network.[ citation needed ]
United States
Based in Miami, Florida , Telefónica USA, Inc. provides services to US based multinational companies that have operations in Latin America and Europe. Telefónica USA also operates the Key Center, a category 5 data center in Miami, from where the company supports Business Continuity and IT services for Enterprise customers in South Florida.
Canada
You can help by adding to it .
Asia
China
In 2009, China Unicom agreed a $1Bn cross-holding with Telefonica. [12] In January 2011, the two partners agreed a further $500M tie-up in each other, which following completion in late 2011, Telefonica will hold a 9.7% stake in China Unicom, while China Unicom will own 1.4% of the Spanish firm. [13]
Telefónica Multinational Solutions
The firm provides fixed and mobile telecommunications and IT services to large multinational corporations through its Telefónica Multinational Solutions unit.
Customers: Telefónica lists, among other, the following as existing customers: DPDHL, Inditex, Scottish Power, BBVA, BMW, Endesa and FCC.
Full Network Operations: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Germany, Guatemala, Ireland, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, Slovakia, Spain, United Kingdom, Uruguay and Venezuela
Commercial and Operational offices with Network Infrastructure: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland and USA
Network Points of Presence: Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Slovenia
Strategic and Industry alliances: China, Italy and Portugal
Financial data
Quarterly Report Jan - Dec 2008 - page 9
Ownership
Telefonica is a 100% listed company with more than 1.5 million direct shareholders. Its share capital currently comprises 4.563.996.485 ordinary shares traded on the Spanish Stock Market (Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao and Valencia) and on those in London, New York, Lima, and Buenos Aires. Major stockholders include:
Caixa d'Estalvis i Pensions de Barcelona (" La Caixa "): 5.442%
Criteria Caixacorp 5.019%
In addition to this, the company held 75% of Dutch TV firm Endemol in shares, although these have been sold in May 2007 to Edam Acquisition, jointly and equally owned by Cyrte Fund II B.V.; Mediacinco Cartera S.L., which is a newly incorporated entity owned by Mediaset S.p.A. and its quoted subsidiary Gestevision Telecinco S.A. ; and GS Capital Partners .
Sponsorship
Telefónica was a major sponsor of the Renault F1 Team until Fernando Alonso 's departure to Vodafone McLaren Mercedes F1 Team and Formula 1 Gran Premio De España Telefónica. Through its acquisition of O2 , Telefónica also indirectly sponsored the BMW Sauber . F1 Racing estimates these sponsorships amount to $18 million, $15 million and $23 million respectively. In Ireland, O2 are the main sponsors of the Irish Rugby Union Team.
They also sponsored the Ford Focus WRC during the 2000 season. The sponsorship said Telefónica Movistar on it and the stickers were on the front bumper, the rear 3-quarters and the rear spoiler.
Teléfonica also sponsors the Spanish football teams Real Zaragoza and Valencia CF .
Teléfonica was also a major sponsor of one of Suzuki's racing teams in MotoGP in the early 2000s. They have, however, ceased sponsoring a motorcycle racing team in MotoGP.
From 2011, they are to sponsor the cycling team previously known as Caisse d'Epargne , under the name Team Movistar.
Monopoly
Telefónica's former headquarters on Gran Vía in Madrid .
Telefónica has received several fines due to convictions over unfair competition , abuse of its position as dominant provider, and antitrust violations through the Commission of Telecommunications , European Commission, and Spanish tribunals. These fines include: 900,000 euro fine, Spanish tribunals, [14] 18 million euro fine, Spanish Telecommunication Market commission, 57 million in 2004 for unfair competition, [15] and 151.9 million euro by European Commission for abusing of its dominant position. [16] [17] Now Telefónica has in court two more fines, with a value of 793 million euros. [18] On 5 July 2007, the European Commission ordered Telefónica to pay a record antitrust fine of almost €152 million for activities in the Spanish broadband market which, according to European Union competition commissioner Neelie Kroes , "harmed Spanish consumers , Spanish businesses and the Spanish economy as a whole, and by extension Europe's economy".
Several consumer groups in Spain have reported unnecessary delays in cancelling Telefónica's ADSL service. These consumer groups also claim that services continue to be billed after being cancelled and that service cancellation requests are ignored. [19] This has led Spanish people to organize themselves in consumer groups such as the "Asociación de Internautas" and user communities like "Bandaancha" in order to defend themselves from Telefónica's abuses, and to give support and help to each other in their various complaints about Telefónica's unfair practices.
The practices are claimed to include the complex process involved in cancelling lines. [20] These line cancellation procedures are justified by Telefónica as a way of "defending customers against hoaxes". Furthermore, in areas where ADSL lines are scarce, there are also reports of customers who claim to have had their service cancelled or inexplicably transferred to another customer although they have paid their bills. [21] This practice is considered by some to be used by Telefónica in certain areas of Spain where there are few broadband connections.
Positions on Network neutrality
Main article: Network neutrality
In February 2010, Telefónica CEO Cesar Alierta expressed in a meeting at Bilbao , Spain that his company intends to charge Google and other search engines for the use of their network. Alierta complained that such search engines were benefiting from the platform without contributing to the company's expenses and that such a trend will change in the near future. Additionally he said that Telefónica will seek to push its own content. [22]
References
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Telefónica
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What common boy's name (English language Christian or first name) is derived from the Latin and Greek words for rock?
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Claro nearing 700MHz LTE launch - BNamericas
Claro nearing 700MHz LTE launch
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Claro nearing 700MHz LTE launch
By Phil Anderson - Wednesday, August 3, 2016 Wednesday, August 3, 2016
Chilean mobile operator Claro will soon catch up with rivals Movistar and Entel in terms of offering broader LTE coverage. Readers of ...
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This news article is one of hundreds published daily by Business News Americas about the commodities, markets, movements, companies, projects, economics and politics integral to the development of Latin America. Including news and insight from South America, Central America and the Caribbean, BNamericas includes insight and forecasts for business opportunities in Mexico. The business development service focuses on major projects, active companies, such as and business and sales contacts, providing networking opportunities with leading executives throughout Latin America.
Otecel S.A.
Otecel S.A. (Movistar Ecuador) is a telecommunications company, the Spanish Telefónica group's subsidiary for Ecuador. The company provides fixed and mobile telephony, mobile Internet accesses, and other value-added services. It began operating in 2004, after Telefónica acquired BellSouth's mobile assets. The company is present in 24 Ecuadorian provinces.
Movistar Ecu...
Mitsui & Co. (Brasil) S.A.
Mitsui & Co. (Brasil) is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate, whose activities include the sale, distribution, purchase, marketing and supply of various products including iron and steel, non-ferrous metals, machinery, electronics, chemicals, energy-related commodities and products, food products, textiles, general merchandise and real estate. The company is also engaged ...
Brightstar Corporation
Founded in 1997, Brightstar is a solution provider and value-added distribution and manufacturing services company. The company provides customers in the wireless industry with inventory management, logistics, fulfillment, internet-based solutions, customized packaging and after-sales support. Its headquarters is located in Miami, FL, with operations in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Chile,...
AT&T Inc.
AT&T Inc. is a US holding company operating in the communications and digital entertainment services industry. The company's subsidiaries provide voice, video and broadband services to more than 355 million people and businesses in the US and Mexico, as well as pay TV in 11 Latin American countries. The company provides high-speed fiber connections to more than 1 million US businesses,...
Telefônica Brasil S.A.
Telefônica Brasil S.A. known as Telefônica Vivo since 2012, is a publicly traded Brazilian telecommunications company providing services for fixed and mobile telephony, data transmission, VAS and pay TV.
The company has 97 million acceses: almost 15 million in fixed telephony, 73 million in mobile telephony, almost 2 million in pay television, with the remainer belongi...
Empresas Municipales de Cali (EMCALI E.I.C.E. E.S.P.)
Empresas Municipales de Cali (Emcali) is a state-owned company that provides water, telecommunications, and electricity services in Cali, Colombia. The company has close to 600,000 customers in its telecommunications division, providing local and long distance telephony, carriers, internet/data and equipment services. In the electric power distribution and generation markets it serves approxima...
Grupo Clarín S.A.
Argentine holding company Grupo Clarin SA is engaged in the media sector through a number of subsidiaries. Its activities are structured in four business segments namely Cable TV & Internet Access, which operates a cable TV network across Argentina and also provides broadband Internet services; Printing & Publishing, which focuses on the production and distribution of newspapers, a...
Une EPM Telecomunicaciones S.A. E.S.P.
Colombian telecoms operator UNE EPM operates in several segments including fixed telephony, pay TV and fixed broadband in Colombia. The company also offers mobile telephony services in association with mobile operator Tigo. UNE EPM is based in Medellin, Colombia. In 2014, Millicom merged the operations of Tigo and UNE ; the integrated company offers a comprehensive range of bundled digita...
Fidelity National Information Services
The American company Fidelity National Information Services (FIS) provides global solutions of financial technology which are divided in four areas: Banking & Wealth, including investment and commercial banking, consumer banking, risk and compliance, wealth and retirement, and services; Payments, including cards, corporate payments, digital payments, enterprise payments, imaging, merch...
Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. is a South Korean multinational conglomerate providing semiconductor, telecom and digital convergence technology, and employing more than 200,000 workers in around of 60 countries. The company is also a producer of memory chips, TFT-LCDs, CDMA mobile phones, monitors and VCRs. The group consists of four main business units: digital media network, device solution net...
Claro nearing 700MHz LTE launch
Chile greenlights use of 700MHz band
May 17, 2016
Claro nearing 700MHz LTE launch
ByPhil Anderson - Wednesday, August 3, 2016
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Methodology & Procedures
Definitions
Projects covered include state-owned and private projects in the Infrastructure, Electric Power, Oil & Gas (excluding upstream), Water and Waste, and Mining sectors.
Where applicable, a project is considered as such until the end of construction and ramp-up to full capacity (with the exception of mining projects, where the date of commissioning signifies the end of the project). Projects must have a:
a) Start date
c) Initial investment estimate
Data
For state-owned projects, initial information about the start date and estimates for completion and investment are taken from original signed contracts, along with addendums and annexes.
If original contracts cannot be obtained, information is taken from public documents, presentations, news articles from BNamericas archives, and external sources.
In cases where contracts are subject to approval by legislators, the start date is the date of the law or legislative approval.
In the case of private projects, information is taken from public sources, such as stock exchange filings, annual reports, company presentations, third party research and press releases.
In judging the timing of investment decisions for private projects, great care was taken to differentiate between large projects receiving environmental approval and proceeding directly to construction, and smaller projects where the investment decision hinges on securing financing.
Best care is taken to ensure that recorded data is correct at the time of entry and that each entry is backed with a relevant source.
The greatest care possible was taken to ensure consistency of information in order make a like-for-like comparison in project costs. Insofar as the figures rely on disclosure by the organization or company responsible, the figures can be considered to be conservative in nature.
No attempt was made to adjust figures for inflation during the course of research or for consideration of the time value of money.
Validation
In the case of state-owned projects, validation is carried out where possible with either a member of the consortium, EPC contractor, a relevant state agency or advisors to either party.
Currency
Projects costs are measured in US dollars. Where project costs are measured in a local currency, amounts are converted to US dollars at the date of the relevant announcement, signature or report.
Severity of deviation from original estimates
The severity of deviation from original estimates is defined according to set criteria.
Timing
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i don't know
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Name the great old rival company of the Harley-Davidson motorbike corporation, whose models included the Chief and Scout?
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Indian Motorcycle History
Custom Search
Indian Motorcycle History
The "Indian Motocycle Co." was founded as the Hendee Manufacturing Company by George M. Hendee and Carl Oscar Hedström. Both Hendee and Hedström were former bicycle racers who teamed up to produce a motorcycle with a 1.75 bhp, single cylinder engine in Hendee's home town of Springfield. The bike was successful and sales increased dramatically during the next decade.
1901, Prototype and two production units successfully designed, built and tested. Work began on these in previous years. 1902, First Indian motorcycles, featuring innovative belt-drives and streamlined styling, sold to public. 1903 Indian co-founder and chief engineer Oscar Hedstrom sets world motorcycle speed record (56mph).
In 1904, the so-called diamond framed Indian Single, whose engine was built by the Aurora Firm in Illinois, was made available in the deep red color that would become Indian's trademark. By now, the production was up to over 500 bikes annually and would rise to its best ever 32,000 in 1913.
In 1907, Indian built its first V-twin, and in following years made a strong showing in racing and record-breaking. One of the firm's most famous riders was Erwin "Cannonball" Baker, who set many long-distance records. In 1914, he rode an Indian across America, from San Diego to New York, in a record 11 days, 12 hours and ten minutes. Baker's mount in subsequent years was the Powerplus, a side-valve V-Twin, which was introduced in 1916. Its 61ci (1000 cc), 42 degree V-twin engine was more powerful and quieter than previous designs, giving a top speed of 60 mph (96 km/h). The Powerplus was highly successful, both as a roadster and as the basis for racing bikes. It remained in production with few changes until 1924.
Competition success played a big part in Indian's rapid growth and spurred technical innovation, as well. One of the American firm's best early results came in the Isle of Man TT in 1911, when Indian riders Godfrey, Franklin and Moorehouse finished first, second and third. Indian star Jake De Rosier set several speed records both in America and at Brooklands in England, and won an estimated 900 races on dirt and board track racing. He left Indian for Excelsior and died in 1913, aged 33, of injuries sustained in a board track race crash with Charles "Fearless" Balke, who later became Indian's top rider. Work at the Indian factory was stopped while De Rosier's funeral procession passed.
Oscar Hedstrom left Indian in 1913 after disagreements with the Board of Directors regarding dubious practices to inflate the company's stock values. George Hendee resigned in 1916.
Inter-war era - Scouts, Chiefs, and Fours
The Scout and Chief V-twins, introduced in the early 1920s, became the Springfield firm's most successful models. Designed by Charles B. Franklin, the middleweight Scout and larger Chief shared a 42 degree V twin engine layout. Both models gained a reputation for strength and reliability, which led to the old Indian saying: "You can't wear out an Indian Scout, or its brother the Indian Chief. They are built like rocks to take hard knocks; it's the Harleys that cause grief."
In 1930 Indian merged with duPont Motors. duPont Motors founder E. Paul DuPont ceased production of duPont automobiles and concentrated the company's resources on Indian.duPont's paint industry connections resulted in no fewer than 24 color options being offered in 1934. Models of that era featured Indian's famous head-dress logo on the gas tank. Indian's huge Springfield factory was known as the Wigwam, and native American imagery was much used in advertising.
In 1940, Indian sold nearly as many motorcycles as its major rival, Harley-Davidson. At the time, Indian represented the only true American-made heavyweight cruiser alternative to Harley-Davidson.
During this time, the company also manufactured other products such as aircraft engines, bicycles, boat motors and air conditioners.
Indian Chief
The first 1922 model Chief had a 1000 cc (61ci) engine based on that of the Powerplus; a year later the engine was enlarged to 1200 cc (73ci). Numerous improvements were made over the years, including adoption of a front brake in 1928.
In 1940, all models were fitted with the large skirted fenders that became an Indian trademark, and the Chief gained a new sprung frame that was superior to rival Harley's unsprung rear end. The 1940s Chiefs were handsome and comfortable machines, capable of 85 mph(136 km/h) in standard form and over 100 mph (160 km/h) when tuned, although their increased weight hampered acceleration.
In 1950, the V-Twin engine was enlarged to 1300 cc (80ci) and telescopic forks were adopted. But Indian's financial problems meant that few bikes were built, and production of the Chief ended in 1953.
Indian Scout
The Indian Scout rivaled the Chief as Indian's most important model. The Scout was introduced in 1920 with a 596 cc (37ci) engine. The engine size was increased to 745 cc (45ci) in 1927 in response to the popularity of the Excelsior Super X. The most famous version was the 101 Scout of 1928, which featured improved handling from a new, lower frame.
In 1932, cost cutting led to the Scout's using the heavier Chief frame, which was less successful.The negative reaction to this Scout led to the creation of the Sport Scout of 1934, with a light frame, Girder forks, improved carburation and alloy cylinder heads.The Sport Scout won the first Daytona 200 in 1937.
Many Scouts were used in the Second World War, but the model was dropped when the civilian production restarted in 1946. In 1948, Indian built just 50 units of the Daytona Sports Scout, one of which took Floyd Emde to victory in that year's Daytona 200 mile (322 km) race.
Smaller 500 cc (30.5ci) Scouts were also built between 1932 and 1941, known as the Scout Pony, Junior Scout and Thirty-Fifty.
Indian Four
Indian purchased the ownership of the name, rights, and production facilities of the Ace Motor Corporation in 1927. Production was moved to Springfield and the motorcycle was marketed as the Indian Ace for one year.
In 1928, the Indian Ace was replaced by the Indian 401, a development of the Ace designed by Arthur O. Lemon, former Chief Engineer at Ace, who was employed by Indian when they bought Ace. The Ace's leading-link forks and central coil spring were replaced by Indian's trailing-link forks and quarter-elliptic leaf spring.
By 1929, the Indian 402 would have a stronger twin-downtube frame based on that of the 101 Scout and a sturdier five-bearing crankshaft than the Ace, which had a three-bearing crankshaft.
Despite the low demand for luxury motorcycles during the Depression, Indian not only continued production of the Four, but continued to develop the motorcycle. One of the less popular versions of the Four was the "upside down" engine on the 1936-37 models. While earlier (and later) Fours had IOE (inlet over exhaust) cylinder heads with overhead inlet valves and side exhaust valves, the 1936-37 Indian Four had a unique EOI cylinder head, with the positions reversed. In theory, this would improve fuel vaporization. In practice, it made the cylinder head, and the rider's inseam, very hot. Dual carburetors, fitted in 1937, did not help. The design was returned to the original configuration in 1938.
Like the Chief, the Four was given large, skirted fenders and plunger rear suspension in 1940. In 1941, the 18" wheels of previous models were replaced with 16" wheels with balloon tires.
The Indian Four was discontinued in 1943.
World War II
Chiefs, Scouts, and Junior Scouts were all used for various purposes by the United States Army in World War II. However, none of these could unseat the Harley-Davidson WLA as the motorcycle mainly used by the Army.
Indian 841
During World War II, the US Army requested experimental motorcycle designs suitable for desert fighting. In response to this request, Indian designed and built the 841.
The Indian 841 was heavily inspired by the BMW R71 motorcycle used by the German Army at the time, as was its competitor, the Harley-Davidson XA. However, unlike the XA, the 841 was not a copy of the R71. Although its tubular frame, plunger rear suspension, and shaft drive were similar to the BMW's, the 841 was different from the BMW in several aspects, most noticeably so with its 90-degree longitudinal-crankshaft V-twin engine and girder fork.
The Indian 841 and the Harley-Davidson XA were both tested by the Army, but neither motorcycle was adopted for wider military use. It was determined that the Jeep was more suitable for the roles and missions for which these motorcycles had been intended.
Post-war - decline and demise
In 1945, a group headed by Ralph B. Rogers purchased a controlling interest of the company. On November 1, 1945, duPont formally turned the operations of Indian over to Rogers.
Under Rogers' control, Indian discontinued the Scout and began to manufacture lightweight motorcycles such as the 149 Arrow, the Super Scout 249, both introduced in 1949, and the 250 Warrior, introduced in 1950.These bikes suffered from poor quality and a lack of development.
Production of traditional Indians was extremely limited in 1949, and no 1949 Chiefs are known to exist.
Manufacture of all products was halted in 1953. Brockhouse Engineering and Royal Enfield bikes were imported from England and badged and sold as Indians through the rest of the 1950s. After this the Indian name passed to the company that imported Matchless motorcycles into the US, however it did not attach the name to any motorcycles, and it went into liquidation in 1962.
From the 1960s entrepreneur Floyd Clymer began using the Indian name, apparently without purchasing it from the last known legitimate trademark holder. He attached it to imported motorcycles, commissioned to Italian ex-pilot and engineer Leopoldo Tartarini, owner of Italjet Moto , to manufacture Minarelli-engined 50cc minibikes under the Indian Papoose name. These were so successful that Clymer also commissioned Tartarini to build full-size Indian motorcycles based on the Italjet Grifon design, but fitted firstly with Royal Enfield Interceptor 750cc parallel-twin engines, then with Velocette 500cc single-cylinder engines.
After Clymer's death in 1970 his widow sold the alleged Indian trademark to Los Angeles attorney Alan Newman, who continued to import minicycles made by ItalJet, and later manufactured in a wholly owned assembly plant located in Taipei (Taiwan). Several models with engine displacement between 50cc and 175cc were produced, mostly fitted with Italian two-stroke engines made either by Italjet or Franco Morini, but the fortunes of this venture didn't last long. By 1975 sales were dwindling, and in January 1977 the company was declared bankrupt. The right to the brand name passed through a succession of owners and became a subject of competing claims in the 1980s, finally decided in December 1998 by a Federal bankruptcy court in Denver, Colorado.
Gilroy Indian Motorcycle (1999-2003)
A new company with facilities in Gilroy, California began manufacturing motorcycles badged under the famous "Indian" name in 1999 after purchase of the Indian trademark. These motorcycles are often referred to as "Gilroy Indian" motorcycles. The model was based around a newer version of the Chief. Scout and Spirit models were also manufactured starting in 2001. These bikes were made from off-the-shelf S&S engines, after the completion of an all-new engine design that ran from 2002 to 2003, the 100ci Powerplus, the company succumbed to bankruptcy again in late 2003, after a major investor backed out.
New Indian Motorcycle Company
On July 20, 2006, the newly formed Indian Motorcycle Company, owned largely by Stellican Limited, a London-based private equity firm, announced its new home in Kings Mountain, North Carolina, where it plans to resurrect the iconic Indian Motorcycle Brand (refer to the "July 20, 2006 - Press Release - Indian Motorcycle Company Announces New Home"on the official website). New Indian has goals of producing a new Chief using a modern fuel-injected 100ci V-Twin engine which they are building in-house. The new Chief will have the classic valanced fenders. However, New Indian plans to offer several variations of the Chief including a more modern style without the valanced fenders. New Indian also plans on offering an accessory line for both the New Indian and the Gilroy Indian motorcycles built from 1999 to 2003.
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Buses FORD USA + all over the world part I | Myn Transport Blog
Buses FORD USA + all over the world part I
Buses FORD USA & all over the world part I
Ford Motor Company I
1914 Ford Model T, Four cylinders, 2900cc, 20 Horsepower
“Ford” redirects here. For other uses, see Ford .
Ford Mot
June 16, 1903 (110 years ago)
Founder(s)
Ford.com
1914 Ford T R Spanje ©David Tejedor
Ford Motor Company (also known as simply Ford) is an American multinational automaker headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan , a suburb of Detroit . It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobiles and commercial vehicles under the Ford brand and luxury cars under the Lincoln brand. In the past it has also produced heavy trucks, tractors and automotive components. Ford owns small stakes in Mazda of Japan and Aston Martin of the United Kingdom. It is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and is controlled by the Ford family , although they have minority ownership.
1916 Ford Model T oldtimer bus L
Ford introduced methods for large-scale manufacturing of cars and large-scale management of an industrial workforce using elaborately engineered manufacturing sequences typified by moving assembly lines ; by 1914 these methods were known around the world as Fordism . Ford’s former UK subsidiaries Jaguar and Land Rover , acquired in 1989 and 2000 respectively, were sold to Tata Motors in March 2008. Ford owned the Swedish automaker Volvo from 1999 to 2010. In 2011, Ford discontinued the Mercury brand, under which it had marketed entry-level luxury cars in the United States since 1938.
1916 ford T Depot Hack
Ford is the second-largest U.S.-based automaker and the fifth-largest in the world based on 2010 vehicle sales. At the end of 2010, Ford was the fifth largest automaker in Europe. Ford is the eighth-ranked overall American-based company in the 2010 Fortune 500 list, based on global revenues in 2009 of $118.3 billion. In 2008, Ford produced 5.532 million automobiles and employed about 213,000 employees at around 90 plants and facilities worldwide.
1917 Ford Autobus Model TT
1918 T Ford Bus
1920 Ford bus – DD 475
1921 Harmonicabus op basis van Ford T © Conam
Henry Ford’s first attempt at a car company under his own name was the Henry Ford Company on November 3, 1901, which became the Cadillac Motor Company on August 22, 1902, after Ford left with the rights to his name. The Ford Motor Company was launched in a converted factory in 1903 with $28,000 in cash from twelve investors, most notably John and Horace Dodge (who would later found their own car company). During its early years, the company produced just a few cars a day at its factory on Mack Avenue in Detroit , Michigan . Groups of two or three men worked on each car, assembling it from parts made mostly by supplier companies contracting for Ford. Within a decade the company would lead the world in the expansion and refinement of the assembly line concept; and Ford soon brought much of the part production in-house in a vertical integration that seemed a better path for the era.
1922 Ford
Henry Ford was 39 years old when he founded the Ford Motor Company, which would go on to become one of the world’s largest and most profitable companies, as well as being one to survive the Great Depression . As one of the largest family-controlled companies in the world, the Ford Motor Company has been in continuous family control for over 100 years.
1922 FORD T-OMNIBUS
After the first modern automobile was already created in the year 1886 by German inventor Carl Benz ( Benz Patent-Motorwagen ), more efficient production methods were needed to make the automobile affordable for the middle-class; which Ford contributed to, for instance by introducing the first moving assembly line in 1913.
In 1908 Ford introduced the first engine with a removable cylinder head, in the Model T . In 1930, Ford introduced the Model A , the first car with safety glass in the windshield. Ford launched the first low priced V8 engine powered car in 1932.
1922 Henry Ford I ©HenryFord.ORG TheOldMotor
Ford offered the Lifeguard safety package from 1956, which included such innovations as a standard deep-dish steering wheel, optional front, and, for the first time in a car, rear seatbelts, and an optional padded dash. Ford introduced child-proof door locks into its products in 1957, and in the same year offered the first retractable hardtop on a mass-produced six-seater car. The Ford Mustang was introduced in 1964. In 1965 Ford introduced the seat belt reminder light.
With the 1980s, Ford introduced several highly successful vehicles around the world. During the 1980s, Ford began using the advertising slogan, “Have you driven a Ford, lately?” to introduce new customers to their brand and make their vehicles appear more modern. In 1990 and 1994 respectively, Ford also acquired Jaguar Cars and Aston Martin . During the mid- to late 1990s, Ford continued to sell large numbers of vehicles, in a booming American economy with a soaring stock market and low fuel prices.
1922 Henry Fordson II ©HenryFord.ORG TheOldMotor
With the dawn of the new century, legacy healthcare costs, higher fuel prices, and a faltering economy led to falling market shares, declining sales, and diminished profit margins. Most of the corporate profits came from financing consumer automobile loans through Ford Motor Credit Company .
21st century
William Clay Ford, Jr. , great-grandson of Henry Ford, serves as the executive chairman at the board of Ford Motor Company.
By 2005, both Ford and GM ‘s corporate bonds had been downgraded to junk status, as a result of high U.S. health care costs for an aging workforce , soaring gasoline prices, eroding market share, and an over dependence on declining SUV sales. Profit margins decreased on large vehicles due to increased “incentives” (in the form of rebates or low interest financing) to offset declining demand. In the latter half of 2005, Chairman Bill Ford asked newly appointed Ford Americas Division President Mark Fields to develop a plan to return the company to profitability. Fields previewed the Plan, named The Way Forward , at the December 7, 2005 board meeting of the company and it was unveiled to the public on January 23, 2006. “The Way Forward” included resizing the company to match market realities, dropping some unprofitable and inefficient models, consolidating production lines, closing 14 factories and cutting 30,000 jobs.
1923 Ford A R Spanje ©Lluis Cuesta
Ford moved to introduce a range of new vehicles, including “ Crossover SUVs ” built on unibody car platforms, rather than more body-on-frame chassis. In developing the hybrid electric powertrain technologies for the Ford Escape Hybrid SUV, Ford licensed similar Toyota hybrid technologies to avoid patent infringements. Ford announced that it will team up with electricity supply company Southern California Edison (SCE) to examine the future of plug-in hybrids in terms of how home and vehicle energy systems will work with the electrical grid. Under the multi-million-dollar, multi-year project, Ford will convert a demonstration fleet of Ford Escape Hybrids into plug-in hybrids, and SCE will evaluate how the vehicles might interact with the home and the utility’s electrical grid. Some of the vehicles will be evaluated “in typical customer settings”, according to Ford.
1923 Ford Amaac Uruquay
William Clay Ford Jr. , great-grandson of Henry Ford (and better known by his nickname “Bill”), was appointed Executive Chairman in 1998, and also became Chief Executive Officer of the company in 2001, with the departure of Jacques Nasser , becoming the first member of the Ford family to head the company since the retirement of his uncle, Henry Ford II , in 1982. Upon the retirement of President and Chief Operation Officer Jim Padilla in April 2006, Bill Ford assumed his roles as well. Five months later, in September, Ford named Alan Mulally as President and CEO, with Ford continuing as Executive Chairman. In December 2006, the company raised its borrowing capacity to about $25 billion, placing substantially all corporate assets as collateral. Chairman Bill Ford has stated that “bankruptcy is not an option”. Ford and the United Auto Workers , representing approximately 46,000 hourly workers in North America, agreed to a historic contract settlement in November 2007 giving the company a substantial break in terms of its ongoing retiree health care costs and other economic issues. The agreement included the establishment of a company-funded, independently run Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association (VEBA) trust to shift the burden of retiree health care from the company’s books, thereby improving its balance sheet. This arrangement took effect on January 1, 2010. As a sign of its currently strong cash position, Ford contributed its entire current liability (estimated at approximately US$5.5 billion as of December 31, 2009) to the VEBA in cash, and also pre-paid US$500 million of its future liabilities to the fund. The agreement also gives hourly workers the job security they were seeking by having the company commit to substantial investments in most of its factories.
1923 Ford T 12-13 zitpl B-6185 NL
The automaker reported the largest annual loss in company history in 2006 of $12.7 billion, and estimated that it would not return to profitability until 2009. However, Ford surprised Wall Street in the second quarter of 2007 by posting a $750 million profit. Despite the gains, the company finished the year with a $2.7 billion loss, largely attributed to finance restructuring at Volvo .
1923 Ford T B-6185 Ameland NL
On June 2, 2008, Ford sold its Jaguar and Land Rover operations to Tata Motors for $2.3 billion.
During November 2008, Ford, together with Chrysler and General Motors, sought government bridge loans at Congressional hearings in Washington, D.C. in the face of conditions caused by the 2008 financial crisis . The three companies presented action plans for the sustainability of the industry. Ford opted not to seek government loans. GM and Chrysler received government loans and financing through T.A.R.P. legislation funding provisions. On December 19, the cost of credit default swaps to insure the debt of Ford was 68 percent the sum insured for five years in addition to annual payments of 5 percent. That meant $6.8 million paid upfront to insure $10 million in debt, in addition to payments of $500,000 per year. In January 2009, Ford reported a $14.6 billion loss in the preceding year, a record for the company. The company retained sufficient liquidity to fund its operations. Through April 2009, Ford’s strategy of debt for equity exchanges erased $9.9 billion in liabilities (28% of its total) in order to leverage its cash position. These actions yielded Ford a $2.7 billion profit in fiscal year 2009, the company’s first full-year profit in four years.
1923 Ford T Ford 20pk carr Verheul GTM1 NL
In 2012, Ford’s corporate bonds were upgraded from junk to investment grade again, citing sustainable, lasting improvements.
On October 29, 2012, Ford announced the sale of its climate control components business, its last remaining automotive components operation, to Detroit Thermal Systems LLC for an undisclosed price.
1923 Ford T NL
On November 1, 2012, Ford announced that CEO Alan Mulally will stay with the company until 2014. Ford also named Mark Fields , the president of operations in Americas, as its new chief operating officer
Corporate affairs
Ford World Headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan, USA, known as the Glass House.
Executive management
Members of the Ford board as of 2012 are: Richard A. Gephardt , Stephen Butler, Ellen Marram, Kimberly Casiano , Alan Mulally (President and CEO), Edsel Ford II , Homer Neal, William Clay Ford Jr. (Executive Chairman), Jorma Ollila , Irvine Hockaday Jr., John L. Thornton , and William Clay Ford, Sr. (Director Emeritus).
1923 FORDSON BUS
The main corporate officers are: Lewis Booth (Executive Vice President, Chairman ( PAG ) and Ford of Europe), Mark Fields (Executive Vice President, President of The Americas ), Donat Leclair (Executive Vice President and CFO), Mark A. Schulz (Executive Vice President, President of International Operations), and Michael E. Bannister (Group Vice President; Chairman & CEO Ford Motor Credit). Paul Mascarenas (Vice President of Engineering, The Americas Product Development)
1923 Ford-T WSM
Financial results
In 2010, Ford earned a net profit of $6.6 billion and reduced its debt from $33.6 billion to $14.5 billion lowering interest payments by $1 billion following its 2009 net profit of $2.7 billion. In the U.S., the F-Series was the best-selling vehicle for 2010. Ford sold 528,349 F-Series trucks during the year, a 27.7% increase over 2009, out of a total sales of 1.9 million vehicles, or every one out of four vehicles Ford sold. Trucks sales accounts for a big slice of Ford’s profits, according to USA Today. Ford’s realignment also included the sale of its wholly owned subsidiary, Hertz Rent-a-Car to a private equity group for $15 billion in cash and debt acquisition. The sale was completed on December 22, 2005. A 50–50 joint venture with Mahindra & Mahindra of India, called Mahindra Ford India, Limited (MIFL), ended with Ford buying out Mahindra’s remaining stake in the company in 2005. Ford had previously upped its stake to 72% in 1998.
1924 tet ford-bussen
1925 Ford T Carr. v d Bos & Br NL
Operations
Ford has manufacturing operations worldwide, including in the United States, Canada, Mexico, China, the United Kingdom, Germany, Turkey, Brazil, Argentina, Australia and South Africa. Ford also has a cooperative agreement with Russian automaker GAZ .
1925 Ford T carr. Hainje Heerenveen B-5225 NL
North America
Ford dealer in Garden City, New York , ca. 1930-1945
In the first five months of 2010, auto sales in the U.S. rose to 4.6 million cars and light trucks, an increase of 17% from a year earlier. The rise was mainly caused by the return of commercial customers that had all but stopped buying in 2009 during the recession. Sales to individual customers at dealerships have increased 13%, while fleet sales have jumped 32%. Ford reported that 37% of its sales in May came from fleet sales when it announced its sales for the month increased 23%. In the first seven months of 2010, vehicle sales of Ford increased 24%, including retail and fleet sales. Fleet sales of Ford for the same period rose 35% to 386,000 units while retail sales increase 19%. Fleet sales account for 39 percent of Chrysler’s sales and 31 percent for GM’s.
1927-ford-blue-bird-school-bus
Ford’s Dunton Technical Centre in Laindon , United Kingdom , the largest automotive research and development facility in the country
The Ford Research Center in Aachen , Germany
At first, Ford in Germany and Ford in Britain built different models from one another until the late 1960s, with the Ford Escort and then the Ford Capri being common to both companies. Later on, the Ford Taunus and Ford Cortina became identical, produced in left hand drive and right hand drive respectively. Rationalisation of model ranges meant that production of many models in the UK switched to elsewhere in Europe, including Belgium and Spain as well as Germany. The Ford Sierra replaced the Taunus and Cortina in 1982, drawing criticism for its radical aerodynamic styling, which was soon given nicknames such as “Jellymould” and “The Salesman’s Spaceship.”
1928-Poelgeest-bussen ©Amstelveenweb.com
1928 Ford V8 Hainje Heerenveen B-9274 NL
Increasingly, the Ford Motor Company has looked to Ford of Europe for its “world cars”, such as the Mondeo, Focus, and Fiesta , although sales of European-sourced Fords in the U.S. have been disappointing. The Focus has been one exception to this, which has become America’s best selling compact car since its launch in 2000
In February 2002, Ford ended car production in the UK. It was the first time in 90 years that Ford cars had not been made in Britain, although production of the Transit van continues at the company’s Southampton facility, engines at Bridgend and Dagenham , and transmissions at Halewood . Development of European Ford is broadly split between Dunton in Essex (powertrain, Fiesta/Ka, and commercial vehicles) and Cologne (body, chassis, electrical, Focus, Mondeo) in Germany. Ford also produced the Thames range of commercial vehicles, although the use of this brand name was discontinued circa 1965. Elsewhere in continental Europe, Ford assembles the Mondeo range in Genk (Belgium), Fiesta in Valencia (Spain) and Cologne (Germany), Ka in Valencia, and Focus in Valencia, Saarlouis (Germany) and Vsevolozhsk (Russia). Transit production is in Kocaeli (Turkey), Southampton (UK), and Transit Connect in Kocaeli .
1928 Ford NL
Ford also owns a joint-venture production plant in Turkey. Ford-Otosan , established in the 1970s, manufactures the Transit Connect compact panel van as well as the “Jumbo” and long-wheelbase versions of the full-size Transit. This new production facility was set up near Kocaeli in 2002, and its opening marked the end of Transit assembly in Genk.
1929 Ford
Another joint venture plant near Setúbal in Portugal, set up in collaboration with Volkswagen , formerly assembled the Galaxy people-carrier as well as its sister ships, the VW Sharan and SEAT Alhambra . With the introduction of the third generation of the Galaxy, Ford has moved the production of the people-carrier to the Genk plant, with Volkswagen taking over sole ownership of the Setúbal facility.
1931 Ford V8 Cupido uitvoering 5 B-27189 NL
In 2008, Ford acquired a majority stake in Automobile Craiova , Romania. Starting 2009, the Ford Transit Connect was Ford’s first model produced in Craiova , followed, in 2012, by low-capacity car engines and a new small class car, the B-Max .
Ford Europe has broken new ground with a number of relatively futuristic car launches over the last 50 years.
1931 Ford AA Bus
Its 1959 Anglia two-door saloon was one of the most quirky-looking small family cars in Europe at the time of its launch, but buyers soon became accustomed to its looks and it was hugely popular with British buyers in particular. It was still selling well when replaced by the more practical Escort in 1967.
The third incarnation of the Ford Escort was launched in 1980 and marked the company’s move from rear-wheel drive saloons to front-wheel drive hatchbacks in the small family car sector.
1931 Ford-Hainje Cupido 8 NL
The fourth generation Escort was produced from 1990 until 2000, although its successor – the Focus – had been on sale since 1998. On its launch, the Focus was arguably the most dramatic-looking and fine-handling small family cars on sale, and sold in huge volumes right up to the launch of the next generation Focus at the end of 2004.
1932 Ford – Den Oudsten, Woerden – Domburg A’dam NL
The 1982 Ford Sierra – replacement for the long-running and massively popular Cortina and Taunus models – was a style-setter at the time of its launch. Its ultramodern aerodynamic design was a world away from a boxy, sharp-edged Cortina, and it was massively popular just about everywhere it was sold. A series of updates kept it looking relatively fresh until it was replaced by the front-wheel drive Mondeo at the start of 1993.
1932 Ford A Visser B-13634a NL
The rise in popularity of small cars during the 1970s saw Ford enter the mini-car market in 1976 with its Fiesta hatchback. Most of its production was concentrated at Valencia in Spain, and the Fiesta sold in huge figures from the very start. An update in 1983 and the launch of an all-new model in 1989 strengthened its position in the small car market.
On October 24, 2012, Ford announced that it would be closing its Genk assembly plant in eastern Belgium by the end of 2014.
1932 Ford A Visser B-13634b NL
Asia Pacific
1932 Ford A Visser B-13634 NL
Ford formed its first passenger-vehicle joint venture in China in 2001, six years behind GM and more than a decade after VW. It has spent as of 2013 $4.9 billion to expand its lineup and double production capacity in China to 600,000 vehicles This includes Ford’s largest-ever factory complex in the southwestern city of Chongqing. Ford had 2.5 percent of the Chinese market in 2013, while VW controlled 14.5 percent and GM had 15.6 percent, according to consultant LMC Automotive. GM outsells Ford in China by more than six-to-one.
The Ford stamping plant in Geelong, Australia
The Ford India plant in Chennai , Tamil Nadu
In Australia and New Zealand, the popular Ford Falcon has long been considered the average family car and is considerably larger than the Mondeo, Ford’s largest car sold in Europe. Between 1960 and 1972, the Falcon was based on a U.S. model of the same name, but since then has been entirely designed and manufactured in Australia, occasionlly being manufactured in New Zealand. Like its General Motors rival, the Holden Commodore , the Falcon uses a rear wheel drive layout. High performance variants of the Falcon running locally built engines produce up to 362 hp (270 kW). A ute (short for “utility”, known in the US as pickup truck ) version is also available with the same range of drivetrains. In addition, Ford Australia sells highly tuned limited-production Falcon sedans and utes through its performance car division, Ford Performance Vehicles .
1932-35 Ford. Bouwjaren NL
In Australia, the Commodore and Falcon have traditionally outsold all other cars and comprise over 20% of the new car market. In New Zealand, Ford was second in market share in the first eight months of 2006 with 14.4 per cent. More recently Ford has axed its Falcon-based LWB variant of its lineup – the Fairlane and LTD ranges, and announced that their Geelong engine manufacturing plant may be shut down from 2013. They have also announced local manufacturing of the Focus small car starting from 2011.
1932-ford-model-b-school-bus ©Old Bus
However, with the acquisition of a stake in Japanese manufacturer Mazda in 1979, Ford began selling Mazda’s Familia and Capella (also known as the 323 and 626 ) as the Ford Laser and Telstar , replacing the European-sourced Escort and Cortina.
In Australia, the Laser was one of Ford Australia ‘s most successful models, and was manufactured in Ford’s Homebush plant from 1981 until the plant’s closure in September 1994. It outsold the Mazda 323, despite being almost identical to it, due to the fact the Laser was manufactured in Australia and Ford was perceived as a local brand.
1933 Ford carr. Postma Rottevalle
In New Zealand, the Ford Laser and Telstar were assembled alongside the Mazda 323 and 626 until 1997, at the Vehicle Assemblers of New Zealand (VANZ) plant in Wiri , Auckland . The Sierra wagon was also assembled in New Zealand, owing to the popularity of station wagons in that market.
Through its relationship with Mazda, Ford also acquired a stake in South Korean manufacturer Kia , which built the (Mazda-based) Ford Festiva from 1988–1993, and the Ford Aspire from 1994–1997 for export to the United States, but later sold their interest to Hyundai (which also manufactured the Ford Cortina until the 1980s). Kia continued to market the Aspire as the Kia Avella, later replaced by the Rio and once again sold in the US.
1933 Ford V8 Carr. Brouwers Holwerd NL
Ford’s presence in Asia has traditionally been much smaller, confined to Malaysia , Singapore, Hong Kong, the Philippines , and Taiwan , where Ford has had a joint venture with Lio Ho since the 1970s. Ford began assembly of cars in Thailand in 1960, but withdrew from the country in 1976, and did not return until 1995, when it formed a joint venture with Mazda called Auto Alliance. Now in Bo-win Sub District, Sriracha District of the Chonburi it is located The Ford Motor Company (Thailand) Limited, making passenger automobiles.
Ford India began production in 1998 at Chennai , Tamil Nadu , with its Ford Escort model, which was later replaced by locally produced Ford Ikon in 2001. It has since added Fusion, Fiesta, Mondeo and Endeavour to its product line.
1934 Ford Carr. Postma Rottervalle NL
On March 9, 2010, Ford Motor Co. launched its first made-for-India compact car. Starting at 349,900 ($7,690), the Figo is Ford’s first car designed and priced for the mass Indian market. On July 28, 2011, Ford India signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the State of Gujarat for the construction of an assembly and engine plant in Sanand , and planned to invest approximately US$1 billion on a 460-acre site.
1934 Ford Lawrie CL-BB Winnipeg ©Foote
The scheduled closure of Ford’s Australian manufacturing base in 2016 was confirmed in late May 2013. Headquartered in the Victorian suburb of Broadmeadows, the company had registered losses worth AU$600 million over the five years prior to the announcement. It was noted that the corporate fleet and government sales that account for two-thirds of large, local car sales in Australia are insufficient to keep Ford’s products profitable and viable in Australia. The decision will affect 1200 Ford workers—over 600 employees in Geelong and more than 500 in Broadmeadows—who will lose their jobs by October 2016.
1934 Ford V8 – Kusters & Lemmens BBA 63 Autobus SVA 63 erfg NL
Ford of Japan
Ford established a manufacturing facility in the port city of Yokohama in February 1925, where Model T vehicles were assembled using imported knock-down kits . The factory subsequently produced 10,000 Model A’s up to 1936. Production ceased in 1940 as a result of political tensions between Japan and the United States.
1934 Ford V8 Kusters & Lemmens- BBA 63 NL
After World War II, Ford did not have a presence in Japan, as the Ford facility was appropriated by the Japanese Government until 1958, when property was returned as a possession of the Ford Motor Company and became a research and development location for Ford partner Mazda. In 1979, Ford acquired a 24.5% ownership stake in Mazda, and in 1982 Ford and Mazda jointly established a sales channel to sell Ford products in Japan, including vehicles manufactured in North America, at a dealership called Autorama (Japanese). The Autorama sales channel was renamed Ford Sales of Japan in 1997.
1934 Ford, type V8-40 Kusters en lemmens UB-93-63 NL
Vehicles sold at Autorama locations were the North American assembled Ford Explorer, Probe (1989–1998), Mustang, Taurus (1989–1997), Thunderbird (1990–1993), Lincoln Continental, and Lincoln LS. Ford products manufactured in Europe that were sold in Japan were the Ford Mondeo , Ka , Focus , Focus C-MAX , Fiesta , and the Galaxy . Mazda manufactured Ford vehicles in Japan and sold them as Fords at the Autorama locations. They were the Ford Telstar (Mazda Capella), Laser , Festiva , Festiva Mini Wagon , Ixion (Mazda Premacy), Freda (Mazda Bondo Friendee), Spectron (Mazda Bongo), and commercial trucks J80 and the J100 (Mazda Bongo truck).
1934 Ford, type V8-40 Kusters en lemmens NL
Ford increased its shareholding in Mazda to 33.4% in 1996. Ford currently sells a small range of vehicles in Japan; as of October 2010, the Ford Mustang, Escape, Explorer (and Explorer truck), Ford Kuga , Lincoln Navigator and Lincoln MKX were available in Japan. Ford maintains a regional office in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.
South America
1934 Ford © Hank Suderman
During much of the 20th century, Ford faced protectionist government measures in South America, with the result that it built different models in different countries, without particular regard to rationalization or economy of scale inherent to producing and sharing similar vehicles between the nations. In many cases, new vehicles in a country were based on those of the other manufacturers it had entered into production agreements with, or whose factories it had acquired. For example, the Corcel and Del Rey in Brazil were originally based on Renault vehicles.
1935 Ford B-38868 NL
In 1987, Ford of Brasil and Ford of Argentina merged their operations with the Brazilian and Argentinan operations of Volkswagen Group , forming a new joint-venture company called Autolatina with a shared model range. Sales figures and profitability were disappointing, and Autolatina was dissolved in 1995. With the advent of Mercosur , the regional common market, Ford was finally able to rationalize its product line-ups in those countries. Consequently, the Ford Fiesta and Ford EcoSport are only built in Brazil, and the Ford Focus only built in Argentina , with each plant exporting in large volumes to the neighboring countries. Models like the Ford Mondeo from Europe could now be imported completely built up. Ford of Brazil produces a pick-up truck version of the Fiesta, the Courier , which is also produced in South Africa as the Ford Bantam in right hand drive versions.
1935 Ford V8 Den Oudsten en Domburg B-21037 NL
Africa and Middle East
In Africa, Ford’s market presence has traditionally been strongest in South Africa and neighbouring countries, with only trucks being sold elsewhere on the continent. Ford in South Africa began by importing kits from Canada to be assembled at its Port Elizabeth facility. Later Ford sourced its models from the UK and Australia, with local versions of the Ford Cortina including the XR6, with a 3.0 V6 engine, and a Cortina-based ‘bakkie’ or pick-up , which was exported to the UK. In the mid-1980s Ford merged with a rival company, owned by Anglo American , to form the South African Motor Corporation ( Samcor ).
1935 Ford V8 Hainje B-20623 Rally Monte Carlo NL
Following international condemnation of apartheid , Ford divested from South Africa in 1988, and sold its stake in Samcor, although it licensed the use of its brand name to the company. Samcor began to assemble Mazdas as well, which affected its product line-up, and saw the European Fords like the Escort and Sierra replaced by the Mazda -based Laser and Telstar . Ford bought a 45 per cent stake in Samcor following the demise of apartheid in 1994, and this later became, once again, a wholly owned subsidiary, the Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa. Ford now sells a local sedan version of the Fiesta (also built in India and Mexico), and the Focus. The Falcon model from Australia was also sold in South Africa, but was dropped in 2003, while the Mondeo, after briefly being assembled locally, was dropped in 2005.
1935 Ford V-8 Intercity Bus
Ford’s market presence in the Middle East has traditionally been even smaller, partly due to previous Arab boycotts of companies dealing with Israel. Ford and Lincoln vehicles are currently marketed in ten countries in the region. Saudi Arabia , Kuwait, and the UAE are the biggest markets. Ford also established itself in Egypt in 1926, but faced an uphill battle during the 1950s due to the hostile nationalist business environment. Ford’s distributor in Saudi Arabia announced in February 2003 that it had sold 100,000 Ford and Lincoln vehicles since commencing sales in November 1986. Half of the Ford/Lincoln vehicles sold in that country were Ford Crown Victorias . In 2004, Ford sold 30,000 units in the region, falling far short of General Motors ‘ 88,852 units and Nissan Motors ‘ 75,000 units.
Products and services
The 2013 model year Lincoln MKS
As of 2012 Ford Motor Company sells a broad range of automobiles under the Ford marque worldwide, and an additional range of luxury automobiles under the Lincoln marque in the United States. The company has sold vehicles under a number of other marques during its history. The Mercury brand was introduced by Ford in 1939, continuing in production until 2011 when poor sales led to its discontinuation. In 1958, Ford introduced the Edsel brand, but poor sales led to its discontinuation in 1960. In 1985, the Merkur brand was introduced in the United States to market products produced by Ford of Europe; it was discontinued in 1989.
1935 ford-busse-oldtimer
Ford acquired the British sports car maker Aston Martin in 1989, later selling it on March 12, 2007, although retaining a 15% stake, and bought Volvo Cars of Sweden in 1999, selling it to Zhejiang Geely Holding Group in 2010. In November 2008, it reduced its 33.4% controlling interest in Mazda of Japan to a 13.4% non-controlling interest. On November 18, 2010, Ford reduced their stake further to just 3%, citing the reduction of ownership would allow greater flexibility to pursue growth in emerging markets. Ford and Mazda remain strategic partners through exchanges of technological information and joint ventures, including an American joint venture plant in Flat Rock, Michigan called Auto Alliance . Ford sold the United Kingdom-based Jaguar and Land Rover companies and brands to Tata Motors of India in March 2008.
1935 LINDBERGH op Ford R-Series NL ^ Fotograaf
In 2011, J.D. Power ranked Ford 23rd in initial quality, a drop from fifth in 2010. Consumer Reports magazine likewise decided not to recommend several new Ford SUVs, blaming the Sync entertainment and phone system used.
Marque
An advert for the 1939 Ford V-8 pick-up truck
An advert for the 1961 Ford H-Series truck
Ford has produced trucks since 1908. Countries where Ford commercial vehicles are or were made include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada (badged Mercury too), France, Germany, India, Netherlands, Philippines, Spain (badged Ebro too), Turkey, UK (badged also Fordson and Thames ) and USA.
1936 Ford V8 Hainje NL
From the 1940s to late 1970s Ford’s Ford F-Series were used as the base for light trucks for the North American market.
Most of these ventures are now extinct. The European one that lasted longest was the lorries arm of Ford of Britain , which was eventually sold to Iveco group in 1986, and whose last significant models were the Transcontinental and the Cargo .
In the United States, Ford’s heavy trucks division ( Classes 7 and 8 ) was sold in 1997 to Freightliner Trucks , which rebranded the lineup as Sterling . Freightliner is in the process of discontinuing this line.
1936 Ford V8 New Zealand
Line of heavy trucks made by Ford for the North American market:
Ford F-650 – joint venture model from 2000 to present
Ford L7000 – last model year 1996
1936 Ford V-8 Transit Bus
Ford continues to manufacture medium duty trucks under the F-650 and F-750 badges. In 2001, the company entered into a joint venture with Navistar International to produce medium duty commercial trucks. The first new model from the new corporation, known as Blue Diamond Truck Company LLC, was the 2006 model year LCF, the first Ford branded cab-over-engine design in the United States since Freightliner’s acquisition of the Cargo in the mid-1990s. The LCF was discontinued in 2009 and Ford’s 2011 medium-duty commercial offerings are limited to the two F-Series.
In 1999 the end of the F800 meant Ford was not producing in any F-series heavy truck chassis.
In Europe, Ford manufactures the Ford Transit jumbo van which is classed as a Large Goods Vehicle and has a payload of up to 2,265 kg, there are options of a panel van, pickup or chassis cab. The Ford Transit is also available as a light van called the Ford Transit Connect and the Ford Ranger pickup is available.
Buses
A Ford B700 bus chassis, with a body by Thomas Built
Ford manufactured complete buses in the company’s early history, but today the role of the company has changed to that of a second stage manufacturer . In North America, the E-Series is still used as a chassis for small school buses and the F-650 is used in commercial bus markets. In the 1980s and 1990s, the medium-duty B700 was a popular chassis used by school bus body manufacturers including Thomas Built , Ward and Blue Bird , but Ford lost its market share due to industry contraction and agreements between body manufacturers. Older bus models included:
Prior to 1939, Ford buses were based on truck bodies:
Model B – 1930s
F-105 school bus
1936 Ford V8T carr. Hainje Heerenveen B-7387 NL
During World War II Ford manufactured Ford Transit bus , a series of small transit buses with bodies built by second party:
09-B/19-B City transit bus – 1939–1941
19-B/29-B City transit bus – 1941–1942
49-B/79-B City transit bus – 1944–1947
69-B City transit bus – 1946–1947
29-B City transit bus – 1946–1947
72-T transit bus – 1944–1945
After 1946 the Transit City bus was sold as Universal Bus with the roof changed from fabric/wood to all metal:
79-B Universal transit bus – 1946–1947
Succeeding the Ford Transit bus was the Ford 8M buses:
8MB transit bus – with Wayne Works 1948–?
Following World War II and from 1950s onwards Ford lost out to General Motors . This led to the end of transit buses for Ford in North America.
B500 or B-series – 1950-1990s based on Ford F-series truck chassis used by school bus body manufacturers
In Europe, Ford manufactures the Ford Transit Minibus which is classed in Europe as a Passenger Carrying Vehicle and there are options of 12, 15 or 17 seaters. In the past European models included:
EM
Tractors
A Ford N series tractor
The “Henry Ford and Son Company” began making Fordson tractors in Henry’s hometown of Springwells (later part of Dearborn ), Michigan from 1907 to 1928, from 1919 to 1932, at Cork , Ireland, and 1933–1964 at Dagenham , England, later transferred to Basildon . They were also produced in Leningrad beginning in 1924.
1936 Ford-Hainje, gefotografeerd door ©Jan Voerman op 4-8-1940 in Den Bosch NL
In 1986, Ford expanded its tractor business when it purchased the Sperry-New Holland skid-steer loader and hay baler, hay tools and implement company from Sperry Corporation and formed Ford-New Holland which bought out Versatile tractors in 1988. This company was bought by Fiat in 1993 and the name changed from Ford New Holland to New Holland. New Holland is now part of CNH Global .
1937 Ford carr. Veth ZEGO194 NL
Financial services
Ford offers automotive finance through Ford Motor Credit Company .
Automotive components
1937 Ford Isobloc met V8 motor F
Ford’s FoMoCo parts division sells aftermarket parts under the Motorcraft brand name. It has spun off its parts division under the name Visteon .
Motorsport
Main article: Ford Racing
1938 Ford A Hainje Heerenveen NL
Along with Shelby and Chevrolet , Ford is one of only three American constructors to win titles on the international scene at the FIA World Championships . As a constructor, Ford won the World Sportscar Championship three times in 1966 , 1967 and 1968 , and the World Rally Championship three times in 1979 , 2006 and 2007 .
1938 Ford Hainje B-21375 NL
Stock car racing
Ford is one of four manufacturers in NASCAR ‘s three major series: Sprint Cup Series , Nationwide Series , and Camping World Truck Series . Major teams include Roush Fenway Racing and Yates Racing and Richard Petty Motorsports. Ford is represented by the mid-size Fusion in the Sprint Cup, the Mustang in the Nationwide Series, and by the F-150 in the Camping World Truck Series. Some of the most successful NASCAR Fords were the aerodynamic fastback Ford Torino , Ford Torino Talladega , Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II , and Mercury Montegos , and the aero-era Ford Thunderbirds . The Ford nameplate has won eight manufacturer’s championships in Sprint Cup, while Mercury has won one. In the Sprint Cup Series, Ford earned its 1,000th victory in the 2013 Quicken Loans 400 . The Ford Fusion is also used in the ARCA Remax Series .
1938 Ford Kusters & Lemmens VADAH-bus 8 lijn Sittard- Echt-Roermond NL
Formula One
Ford was heavily involved in Formula One for many years, and supplied engines to a large number of teams from 1967 until 2004. These engines were designed and manufactured by Cosworth , the racing division that was owned by Ford from 1998 to 2004. Ford-badged engines won 176 Grands Prix between 1967 and 2003 for teams such as Team Lotus and McLaren . Ford entered Formula One as a constructor in 2000 under the Jaguar Racing name, after buying the Stewart Grand Prix team which had been its primary ‘works’ team in the series since 1997. Jaguar achieved little success in Formula One, and after a turbulent five seasons, Ford withdrew from the category after the 2004 season , selling both Jaguar Racing (which became Red Bull Racing ) and Cosworth (to Gerald Forsythe and Kevin Kalkhoven ).
1938 Ford V8 COE B-15822 Hainje NL
Rally
Main article: Ford World Rally Team
1938 Ford V8, 798W, Hainje NL
Ford has a long history in rallying and has been active in the World Rally Championship since the beginning of the world championship, the 1973 season . Ford took the 1979 manufacturers’ title with Hannu Mikkola , Björn Waldegård and Ari Vatanen driving the Ford Escort RS1800 . In the Group B era, Ford achieved success with Ford RS200 . Since the 1999 season , Ford has used various versions of the Ford Focus WRC to much success. In the 2006 season , BP-Ford World Rally Team secured Ford its second manufacturers’ title, with the Focus RS WRC 06 built by M-Sport and driven by “ Flying Finns “ Marcus Grönholm and Mikko Hirvonen .Continuing with Grönholm and Hirvonen, Ford successfully defended the manufacturers’ world championship in the 2007 season . Ford is the only manufacturer to score in the points for 92 consecutive races; since the 2002 season opener Monte Carlo Rally .
1938 FordBus
Main article: Ford GT#Racing
1939 Ford AA NL
Ford sports cars have been visible in the world of sports car racing since 1964. Most notably the GT40 won the 24 Hours of Le Mans four times in the 1960s and is the only American car to ever win overall at this prestigious event. Ford also won the 1968 International Championship for Makes with the GT40, which still stands today as one of the all-time greatest racing cars. Swiss team Matech GT Racing , in collaboration with Ford Racing, opened a new chapter with the Ford GT , winning the Teams title in the 2008 FIA GT3 European Championship .
Main article: Ford Mustang#Racing
1939 Ford op afsluitdijk B-21037a NL
The Ford Mustang has arguably been Ford’s most successful sports car. Jerry Titus won the 1965 SCCA Pro B National Championship with a Mustang and the model went on to earn Ford the SCCA Trans-Am Championship title in both 1966 and 1967. Ford won the Trans-Am Championship again in 1970 with Parnelli Jones and George Folmer driving Boss 302 Mustangs for Bud Moore Engineering . Ford took the 1985 and 1986 IMSA GTO Championship with Mustangs driven by John Jones and Scott Pruett before returning to Trans-Am glory with a championship in 1989 with Dorsey Schroeder . Ford dominated Trans-Am in the 1990s with Tommy Kendal winning championships in 1993, 1995, 1996, and 1997 with Paul Gentilozi adding yet another title in 1999. In 2005 the Ford Mustang FR500C took the championship in the Rolex Koni Challenge Series in its first year on the circuit. In 2007 Ford added a victory in the GT4 European Championship. 2008 was the first year of the Mustang Challenge for the Miller Cup, a series which pits a full field of identical factory built Ford Mustang race cars against each other. Also in 2008, Ford won the manufacturers championship in the Koni Challenge Series and HyperSport drivers Joe Foster and Steve Maxwell won the drivers title in a Mustang GT.
1939 Ford-Verheul 2 foto via Frank vd Boogert KLM NL
Touring cars
Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon V8 Supercar at Eastern Creek in Australia in 2008.
Ford has campaigned touring cars such as the Focus , Falcon , and Contour / Mondeo and the Sierra Cosworth in many different series throughout the years. Notably, Mondeo drivers finished 1,2,3 in the 2000 British Touring Car Championship and Falcon drivers placed 1,2,3 in the 2005 V8 Supercar Championship Series .
1940 Ford met carrosserie van Hainje NL
Other
In the Indianapolis 500 , Ford powered IndyCars won 17 times between 1965 and 1996[ citation needed ]. Ford has also branched out into drifting with the introduction of the new model Mustang. Most noticeable is the Turquoise and Blue Falken Tires Mustang driven by Vaughn Gittin Jr, A.K.A. “JR”. with 750 RWHP (Rear Wheel Horsepower). In drag racing , John Force Racing drivers John Force , Tony Pedregon , and Robert Hight have piloted Ford Mustang Funny Cars to several NHRA titles in recent seasons. Teammates Tim Wilkerson and Bob Tasca III also drive Mustangs in Funny Car. Formula Ford , a formula for single-seater cars without wings and originally on road tires were conceived in 1966 in the UK as an entry-level formula for racing drivers. Many of today’s racing drivers started their car racing careers in this category.
1940 Ford O98W158 carr v Eerten GTW197 M-15291 NL
Environmental initiatives
All Ford’s alternative fuel and hybrid models are identified by Ford’s leaf road logo badge.
1940 Ford O98W158 carr v Eerten GTW198 M-15292 M-15068 NL
Compressed natural gas
The alternative fossil fuel vehicles, such as some versions of the Crown Victoria especially in fleet and taxi service, operate on compressed natural gas —or CNG. Some CNG vehicles have dual fuel tanks – one for gasoline, the other for CNG – the same engine can operate on either fuel via a selector switch.
1940 Ford V8 Werkspoor met verduisterde koplampen. ATO-13 NL
Flexible fuel vehicles
The Ford Focus Flexifuel was the first E85 flexible fuel vehicle commercially available in the European market.
Flexible fuel vehicles are designed to operate smoothly using a wide range of available ethanol fuel mixtures—from pure gasoline, to bioethanol -gasoline blends such as E85 (85% ethanol and 15% gasoline) or E100 (neat hydrous ethanol) in Brazil. Part of the challenge of successful marketing alternative and flexible fuel vehicles in the U.S., is the general lack of establishment of sufficient fueling stations , which would be essential for these vehicles to be attractive to a wide range of consumers. Significant efforts to ramp up production and distribution of E85 fuels are underway and expanding. Current Ford E100 Flex sold in the Brazilian market are the Courier , Ford EcoSport , Ford Fiesta , Ford Focus and Ford Ka .
1940 Frederiks Ford bus de TET 28 NL
Electric vehicles
Ford expects electric vehicles will represent a “major portion” of its lineup a decade from now as the automaker breaks away from a recent reliance on pickup trucks and SUVs. The stakes are high because Ford’s stepped-up investment is coming at a time when the U.S. government is demanding steep increases in fuel economy and has put money forward to help automakers adopt new fuel-saving technologies.
1942 Ford Q163 UK
Ford will partner with Coulomb Technologies to provide nearly 5,000 free in-home charging stations for some of the automaker’s first electric vehicle customers, under the Ford Blue Oval ChargePoint Program.
Hybrid electric vehicles
Main article: Hybrid electric vehicle
1942 Ford Transit model 29-B FORD GRAY COACH LINES © William A Luke
In 2004 Ford and Toyota agreed a patent sharing accord which granted Ford access to certain hybrid technology patented by Toyota; in exchange Ford licensed Toyota some of its own patents. In 2005 Ford introduced the Hybrid-Electric Escape . With this vehicle, Ford was third to the automotive market with a hybrid electric vehicle and the first hybrid electric SUV to market. This was also the first hybrid electric vehicle with a flexible fuel capability to run on E85 . The Escape’s platform mate Mercury Mariner was also available with the hybrid-electric system in the 2006 model year—a full year ahead of schedule. The similar Mazda Tribute will also receive a hybrid-electric powertrain option, along with many other vehicles in the Ford vehicle line.
1943 Ford abc tour Auckland Au
In 2005 Ford announced a goal to make 250,000 hybrids a year by 2010, but by mid-2006 announced that it would not meet that goal, due to excessively high costs and the lack of sufficient supplies of the hybrid-electric batteries and drivetrain system components. Instead, Ford has committed to accelerating development of next-generation hybrid-electric power plants in Britain, in collaboration with Volvo. This engineering study is expected to yield more than 100 new hybrid-electric vehicle models and derivatives.
1943 Ford F60 eigen opbouw B-33023 NL During the 2nd WW
In September 2007 Ford announced a partnership with Southern California Edison (SCE) to examine how plug-in hybrids will work with the electrical grid. Under the multi-million-dollar, multi-year project, Ford will convert a demonstration fleet of Ford Escape Hybrids into plug-in hybrids, and SCE will evaluate how the vehicles might interact with the home and the utility’s electrical grid. Some of the vehicles will be evaluated “in typical customer settings”, according to Ford.
On June 12, 2008 USDOE expanded its own fleet of alternative fuel and advanced technology vehicles with the addition of a Ford Escape Plug-In Hybrid Flex-Fuel Vehicle. The vehicle is equipped with a 10-kilowatt (13 hp) lithium-ion battery supplied by Johnson Controls-Saft that stores enough electric energy to drive up to 30 miles (48 km) at speeds of up to 40 mph (64 km/h)
1943 FORD Transit Model 29-B PS194329-B NL
In March 2009 Ford launched hybrid versions of the Ford Fusion Hybrid and the Mercury Milan Hybrid in the United States, both as 2010 models.
Current and planned Ford hybrid electric vehicles include the Ford Escape Hybrid (2004–present), Mercury Mariner (2006–present), Ford Fusion Hybrid / Mercury Milan (2009–present) and Ford Edge / Lincoln MKX (2009/10–present).
1944 Ford 342 NL
All-electric vehicles
Ford ended the Think City experiment and ordered all the cars repossessed and destroyed, even as many of the people leasing them begged to be able to buy the cars from Ford. After outcry from the lessees and activists in the US and Norway, Ford returned the cars to Norway for sale.
1944 Ford Bus
Bill Ford was one of the first top industry executives to make regular use of an battery electric vehicle , a Ford Ranger EV , while the company contracted with the United States Postal Service to deliver electric postal vans based on the Ranger EV platform..Ford discontinued a line of electric Ranger pickup trucks and ordered them destroyed, though it reversed in January 2005, after environmentalist protest.
The North American Focus EV is based on next generation Focus fuel vehicle, converted to an electric propulsion system as a Production EV by Magna International, and is planned to be launched in late 2011. Ford plans to have 10,000 Focus EVs on the road beginning in late 2011 in partnership with Magna International and it will be a global vehicle that will be sold in the three key markets of North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. The Focus EV has a maximum range of about 160 kilometers or 100 miles, and a top speed of about 120+ kilometers or 75+ miles per hour.
1944 Ford Transit
Current and planned Ford electric vehicles include the all-electric Transit Connect (2010–present), the Ford Focus EV (2011–present), the C-MAX Energi (on sale from third quarter 2012) and the Ford Fusion EV (on sale from third quarter 2012).
1944 Ford Transit
Ford battery electric vehicle (BEV) demonstrators are included in a British project that is part of the UK government’s zero carbon vehicle fleet of Focus BEVs . The BEV demonstrator fleet is being developed partly with public funding from the government’s Technology Strategy Board (TSB), which promotes innovative industry-led projects that reduce CO2 while benefiting the UK’s transport system.
1944 V-03-Hercules Ford bus C49133
Hydrogen
Ford also continues to study Fuel Cell -powered electric powertrains, and has demonstrated hydrogen-fueled internal combustion engine technologies, as well as developing the next-generation hybrid-electric systems. Compared with conventional vehicles, hybrid vehicles and/or fuel cell vehicles decrease air pollution emissions as well as sound levels, with favorable impacts upon respiratory health and decrease of noise health effects .
1945 Ford NL
Ford has launched the production of hydrogen-powered shuttle buses, using hydrogen instead of gasoline in a standard internal combustion engine , for use at airports and convention centers. At the 2006 Greater Los Angeles Auto Show , Ford showcased a hydrogen fuel cell version of its Explorer SUV. The Fuel cell Explorer has a combined output of 174 hp (130 kW). It has a large hydrogen storage tank which is situated in the center of the car taking the original place of the conventional model’s automatic transmission. The centered position of the tank assists the vehicle reach a notable range of 350 miles (563 km), the farthest for a fuel cell vehicle so far. The fuel cell Explorer the first in a series of prototypes partly funded by the United States Department of Energy to expand efforts to determine the feasibility of hydrogen- powered vehicles. The fuel cell Explorer is one of several vehicles with green technology being featured at the L.A. show, including the 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid, PZEV emissions compliant Fusion and Focus models and a 2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty outfitted with Ford’s clean diesel technology.
1946 ABC Ford V8 number 82 as a Movan
1946 Hist Bus FordThames
Increased fuel efficiency
All Ford’s models with EcoBoost engines are identified by Ford’s leaf road logo badge.
Ford Motor Company announced it will accelerate its plans to produce more fuel-efficient cars, changing both its North American manufacturing plans and its lineup of vehicles available in the United States. In terms of North American manufacturing, the company will convert three existing truck and sport utility vehicle (SUV) plants for small car production, with the first conversion at its Michigan Truck Plant. In addition, Ford’s assembly plants near Mexico City, Mexico, and in Louisville, Kentucky, will convert from pickups and SUVs to small cars, including the Ford Fiesta, by 2011. Ford will also introduce to North America six of its European small vehicles, including two versions of the Ford Fiesta, by the end of 2012. And last but not least, Ford is stepping up its production of fuel-efficient “ EcoBoost ” V-6 and four-cylinder engines, while increasing its production of hybrid vehicles.
1946 Ford 69-B
Ford of Europe developed the ECOnetic programme to address the market and legislative need for higher fuel efficiency and lower CO2 emissions. As opposed to the hybrid engine technology used in competitor products such as the Toyota Prius , ECOnetic improves existing technology. Using lower consuming Duratorq TDCi diesel engines, and based on a combination of improved aerodynamics, lower resistance and improved efficiency, the Ford Fiesta is currently the lowest emitting mass-produced car in Europe, while the 2012 Ford Focus ECOnetic will have better fuel consumption that the Prius or the Volkswagen Golf BlueMotion .ECOnetic is not presently planned to be sold in North American due to current perceived lower consumer demand.
1946 Ford CAP carr. De Haas 18 NL
Ford has challenged University teams to create a vehicle that is simple, durable, lightweight and come equipped with a base target price of only $7,000 The students from Aachen University created the “ 2015 Ford Model T “.
In 2000, under the leadership of the current Ford chairman, William Clay Ford, the Company announced a planned 25 percent improvement in the average mileage of its light truck fleet – including its popular SUVs – to be completed by the 2005 calendar year . In 2003, Ford announced that competitive market conditions and technological and cost challenges would prevent the company from achieving this goal.
1946 Ford F5 V8 carr.Heida Wolvega B-33225 NL
Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have, however, listed Ford as the seventh-worst corporate producer of air pollution, primarily because of the manganese compounds, 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene , and glycol ethers released from its casting , truck, and assembly plants. The United States Environmental Protection Agency has linked Ford to 54 Superfund toxic waste sites, twelve of which have been cleaned up and deleted from the list.
For the 2007 model year, Ford had thirteen U.S. models that achieve 30 miles per gallon or better (based on the highway fuel economy estimates of the EPA) and several of Ford’s vehicles were recognized in the EPA and Department of Energy Fuel Economy Guide for best-in-class fuel economy. Ford claimed to have eliminated nearly three million pounds of smog-forming emissions from their U.S. cars and light trucks over the 2004 to 2006 model years.
1946 Ford nr 40 Hengelo Tet 004 NL
PC power management
1946 Ford Tour Buses at The River Rouge ©THEOldMotor.COM
On March 2010, Ford announced its PC power management system which it developed with NightWatchman software from 1E . The company is expected to save $1.2m on power cost and reduce carbon footprint by an estimated 16,000 to 25,000 metric tons annually when the system is fully implemented.
PC power management is being rolled out to all Ford computer users in US this month and it will be used in Ford operations around the world later in the year. Computers with this power profile enabled will monitor its usage patterns and decides when it can be turned off. PC user will be alerted of the approaching power down time and given the opportunity to delay it.
1946 Ford V8 Cupido B-27189 NL
According to company reduction in carbon footprint and power cost will be achieved by developing ‘Power Profiles’ for every PC in the company.
1946 Ford v8 carr.Jonckheere B ©Groep Waaslandia
1946 Ford V8 carr.Postma Rottevalle
1946 Ford carr.Verheul
1946 Ford-Thames noodautobussen voor 31 personen, carr.Verheul mei 1946 NL
1946-1952 Ford carr. De Groot door © Bramani NB-21-81
1947 Ford 15 Rotterdam carr. Allan NL
1947 Ford 59B Bus BBA (SVA) carr. Jongerius NL
1947 Ford B59 Transit Ford 100pk carr Jongerius GTW 998 NL
1947 Ford B59 Transit Ford 100pk carr Jongerius GTW 998 NL
1945 Ford B-21037b carr. Den Oudsten-Domburg NL
1947 Ford carr. onb
1947 Ford carr Jongerius Huisstijl BBA Stadsbus 353 NB-33-79 NL
1947 Ford F5 C 694 B carr. Wayne GTW 25 NL
1947 Ford carr.Jongerius NL
1947 Ford Trambus B-31898 NL
1947 Ford V8 carr. Brouwers NL
1947 Ford, 59 B carr.Verheul NL
1947 Ford, 59B carr.Jongerius NL
1947 Ford, 59B carr.Jongerius NL
1947 Ford-carr.Hoogeveen (trambus) 046 NL
1947 Ford-carr.Verheul (trambus) 056 NL
1947-1952 Ford 6G-C694B carr. Roset NB-36-90 NL
1948 Ford 6 600 Perkins 6cyl motor Carr. Agosti Hecha de Madera por artesanos ¡Un espectaculo el interior!
1948 Ford Bus School Old
1948 Ford carr.Hoogeveen (trambus) 042a NL
1948 Ford Schoolbus carr.Jongerius bus-7 NL
1948 Ford Schoolbussen
1948 Ford Wayne schoolbus Cupido B-27186 NB-50-80 NL
1949 Ford-Highlander
1949 Ford-Wayne-Hercules-Cambell
This is the end of part I
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About Jeroen
In Dutch, my homelanguage: Ik ben Jeroen, tot januari 2015 was ik al dik 26 jaar werkzaam in een psychiatrisch ziekenhuis in een stad vlakbij Werelds grootste havenstad Rotterdam. Eerst als verpleegkundige/begeleider op high care, later op afdeling dubbeldiagnose (verslavingen) en ook nog een tijdje als administratief medewerker. Ik heb een spierziekte "Poli Myositis" (alle spieren zijn ontstoken) daardoor weinig energie. Sinds augustus 2015 is daarbij de diagnose Kanker gesteld, en ben ik helemaal arbeidsongeschikt geworden en zit middenin de behandelfase. Gelukkig ben ik daarnaast getrouwd, vader, en opa, en heb de nodige hobby's. Een daarvan is transportmiddelen verzamelen en daarmee een blog schrijven. Dit blog begon met bussen, maar nu komen ook sleepboten, auto's trucks en dergelijke aan bod. Kijk en geniet met me mee, reageer, en vul gerust aan. Fouten zal ik ook graag verbeteren. In English: I'm Jeroen, till januari 2015 I was already 26 years working as a nurse in a psychiatric hospital, near Rotterdam, Worlds biggest harbour with more than 98 nationalities living within it's borders. First I worked on closed high care ward and the last years on a ward with mainly addicted people. I liked my work very much. In 2007 I got ill. I got the diagnose Poli Myositis, a musscle dissease. Al my mussles are inflamed. And last august I got another diagnose. Cancer. It's plaveicelcel carcinoma and treated with Chemo and radioation. So I've even less energy than the last years. Still I try to make something of my life and the blog is helping with surviving with some pleasure.
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i don't know
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A compound which reduces liquid surface tension, or tension between two liquids or liquid and solid (as do detergents, foaming agents, and dispersants) is generally called a?
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Glossary Of Water And Wastewater Treatment Terms
Glossary Of Water And Wastewater Treatment Terms
Acidity: ability to neutralize alkaline (hi pH) substances.
Activated Carbon: a form of carbon processed to have small, low-volume pores that increase the surface area available for adsorption or chemical reactions .
Activated Sludge: aerobic biological treatment process for domestic or industrial wastewater.
Alkalinity: ability of substance to neutralize acids. Typically measured as ppm (mg/l) of CaCO3.
Aerobic: requiring free oxygen for respiration. Refers to types of bacteria commonly found in water and wastewater treatment systems.
Anaerobic: requiring absence of free oxygen for respiration. Refers to types of bacteria commonly found in water and wastewater treatment systems.
Anionic Flocculant: negatively charged flocculant. Used in water treatment to aid solid / liquid separation
Anoxic: the description of an environment without oxygen. In wastewater treatment anoxic processes are typically used for the removal of nitrogen from wastewater.
Antiscalent: a material used to control scale formation in water systems such as boiler or cooling water systems.
Back Wash: part of water filter, ion exchange or softener cycle that lifts up media bed to release and wash away dirt and other foulants.
Biocide: chemical substance designed for killing living organisms in water. Often characterized by type of organism killed: bactericide, fungicide or algaecide.
Blow Down (bleed-off): terms to describe the deliberate rejection of water from a system such as boiler or cooling water system. Typically done to control system’s water total dissolved system or conductivity.
Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD): common analytical test to determine organic (food) content of water. It measures oxygen consumption by microorganisms as they degrade the organic content in water. Most frequently used test method is a 5 day BOD: BOD5
Cationic Flocculant: a positively charged high molecular weight polyelectrolyte water soluble organic polymer designed to agglomerate solids in water substrates.
Clean In Place (CIP): is a method of cleaning the interior surfaces of pipes, vessels, process equipment, filters and associated fittings, without disassembly.
Coagulation: the destabilization for repulsive electrical charges to permit agglomeration of colloid particles in water. This process aids the clarification of water.
Coagulant: positively charged electrolytes (chemicals) most commonly associated with coagulation. Generally categorized as inorganic (alum, aluminum chloride, polyaluminum chloride, ferric chloride) or organic (epiamines, polyamines or DADMACs – diallyl dimethyl ammonium chloride).
Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD): common analytical test to determine the theoretical oxygen consumed in oxidizing all of the organic and any oxidizable inorganic content of water. It is used to measure the pollution strength of water.
Concentrate: the reject (high TDS) discharge from a reverse osmosis filtration process.
Condensate: steam that has lost heat and condensed into water.
Conductivity: the transmittance of an electric current through water. Usually measured in microsiemens per centimeter (uS/cm) or micromho per centimeter (umho/cm).
Co-precipitation: term to describe compound used in water treatment to aid precipitation of substances normally soluble under the conditions employed. Common co-precipitants used in water are iron, aluminum, calcium and magnesium.
Corrosion Inhibitor: chemical additive designed to control / minimize metal corrosion in water system.
Cycles of Concentration: the ratio of boiler or cooling water to make up (feed water). Typically measured by monitoring total dissolved solids, conductivity, silica or chlorides.
Dissolved Oxygen (DO): the measurement of the gaseous oxygen (O2) concentration in water.
Dissolved Air Flotation Clarifier (DAF) : a piece of equipment that used dissolved air to float suspended solids from water. Typically used when the suspended solids have a lower density than water.
Demulsifier (Emulsion Breaker): chemical additive that destroys the emulsifying characteristics water. Typically used separate stabilized (emulsified) oil in water.
Denitrification: wastewater treatment process involved in the biological removal of nitrogen in which the nitrite (NO2) is converted to nitrogen gas (N2)
Dewatering: removing free water from a sludge or slurry to form a high solids cake. Recessed Chamber Filter presses, Belt Presses, centrifuges, rotary fan presses and vacuum presses are dewatering devices.
Dispersant: a non-surface active compound or an active substance added to a suspension, usually a mix, to increase the separation of particles and to prevent subsiding or clumping.
Effluent: a liquid that flows from a containing space or source such as a factory, tank, pond or clarifier.
Electro Deionization (EDI): a water treatment technology that utilizes an electricity, ion exchange membranes and resin to deionize water and separate dissolved ions (impurities) from water.
Emulsion Breaker (Demulsifier): chemical additive that destroys the emulsifying characteristics water. Typically used separate stabilized (emulsified) oil in water.
Flux: the permeate rate per unit area of membrane surface. Typical units are gals per foot of membrane per day (gfd) or liters of permeate per square meter of membrane per hour (lmh).
Flocculant: high molecular weight polyelectrolyte water soluble organic polymer designed to agglomerate solids in water substrates. A flocculants’ characteristics are determined by its molecular weight, charge type (anionic, nonionic or cationic) and charge density.
Flocculation: the agglomeration of settleable solids through a bridging mechanism to produce larger particle that is more easily separated from water.
Ferric Chloride: a metal salt (FeCl3) commonly used as an coagulant in water clarification and as etching agent in chemical-etching.
Filter Press: a solids dewatering device that uses pressure differential applied to sludge within a series of plates with filter clothes. The plates (with clothes in them) are arranged in a plate pack with the sludge filling chambers created by recesses within each plate. Filter presses are often called Recessed Chamber or Plate and Frame Filter Presses.
FOG (Fats Oil & Grease): a term to describe waste water contaminants that are commonly found in food or petroleum based effluents. EPA test 1664 is typically used to measure FOG.
Hardness: the typically the concentration of calcium and magnesium salts in water. However, it may include other metal salts such as Al, Mn, Sr and Zn. Normally measured as CaCO3 equivalents.
Heterotroph: a type of bacteria that uses organic matter for energy and can use free oxygen, nitrates or sulfates as and oxygen source for respiration.
Influent: liquid flowing into a containing space or treatment system.
Inclined Plate Clarifier (IPC): a solids / liquid separation device (clarifier) that is filled with parallel (sometimes called Lamella) plates that are inclined at an angle between 45 and 55 degrees. The plates reduce (compared to a gravity clarifier) the foot print required to properly settle solids.
Ion Exchange: a process that removes dissolved ions from solution of a certain charge by absorption onto a resin that releases (exchanges) an ion of the same charge.
Membrane Bio Reactor (MBR): aerobic biological waste water treatment process that utilizes membrane filtration (rather than clarification) for solids / liquid separation. The membrane filters (ultra filters) can be either submerged or external to the biological mixed liquor tanks.
Moving Bed Bio Reactor (MBBR): aerobic biological waste water treatment process that utilizes the fixed film (media) process. High surface area media is suspended in biological mixed liquor and bacteria grow on the media (attached growth) surface. A clarifier is typically used downstream of the MBBR for solid / liquid separation.
Membrane: a material layer that is a selective barrier between two phases and remains impermeable to specific particles, molecules or substances.
Micro Filtration (MF): a type of membrane filtration that separates suspended solids and solutes of high molecular from a liquid and low molecular weight solutes. This separation process is used in industry processes, water treatment and research for purifying and concentrating macromolecular solutions.
Mixed Bed Ion Exchange: is anion exchange process that uses a mixture of cation and anion resin combined in a single ion exchange column. With proper pretreatment, product water purified from a single pass through a mixed bed ion exchange column is the purest that can be made.
Nitrification: waste water treatment process involved in the biological removal of ammonia in which the ammonia is converted to nitrates (NO3)
Nonionic: a neutral charged high molecular weight polyelectrolyte water soluble organic polymer designed to agglomerate solids in water substrates.
Nephelometer Turbidity Units (NTU): a measurement of the clarity (turbidity) of a liquid.
Reverse Osmosis (RO): water purification technology that uses a semipermeable membrane to remove dissolved solids, molecules and larger particles from water. Applied pressure is used to overcome osmotic pressure and produce high purity water. Reverse osmosis is used to produce ultra pure water for a variety of applications.
Silt Density Index (SDI): a measurement of silt, colloids, bacteria and other foulants of Reverse Osmosis (RO) membranes. SDI is used to help determine the suitability of water or other liquids for the RO process.
Sludge Judge: a clear tubular device used to measure sludge depth in clarifiers or other tanks.
Surfactant: compounds that lower the surface tension (or interfacial tension) between two liquids or between a liquid and a solid. Surfactants may act as detergents, wetting agents, emulsifiers, foaming agents, and dispersants.
Ultra Filtration (UF): is a type of membrane filtration that separates suspended solids and solutes of high molecular from a liquid and low molecular weight solutes. This separation process is used in industry processes, water treatment and research for purifying and concentrating macromolecular solutions.
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Surfactant
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The Mansion House is the official residence of what London title-holder?
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Surfactants+ Prop +Detg.
Surfactants+ Prop +Detg.
Are surfactants of natural or synthetic origin?
They can be either. Surfactants from natural origin(vegetable or animal) are known as oleo-chemicals and
are derived from sources such as palm oil or tallow.
Surfactants from synthetic origin are known as petro-chemicals and are derived from petroleum.
About
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i don't know
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Apitoxin is the scientific name for which sort of venom?
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Bee Venom (apitoxin) (apitherapy) report for patients like you
A little hard to take
Dosage: 6 other Weekly
Advice & Tips: I am new to apitherapy (i.e., bee stinging). My initial day-long flu-like reaction stopped after three weeks. My on-site reactions has slowly been going away and are more tolerable. Most of my daily inflammation and right leg drop has also gone away. Of all medication/herbal remedies, bee venom has provided the most drastic positive results for me. I don't at all advise starting this treatment without first determining whether you are allergic to bee venom.
Cost: $25-49 monthly
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Bee
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American physician Dr Henry Jay Heimlich is famously credited with developing a procedure to counter what threat to life?
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Wasp and Bee Venom - FDA prescribing information, side effects and uses
Wasp and Bee Venom
Dosage Form: injection
Instructions and Dosage Schedule for Allergenic Extracts Hymenoptera Venom Products (Honey Bee, Yellow Jacket, Yellow Hornet, White-Faced Hornet, Wasp, and Mixed Vespid)
Warnings This product is intended for use only by licensed medical personnel experienced in administering allergenic extracts and trained to provide immediate emergency treatment in the event of a life-threatening reaction. Hymenoptera venom extracts may potentially elicit a severe life-threatening systemic reaction, rarely resulting in death. (1) Therefore, emergency measures and personnel trained in their use must be available immediately in the event of such a reaction. Patients should be instructed to recognize adverse reaction symptoms, observed in the office for at least 30 minutes after skin testing or treatment, and cautioned to contact the physician's office if symptoms occur. See ADVERSE REACTION , Section 3, of the instruction for information regarding adverse event reporting.
All patients should have available an Emergency Anaphylaxis Kit containing epinephrine and be instructed in its use for emergency treatment of possible systemic reactions occurring at times after the patient has departed the testing or treatment premises.
Patients with cardiovascular diseases and/or pulmonary diseases such as symptomatic unstable, steroid-dependent asthma, and/or those who are receiving cardiovascular drugs such as beta blockers, may be at higher risk for severe adverse reactions. These patients may also be more refractory to the normal allergy treatment regimen. Patients should be treated only if the benefit of treatment outweighs the risks. (1)
Patients on beta blockers may be more reactive to allergens given for testing or treatment and may be unresponsive to the usual doses of epinephrine used to treat allergic reactions. (2)
Immunotherapy for insect sting allergy should be given to those patients who have experienced significant systemic reactions (for detailed description of symptoms see INDICATIONS AND USAGE and ADVERSE REACTIONS ) from insect stings and who demonstrate hypersensitivity by skin testing with these products. The only approved method for diagnosing insect sting allergic patients for immunization is by skin testing.
This product must never be injected intravenously.
Refer also to CONTRAINDICATIONS , WARNINGS , PRECAUTIONS , ADVERSE REACTIONS and OVERDOSAGE for further discussion.
Wasp and Bee Venom Description
Hymenoptera Venom Products available are sterile freeze-dried venom of Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) and venom protein of Yellow Jacket (Vespula sp.), Yellow Hornet (Dolichovespula arenaria), White-Faced Hornet (Dolichovespula maculata) and Wasp (Polistes sp.). Mixed Vespid venom protein (Yellow Jacket, Yellow Hornet and White-Faced Hornet) is also available.
The reconstituted single venom products are intended for subcutaneous injection for immunotherapy and percutaneous use for diagnosis. The Mixed Vespid venom protein is for immunotherapy only, not for diagnosis. Diagnosis should be based on individual venoms.
Because of the difficulty in collecting all species of Yellow Jacket and Wasp, the venom raw materials for these two insects may vary in species composition from lot to lot. A listing of the exact species content for any particular lot of Yellow Jacket or Wasp venom protein may be obtained by calling Technical Services at Jubilant HollisterStier LLC, (800) 992-1120.
Final containers of sterile freeze-dried venom products are sealed under vacuum. This will result in the diluting fluid being forcibly drawn into the sealed vial when the syringe needle penetrates the seal during reconstitution. See PRECAUTIONS .
When the sterile freeze-dried Honey Bee venom is reconstituted with 5.5 mL of sterile fluid, the resulting solution will contain 100 micrograms of venom per mL (100 µg/mL) plus 7.7 milligrams of mannitol per mL. When freeze-dried Yellow Jacket, Yellow Hornet, White-Faced Hornet and Wasp venom proteins are reconstituted with 5.5 mL of fluid, the resulting solution will contain 100 micrograms of venom protein per mL (100 µg/mL) plus 7.7 milligrams of mannitol per mL and trace amounts of sodium chloride, potassium chloride, acetic acid and beta-alanine. When the freeze-dried Mixed Vespid venom protein is reconstituted with 5.5 mL of fluid, the resulting solution contains 300 micrograms of venom protein per mL (300µg/mL) plus 23.1 milligrams of mannitol per mL and trace amounts of sodium chloride, potassium chloride, acetic acid and beta-alanine. Mannitol is used as an excipient.
These freeze-dried products can be reconstituted in Sterile Albumin Saline with Phenol (which contains 0.9% NaCl, 0.4% phenol and 0.03% normal human serum albumin) to a concentration of 100 µg/mL (300 µg/mL for Mixed Vespid Venom Protein). Dilutions of this concentration should be made only with Sterile Albumin-Saline with Phenol (0.4%). See DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION for details of dilutions for diagnosis and treatment.
Space is provided on the container label to record the date (month, day, year) venom is reconstituted. Refer to dating period shown under PRECAUTIONS . At the time of reconstitution, write the calculated reconstituted product expiration date (month, day, year) on the vial label in the space provided.
Wasp and Bee Venom - Clinical Pharmacology
Diagnosis
Diluted solutions of stinging insect venoms injected intradermally will produce wheal and erythema reactions in patients who have significant IgE-mediated, Type I immediate hypersensitivity to stings of these insects.
Treatment
Repeated injections of increasing doses of insect venom extracts have been shown to ameliorate the intensity of allergic symptoms upon subsequent insect stings. (3, 4)
The mechanism by which hyposensitization is achieved is not known completely. IgG antibodies (blocking antibodies) appear in the serum of patients treated with injected venom. No direct relationship has been identified between the level of blocking antibody (or the ratio of blocking antibody to IgE antibody directed to the same venom antigens) and the degree of hyposensitization. However, patients who show protection from symptoms after stings have been found to have significant levels of specific blocking antibody. (3, 4)
Initially, after a period of immunotherapy with specific venom antigens, levels of IgE antibody may increase. (4) However, from studies carried out with other venom preparations, these levels are reported to decline after a time. (5) After maintenance level has been reached and maintained, symptoms after stings have been shown to decrease considerably. (3, 4)
It is not known if skin-sensitizing antibody can be eradicated or if the patient can be entirely cured, nor is it known how long immunotherapy must be continued.
In a clinical study with Jubilant HollisterStier venom products, injections (using the Suggested Dose Schedule under DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION ) were given once per week at one study center, and twice or more per week at another center. (4) (For further discussion, see below). It must be considered important to achieve the 100 µg per venom maintenance dose (the maintenance dose for Mixed Vespid venom protein is 300 µg) , since there are no data on effectiveness of maintenance levels below 100 µg per venom.
In the clinical trial, 97% of patients at the maintenance dosage (100 µg per venom) showed no systemic reaction following an insect sting challenge. (4) The remaining 3% had a milder reaction than noted prior to treatment. The patients in this study reached maintenance (100 µg per venom) usually within 2½-3½ months after beginning therapy. (4) Whether efficacy of therapy is influenced by the time required to reach maintenance has not yet been determined.
Large local reactions occurred in approximately 60% of the patients given immunotherapy. Some form of systemic response occurred, often repeatedly, in one-third of the patients treated in the clinical trial. (4) Only one systemic response occurred on the first dose given. The rest occurred at various times in the course of immunotherapy. Some systemic manifestations may have occurred because of the patient's apprehension, and did not require treatment. Approximately one-fourth of the patients experiencing systemic responses were given some form of specific therapy (epinephrine, theophylline, or metaproteranol), some on several occasions. (4)
In deciding the criteria for proceeding from dose to dose of the Suggested Dose Schedule (see DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION ), the results of the clinical study (4) should be considered. A study center "A" reporting the least number of systemic reactions during pre-maintenance treatment held the dose constant in most of the cases where significant local reactions occurred. With the systemic reactions reported, this center held the dose the same in approximately 80% of the incidences. The treatment injections were given at this center usually once per week, and if a patient missed an appointment, the next dose was often the same as the preceding dose (depending on the previous reactivity of the patient). Patients treated at this center reached maintenance in an average of 17-19 visits.
Another study center "B", reporting a higher incidence of systemic reactions, was more regimented in following the Suggested Dose Schedule. This center reduced or held the dose the same in less than 10% of the cases reporting significant local reactions. With the systemic reactions reported, this center held the dose the same or reduced the dosage in approximately 20% of the cases. At this center, more than one injection per week was given at the outset as circumstances and sensitivity allowed. Patients treated at this center reached maintenance in an average of 14 visits.
Following the achievement of maintenance level (100 µg per venom), approximately 80% or more patients were given a second maintenance injection at a 1-week interval. The third maintenance injection was usually (in approximately 60% of the patients) at a 2- week interval. The next injection was usually within 3 weeks, and thereafter, the patients were injected for ongoing maintenance at approximately monthly intervals. (4)
Indications and Usage for Wasp and Bee Venom
Insect stings may induce a wide range of allergic symptoms in sensitive patients. A normal sting response is initial burning or stinging pain that may be intense and last several minutes to an hour or more. There is usually some local swelling coming on immediately and persisting for several days. The location of the sting has considerable influence on the intensity of the pain and extent of swelling. Stings on the fingers or feet produce much pain, but less swelling; whereas a sting on the head or face produces extensive swelling with variable pain.
Local reactions coming on rapidly and larger than the usual local reaction, particularly if the swelling spans both adjacent joints on the extremities, can indicate hypersensitivity. Systemic symptoms come on shortly after the sting, often within seconds to minutes. Symptoms may range from generalized flushing, itching, redness, diffuse swelling of the skin or urticarial wheals, abdominal cramps, nausea, vomiting, or incontinence of urine or stool, to faintness, blurring or loss of vision, unconsciousness, seizures, respiratory or cardiac arrest, or death. Later reactions may consist of fever, achiness, malaise, joint swelling, urticaria or other signs of vascular damage typical of serum sickness, a Type III reaction. Typical delayed Type IV reactions may also occur. (6)
Rarely, other types of severe reactions to insect stings have been reported .(6) These include serum sickness, hematologic abnormalities, and neurological disorders commencing some time after a sting, and not associated with anaphylactoid reactions. These patients are not candidates for immunotherapy using insect venoms.
(1) Diagnosis
Skin testing with insect venoms is useful to demonstrate the presence of IgE antibodies which account for the patient's symptoms. (3) Patients are seldom able to identify the insect which stung them, so skin testing is used to determine the insect culprit. Dilutions of these venom products will help judge the sensitivity of the patient and whether the patient should be treated. (7)
It is not absolutely known what levels (micrograms) of venom, that elicit positive skin tests, are diagnostic of clinical sensitivity. However, patients with a history of reactions (any of three types: generalized urticaria or angioedema; respiratory difficulty due either to laryngeal edema or to bronchospasm; or vascular collapse, with or without loss of consciousness) to previous stings and a positive skin test to a venom intradermal injection of approximately 1 µg/mL had about a 60% chance of reacting again when stung by the same insect. These patients should receive venom immunotherapy. (3)
Patients with a history of reaction (any of the three reaction types described above) to previous stings, but did not demonstrate a positive skin test reaction to venom, were considered in a previous study not to be clinically sensitive, and were not treated. (3) We cannot recommend treatment for such patients.
Another study demonstrated false positive reactions when skin testing with venom concentrations of 10 µg/mL and 100 µg/mL was carried out. (8) Thus there can be a nonspecific skin test reaction potentially due to the pharmacological action of the venom at higher concentrations.
The best statement that can be made, at present, is that patients with significant positive history (reactions of the three types described above) following an insect sting, and who do react with a positive skin test to a venom concentration of 1 µg/mL or less, are recommended for treatment. Patients who have the history described above, but do not react to a 1 µg/mL intradermal venom skin test, cannot be recommended for treatment. At present, the data does not exist to determine whether a patient who might react to a higher concentration, e.g., 2-10 µg/mL, is at risk from a subsequent sting or not. Since it is not known if sting-sensitive patients who subsequently lose their IgE anti-venom antibody can be re-sensitized by further stings, it is advisable to retest these patients after any subsequent stings. (3) However, since the level of venom-specific IgE may fall to low levels briefly after a sting, patients should not be re-tested until 2 to 4 weeks after any sting.
(2) Treatment
Immunotherapy is indicated for those patients diagnosed as sensitive (see Diagnosis above) and is accomplished by using graduated dilutions of the appropriate insect venom or venoms to control the severity of the patient's symptoms from subsequent stings.
Increasing doses of venom are given at intervals, dependent on the patient's ability to tolerate the venom, until a maintenance dosage (100 µg venom is recommended or 300 µg in the case of Mixed Vespid venom protein) is reached and maintained.
Venom sensitivity differs for individual patients, thus it is not possible to provide a dosage schedule that is universally suited to all patients. The dosage schedule shown under DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION is a summary of the schedule used in clinical trials of our product and found suitable for the majority of patients. In highly sensitive patients, the physician may be required to use a modified dose schedule, based on the patient's sensitivity to and tolerance of the injections. Lower initial doses and smaller dosage increments than shown under DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION may be necessary.
Contraindications
There are no known absolute contraindications to immunotherapy using Hymenoptera Venom Products. See also PRECAUTIONS and WARNINGS .
Patients showing negative intradermal skin tests to specific venoms at 1 µg/mL are not recommended for venom treatment. Any injections, including immunotherapy, should be avoided in patients with a bleeding tendency.
Patients with cardiovascular diseases and/or pulmonary diseases such as symptomatic unstable, steroid-dependent asthma, and/or those who are receiving cardiovascular drugs such as beta blockers, may be at higher risk for severe adverse reactions. These patients may also be more refractory to the normal allergy treatment regimen. Patients should be treated only if the benefit of treatment outweighs the risks. (1) Patients on beta blockers may be more reactive to allergens given for testing or treatment and may be unresponsive to the usual doses of epinephrine used to treat systemic reactions. (2)
Since there are differences of opinion concerning the possibility of routine immunizations exacerbating autoimmune diseases, immunotherapy should be given cautiously to patients with other immunologic diseases and only if the risk from insect stings is greater than the risk of exacerbating the underlying disorder.
Warnings
See WARNINGS box at the beginning of this Instruction Sheet. See also PRECAUTIONS . Venom extract must be temporarily withheld from patients or the dose adjusted downward if any of the following conditions exist: (1) severe symptoms of rhinitis and/or asthma; (2) infection or flu accompanied by fever; (3) any evidence of an excessively large local or any generalized reaction during the initial stages of immunotherapy, or during maintenance therapy; and/or (4) insect sting prior to scheduled injection. Do not administer venom injections during a period of symptoms following an insect sting or on the day the patient received an insect sting, since this could result in an allergen load that exceeds the patient's tolerance.
THE CONCENTRATE MUST NOT BE INJECTED AT ANY TIME UNLESS TOLERANCE HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED. DILUTE CONCENTRATED EXTRACTS WITH STERILE ALBUMIN SALINE WITH PHENOL (0.4%) FOR SKIN TESTING AND IMMUNOTHERAPY. INJECTIONS MUST NEVER BE GIVEN INTRAVENOUSLY. Subcutaneous injection is recommended. Intracutaneous or intramuscular injections may produce large local reactions or be excessively painful. AFTER INSERTING NEEDLE SUBCUTANEOUSLY, BUT BEFORE INJECTING, ALWAYS WITHDRAW THE PLUNGER SLIGHTLY. IF BLOOD APPEARS IN THE SYRINGE, CHANGE NEEDLE AND GIVE THE INJECTION IN ANOTHER SITE.
Patients with hypersensitivity to insect venom who undergo desensitization treatment while under concomitant therapy with ACE (angiotensin-converting enzyme) inhibitors, may have an increased risk of life-threatening anaphylactic reactions. (9) Patients without insect venom hypersensitivity, who take ACE inhibitors, and are stung by insects such as bee or wasp, can show such reactions as well. (10)
Two patients undergoing desensitization treatment with Hymenoptera Venom while receiving ACE inhibitors sustained life-threatening anaphylactoid reactions. In the same patients, these reactions were avoided when ACE inhibitors were temporarily withheld, but they reappeared upon inadvertent rechallenge. (11)
IF CHANGING TO A DIFFERENT LOT OR A FRESHLY RECONSTITUTED VIAL OF VENOM EXTRACT: All extracts lose potency over time, and a fresh extract could have an effective potency that is substantially greater than that of the old extract. The first dose from the new vial should not exceed 50% of the previous dose. IF THE VENOM EXTRACT PREVIOUSLY USED WAS FROM ANOTHER MANUFACTURER: Since manufacturing processes and sources of raw materials differ among manufacturers, the interchangeability of extracts from different manufacturers cannot be insured. The starting dose of the venom extract therefore should be greatly decreased even though the extract is the same formula and dilution. In general, a dose reduction to 50% of the previous product dose should be adequate, but each situation must be evaluated separately considering the patient's history of sensitivity, tolerance of previous injections, and other factors. If the patient tolerates a 50% decrease, the next dose could be raised to the previous dose amount. If the decrease is greater than 50%, the next dose would need to be determined by the allergist, depending on the situation. Dose intervals should not exceed one week when rebuilding dose. See DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION .
IF A PROLONGED PERIOD OF TIME HAS ELAPSED SINCE THE LAST INJECTION: Patients may lose tolerance for allergen injections during prolonged periods between doses. The duration of tolerance is an individual characteristic and varies from patient to patient. In general, the longer the lapse in the injection schedule, the greater dose reduction required. If the interval since last dose is over four weeks, perform skin tests to determine starting dose. See DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION .
IF THE PREVIOUS EXTRACT WAS OUTDATED: The dating period for allergenic extracts indicates the time that they can be expected to remain potent under refrigerated storage conditions (2° - 8°C). During the storage of extracts, even under ideal conditions, some loss of potency occurs. For this reason, extracts should not be used beyond their expiration date. If a patient has been receiving injections of an outdated extract, s/he may experience excessive local or systemic reactions when changed to a new, and possibly more potent extract. In general, the longer the material has been outdated, the greater the dose reduction necessary when starting the fresh extract.
Proper selection of the dose and careful injection should prevent most systemic reactions. It must be remembered, however, that allergenic extracts are highly potent in sensitive individuals and that systemic reactions of varying degrees of severity may occur, ranging from mild to life-threatening anaphylaxis, or even death, as described under INDICATIONS AND USAGE and ADVERSE REACTIONS . Patients should be informed of this, and the warnings and precautions should be discussed prior to immunotherapy. See PRECAUTIONS below. Systemic reactions should be treated as indicated in ADVERSE REACTIONS .
Precautions
(1) GENERAL
The presence of asthmatic signs and symptoms appear to be an indicator for severe reactions following allergy injections. An assessment of airway obstruction either by measurement of peak flow or an alternate procedure may provide a useful indicator as to the advisability of administering an allergy injection. (1, 12-16)
Concentrated extracts must not be injected unless tolerance has been established.
Diluting fluid should be forcibly drawn into the sealed vial when the syringe needle penetrates the seal during reconstitution. Failure of this to occur for a particular vial indicates possible loss of vacuum. Vials without vacuum should be returned to the manufacturer.
Record date of reconstitution and expiration date of reconstituted product in the space provided on the product label. Date of expiration after reconstitution must not exceed the Final Expiration Date indicated on the container label. (See table below for expiration dates, including dilutions.)
Maintain stock solutions and dilutions constantly at 2° - 8°C.
Venom
* But not to exceed Final Expiration Date included on the container label.
Sterile solutions, vials, syringes, etc., should be used and aseptic precautions observed in making dilutions.
To avoid cross-contamination, do not use the same needle to withdraw materials from vials of more than one extract, or extract followed by diluent.
A sterile tuberculin syringe, with a needle at least 5/8" long and graduated in 0.01 mL units, should be used to carefully measure each dose from the appropriate dilution. Aseptic techniques should always be employed when injections are being administered.
A separate sterile syringe should be used for each patient to prevent transmission of hepatitis and other infectious agents from one person to another.
Patient reactions to previous injections should be reviewed before each new injection so that dose can be adjusted accordingly. See ADVERSE REACTIONS and WARNINGS .
Rarely, a patient is encountered who develops systemic reactions to minute doses of allergen and does not demonstrate increasing tolerance to injections after several months of treatment. It is suggested that if systemic reactions or excessive local responses occur persistently at very small doses, efforts at immunotherapy should be stopped.
PATIENTS SHOULD BE OBSERVED IN THE OFFICE FOR AT LEAST 30 MINUTES AFTER SKIN TESTING AND AFTER EACH TREATMENT INJECTION. Most severe reactions will occur within this time period, and rapid treatment measures should be instituted. See ADVERSE REACTIONS for such treatment measures.
(2) INFORMATION FOR PATIENTS
Patients should be instructed in the recognition of adverse reactions to immunotherapy, and in particular, to the symptoms of shock. (See WARNINGS box at the beginning of this Instruction Sheet.) Patients should be made to understand the importance of a 30 minute observation period following skin testing or therapeutic injections, and be cautioned to return to the office promptly if symptoms occur after leaving. Patients should be instructed in the use of, and have available, an Emergency Anaphylaxis Kit for self-administration of epinephrine. Patients must be instructed to report any insect stings that have occurred, since a venom injection should not be given on the same day as the sting, nor during a time when the patient is still experiencing symptoms from the sting.
(3) DRUG INTERACTIONS
Patients with cardiovascular diseases and/or pulmonary diseases such as symptomatic, unstable, steroid-dependent asthma, and/or those who are receiving cardiovascular drugs such as beta blockers, may be at higher risk for severe adverse reactions. These patients may also be more refractory to the normal allergy treatment regimen. Patients should be treated only if the benefit of treatment outweighs the risks. (1) Patients on beta blockers may be more reactive to allergens given for testing or treatment and may be unresponsive to the usual doses of epinephrine used to treat allergic reactions. (2) See WARNINGS section regarding concurrent treatment with ACE inhibitors. Certain medications may lessen the skin test wheal and erythema responses elicited by allergens and histamine for varying time periods. Conventional antihistamines should be discontinued at least 5 days before skin testing. Long acting antihistamines should be discontinued for at least 3 weeks prior to skin testing. (17) Topical steroids should be discontinued at the skin test site for at least 2-3 weeks before skin testing. (17, 18)
Tricyclic antidepressants, such as doxepin, should be withheld for at least 7 days before skin testing. (19) Topical local anesthetics may suppress the flare responses and should be avoided on skin test sites. (20) When using other drugs in patients receiving allergenic extracts, always consult the product labeling of the other drugs to determine any possible interaction with use of allergenic extracts, and specifically with stinging insect (Hymenoptera) venom extracts.
(4) CARCINOGENESIS, MUTAGENESIS, IMPAIRMENT OF FERTILITY
Long-term studies in animals have not been conducted with allergenic extracts to determine their potential for carcinogenicity, mutagenicity, or impairment of fertility.
(5) PREGNANCY
(12,21)
Pregnancy Category C. Animal reproduction studies have not been conducted with Hymenoptera Venom Products. It is also not known whether Hymenoptera Venom Products can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman or can affect reproduction capacity. Hymenoptera Venom Products should be given to a pregnant woman only if clearly needed. On the basis of histamine's known ability to contract uterine muscle, theoretically, a systemic reaction, whether occurring from insect sting or from venom skin testing or treatment dose, should be avoided. Therefore, the physician must carefully consider the benefit-to-risk ratio, to both patient and fetus, of continuing venom immunotherapy during pregnancy, or performing venom skin testing, and especially of initiating a venom immunotherapy program where there is a possibility that the patient may not be able to reach the recommended maintenance dose without significant risk of a systemic reaction.
(6) NURSING MOTHERS
There are no current studies on secretion of the allergenic extract components in human milk or effect on the nursing infant. Because many drugs are excreted in human milk, caution should be exercised when allergenic extracts are administered to a nursing woman.
(7) PEDIATRIC USE
Since dosage for the pediatric population is the same as for adults, the larger volumes of solution may produce excessive discomfort. Therefore, in order to achieve the total dose required, the volume of the dose may need to be divided into more than one injection per visit. A study done in children ages 4 to 17 showed no special problems with venom immunotherapy in this population. (22)
(8) GERIATRIC USE
The reactions from immunotherapy can be expected to be the same in elderly patients as in younger ones. Elderly patients may be more likely to be on medication that could block the effect of epinephrine which could be used to treat serious reactions, or they could be more sensitive to the cardiovascular side effect of epinephrine because of pre-existing cardiovascular disease. (23)
Adverse Reactions
Physicians administering Hymenoptera Venom testing or treatment materials should be experienced in the treatment of severe systemic reactions (see WARNINGS Box at the beginning of this Instruction Sheet).
(1) Local Reactions
Some erythema, swelling or pruritis at the site of injection are common, the extent varying with the patient. Excessively large, painful or persistent local reactions can occur from skin tests or immunotherapy. Frequent application of cold, wet dressings to the area and/or the use of oral antihistamines will ameliorate the discomfort. Reactions usually subside in 24-36 hours. Large local reactions occurred in approximately 60% of the patients given immunotherapy in a clinical study. None of the local reactions required specific treatment; however, subsequent injections in many instances were held to the previous dose or a reduced dose. Some patients had repeated large local reactions that slowed the increase in the immunotherapy dose. (4) See CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY and DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION section. A mild burning immediately after the injection is to be expected. This usually leaves in 10 to 20 seconds. See also WARNINGS and PRECAUTIONS regarding proper method and route of injection.
(2) Systemic Reactions
Most severe systemic reactions usually will begin within a 30-minute time period, but systemic reactions may occur at any time after skin tests or immunotherapy. Symptoms may range from mild to life-threatening from anaphylaxis as described under INDICATIONS AND USAGE. With careful attention to dosage and administration, severe systemic reactions occur infrequently, but it cannot be overemphasized that in sensitive individuals, any injection could result in anaphylactic shock. Therefore, it is imperative that physicians administering allergenic extracts understand and be prepared for the treatment of severe reactions. See CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY for clinical incidence of systemic reactions and course of action following these reactions.
If a systemic or anaphylactic reaction does occur, apply a tourniquet above the site of injection and inject 1:1000 epinephrine-hydrochloride intramuscularly or subcutaneously into the opposite arm. Loosen the tourniquet at least every 10 minutes. Do not obstruct arterial blood flow with the tourniquet.
EPINEPHRINE DOSAGE
ADULT: 0.3 to 0.5 mL should be injected. Repeat in 5 to 10 minutes if necessary.
PEDIATRIC: The usual initial dose is 0.01 mg (mL) per kg body weight or 0.3 mg (mL) per square meter of body surface area. Suggested dosage for infants to 2 years of age is 0.05 mL to 0.1 mL; for children 2 to 6 years, 0.15 mL; and children 6 to 12 years, 0.2 mL. Single pediatric doses should not exceed 0.3 mg (mL). Doses may be repeated as frequently as every 20 minutes, depending on the severity of the condition and the response of the patient.
After administration of epinephrine, profound shock or vasomotor collapse should be treated with intravenous fluids, and possibly vasoactive drugs. Airway patency should be insured. Oxygen should be given by mask. Intravenous antihistamines, inhaled bronchodilators, theophylline and/or corticosteroids may be used if necessary after adequate epinephrine and circulatory support have been given. Emergency resuscitation measures and personnel trained in their use should be available immediately in the event of a serious systemic or anaphylactic reaction not responsive to the above measures [Ref. J. Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 77(2): p.271-273, 1986].
Rarely are all of the above measures necessary; the tourniquet and epinephrine usually produce prompt responses. However, the physician should be prepared in advance for all contingencies. Promptness in beginning emergency treatment measures is of utmost importance.
For recommendations regarding how to proceed with venom extract dose following systemic reactions, see WARNINGS , PRECAUTIONS and DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION sections.
(3) Adverse Event Reporting
Report all adverse events to Jubilant HollisterStier Customer Technical Services Department at 1(800) 992-1120. A voluntary adverse event reporting system for health professionals is available through the FDA MEDWATCH program. Preprinted forms (FDA Form 3500) are available from the FDA by calling 1(800) FDA-1088. Completed forms should be mailed to MEDWATCH, 5600 Fisher Lane, Rockville, MD 20852-9787 or Fax to: 1(800) FDA-0178.
Overdosage
Wasp and Bee Venom Dosage and Administration
(1) General
Parenteral drug products should be inspected visually for particulate matter and discoloration prior to administration, whenever solution and container permit. Reconstitute and dilute the freeze-dried venom as directed below. Sterile Albumin Saline with Phenol (0.4%) must be used to reconstitute and dilute the venoms for skin testing and treatment. Reconstitute the freeze-dried venoms by adding 5.5 mL Sterile Albumin Saline with Phenol (0.4%) to the vial using a sterile syringe. Swirl or rock the container to dissolve the venom completely. DO NOT SHAKE, since shaking can cause foaming. Dilutions (see table below) must be made in Sterile Albumin Saline with Phenol (0.4%). They must be made accurately and aseptically, using sterile solution, vials, syringes, etc., and thoroughly mixed by rocking or swirling. DO NOT SHAKE. Maintain stock solutions and dilutions constantly at 2° - 8°C.
Extract of Volume
NOTE: Mixed Vespid Venom Protein concentrations will be three times that shown above.
(2) Diagnosis
Since the level of insect venom specific IgE may fall to low levels briefly after a reaction to a sting, patients should not be tested until 2 to 4 weeks after any sting.
Skin testing should be carried out with all five individual venoms, since many patients have multiple sensitivities .(4) Mixed Vespid venom protein should be used only for therapy - not for diagnosis. Prick testing should be done before intradermal testing to determine appropriate concentration for intradermal testing. See Intradermal Tests below. Skin testing (prick and intradermal) provides information to assist in identifying those patients who are to be classified as extremely sensitive and who may not tolerate the Suggested Dose Schedule. See DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION , Immunotherapy CAUTION.
In both the prick and intradermal tests, a negative control test with diluent alone must be performed. A histamine positive control test is recommended.
The flexor surface of the forearm is the usual location for skin testing. It is important that a separate sterile syringe and needle be used for each extract and each patient.
Prick Tests: Prick tests are accomplished using a solution of 1 µg/mL venom protein, by applying one drop of the 1 µg/mL venom protein solution to the forearm, and by pricking the skin through the surface of the drop with a sterile 27 gauge needle. The prick is superficial and should not draw blood.
Skin response should be assessed after approximately 15-20 minutes.
For prick tests, a positive reaction (reaction greater than diluent control) at the 1 µg/mL concentration indicates a high level of sensitivity to the test venom.
Intradermal Tests: Patients showing a positive reaction to the prick test at the 1 µg/mL concentration should begin intradermal tests at concentrations of not more than 0.0001 to 0.001 µg/mL. Patients with negative prick tests may begin intradermal tests at a concentration of 0.001 µg/mL.
A 1 mL tuberculin syringe with a short 27-gauge needle should be used to deliver a volume of 0.05 mL for intradermal testing. Introduce the needle into the superficial skin layers, bevel down, until the bevel is completely buried, then slowly inject a 0.05 mL aliquot of the venom dilution, making a small bleb.
Start intradermal tests with the most dilute solution. If after 20 minutes no skin reaction is obtained, continue the intradermal testing using ten-fold increments in the concentration until a reaction of 5-10 mm wheal and 11-20 mm erythema is obtained, or until a concentration of 1 µg/mL has been tested, whichever occurs first.
A patient should be considered sensitive to the test venom when a skin response of 5-10 mm wheal and 11-20 mm erythema (or greater) occurs at a concentration of 1 µg/mL or less (8) , providing that this reaction is greater than that of the diluent control.
(3) Immunotherapy
For proper method and route of injection, see WARNINGS , PRECAUTIONS and ADVERSE REACTIONS .
The most common site of injection is the lateral aspect of the upper arm. Patients who have multiple venom sensitivities should be given each specific venom injection in a separate site. (Except, if the patient has sensitivities to Yellow Jacket, Yellow Hornet, and White-Faced Hornet venoms concurrently, s/he can be injected with Mixed Vespid venom protein, an equal mixture of these three vespid venoms.) Note which venom preparation is injected at a specific site, so that dosage of that venom preparation can be adjusted if an excessive local reaction occurs. In patients receiving more than one venom, there is theoretically a greater risk of systemic reactions.
CAUTION: Sensitivity to venom differs from patient to patient. Thus, it is not possible to provide a dosage schedule suitable for all patients. The Suggested Dose Schedule shown below was used in clinical trials (4) and should be suitable for a majority of patients.
IN EXTREMELY SENSITIVE PATIENTS, however, an individualized dose schedule must be employed which will be dictated by the patient's sensitivity. This individualized schedule will probably include weaker dilutions and smaller increments between doses in progressing to the maintenance level (100 µg per venom). In identifying those patients to be classified as extremely sensitive, individuals reacting with significant skin test (wheal greater than 5 mm and erythema greater than 20 mm) at intradermal skin test concentrations of 0.01 µg/mL or less, or those patients experiencing a systemic reaction to any venom skin test concentration, should be considered highly sensitive.
Suggested Dose Schedule for a single venom:
Dose No.
Mixed Vespid Venom will contain three times the venom protein per mL shown in this table.
*See preceding CAUTION Section.
In proceeding with the Suggested Dose Schedule, or modified schedules (for highly sensitive patients), it is recommended that injections be given at least once per week, as in the clinical studies. (See CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY and INDICATIONS AND USAGE .) When building the dose, it is important that dose intervals not exceed one week since longer intervals may decrease the patient's tolerance of the extract.
Based on the clinical studies (4) , it is suggested that if a systemic, extremely large local (10 cm or more in duration, or other severe local symptoms), or persistent and severe delayed local reaction occurs during the dose building phase, the dose at the next visit should be held constant (or reduced, depending on judgment of the severity of the reaction) as was done at Study Center "A" which reported the least number of systemic reactions during the course of therapy.
It must be considered important to achieve the 100 µg per venom maintenance dose (the maintenance dose for Mixed Vespid venom protein is 300µg), since there are no data on effectiveness of maintenance levels below 100 µg per venom. Following the achievement of maintenance level (100 µg per venom), it is recommended that a second maintenance injection be given at a 1-week interval, and a third maintenance injection at a 2-week interval. Administer the next injection at a 3-week interval, and then monthly for ongoing maintenance.
See CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY and INDICATIONS AND USAGE for further information regarding clinical studies on which the above recommendations are based. The optimum duration for immunotherapy is not known, so current recommendations are that maintenance injections be continued indefinitely, year around, particularly in patients experiencing life-threatening anaphylaxis after insect stings.
4. PEDIATRIC USE
The dose for the pediatric population is the same as for adults. (See PRECAUTIONS .)
5. GERIATRIC USE
The dose for elderly patients is the same as for adult patients under 65. (23) (See PRECAUTIONS .)
How is Wasp and Bee Venom Supplied
Jubilant HollisterStier sterile freeze-dried Hymenoptera Venom Products are supplied in 10 mL vacuum-sealed vials containing 550 micrograms (550 µg) venom protein per vial for the single venoms, and 1650 micrograms (1650 µg) per vial for the Mixed Vespid venom protein product. Reconstituting fluid [Sterile Albumin Saline with Phenol (0.4%)] is available separately. Storage: Store freeze-dried and reconstituted venom product, and venom dilutions, at 2° - 8° C, and keep at this temperature range during office use.
LIMITED WARRANTY
A number of factors beyond our control could reduce the efficacy of this product or even result in an ill effect following its use. These include storage and handling of the product after it leaves our hands, diagnosis, dosage, method of administration and biological differences in individual patients. Because of these factors, it is important that this product be stored properly and that the directions be followed carefully during use. No warranty, express or implied, including any warranty of merchantability or fitness, is made. Representatives of the Company are not authorized to vary the terms or the contents of any printed labeling, including the package insert, for this product except by printed notice from the Company's headquarters. The prescriber and user of this product must accept the terms hereof.
REFERENCES
1. Lockey, Richard F., Linda M. Benedict, Paul C. Turkeltaub, Samuel C. Bukantz. Fatalities from immunotherapy (IT) and skin testing (ST). J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 79 (4): 660-677, 1987.
2. Jacobs, Robert L., Goeffrey W. Rake, Jr., et. al. Potentiated anaphylaxis in patients with drug-induced beta-adrenergic blockade. J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 68 (2): 125-127, August 1981.
3. Hunt, K. J., M. D. Valentine, A. K. Sobotka, A. W. Benton, F. J. Amodio, L. M. Lichtenstein. A controlled trial of immunotherapy in insect hypersensitivity. New Eng. J. Med. 299: 157-161, July 27, 1978.
4. Summary of data from BB-IND 1292 clinical studies, 1978-79, on Hollister-Stier products.
5. Amodio, F., L. Markley, M. D. Valentine, A. K. Sobotka, L. M. Lichtenstein. Maintenance immunotherapy for Hymenoptera sensitivity. J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 61 (3): 134, 1978.
6. Reisman, R. E., Allergy Principles and Practice. E. Middleton, C. E. Reed, E. F. Ellis, ed. C. V. Mosby Co., 1978.
7. Sobotka, A. K., N. F. Adkinson, Jr., M. D. Valentine, L. M. Lichtenstein. Allergy to insect stings. IV. Diagnosis by R.A.S.T. J. Immunol. 121 (6): 2477-2484, 1978.
8. Hunt, K. J., M. D. Valentine, A. K. Sobotka, L. M. Lichtenstein. Diagnosis of allergy to stinging insects by skin testing with Hymenoptera venoms. Annals Int. Med. 85: 56-59, 1976.
9. Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. Inhibitors of angiotensin II: Potential hazards for patients at risk for anaphylaxis. Editorial. 78: 527-529, June 1997.
10. Pharm. Ind. (Germany). Anaphylactoid reactions in patients treated with ACE inhibitor treatment in combination with desensitization treatment or after insect bites. 56 (9): IX226-227, 1994.
11. Tunon-De-Lara, J. M., et al. ACE inhibitors and anaphylactoid reactions during venom immunotherapy. The Lancet (United Kingdom). 340 (8824): 908, Oct. 10, 1992.
12. Weinstien, A. M., B. D. Dubin, W. K. Podleski, S. L. Spector, R. S. Farr. Asthma and pregnancy. JAMA. 124 (11): 1161-1165, 1979.
13. Reid, M. J., R. F. Lockey, P. C. Turkletaub, T. A. E. Platts-Mills. Survey of fatalities from skin testing and immunotherapy. J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 92 (1): 6-15, July 1993.
14. Reid, M. J., G. Gurka. Deaths associated with skin testing and immunotherapy. J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 97 (1) Part 3:231, Abstract 195, January 1996.
15. Thompson, R. A. et al. Report of a WHO/IUIS working group. The current status of allergen immunotherapy (hyposensitization). Allergy. 44: 369-379, 1989.
16. Malling, H.J., B. Weeke, et al. The European Academy of Allergology and Clinical Immunology. Position Papers. Allergy. 48 (Supplement 14): 9-82, 1993.
17. Pipkorn, Ulf. Pharmacological influence of anti-allergic medication on In Vivo allergen testing. Allergy. 43: 81-86, 1988.
18. Andersson, M. U. Pipkorn. Inhibition of the dermal immediate allergic reaction through prolonged treatment with topical glucocorticosteroids. J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 79 (2): 345-349, February 1987.
19. Rao, Kamineni S., et al. Duration of suppressive effect of tricyclic anti-depressants on histamine induced wheal and flare reactions on human skin. J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 82: 752-757, November 1988.
20. Pipkorn, Ulf, M. Andersson. Topical dermal anesthesia inhibits the flare but not the wheal response to allergen and histamine in the skin prick test. Clinical Allergy. 17: 307-311, 1987.
21. DuBuske, L. M., C. J. Ling, A. L. Sheffer. Special problems regarding allergy immunotherapy. Immunol. Allergy Clin. North Am. (USA). 12 (1): 145-175, 1992.
22. Graft, D., K. Schuberth, A. Kagey-Sobotka, K. Kwiterovich, Y. Niv, L. Lichtenstein, M. Valentine. Assessment of prolonged venom immunotherapy in children. J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 80 (2): 162-169, August 1987.
23. Peebles, Ray Stokes, Jr., B. Bochner, Howard J. Zeitz, ed. Anaphylaxis in the elderly. Immunol. Allergy Clin. of North Am. 13 (3): 627-646, August 1993.
HONEY BEE HYMENOPTERA VENOM MULTIDOSE
honey bee hymenoptera venom multidose injection, powder, lyophilized, for solution
Product Information
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What product, invented by accountant Walter Diemer in 1928, was and remains conventionally pink, (it is said) because pink was the only dye available to its inventor at the time?
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Companies Using Proprietary Battleship Revenues
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W. W. Gavitt Medical Co., Manufacturer
W. W. GAVITT MEDICAL CO. CANCELS
Hard as this writer tries to anchor this particular alphabetical perusal of battleship revenue cancels to those most commonly seen and available to potential collectors, he is forever beguiled and distracted by stories of companies that illuminate particular and distinct features of the patent medicine business. The W. W. Gavitt Medical Co. stands apart from other patent medicine manufacturers because it marketed its product, Gavitt’s System Regulator, directly to the public through regional retail sales representatives. One did not buy Gavitt’s System Regulator from a drugstore or even a modern department store; one bought it from one’s neighbor. Each Gavitt salesperson communicated directly with Gavitt headquarters in Topeka, Kansas on a periodic basis requesting shipments of the Regulator and remitting payment for orders sold. What philatelists commonly see now of Gavitt material are the envelopes transmitting all this correspondence. Apparently bundled and warehoused for decades by the company as its transaction records, these envelopes and their accompanying forms were dispersed publicly when the company was dissolved. Several Gavitt covers appear for sale on eBay weekly. While revenue cancel collectors cautiously eye such drab, uniform envelopes as collateral material to the cancels themselves, these covers used to quicken the pulse of that sector of cover collectors who meticulously collected post office cancels by states or regions, one obscure discontinued rural post office at a time. Since stamp collecting has fallen from grace as a past time for our youth, how many such collectors remain now is hard to gauge, but at one time this form of cover collecting was so popular that dealers often arrange their cover stock by location to appeal to such marauding collectors.
GAVITT REPORTS FROM RURAL POST OFFICES
BOLEY, I. T. ZEANDALE, KS
GAVITT COVERS RETAILED IN BUNCHES
*****
The Gavitt company was an American enterprise. Its founder, William Wellington Gavitt, was born in 1840 near Ashley, in Delaware County, Ohio, which lies north of Columbus in the center of the state. His father, Ezekiel, was a well-known Methodist minister in that region of Ohio for many years during the mid 1800s, and there appear to be other Gavitt names interspersed among the prominent ministers of Ohio. As listed later in the records of the Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution, his grandfather, William, born in Westerly, Rhode Island, was a privateer on the brig “Favorite” and a sailor on the sloop “Randolph” and the schooner “De Grass” during the Revolutionary War.
GAVITT COUPONS
In 1862, W. W. Gavitt graduated Wesleyan University. By 1867, he had imbibed the philosophy of Manifest Destiny and anticipated Horace Greeley’s 1871 advice to “go west.” He settled in Topeka, KS and began to build the town around himself. He dived into the local real estate and banking industries, married a woman from Indiana in 1873, and in the 1880 Census listed himself as a banker. Over time, he became a founding investor in the regional coal company, a creamery, the electric utility company and the local opera house. In 1882, he and a partner erected a prominent office building block in downtown Topeka.
GAVITT COVER SHOWING GAVITT OFFICE BLOCK
Gavitt apparently entered the patent medicine business as the mid-western agent and supplier for the Dr. Perkins Medical Co. of Washington, D.C. which manufactured a remedy called Our Native Herbs, an elixir of 21 different herbs. When Dr. Perkins sold his business to Alonzo O. Bliss, around 1892, Gavitt sent a letter to the sales representatives for the Perkins Co. offering them his own System Regulator instead. Whether these agents jumped to Gavitt in droves or stayed with Bliss (which remained in business and also used battleship revenues, as a future article will explore), Gavitt found himself with enough contacts to begin assembling his own sales network. For his sales agents, Gavitt particularly concentrated on soliciting Civil War veterans and ministers, and there was a huge stir in 1901 when it was revealed that one of his agent was Boston Corbett, the man who had shot Lincoln’s assassin, John Wilkes Booth.
JOHN WILKES BOOTH BOSTON CORBETT
Corbett is something of a historical curiosity. He was born Thomas Corbett in 1832. He grew up to become a hatter by trade, and his encounters with mercury while making felt hats may have accounted for his later eccentricities. In the 1850s, after his wife died in childbirth, he moved to Boston, became a reborn Evangelical Christian, wore his hair long to emulate Jesus and castrated himself to avoid the temptation of prostitutes. He also changed his name to Boston. During the Civil War, he enlisted several times, rose to the rank of sergeant in a New York Cavalry unit, and briefly was held as a prisoner of war at the Confederate hell-hole in Andersonville, GA. His role in Booth’s death immediately landed him in a controversy over whether his shooting of Booth was necessary or exceeded his orders. His official statement was that he fired on Booth when he saw Booth about to fire one of his weapons, although others present contradicted his account. Secretary of War Stanton squelched the dispute by endorsing Corbett’s account and exonerating him. After his moment of fame, Corbett returned to work as a hatter, caused a stir at a G.A.R. re-union in 1875 by threatening some men with a gun, moved to Kansas and lived in a hole in a hill, and finally was confined in an insane asylum in 1887 after again brandishing a gun, this time in the Kansas House of Representatives, where he was employed as assistant door keeper. In 1888, he escaped from the facility and briefly visited a fellow survivor of Andersonville whom he told he was going to Mexico. He was not seen again until a newspaper story spread during the summer of 1901 that he had been working as a Gavitt sales representative for several years. Gavitt reveled in the splash of publicity the story attracted and immediately vouched that Corbett was “an excellent salesman who always made money for himself and the firm.”
CORBETT LATER IN LIFE
Eventually this Corbett attempted to again collect his Civil War disability pension which had been accruing since his 1888 disappearance. In the course of investing this claim, it was revealed that the claimant was not Boston Corbett, but a younger, taller man named John Corbit. Convicted of attempted pension fraud, he wound up serving time in the federal penitentiary at Atlanta before dropping out of sight. Some people suspect that Gavitt fed the false Corbit information about the real man to make the story better, but the 120 page record of the correspondence between Corbit and Gavitt and the proceeding against Corbit, available on the Kansas Historical Society website, does not suggest active collusion between Gavitt and Corbit.
GAVITT PRODUCTS: SYSTEM REGULATOR
AND HERB TABLETS
Gavitt understood the value of publicity. To make sure he always had enough advertising material on hand and to control his costs, he ran his own printing business as well. Gavitt was hardly the only manufacturer who owned a printing business. It always made sense for patent medicine owners to own their own printing plants to produce their own advertising materials because of the sheer volume of material they needed. What set Gavitt apart, however, was that he apparently also took in other printing jobs and ran his printing company as profitable side business.
GAVITT AGENT SOLICITATION FORM AND ORDER BLANK
Gavitt became the wealthiest citizen of Topeka, and when he died at age 81 in 1922, he was president of W. W. Gavitt & Co., bankers and brokers, the Gavitt Loan and Investment Co., the W. W. Gavitt Medical Co., and the W. W. Gavitt Printing and Publishing Co.
W. W. Gavitt’s first son, Harry Ezekiel, was born on January 1, 1875, and attended Topeka Business College and Washburn University Law School in Topeka. He started working in the family business before he had finished his education, since Washburn Law School did not open until 1903, and he appears as the author of some of the medicine company’s pamphlets as early as the 1890s. He took charge of the operation of the medicine and printing business for his father and is credited with the great jump in the growth of sales for Gavitt’s System Regulator, perhaps spurred by his invention in 1902 of a machine that could stuff and seal 15,000 envelopes per hour. Getting out the advertising message was every bit as important as the remedy itself.
GAVITT AGENT’S COVER
What was Gavitt’s System Regulator? One agent, Edward Trow, printed this description on his own advertising envelopes: “Positively will cure all diseases of the Blood, Stomach, Kidneys and Liver. It is a Mild Laxative. A Good Tonic. A Great Blood Purifier. A Powerful Kidney and Liver Regulator. No Steaming. No Boiling. No Mineral. No Alcohol. No Poison. TWENTY-TWO MEDICAL HERBS, ROOTS AND BARKS in one combination. The most wonderful compound known to Medical Science. It is Natures own Remedy. Hurts Nobody. Cures Everybody. Builds up the Broken Down system after all other remedies fail. It has cured Thousands. IT WILL CURE YOU BY ERADICATING disease from the System.(Not sold in Drug Stores).” What more need one say?
H. E. GAVITT’S STOCK EXCHANGE GAME
H. E. Gavitt proved himself clever in a completely different field in 1903 when he invented a game called Stock Market Exchange, which offered a model of such exchanges through a card game. Players compete to corner the market in a commodity by exchanging cards representing various commodities until one player obtains a full suit of a commodity. Originally conceived as another form of advertising for the Regulator, Gavitt had his printing company prepare some games and then started them in circulation by having his medicine agents give samples away with the medicine. The demand was so great for the game that Gavitt stepped up production by his own printing company and began charging separately for them. Parker Brothers, a game making company, reviewed the idea and began selling a very similar game called “Pit” beginning in 1904. Eventually, Pit eclipsed Gavitt’s Stock Market Exchange game, and it disappeared until it was revived in 2003 by enthusiasts looking for new and challenging competitive games.
GAVITT LETTERHEAD
In its heyday under H. E. Gavitt, the Medicine Co. produced and marketed two hundred different medicines, toiletries, soaps and flavorings including Herbal Tablets, Pile Driver for Piles, Lighting Pain Extractor, Cough Balsam and Herbal Ointment. H. E.’s own interests were as diversified as the products his company made. He was a magician who always entertained his friends with new tricks. Among his other and earliest inventions was a Folding Exhibition Chicken Coop, one of the first such collapsible coop models. In the 1930s, he pursued the notion that wild fish could be tamed. He built an artificial lake on a farm west of Topeka that he had stocked with fish fed by hand until they were so tame that they would jump a foot out of the water to reach the proffered food. Some accounts claimed his method could be applied to other wild fish and, when demonstrated, much amazed traditional fishermen. Gavitt was prominent in the Sons of the American Revolution, active in the local country club, where he was chairman of the handicap committee, and headed the section of the local War Resources Board regulating chemicals, oils and paint during World War I. After a long and colorful career, he died in 1954, and apparently has been largely forgotten until quite recently.
GAVITT BROTHERS HEADSTONE
The Gavitt companies continued after H. E.’s death under his brother Corrington until 1967, when at age 83, Corrington closed them. While some other accounts suggest that he sold the product lines, unlike those made by Dunn or Fleer which survive today as confections, new Gavitt products do not appear to be on sale on the internet. Gavitt’s System Regulator now seems to belong to another age.
© Malcolm A. Goldstein 2014
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FRANK H. FLEER CO., MANUFACTURER
Because Frank H. Fleer’s company was the other remaining major independent chewing gum manufacturing firm drawn into the American Chicle Co. during the industry’s second consolidation in 1909, as set forth in the recent article about the T. B. Dunn Co., its story follows naturally after T.B. Dunn’s. From time to time, subsequent articles will relate the stories of the several other subsidiary firms melded into the industry trust that was the American Chicle Co. Moreover, although the Fleer cancels do not appear as frequently as those of the T. B. Dunn Co., its two forms of hand stamped cancels account for many of those observed on RB30s.
FLEER CIRCULAR HANDSTAMPED CANCELS
Frank H. Fleer is another of those unique American individuals remembered from his era – which seemed to regarded wealth as a mark of God’s favor – for developing a product which immediately became emblematic of American life. Fleer is credited with inventing Chiclets, and their success was immediate and long-lasting. Much more so than Dunn’s Sen-Sen, they still can be purchased at virtually all newspaper stands, drug stores, and retail food outlets. In fact, Fleer was a pioneer in the gum industry in two different ways in two different decades, being the first to market Chiclets in the late 1890s and later experimenting with bubble gum in the early 1900s, albeit his company did not perfect the product until 1928. Yet, ironically, his company is probably best remembered today for its later involvement with what began as an incidental give-away accompanying the gum, baseball cards.
FLEER STRAIGHT LINE HANDSTAMPED CANCEL
As with most hundred year old tales, various versions of Fleer’s story recount the details of his life slightly differently. In addition, none of the websites presently discussing Fleer and his gum actually displays a picture of him, although some sites misidentify portraits of others as his. Various sources place Fleer’s birth between 1853 and 1860. U.S. census records show his birth date as 1858, presumably derived from information he provided. One internet source, however, displays a picture of a gravestone of a Frank H. Fleer showing his birth date as July 9, 1857. Since all sources agree that he was born in Westphalia, then a part of Prussia in Germany, the mystery is resolved by a German record of births and baptisms indicating that Franz Heinrich Fleer, indeed born on July 9, 1857 to Jobst and Wilhelmine Fleer, was baptized at St. Peter’s Evangelical Church in Herford, Westphalia on August 2, 1857. Fleer immigrated to the U.S. in 1875, settling in Philadelphia, and his younger brother Henry joined him there in 1881. Eventually, the stories say that Frank entered his father-in-law’s flavoring extract business that had been founded in 1849, but, here also, the record is somewhat blurred. A Pennsylvania marriage record indicates that he married Pauline Alice Shoestein in 1885, but virtually all versions of Fleer’s story indicate that his father-in-law’s name was Otto Holstein. Since, beginning in the mid-1860s, Otto Holstein is listed in various Philadelphia city directories as a merchant, it appears the 1885 record is simply garbled. Whatever the case, Fleer soon renamed the business the Frank H. Fleer Co. and began manufacturing chewing gum by adding Holstein’s flavoring extracts to chicle, the dried sap of the South and Central American sapodilla tree, already established as the principal ingredient of chewing gum.
Actually, although seemingly not presently preserved as part of the record of chewing gum history, Fleer’s face was known in his era. His portrait was featured on his gum wrappers, a phenomenon that sparked discussion at the time. Ad industry professionals commented that his face was “self-satisfied,” “opulent” and too “handsome” to support a public campaign to promote sales of his new product, Pepsin Guru-Kola Gum,” launched on July 1, 1896. In response, Fleer’s advertising manager, Mayer M. Swaab, Jr., replied, in a letter to that same professional advertising journal, that he had fought a difficult battle with Fleer to convince Fleer to allow him to use Fleer’s face on the gum wrapper, and the bottom line as to whether that was a correct decision was best judged by the $225,000 sales generated by the product in its first year.
FRANK H. FLEER PORTRAIT
PUBLISHED WITH SWAAB’S REBUTTAL IN 1897
Fleer tried to stay at the forefront of the chewing gum business, not only by being among the first to add cola flavoring to his gum, but also by being among the earliest to utilize vending machines as a new way to sell his gum. A story is told that an intrepid vending machine salesman approached Fleer. The salesman claimed that people would find the gimmickry of the new machines so fascinating that they would feed money into them even if the machines returned nothing for the penny deposited. Fleer agreed to sponsor a test and set one up in the Flatiron Building in New York City labeled with the instruction for people to “drop a penny in the slot and listen to the wind blow.” So many people complied that the police seized the machine. Fleer placed his vending machine order immediately.
Fleer’s brother Henry provided the blockbuster development which took the Fleer Co. to the next level. Trying to design a gum to match candy-coated almonds then much in vogue, Henry hit upon the idea of wrapping a hard candy coating around a chicle center. He described the resulting hard gum-candy squares as “little chiclets.” Frank seized upon that name for this new product and touched off a new chewing gum craze. Fleer brought his prosperous and thriving Chiclet business into the American Chicle Co. consolidation in 1909, and, apparently, emerged from the arrangement with the title of Chairman of the Board of the re-organized company.
1907 FLEER COVER
It is interesting to note that the Dunn and Fleer companies approached the payment of the Spanish-American War tax differently. The special tax rate imposed on chewing gum was 4¢ per dollar of retail value, as opposed to 2½¢ per dollar of retail value for proprietary medicines. The Treasury Department intended to place the burden of the tax payment on the gum manufacturers and apparently accepted the presence of the 4¢ stamp on the retailer’s gum display box as proof of the manufacturers’ payment. Fleer complied with this regulatory scheme, hence, its use of 4¢ stamps. Dunn and some other gum manufacturers apparently voluntarily chose to stamp most of their individual gum packages with the 1/8¢ battleship revenue stamp, RB20, which was actually designed to indicate payment of tax on medicinal items retailing for 5¢ or less at the 2 ½% per dollar rate of the proprietary medicine tax. The government apparently accepted either kind of accounting, and the total remitted to the government by such companies must have accorded with the 4% gum tax rate, since there is no record of litigation brought by the government alleging short tax payment by any of the gum manufacturers.
1906, 1907 & 1909 FLEER ADS
The history of the Frank H. Fleer Co. that utilized battleship revenues ends at this point, and theoretically, so should this article. However, there are still too many good stories to tell about Fleer’s subsequent adventures and history.
The Second Frank H. Fleer Co.
Fleer apparently was too restless a soul to remain in a purely executive capacity in the American Chicle Co., and by 1913 had organized a second Frank H. Fleer Co. Since the contract under which he had merged the original Flank H. Fleer Co. company into the American Chicle Co. forbade him from competing against it in the chicle gum manufacturing business, this second Frank H. Fleer Co. began as a confectionary company manufacturing candy called Fleer’s Bobs and Fruit Hearts. Fleer himself died suddenly of apoplexy at his country estate in Thomasville, North Carolina in 1921, but not before he had passed effective control of the company to his son-in-law Gilbert Mustin.
FLEER’S HEADSTONE
Two aspects of the second Frank H. Fleer Co.’s business impressed themselves into American culture as firmly as had Chiclets. First, the company began experimenting with trade cards to accompany their candies, issuing a set of 120 cards, featuring notable entertainers and athletes, including Mary Pickford, Gloria Swanson and Babe Ruth. Eventually, the trade cards, particularly the sports cards, would come to play a more important part in its business than gum. A recently discovered uncut page of these Fleer cards created a mild stir because it contained the Babe Ruth card. However, the movie stars and presidents appearing on the other cards occasioned no similar flurry.
SAMPLE FLEER NOTABLES TRADE CARD SERIES 1923
THE BABE RUTH CARD
RECENTLY DISCOVERED ENTIRE SHEET
OF FLEER NOTABLE CARDS
The other innovation made by the second Frank H. Fleer Co. was that it successfully produced the first bubble gum. Chicle based products would not form bubbles, so Frank H. Fleer had experimented with other substances and, as early as 1906, developed a gum called “Blibber-Blubber.” One could blow bubbles with it, but its texture resembled brittle Sticky Putty, making it hard to chew. Moreover, once the blown bubble burst, it was almost impossible to re-collect to blow into another bubble. Faced with these drawbacks, Fleer shelved the product, and there it remained until Gilbert Mustin pressed the research forward.
EXPERIMENTAL BLIBBER-BLUBBER BOX LOGO CIRCA 1906
The correct formula for bubble gum emerged in a most unlikely way from a most unlikely source, according to the tale repeated often enough after the discovery to be accepted now as gospel. Experimental batches of gum were mixed on the third floor of the Fleer factory, but the company’s telephone was on the ground floor. When Mustin, who was overseeing the trials, went off to take phone calls, he left the simmering mixtures in the care of Walter Diemer, a twenty-three year old employed by the Fleer company as an accountant who possessed no background in chemistry. Because Mustin hurried away so often, it fell to Diemer, literally, to keep the pot boiling. After months of trial and error, Diemer hit upon the proper blend of natural ingredients, including a pinch of latex, that both could be blown into a bubble and then easily and quickly re-collected to blow into another bubble. Once he had found the correct formula, he quickly made another batch. While preparing the second mixture, he realized that he had forgotten to add coloring. Scrambling to find some dye, he found he had only pink at hand, so into the cauldron it went. Named “Dubble Bubble,” this pink trial bubble gum debuted as a thousand pieces wrapped like taffy and sold for a penny in a candy shop in Philadelphia on December 26, 1928. They disappeared within a day. Since that first batch of bubble gum was pink, pink became its traditional color forevermore. Dubble Bubble was an instant success, but Diemer never patented the formula, since he did not want to disclose the exact formulation of its ingredients. Others quickly entered the bubble gum market, although Dubble Bubble dominated bubble gum sales at least through the end of World War II. On the strength of his discovery, Diemer ultimately rose to become Senior Vice President of the Fleer company, although he always retained among his responsibilities the job of teaching all Fleer salesmen how to blow bubbles so they could demonstrate the product.
WALTER DIEMER CIRCA 1980
FLEER DUBBLE BUBBLE GUM
When Gilbert Mustin’s oldest son, Gilbert Jr., became president of the company, Fleer’s emphasis began to shift from gum to trading cards. That trading cards became more important than gum is demonstrated by the fact that the remaining illustrations for this article are all sports trading cards. No one collects the gum; only the cards remain significant and have websites carefully attributing value to minor variations in quality, just like stamps. Through its executive Harry Ellsworth (who because of his lifetime of work in candy advertising now is remembered as the “Candy Man”), Fleer was able to negotiate a contract in 1959 with Ted Williams that allowed it to issue a special set of 80 baseball cards devoted entirely to commemorating the life and career of Williams. Although this set demonstrated to Fleer the extent of the untapped potential of the baseball trading card market, another bubble gum company, Topps held individual contracts with virtually all major and minor league baseball players to use their likenesses on baseball cards sold with gum. Fleer made it a practice to approach players when they began their careers on their minor league teams and signed them to a standard form which covered a period of five consecutive years. The contract offered a token payment for signing with additional payments to follow when they reached the majors. The existence of these contracts made competition in the area of baseball trading cards extremely difficult for Fleer.
SAMPLE WILLIAMS COMMEMORATIVE SERIES CARD
Football, however, was another matter. The American Football Conference (AFC) was just organizing to compete with the National Football League (NFL). Although Topps had an exclusive arrangement with the NFL, just as it had with Major League Baseball, Fleer was able to negotiate a group arrangement with the fledgling AFC that permitted it to issue AFC player cards, giving it a toe-hold in the football card market.
SAMPLE 1960 FLEER AFC CARD
Fleer still wanted to enter the baseball card market. It began to sign minor league baseball players to its own trading card contracts in order to put pressure on Topps, but never could land contracts with more than 27 of the more than 400 major league players. For two more years, it issued baseball cards memorializing past baseball legends, but after issuing a first series of 66 cards of current major leaguers in 1963 (packaged with a cookie instead of gum to try to circumvent the terms of the Topps contract), it stopped, whether simply from the exhaustion of competing with Topps or under threat of lawsuit is not quite clear. Some websites allege that Fleer was enjoined, but there is no court report of that injunction proceedings.
SAMPLE FLEER BASEBALL LEGENDS SERIES CARDS
SAMPLE 1963 FLEER BASEBALL CARD
Fleer had already filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in 1962 alleging that Topps was committing an unfair trade practice in violation of the FTC’s statutory authority by unfairly monopolizing the baseball trading card market. After amassing a factual record, the FTC’s hearing examiner found that sales of baseball trading cards marketed with gum was sufficiently enough defined as a separate sales market to make a determination as to whether it was being monopolized in violation of the FTC’s governing statutes, and that Topps was indeed monopolizing it. However, upon review, the FTC itself reversed that decision and ruled in favor of Topps in 1965, holding that since trading cards could be marketed in combination with anything other than gum, the restrictions that Topps imposed through its individual contracts with players were limited enough in scope as to not constitute a monopoly on baseball card sales within the boundaries of the FTC’s statutory authority. Fleer then sold its player contracts to Topps and ceased trying to enter the baseball card market for several years.
At the end of the 1960s, the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA), the newly formed union representing baseball players in their contract negotiations with the team owners, acquired group player marketing rights. It also tried to pressure Topps to improve payments under the individual contracts. Topps demurred and, in retaliation, MLBPA asked players not to renew their individual contracts with Topps. In an attempt to pressure Topps further, MLBPA offered Fleer an opportunity to buy the rights through it to produce baseball cards with gum beginning in 1973 after all the current individual contracts with Topps ended, provided that MLBPA delivered 80% of the players for Fleer to sign. Fleer, finding MLBPA’s terms too speculative and thinking that it would continue to be sustained by bubble gum sales, declined the proffer.
However, as other products arose to compete with bubble gum, Fleer found it needed baseball cards sales to keep pace in the growing market. In 1973, it sued Topps and MLBPA in its home federal courts of Philadelphia again arguing that Topps’s individual player contracts were creating a monopoly. This time it asserted that Topps and MLBPA were violating the federal Sherman Act which prohibits improper monopolies. While not referring to the FTC proceedings, which had been conducted within the ambit of the FTC’s statutory framework which paralleled the Sherman Act, the federal courts reached exactly the same results. The trial court, which heard the witnesses and collected the exhibits, found a discrete sales market for baseball trading cards sold with gum, and held that Topps and MLBPA violated both Sections 1 and Section 2 of the Sherman Act prohibiting monopolies. Upon review, the Third Circuit Court, just like the FTC, found that the relevant sales market was not simply limited just baseball cards marketed with gum and, therefore, that contracts held by Topps were reasonable in scope and duration. It reversed the trial court and dismissed Fleer’s claims.
Using the protection of the original Philadelphia federal district court decision, in 1981, Fleer re-entered the baseball card business, marketing the cards in packages containing a sticker of a major league baseball team’s logo instead of gum. After the Third Circuit’s reversal of the district court, Topps sued Fleer in 1983 in its own home federal court in Brooklyn, alleging that the stickers were a mere sham and violated the restriction in its contracts. This time, before the matter came to trial, Topps and Fleer decided to negotiate their differences. The settlement permitted Fleer to continue marketing baseball card as long as it did not sell them with gum. With the settlement of litigation, there were no longer legal threats or restrictions upon Fleer’s freedom to package and sell baseball cards themselves, which it did successfully in abundance thereafter, with each year’s productions growing more elaborate as the market seemed to grow endlessly.
SAMPLE 1981 FLEER BASEBALL CARD
By 1988, the Mustins were growing old. They accepted a buyout offer from a group led by executives from other gum firms, who, in turn took the Fleer Co. public in 1990. In 1992 Fleer was acquired by Marvel Entertainment Group of comic book fame. By 1995, when Fleer finally abandoned its old factory in Philadelphia, it had acquired interests overseas and also the Skybox International trade card manufacturing company.
ABANDONED FLEER FACTORY IN PHILADELPHIA
In 1998, Fleer sold the Dubble Bubble brand to a Canadian company, Concord Confections, which, in turn, was purchased by Tootsie Roll Industries in 2004. In 1999, the Fleer-Marvel operations were purchased by a partnership which included the founders of Rite Aid Drug Co. In 2005, that partnership entered into an Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors, a state law liquidation process similar to bankruptcy. As a part of the Assignment the Fleer name and brands were auctioned and purchased by the Upper Deck Co., yet another sports memorabilia manufacturer. It is a mark of the Fleer’s falling fortunes that the price Upper Deck paid in the Assignment process was just over $6 million, when the year before Fleer had rejected its offer to buy the company for $25 million. Upper Deck remains in business, but is not presently utilizing the Fleer name and brands. The mad scramble to create baseball collectibles continues, although in that musical-chair-like market Fleer’s seat appears to be gone.
© Malcolm A. Goldstein 2014
EISNER & MENDELSON CO. CANCELS
Eisner & Mendelson Company (E & M) imported foreign manufactured mineral waters and malt extract tonics into the United States. It began in 1882 as a partnership between Moritz Eisner and Joseph Mendelson, and its cancels, featuring its entire name in a circle, appear on four or five different values of the battleship revenues according to Mustacich and Giacomelli. Because both the entire name and its location appear in the cancel, E & M’s battleship revenues are among the easiest of the hand stamped cancels to attribute definitively.
As recounted recently, E & M was part of M. J. Breitenbach’s original partnership to market Pepto-Mangan in the U. S., but its history is best traced by studying the lawsuits in which it appears as a party. The pattern which emerges is that E & M was a litigant again and again because it was acting as U. S. agent for the chief competitor of a popular foreign product or elixir whose sponsor fiercely defended its own right to its name and label. Notably, this column has already recounted its epic battle with Andreas Saxlehner over the U. S. rights to market Hunyadi spring water, a case ultimately adjudicated by the Supreme Court. Predicated on the opinion rendered against E & M, a lower court in 1896 awarded Saxlehner damages of $31,030.36 after conducting an accounting of E & M’s infringing sales.
1894 AD – EISNER, BREITENBACH & CRITTENTON
ALL ON SAME PAGE OF A DRUGGIST’S TRADE JOURNAL
Moritz Eisner was born in Vienna in 1853 and emigrated to the U. S. in 1872. He studied chemistry at the University of Philadelphia, worked for the wholesale druggist Aschenbach & Miller (another battleship revenue user), and then for the small importing chemists, Cramer & Small before buying them out in 1880 with financial help from Aschenbach & Miller. He married a native Pennsylvanian, Anna Zeitz, at the end of December, 1874. While building his importing business, he also acted a local correspondent for German pharmaceutical journals, and when traveling in Europe, as a correspondent for the Philadelphia German language newspaper, the Demokrat, as well as the New York Tribune. Locally, he seems to have forged a sound reputation, for, in 1882, a Pennsylvania medical society journal praised him for importing from Germany the finest solutions of mydriatic alkaloids then used in experiments to study eye muscle reactions.
JOSEPH MENDELSON
Joseph Mendelson was born in Hohenems, Austria in 1852 and emigrated with his family to Philadelphia in 1859. He worked in his father’s dry goods store, then briefly ran his own retail store before becoming salesman for a manufacturer of cabinet ware. He married a woman named Hattie August and again became a retailer in Philadelphia, this time briefly operating a shoe store. In 1882, Mendelson went into partnership with Eisner, with Mendelson handling finances and sales deliveries and Eisner dealing with what is now known as “product development” and advertising. As E & M’s business prospered, the firm relocated its headquarters to New York City in 1887 and incorporated as a West Virginia corporation in 1891. Beyond its entanglements with Andreas Saxlehner, E & M had bruising engagements with several other companies.
Hoff’s Malt Extract
E & M’s most notable dispute concerned its importation of Hoff’s Malt Extract. Malt extract is a liquid collected from grain (often barely) soaked under controlled conditions to allow it to partially sprout. It is often an ingredient in beer, which is grain that is further exposed to the fermentation process to produce alcohol. The terms malt extract and beer have always been loosely interchanged because of common confusion between malting and brewing, but Nineteenth Century producers of malt extract always insisted that the partial sprouting of the grain allowed malt extract to be classified as a food rather than a beverage. In many cultures, malt extract is believed to have medicinal properties to sooth digestion, and in the Nineteenth Century malt extract was marketed as medicine.
1868 HOFF’S MALT EXTRACT AD
BEFORE EXCLUSIVE AMERICAN
DISTRIBUTORSHIP CONTRACT NEGOTIATED
In 1880, Johann Hoff Co., a German manufacturer of malt extract, engaged Eisner as its American sales agent. Thereafter, Eisner became a long-term participant in the quest to establish who had the right to produce and import the genuine Hoff’s Malt Extract. The question spurred lawsuits on two continents for nearly thirty years. A U.S. court in 1896 concluded that the initial formulation of the Extract lay in “obscurity and doubt,” but that neither the product itself or its manufacturing process was covered by any patent, and that “anyone who knows the secret is free to make it.” The court then coolly observed: “[t]hat many members of the Hoff family did know the process … is fully sustained by the proof.” This shared knowledge caused much litigation.
The Hoff Malt Extract story originates in 1847 when Johann Hoff began making his Malt Extract in Berlin. His business quickly prospered and, over the next generation, both Hoff and his Extract became so well-known that they impressed themselves on European culture. In Dostoevsky’s Brothers Karamazov, Ivan Karamazov imagines himself having a conversation with the devil who, while trying to ingratiate himself with Ivan, tells Ivan a tale in which he attributes his recovery from earthly ill-health to a dose Hoff’s Malt Extract. A few years later, when commenting on Sarah Bernhardt’s visit to Moscow, Chekhov noted that Bernhardt craved publicity in the same manner as Johann Hoff had, and that such a craving had brought fame and fortune to both.
DOSTOEVSKY
CHECKOV
As Hoff’s empire expanded, he required new sales offices and bottling plants across Europe. Hoff located his sales and production operation in Berlin and staffed the other locations with members of his family, among them his brother Marcus and his nephew Leopold, Marcus’s son. Marcus ran the bottling plant located in Hamburg, Germany. Leopold managed the sales branch in Paris, but in deference to one of Johann’s new sons-in-law, transferred to Vienna. Dissatisfied with prospects in Vienna, Leopold proposed to Johann that he move to New York City and develop sales in the powerful market then arising in the U.S. Johann approved, and Leopold opened a store in New York City in 1866. In 1868, Leopold returned to Europe after transferring his business to one Joseph Pedersen with the stipulation that Pedersen purchase his Hoff’s Malt Extract exclusively from Marcus in Hamburg. Pedersen then levered his arrangement with Leopold into an association with Tarrant & Co. (Tarrant), a wholesale drug firm in New York City. (For the vigilant, yes, the circle closes tighter; Tarrant was purchased years later by M. J. Breitenbach Co. after a disastrous fire in 1900, as noted a few columns back).
E & M HOFF’S MALT EXTRACT TRADE CARD
To be sure it was on firm ground marketing Hoff’s Malt Extract, Tarrant dispatched Pederson to Berlin to arrange an exclusive distribution contract with Johann himself. Johann apparently deputized Leopold to make the arrangements, and in July, 1869, Leopold signed a twenty year exclusive U. S. distributorship compact with Tarrant The contract provided that orders and correspondence would go through Leopold in Hamburg, but payments would be made to Johann in Berlin. This system worked satisfactorily until 1873 when Johann encountered financial trouble which caused him to transfer his own operations in Berlin to a corporation subsequently run by his wife and also to re-locate himself for a year and one-half to St. Petersburg in Russia, presumably to avoid his creditors. Responding to Johann’s financial crisis, Leopold instructed Tarrant to make payments directly to him in Hamburg and to keep buying from the bottling plant in Hamburg, now listed solely in Marcus’s name.
E & M HOFF’S MALT EXTRACT TRADE CARD
After Johann regained his financial bearings again in 1878, he tried to reassert full authority again over his Malt Extract holdings. Leopold resisted and relations between Johann and Leopold cooled. Johann demanded that Leopold stop using the Hoff Malt Extract label and trademark and claimed the American distributorship contract with Tarrant both had expired and was void. Leopold and Tarrant insisted that the contract was still valid and continued business as usual.
1886 E & M HOFF’S MALT EXTRACT AD
1890 TARRANT HOFF’S MALT EXTRACT AD
In 1881, reviewing a display of pharmaceutical preparations in London, a British medical journal noted that there were two displays of Hoff’s Malt Extract, one by Leopold and the other by Johann. In addition to liquid malt extract, Leopold also displayed a more jellied form together with malted chocolate and candy fashioned from malt extract. Johann showed his tried and true liquid malt extract. The magazine found both malt extract presentations novel, commended them both to public experimentation and noted: “It is to be regretted that any unfriendly rivalry should exist between those who aim at relieving the sufferings of the afflicted.”
1887 (JOHANN) HOFF’S MALT EXTRACT ENGLISH AD
Johann then stepped up the war in the U.S. not only by engaging Moritz Eisner to act as his agent, but also by suing Tarrant in the federal court in New York City in 1881 for unfair competition as well as trademark infringement. The court noted that the sole witnesses who testified were Johann for the plaintiff and Leopold for the defendant. In its opinion, finally rendered in 1886, the court concluded “[n]either of them is truthful.” It found that both Johann and Leopold had sufficient knowledge to make the Malt Extract, and that, whatever they said, they had not really acted at cross-purposes until 1878 when Johann tried to reassert his control of the Hoff’s Malt Extract family fortune. Because the court found that Johann knew and understood what Leopold was doing at all times between 1869 and 1878, it dismissed Johann’s complaint against Leopold. Legal round one went to Tarrant.
E & M HOFF’S MALT EXTRACT BOTTLE
In the first extant litigation mentioning Eisner, in 1882, he brought a criminal slander action against Tarrant’s traveling salesman, one Hurlbert, in the Philadelphia courts alleging that Hurlbert visited Eisner’s customers and told them that Eisner’s Hoff’s Malt Extract was fake. The court dismissed the suit, remarking that Eisner had not pleaded slanderous statements made against himself, but rather only demonstrated disparagement of his product, and also had failed to allege specific damages flowing from those statements. Legal round two also went to Tarrant.
In the continuing German litigation, Leopold seems to have preserved his right to manufacture Hoff’s Malt Extract separately from Johann, but, after the Supreme Court of the German Empire remanded the matter for re-trial in 1887, E & M crowed in its U.S. advertising that it had vindicated its claim to be the source of the only “genuine” Hoff’s Malt Extract. The ad supposedly quoted language from a German Court decision forcing Leopold to make the label and trademark changes that Johann had asked for as part of the relief he sought in the U.S. lawsuit in 1881. However, sensing that E & M had quoted in its ads language not drawn from an actual German court decision but rather from its own brief outlining its argument submitted to the German court, Leopold, in turn, struck back in Germany.
1887 E & M AD CLAIMING VICTORY
In 1889, Tarrant triumphantly trumpeted that it could now denounce E & M’s ads as complete lies. Circulating its own flyer, widely reproduced in U.S. industry journals, Tarrant published “extracts” from an actual 1889 German court decision – forwarded and attested to by the American counsel in Hamburg – in which that court overruled Johann Hoff’s defense in that court that E & M’s merely had made a mistake when it quoted its own brief rather than a court decision in its 1887 ads. It ruled, instead, that defense to be a deliberate lie rather than a mistranslation. The German court further ruled that E & M’s claim that its extract was manufactured in Germany was also a deliberate lie, finding that E & M’s extract was being manufactured in Philadelphia. Having exposed E & M’s lies, echoing Hurlbert’s earlier sales pitch, Tarrant’s announcement then reminded its customers that any physician who troubled to taste the two Hoff’s Malt Extracts would instantly know the difference: “[E & M’s Extract is] light, sour and nauseous liquid, bearing evidence in odor, taste and appearance of a doctored beer having the effect of a stimulant, while the genuine Hoff’s Malt … Tarrant’s is a nutrient.” [all italics in original].
1889 TARRANT REBUTTAL
PRINTED AS NEWS STORY
IN AMERICAL MEDICAL JOURNALS
Yet even as E & M and Tarrant continued to exchange these very loud and very public trade broadsides, important machinations occurred behind the scene. In 1889, Leopold and Tarrant negotiated a new contract to replace the 1869 agreement which, by its terms, was expiring. That contract renewal removed Johann’s name completely from the label Tarrant used in the U.S. and substituted the word’s “Hoff’s Malt Extract – Tarrant’s” in its place. The place of manufacture was changed from either Berlin or Hamburg to Hamburg only, and the fine print of the label was modified in other small ways to show that this Hoff’s Malt Extract was Leopold’s and came from Hamburg. While Tarrant’s modifications were voluntary, and its 1889 circular denounced E & M’s advertising as lies, that circular slyly and subtly ended with the announcement of its future modifications of its U.S. label.
1886 E & M HOFF’S MALT EXTRACT AD
In 1891, Eisner clashed with another adversary over Hoff’s Malt Extract. Applying a new special provision of the Tariff Act of 1890, the Treasury Department classified Eisner’s latest import of Hoff’s Malt Extract as a “malt extract” taxable at a 40% rate rather than at the 25% rate for medicinal preparations not containing alcohol. Prior to 1875, the federal government simply treated malt extract as beer for purposes of import duty. In 1876, Johann Hoff convinced the Treasury Department to issue an administrative ruling classifying his Malt Extract as a medicinal preparation taxable at the 25% rate. Others, drawing on the distinction between malting and brewing, also got competing malt extracts classified as medicinal preparations, and one importer even received a classification of his extract as a food product because of the germination of the grain in the malting process. After the passage of the new tariff law, the Treasury Department read the Act literally and simply applied the new specific provision imposing the 40% tax on malt extract as opposed to the 25% tax on medicinal preparations that also had been renewed. After an administrative appeal within the department produced the same result, Johann Hoff Co. sued in New York federal district court to have the ruling of the Treasury Department set aside on the basis of the older Treasury rulings and the more general tax imposed on medicinal preparations. Amazingly, the District Court agreed and overruled the Treasury Department, but, in 1894, the Circuit Court, upon the government’s appeal, reversed and reinstated the 40% import duty. The Court reasoned that Hoff’s Malt Extract contained 12% malt extract by volume (some of which, the Court noted, was alcohol naturally created in the malting process, a minor differentiation itself carrying the product outside the medicinal preparation classification) and, more importantly, was advertised to stress the special properties of malt extract. Because Congress had specifically address malt extracts, the Court ruled the new specific provision governed, even if Hoff’s Malt Extract was normally considered a medicine.
1895 TARRANT HOFF’S MALT EXTRACT AD
Because E & M and Tarrant apparently still were accruing significant enough sales, they continued battling each other. After mirroring E & M by also incorporating a U.S. subsidiary as a West Virginia corporation, in 1891, Johann Hoff Co. openly began to produce its Hoff’s Malt Extract in the U.S. Now embracing its identity as a U.S. corporation, it again sued Tarrant in the U.S. District Court of New York both to assert its exclusive right to market its Hoff’s Malt Extract as the only genuine Hoff’s Malt Extract and claiming unfair competition. On the eve of trial of this new complaint, it was revealed that in 1882, Johann, Marcus and Leopold had signed a contract among themselves in Germany which divided the world between Johann’s original firm and Marcus’s Hamburg firm for purposes of production and sale of Hoff’s Malt Extract. Johann received the U.S. and the Americas, with the proviso that Leopold could continue his American business with Tarrant & Co, whether a part of Marcus’s operation or not, so long as he did not use Johann’s “malt essence.” Marcus died in 1885 and Johann died in 1887. Apparently, since the 1882 arrangement tolerated the status quo in the U.S., the Germans did not bother to disclose its terms to their U.S. distributors. Even in the face of that revelation, Johann’s heirs still claimed misconduct by Tarrant, apparently asserting that Leopold had not abided by the terms of the 1882 agreement and was still using Johann’s “malt essence.”
E & M HOFF’S MALT EXTRACT ADS
In its 1896 decision, rather than trying to sort out what constituted the true “malt essence” and who possessed it, the District Court took the 1882 agreement as indisputable evidence that both firms had the legal right to market Hoff’s Malt Extract in the U.S. Its decision simply required Tarrant to add “Leopold” to its label in front of the words “Hoff’s Malt Extract” and, likewise, barred sale without this modification. When the Court of Appeals affirmed the District Court, in a very short per curiam decision, it simply pointed out that Leopold’s earlier label changes had not been dramatic enough to avoid “deceitful confusion,” although it refused to require a “perfidious” motive to find such “deceitful confusion” and remarked that such confusion might even arise from carelessness! Each side immediately proclaimed victory. E & M insisted that having “Leopold” added to Tarrant’s label was victory enough, although it conceded that it had neither barred Tarrant from selling Hoff’s Malt Extract nor had it gained an accounting of damages for Tarrant’s past sales. For its part, Tarrant claimed the further label modification was a minor inconvenience, crowed again that it had shown that Johann’s Malt Extract was a pale American shadow of its German product, and vainly promised to appeal this decision again to the U.S. Supreme Court.
E & M HOFF’S MALT EXTRACT TRADE CARD CIRCA 1898
Meanwhile, in 1894, the U.S. had re-codified its trademark law, and the fight thereafter shifted to the trademark forum. In 1905, Johann Hoff Co. tried to register Hoff as a trademark for malt extract, claiming that it had obtained exclusive use of the term “Hoff’s Malt Extract” for the ten-year period before its registration filing, relying principally on its 1896 court victory. The Patent Office declined to make the registration, and Johann Hoff Co. appealed the Office’s decision to the federal court of appeals in Washington. In 1909, that court held that the Patent Office correctly concluded that Johann Hoff Co. had not demonstrated its exclusive use of Hoff’s Malt Extract, and reasoned that Hoff’s Malt Extract and Leopold Hoff’s Malt Extract were so close as to deny either exclusive use of “Hoff” as a trademark. So ended the “Thirty Years’ War” over the proprietary nature of Hoff’s Malt Extract. Eisner may have acted on behalf of Johann Hoff, who was the original Hoff of Hoff’s Malt Extract, but he was close enough to Johann to have known that Johann had granted Leopold a free hand to distribute the product in the United States.
E & M TRADEMARK REGISTRATION POST HOFF RULING
Although as late as 1906, Eisner managed to place a medical study commending the use of Hoff’s Malt Extract as a treatment for anemia in a medical journal, in the same manner as Breitenbach had used such medical journals, by 1912, the market for Hoff’s Malt Extract must have been failing, for Johann Hoff Co. found it could not meet the payment deadlines for its bonds then falling due. It dissolved itself as a West Virginia corporation and re-chartered itself as a Maine corporation that purchased the assets of the old corporation through issuing bonds not payable until 1921. The only part of the operation that remained the same was that the new corporation assigned its entire production output to E & M, which, as a contemporary New York Times article noted, “will guarantee net profit to the new company sufficient to meet all the fixed charges.” By then Hoff’s Malt Extract had wormed its way into American culture as well. In 1904, the American author Willa Cather wrote in a letter that she did not find it a cure for her general ennui and malaise.
WILLA CATHER
E & M’s Other Involvements
Carlsbad Sprudel Salts
By 1887, Eisner had landed other major contracts, becoming the U.S. representative for various mineral waters bottled by the famous hot spring cities of Vichy in France and Carlsbad, then in Austria., as well the Hungarian water that brought on the litigation with Andreas Saxlehner.
E & M VICHY WATER AD
Eisner’s involvement with the City of Carlsbad, distributing and marketing its mineral water, “Carlsbad Sprudel Salts,” led to his participation in another slew of litigation over whether the City could hold exclusive rights to profit from its name and its springs. In these cases, the problem presented was that the mineral content of Carlsbad’s water had been analyzed and the formula for its production published in Germany. Any American manufacturer could produce a mineral water that had the same mineral content as Carlsbad Sprudel Salts, but could that manufacturer invoke Carlsbad’s name in connection with its sale?
E & M CARLSBAD SPRUDEL SALT ADS
At first, Eisner seemed to prevail, winning an injunction against the sale of Saratoga “Carlsbad” Water by Philadelphia druggist G. W. Nock in 1888. In connection with another American lawsuit he brought in 1889, Eisner accompanied the lawyers to Carlsbad for the deposition of its Mayor, who attested that the City had controlled and exploited its mineral springs since 1370 and displayed the patents granted by the Habsburg emperors to prove its exclusive control. Upon his return from Carlsbad, Eisner confidently reported to the press that the Mayor’s evidence would conclusively determine the litigation.
ADDITIONAL E & M CARLSBAD SPRUDEL SALT ADS
However, when the case was adjudicated, the court found that one Schultz, the American distributor whom Eisner was trying to shut down, had actually used the term “Carlsbad Water” long before Eisner began importing the genuine article into the U.S. and had always identified his water as artificially created in accordance with the publicly known analysis of the mineral content of Carlsbad’s water. While the court was perfectly willing to enjoin Schultz from using any labeling that could be confused with Eisner’s, it proved an empty victory since the court held that Schultz had clearly denoted his water as artificial “Carlsbad Water,” found Schultz’s application of the term artificial sufficient to differentiate Schultz’s mineral water from the real mineral water, and therefore granted no accounting of damages for infringing sales. Applying the reasoning of this decision, the makers of Saratoga “Carlsbad” Water soon began marketing their water again, stressing in their advertising that its place of origin was Saratoga Springs, N.Y., not Carlsbad, Austria. Eisner’s and Carlsbad’s attempt to register “Sprudel” as a trademark similarly failed. In 1912, the trademark examiner held that another manufacturer had already registered his mineral water as “Gerolsteiner Sprudel” before Eisner filed his trademark application. The examiner further held not only that Carlsbad’s claim to priority of use of the term “Sprudel” in the United States was belied by the other party’s earlier registration, but also, that Eisner and Carlsbad could claim no exclusivity to the use of the term “Sprudel.” Even while conceding the term “Sprudel” might have first been coined to describe the springs at Carlsbad, the examiner found that by 1780 “Sprudel” had acquired in German the general descriptive meaning of “bubbling or boiling” or, when used as a verb “to break forth like a spring.” Since the term had become too general to pinpoint the origin of the water, the examiner denied Eisner and Carlsbad the right to register their trademark. As with Hoff’s Malt Extract, Eisner became the agent for the City of Carlsbad, the original source of Carlsbad Sprudel Salts, but took on the role too late to secure the exclusive U.S. rights to the product.
1892 SARATOGA CARLSBAD WATER AD
Mendelson died at Far Rockaway, Long Island, in 1904 at age 51. Announced in a single drug trade journal, the factual statement of his death constitutes one half of his obituary. The remaining line reads: “Mr. Mendelson has been a member of Eisner & Mendelson Co. for twenty years, and by his kindness and courtesy of manner, had won not only the highest respect, but the warmest affection of all his associates.” However, most contemporary assessments of both Eisner and Mendelson were less charitable, and Hattie Mendelson’s name continued to appear in connection with E & M, but only because as her husband’s executor she was Eisner’s co-defendant in the Saxlehner litigation and many others.
Soden Mineral Pastilles
In 1891, E & M found itself enjoined with respect to selling another of its products. It was acting as the American sales agent for the Soden Mineral Springs Co., a German company that evaporated water from the Soden Spring in Germany to produce mineral wafers, called Soden Mineral Pastilles, which it asserted cured colds and bronchial ailments. The ads E & M ran in the U.S. for the Pastilles claimed that they were endorsed and recommended by the eminent English throat specialist, Sir Morrell Mackenzie, and even went so far as state that no package was genuine without Mackenzie’s signature on it. When informed that he was touting Soden Mineral Pastilles in the New York Times, Mackenzie took umbrage and sued in New York, affirming that he had no knowledge of the product, further that the signature reproduced on the package was not his, and that he had never sent E & M any endorsement of the product. In court statements, dodging the question of their dubious advertising claims, Eisner and Mendelson both responded that the packaging was done by the German company in Germany and shipped to them ready for sale, and, moreover, that their contract did not permit them to make any changes to that packaging. The Court had no difficulty enjoining E & M from engaging in false advertising using Mackenzie’s likeness, signature or words.
Cosmopolitan Advertising Bureau
In reporting the circumstances of another judgment entered against E & M in 1899, a journal interviewed the plaintiff who had obtained the judgment. One J. Preston Carson recounted how he had bought for $6000 a minority share in an advertising agency that E & M had organized to handle the advertising for its products as well as agreeing to become its president. E & M then decided to use the agency to handle outside advertising beyond E & M’s own and urged Carson to hire one Haulenbeck, “J. Walter Thompson’s right hand man,” to help him grow the business. Carson negotiated with Haulenbeck, but while these talks dragged on for several months, a deal was never consummated. Carson then claimed that Eisner had told him that because he had not come to terms with Haulenbeck, Eisner was going to close the agency completely. Eisner and Mendelson then offered to ease his loss by buying him out of his stake in the agency for $3150. Thereafter, Carson learned that Eisner and Mendelson had not closed the agency, but had made their own deal with Haulenbeck, bringing Haulenbeck into their operation on the same terms that Carson had negotiated with Haulenbeck minus Carson’s involvement. He then sued Eisner and Mendelson each for deceit, asserting that they had planned all along with Haulenbeck to force Carson out of the advertising bureau. After weighing the testimony, the jury found for Carson and the court entered judgment against E & M in the amount of $3638.14 to make Carson whole for his lost investment.
Carson described Eisner to the trade journal as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. He was the soul of benevolence when he offered to buy Carson out, but laughed at Carson when Carson asked for the return of his stock after Eisner’s deal with Haulenbeck became known: “Eisner had run out of charity, Christian or otherwise.” When the lawsuit was tried, Carson claimed Eisner admitted he had not even read the affidavit his lawyer had him sign. Describing Mendelson, Carson said: “The man does not seem to be troubled by any more scruple of conscience than his esteemed partner, but he has none of his partner’s skill of fence. He was a mere plaything in the hands of the lawyers.”
Although Carson’s indictment of Eisner and Mendelson remains a part of the permanent story of E & M, Carson’s triumph was short-lived. When E & M appealed, the reviewing court reversed Carson’s judgment. Reading the same testimony as the jury, it found that Haulenbeck had legitimately declined to deal with Carson, and that E & M had negotiated with Haulenbeck at arm’s length through a different intermediary after Carson sold his stock back to Eisner. Therefore, it held the charge of deceit unfounded.
Dr. Friedrich Franz Friedmann
N. Y. TIMES TURTLE SERUM TRANSFER REPORT
4/29/1913
Eisner’s final appearance on the public stage was as the U.S. distributor of Dr. Friedrich Franz Friedmann’s turtle vaccine heralded in 1913 as the cure for tuberculosis. E & M organized the Standard Distributing Co. especially to deal with this new miracle drug. Once again, there was a flurry of heart-stopping litigation breathlessly reported by the New York Times as to whether Eisner or a doctor named Sturm had properly secured the U.S. distribution rights. Eisner prevailed when Friedmann claimed that his association with Sturm was limited to Sturm’s observing him, and denied that he had conveyed the rights to the serum itself to Sturm. Shortly thereafter, the Times reported that Friedmann had transferred the formula to Eisner’s company. The Times also reported Friedmann’s and Eisner’s lofty plan to have the Standard Distributing Co. establish clinics all over the country to make the vaccine available to the public and free to the poor. After being announced with such a flourish in 1913, the turtle vaccine retreated into its shell, and in 1916, Eisner quietly testified in bankruptcy court that the New York Friedmann Institute was defunct. There are several Standard Distributing Co. presently in operation, but none seem to have any connection with Eisner’s company.
Moritz Eisner lived until 1938 when he died at age 84 after an illness lasting six weeks. His obituary in the New York Times noted that he had finally retired in the early 1930s from his final position as President of the Carlsbad Salts Co. Having never really prevailed on behalf of the European suppliers he represented to corner the markets they coveted within the U.S., nevertheless, Eisner managed to ride the popularity of their extracts and waters to a prosperous and comfortable old age.
EXAMPLES OF SECOND COMMON FORM OF PRINTED CANCELS – 1899 to 1901
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DUNN REVENUE STAMPS USED ON SEN-SEN PACKAGES AND BOXES
This particular alphabetical meander through the great slew of companies using proprietary battleship revenues is principally devoted to documenting those whose names appear most often on these revenues, and, for that reason, next investigates the T. B. Dunn Co. of Rochester, NY. Virtually any lot of battleship cancels offered on eBay – whether a mixed offering or one strictly limited to proprietaries – includes at least one RB20 with the familiar “TBD Co” initials emblazoned upon it. The Dunn company attached the RB20s to small envelopes containing Sen-Sen, a breath freshening gum, and the empty packets with their RB20s still affixed are also sometimes offered for sale on eBay. The cancel commonly appears in one of two formats: either the earlier more elaborate form of “Aug 12, 98/T.B.D. Co.;” or the later more streamlined form “8-1-1899/ T.B.D.Co .” The cancels also appears on the RB27 and RB30 values which were used to denote proper payment of the tax on display or presentation boxes of Sen-Sen containing multiple envelopes. Sen-Sen’s enormous popularity is demonstrated not only by the sheer volume of the stamps still extant, but also by the fact that, save for the first day cancels, all of them were printed rather than hand stamped. The policy of printing cancels meant the company was immensely confident that its volume of business warranted large-scale formal preparation of cancelled stamps. Of course, the most convincing proof of Sen-Sen’s enduring charms is that it can be purchased even today on the Internet, advertised now more as a novelty candy rather than a breath mint.
SEN-SEN AVAILABLE TODAY ON THE INTERNET
The discourse on T. B. Dunn and Sen-Sen divides naturally into several different topics. First, the product itself merits discussion for the singular place it holds in our culture, and then both T. B. Dunn’s business and professional achievements separately warrant review for the values they represent. Concerning the product itself, Sen-Sen came (and apparently still comes) packaged as little squares of gum with a hard black surface that give off a heavy anise or licorice scent when chewed. Its enormous popularity and genuine appeal lay in its ability to mask other scents on the breath that might otherwise be detected. In an age when use of tobacco and alcohol were considered morally degenerate in many fashionable circles, Sen-Sen had enormous appeal to smokers and drinkers who wished to disguise their “character failings” from their more conventional family and friends. During Prohibition, when drinking was illegal in addition to being immoral, Sen-Sen provided cover for those who wished to hide their penchant for illegal elixirs by disguising the scent of alcohol. Sen-Sen was readily available at any drug or candy store, and, in this period, particularly, was a hallmark of sophistication among those of the younger set who wished to be identified as part of the knowledgeable demimonde.
OLDER SEN-SEN PACKAGING
Thomas Byrne Dunn was born in Providence, RI in 1857, but moved with his parents to Rochester, N.Y. in 1858. Eventually, he became engaged in the manufacture of perfumes, and seems to have become a conventional member of the Perfume Manufacturers Association. How Sen-Sen emerged is shrouded in mystery. The cant explanation repeated by present Internet retailers on every website, without any quoted source beyond a reference to the “company’s history,” is that Sen-Sen was invented by a Dunn company “plant supervisor” named Kershner, who chanced upon the method for infusing chewing gum with perfume in a stable manner. No explanation is ever offered as to exactly why a perfume maker would have been trying to infuse chewing gum with perfume, but perhaps the need to disguise use of tobacco and alcohol was always so glaringly obvious that a market niche was there just waiting to be filled by some enterprising inventor. The Dunn company first marketed Sen-Sen around 1894 or 1895 and trademarked its distinctive packaging in 1897. By the outbreak of the Spanish-American War in 1898, Sen-Sen had found its place as a pocket necessity for every smoker or drinker.
DUNN PERFUME TRADE CARD
T. B. Dunn was a good employer. A 1903 New York State Board of Mediation and Arbitration report commended Dunn’s company for its treatment of its employees, noting both that many of these employees were women, and quoting the plant forewoman as saying: “We employ the nicest girls in town, many of them coming from the high school. Very few are dismissed. That they are satisfied with their employment and surroundings is indicated by the fact that they remain with us until they get married.” The report further set forth that when the company learned that these woman had begun a “sick benefit association,” it voluntarily determined to match employee contributions. At a time when the average factory workforce accepted, and even approved, the normal length of the work day as being nine hours long, an employer’s contributing to an employee sick fund was an almost unknown perk. The historical Robert Campbell Kershner (1857-1944) was more than just a “plant supervisor;” he was Dunn’s brother-in-law and ultimately rose to the position of treasurer of the entire Dunn enterprise. He not only merited his own biographical entry among the notable businessmen and sportsmen of New York State, but his daughter’s engagement also made the society page of the New York Times in 1910. By then, the Dunn company had sales agencies in “London … Paris, Berlin, Moscow, Madrid, Mexico, Buenos Ayres and other world centers.”
DUNN CO. COVER
COVERS USED BY DISTRIBUTERS OF SEN-SEN
Dunn was an ambitious industrialist. As early as 1899, just after the chewing gum industry itself consolidated with the formation of the American Chicle Co in 1898 (a subject for a separate inquiry in due course), Dunn was approached to join in a similar consolidation of the perfume industry proposed by a fellow Rochesterian, Andrew S. Onderdonk, who also conducted a perfume business.1
[1 Take note: the only “ASO” cancels listed in Mustacich & Giacomelli are three attributed to Allen S. Olmstead of LeRoy, NY, although one is marked “questionable,” so there may be room for another seismic re-attribution, ala Frank Sente’s authoritative reattribution of the printed “S.C. & Co.” cancel from Strong, Cobb & Co. to Snyder, Chaffee & Co.]
While various significant perfume manufacturing companies, among them Colgate & Co., Lazell, Dalley & Co., Theodore Ricksecker, Alfred Wright (each and every one a battleship revenue user which ultimately will be profiled in this study) as well as Ladd & Coffin (already profiled), participated in this discussion, no perfume trust ever formed. Perhaps because of the particularly private and proprietary nature of perfume and cosmetics formulas, like medical formulas, the perfume manufacturers never consolidated into a trust as the chewing gum manufacturers did. Dunn prided himself on the independence of his spirit and the company remained on its own throughout the Spanish-American War and almost until the end of the next decade.
T. B. DUNN CO. ADVERTISING
SEN SEN CHICKLET CO ADVERTISING
BIRD TRADE CARDS WITH COMMON BACK
1911 Ad
However, in 1909, for reasons set forth below, Dunn merged his company into, and became president of, the newly formed Sen-Sen Chicklet Company that was capitalized at $6,700,000. Not surprisingly, this time the principle owner of the new company was none other than the American Chicle Co. Aside from Dunn’s company, the American Chicle Co.’s other prominent acquisition was the Frank H. Fleer Co., which in 1906 had designed, marketed and named chicklets (The Fleer Co.’s own history will appear by and by in another column). The new Sen-Sen Chicklet Co. was headquartered in the Metropolitan Tower in New York City, but continued the manufacture of Sen-Sen at Dunn’s former factory in Rochester. In 1914, the American Chicle Company finally completed its purchase and consolidation of Dunn’s operations into its own by replacing the stock of the Sen-Sen Chicklet Co. with its own, now capitalized at $8,000,000, and by the 1920s, when the assets of the company were valued at over $20,000,000, had closed the plant in Rochester, N.Y. The machinery for the production of Sen-Sen was sent to another American Chicle plant location. At some point, both the formula for the manufacture of Sen-Sen and its production machinery passed into the hands of the Warner-Lambert pharmaceutical company, which, in turn, sold both, in 1977, to F. & F. Laboratories, Inc. F. & F. still operates the original machinery today at its plant in Chicago, IL. By contrast with the American Chicle Co. trust of 1920, F. & F., a privately held company, when it last publicly discussed its finances, only claimed sales in the range of $20,000,000 in 1995 dollars, a mere pittance when compared with American Chicle’s 1920s $20,000,000.
1907 PICTURE 1908 CARTOON
The reason Dunn turned away from manufacturing was that his attention was gradually drawn to politics. After a two-year stint as President of the Rochester Chamber of Commerce, he successfully ran as a Republican for the position of State Senator for Rochester’s district in 1906. By that time, he was also a prominent citizen of the community as well as a member of the Board of Trustees for the Rochester Orphan Asylum, a director of the Genesee Valley Trust Co., a local bank, and a member of the Rochester Athletic Association, the Rochester Yacht Club, the Genesee Valley and the Rochester Country Clubs. In 1907, New York State Governor Charles Evans Hughes named him as the Chief Commissioner and President of the New York State Commission to the Jamestown Exposition (commemorated by U.S. postage stamps Scott 328-330), where he officiated at New York’s pavilion, entertaining such notables as then President Theodore Roosevelt, and future President Woodrow Wilson.
1907 U.S. COMMEMORATIVES ISSUED FOR JAMESTOWN EXPOSITION
NEW YORK STATE BUILDING AT JAMESTOWN EXPOSITION
In 1908, pictures of him and all his family members ran on the front page of the New York City Tribune, when he was introduced to the entire state as the Republican candidate for State Treasurer. The Republicans won, and he served the two-year term. After Governor Hughes was appointed by President Taft to be an Associate Supreme Court Justice in 1910, Dunn attempted unsuccessfully to secure the Republican gubernatorial nomination. While not a significant enough politician to become a lasting statewide figure, thereafter, he successfully ran in 1912 as the Republican candidate to the United States House of Representatives for the Rochester, N.Y. district, and served in Congress for five terms, always a solid supporter of Republican causes, including, as the drug trade publications were quick to note, retail price maintenance legislation. Yet, even as a politician, he still found time to contribute to the Rochester Automobile Club in support of the annual orphan’s outing that it arranged for the children housed in asylums around Rochester.
DUNN FAMILY ON THE COVER OF THE N. Y. TRIBUNE – 10/18/1908
In 1922, Dunn elected not to run and retired from office. He died on July 2, 1924, and was laid to rest in a mausoleum which he had ordered and had constructed for himself in 1898. If you, dear reader, find this article obsessive concerning such a local phenomenon as Thomas B. Dunn (who happens, by chance, to hail from the author’s hometown of Rochester, N.Y., although hardly a household identity or personality like another Rochesterian, George Eastman ), consider that the compete records concerning the specifications for the mausoleum, including the names of the stone cutters who actually participated in quarrying the stone Dunn had ordered from George W. Sanborn of the Smith Granite Co., are available on-line at the website of the Babcock-Smith House Museum maintained in the city of Westerly, Rhode Island.
DUNN MAUSOLEUM
There are notable oddities and curiosities about Sen-Sen. Originally its ingredients were imported to Rochester, N.Y. from such exotic places around the world as Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, France, Italy and parts of Asia. The name Sen-Sen is thought to derive from the Japanese word for glistening, shiny or bright, but may simply be fanciful. In 1900, as part of a promotion for Sen-Sen, T. B. Dunn persuaded John Philip Sousa to reprint one of his marches, the “Yorktown Centennial March” composed in 1881, under the title of the “Sen-Sen March,” and in 1918, the Treasurer’s Report for the American Philatelic Society noted that among A.P.S.’s financial assets was “Sen-Sen Chicklet Co. Sinking Fund Gold Bond No. A1081” bearing a face value of $1000.
JOHN PHILIP SOUSA’S SEN-SEN MARCH
No less an obsessive source than Wikipedia celebrates the numerous references to Sen-Sen in American folklore. It is mentioned in the musical “The Music Man” in the song “(Ya Got) Trouble” when Professor Harold Hill cites boys bragging about chewing Sen-Sen to “cover up tell-tale breath” as sign of impending hooliganism, and Billy Joel cites it in his song “Keeping The Faith.” It is also referenced in the plays “Street Car Named Desire” by Tennessee Williams and “Talley’s Folly” by Lanford Wilson. Robert Penn Warren called one of the characters in “All the King’s Men” Sen-Sen Puckett because of his habit of chewing Sen-Sen. Other writers from Somerset Maugham through John Steinbeck to Philip Roth, Thomas Harris, Stephen King, Ray Bradbury and Philip K. Dick have referred to Sen-Sen in their novels and stories. On television, it has been mentioned on shows such as M*A*S*H*, Northern Exposure and King of Queens. The mention of Sen-Sen seems to impart a lasting, slightly dated sense of raffish, risqué, naughty, and yet ploddingly plebian, daring to any enterprise with which its name is associated.
© Malcolm A. Goldstein 2014
Charles N. Crittenton Co.
Wholesaler, Manufacturer
From the tale of M J Breitenbach Co. – which recounted some facets of the life of Edward G. Wells, the outgoing and colorful Vice-President of Charles N. Crittenton Co., who ultimately brought his expertise to the Breitenbach Company’s adroit, if slightly unscrupulous, management – it is natural to progress to an examination of the Crittenton Co. itself, and to its founder, Charles N. Crittenton (1833-1909).
CHARLES N. CRITTENTON
The Crittenton Co.’s “C. N. C. & Co.” handstamp is reasonably frequently found in two different type configurations on almost all of the values of the battleship proprietary issue.
CRITTENTON SINGLE NAME STRIKE CANCELS
*****
CRITTENTON DOUBLE NAME STRIKE CANCELS
With this column, this series engages fully (perhaps for the first time) its central mission to clothe one of Henry Holcombe’s original bare bones, but ever fascinating, accounts of the locations and products of the proprietary medicine company (always combined with a meticulous recounting of the colors, paper variations, and printing runs of their 1863-1883 issue proprietary stamps) with the accoutrements of circumstance and anecdote that make the Patent Medicine Era milieu, its proprietors and their products real. It also attempts to add information to the spectacular full color pictures of the original RS issues and thumbnail sketches of the sponsoring companies posted on line by Robert Hohertz (rhinstal.com), who has also contributed to the 1898battleshiprevenue.com website. Crittenton’s life happily lends itself to this kind of elucidation, for he was yet another 19th Century captain of industry who ultimately found a passion beyond patent medicines and devoted his fortune to pursuing that goal.
Scott RS 62a Scott RS 63d
Scott RS 64c Scott RS 64d
CRITTENTON’S PRIVATE DIE PROPRIETARY STAMPS
(Capital Letters and Numbers are Scott Catalogue Listing; Small Letters denote paper sub-varieties)
Crittenton was born in the remote village of Henderson in Jefferson County, New York on February 20, 1833. At age 18, like many young men of his time, he journeyed to New York City to find his fortune. He began as an office assistant in a funeral parlor, and trained to become an accountant. By 1860, according to Holcombe, he was working with his brother William M. Crittenton, as a wholesaler and agent for several different proprietary medicines. He himself later said that when he had saved sixty dollars, he struck out on his own as a wholesaler of druggists’ supplies, an event which occurred approximately in 1862. After five years in business, he reckoned his accumulated wealth at $25,000. According to Holcombe, in or around 1876, Crittenton entered into an agreement with John F. Henry, a prominent and already established patent medicine producer (RS 112-116), to manufacture certain patent medicines which prompted him to order his own RS issues, RS 62-64. Among the colorfully named products of which Crittenton was the proprietor were Glenn’s Sulphur Soap, Hale’s Honey of Horehound and Tar, Japanese Corn File, Hill’s Hair Dye and Revivum, and Pike’s Toothache Drops.
CRITTENTON TRADE CARDS
COMMON BACK FOR ABOVE TRADE CARDS
Crittenton was also agent for a variety of other preparations such as Dr. Decker’s Shake No More, manufactured by Dr. W. F. Decker of Paterson, N.J.; the remedies of Dr. Josiah Briggs of Newark, N.J.; the malaria cure of Dr. James of New York City; Ficus Carica, a laxative manufactured by Brighton Pharmaceutical Co of New York City; Eradico manufactured by Eradico Mfg. Co. of New York City; and Vinolia manufactured by Vinolia Co. Ltd. of London. By 1880, Crittenton had located his business in an enormous warehouse building at 115-117 Fulton Street which was the largest depot for proprietary medicines and druggist supplies in New York City and possibly in the entire world.
His own trademarked symbol was the beehive and his motto was “Nothing Without Labor.” These devices appear prominently on the Crittenton Company’s mailing envelopes.
CRITTENTON COVERS
Always a staunch prohibitionist, Crittenton was the one of the earliest supporters and distributors of Lydia E. Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound, which was advertised as a non-alcoholic medicinal remedy particularly suited for women. Pinkham’s Compound was a great financial success for both Pinkham and Crittenton, and the battleship cancels associated with it, mostly printed, are commonly and most frequently seen on RB28. The complete story of its founder, her company and its history, already the subject of numerous discrete books, looms like Mt. Everest over that of the other companies to be chronicled in this series, and will be taken up at another time. However, Crittenton’s support of Pinkham can be used as a sound measure both of his business acumen and his teetotaling convictions.
CRITTENTON ADVERTISING
1879 ALMANAC COVERS
In 1892, the business was incorporated as a privately held corporation with capital of $800,000, an extremely large number for that time. The New York Times columnist who reported the event harrumphed that if Crittenton had intended it to be a publically held corporation, it would have been capitalized at a much larger sum, for its accounts were ample enough to warrant a much larger capitalization. However, by then Crittenton had removed himself entirely from the day-to-day operations of the company to follow a more compelling calling. In 1882, his four year old daughter Florence died of scarlet fever. Shaken by this tragedy, Crittenton embarked on a completely different path with the same vigor that he had pursued his patent medicine business. An Evangelical Christian, he plunged into missionary work, and began to concern himself with the plight of prostitutes, apparently taking to the streets of New York at night to try to persuade them to give up their trade. While this kind of behavior in our time of politically correct sensitivities seems almost pathological, the Victorian world seemed to take this kind of behavior in stride. At almost the same time in England, Prime Minister William Gladstone of England indulged the same passion and no one seems to have thought it more than a mildly strange eccentricity. Certainly it never interfered with Gladstone’s political career, and, likewise, no one at the time seems to have considered Crittenton’s motivation as anything other than heaven directed.
1887 AD 1914 AD
The first solid achievement of Crittenton’s new pursuit was his establishment of the Florence Crittenton Mission on Bleeker Street in New York City in 1883. Its charter was to provide a home for “lost and fallen women,” meaning prostitutes and unmarried, pregnant women. By 1886, it became clear that Crittenton could not sustain this crusade and keep track of his business, so he turned the business decisions over to his highly devoted and trusted staff, among them Edward G. Wells. Crittenton, meanwhile, had overworked himself to such a degree that his physicians ordered him to go abroad to regain his strength. He heeded their advice, but gave the trip his own orientation, using it as a reason to visit the Holy Lands, and then to continue all the way around the world to China, at each place documenting the conditions of the woman he observed. After two years, he landed back in the United States at San Francisco and promptly endowed a mission in that city as well as in Los Angeles, San Jose and Sacramento. He gradually molded his work into the National Florence Crittenton Mission and centered his philanthropic operations on the West Coast for three years to oversee these endeavors.
IMAGES OF KATE WALLER BARRETT
In 1892, Kate Waller Barrett, a thirty-five year old minister’s wife, who had recently received her M.D. from the Woman’s Medical College of Georgia, in between raising the six surviving of her seven children, contacted Crittenton for a donation to support her project to build a home for unwed mothers in Atlanta, GA. Crittenton immediately dedicated $5000 to the project, and it soon opened its doors as the latest Florence Crittenton Mission. After her husband’s death soon after the family relocated to Alexandria, VA, where Barrett became Vice-President and General Superintendent of Crittenton’s rapidly expanding Mission. By 1898, Crittenton had obtained a charter from Congress to build these homes where ever he sought fit. A biographical sketch of Barrett explains that while Crittenton was the President and source of the funds for the Mission, “he was [so] completely committed to evangelism, that it fell to Mrs. Barrett … to supervise and guide the movement, now numbering some fifty homes across the country.”
“Though these institutions were largely autonomous, Mrs. Barrett’s national office was the heart of the undertaking, offering the homes, not only financial aid, but moral support, advice and a sense of continuity in times of difficulty.” She also began to publish a national Crittenton magazine, held an annual conference, set up training sessions for workers in Washington, and in 1903 published a book on how to manage a rescue home. Her biographical sketch credits her with gradually softening the focus of the organization from saving prostitutes to offering care, guidance and vocational training for young, unwed mothers. Crittenton kept plunging ahead with his efforts to create new missions, and eventually set up his own train to travel across the country at will no less than twice a year, visiting and prodding his homes to do more and better work. At the time of his death in 1909, he had “established seventy-four rescue homes for girls in the United States” and several in “France, Japan and the City of Mexico, all of which are named in memory of his daughter Florence.” Crittenton’s autobiography titled “The Brother of Girls” was published posthumously in 1910 and can still be purchased on the internet. The formidable Mrs. Barrett succeeded Crittenton as President of the Mission and served until her own death in 1925. She became a social and political power in her own right, becoming President of the National Council of Women in 1911, acting as a Virginia regent for the Daughters of the American Revolution, a vice-president of the Virginia League for Equal Suffrage, President of the National Woman’s Auxiliary to the American Legion, a delegate to the 1924 Democratic Party convention, and a member of the board of visitors at William and Mary College, where a women’s dormitory was named in her memory in 1927. Her son, Robert South Barrett, succeeded her as President of the Crittenton Mission and served in that capacity until his own death in 1959.
At his death, Crittenton left an estate estimated at between $3 and $5 million dollars. Half went directly to the Crittenton Mission. The remainder of his estate was divided among his family, with the holdings ultimately rapidly devolving upon his five grandchildren, although a pool of his most loyal executives and workers were also rewarded with some small interest in the company to incentivize their continued imaginative interest in the company. The grandchildren and the Mission, through their control of the majority of the corporation’s stock, ultimately forced Crittenton’s drug business itself to close in 1916, apparently over the objection of the management which had hoped to reorganize and carry on by itself. Reporting the closure, one of the trade papers boldly claimed: “The liquidation of the company has been brought about purely for internal reasons and has no significance from a trade point of view. It is merely a coincidence that it has come about during the controversy with the board of health with the City of New York regarding the publication of the formulas of proprietary remedies. The principal business transacted by the company was in the sale of proprietary medicines, though it owned outright a number of popular remedies.” It was true, however, that in 1915, the year before the dissolution, the government had prosecuted and fined the Crittenton Co. for the fraudulent misbranding of one of the proprietary products, Green Mountain Oil or Magic Pain Destroyer, that it had shipped from New York to Maryland. Perhaps the Crittenton heirs and the Mission had the right idea when they decided to wind up and sever the direct connection with the patent medicine business itself. The patent medicine products themselves, however, lived on, for the brands were sold to the Century National Chemical Co. which was still producing some of them as late as the mid twentieth century.
CENTURY NATIONAL CHEMICAL CO. AD
(THE SMALL PRINT DIRECTLY UNDER THE NAME DENOMINATES IT CRITTENTON CO.’S SUCCESSOR)
A number of the Crittenton homes for unwed mothers survived to celebrate their hundred year anniversaries and may still exist today, although they no longer operate under the more stridently evangelical name of “missions” but rather the gentler more generic term, “social service agencies.” A New York Times article in December, 2012 noted that the The National Crittenton Foundation, now headquartered in Portland, OR, still exists, maintains a website, and acts as an advocacy and support group for young women “on the margins.” The Foundation itself numbers twenty-seven separate groups of social agencies working in a loose net across thirty-one states providing services to abused young women. The Times article pointed out that the number of homes themselves has dropped significantly because of “the introduction of the birth control pill, the legalization of abortion and the lessening of the stigma of unwed motherhood.” While that particular issue may have become less a point of contention, and the origins of the original funding are long-lost in time, when illuminated, the arc of Charles N. Crittenton’s life demonstrates the truly bizarre, ambiguous and uncomfortable contradiction between the sordid “snake oil” world foundation of his wealth and his later munificence and charity in trying to provide succor to a group of women about whom controversy still swirls today.
© Malcolm A. Goldstein 2014
CANCEL VARIETIES USED TO PAY TAX ON $1 SIZE BOTTLE
SINGLE LINE SANSERIF COMPANY INITIAL VARIETY
SINGLE LINE COMPANY INITIAL VARIETY WITH SERIFS
In virtually every grouping of proprietary battleship cancels, one finds a red two-and-one-half cent (RB28) cancelled with the initials “M J B Co.” None of the cancels are printed; all are hand stamped. While Mustacich and Giacomelli accord the company that produced it three separate listings and indicate that the cancel may appear on as many as three other values, the great variety of those cancels observed are RB28s with purple, sans-serif initials arranged in one line plus a year date line. Because all varieties feature the date expressed in year form only, it is interesting to note that these cancels do not even appear to have conformed to the very Treasury regulations that required their use, for as of January 1, 1899, the regulations pertaining to cancellation were broadened to require the month and day of use as well as the year. However, there is no indication that the Treasury Department ever took action against Breitenbach for its omission. Because of the neglect of both the government and collectors (since it lacks printed cancels), the lowly one line “M J B Co/yr date” cancel is the Rodney Dangerfield of battleship proprietaries: it gets no respect. Yet, its very survival in such great quantities indicates that the company behind the cancel, M J Breitenbach Company, had marketed an extremely successful product. Herein lies that tale, and within that story a much lesser known company’s cancel is also revealed.
EARLIER TWO LINE SANS-SERIF COMPANY INITIAL VARIETY USED IN 1898
Bearing in mind the generally low-level of nutrition in the late 19th Century for the great mass of people (think of Tevyah of Fiddler on the Roof dreaming of his wife Goldie’s having a “proper double chin” were he a wealthy man), and, at the other extreme, the imposing girth of the rich – now considered extremely unhealthy – and thought to have been brought about by the gluttony promoted by the sumptuous over-extravagance displayed at their banquets, it is no wonder that dietary supplements were an important medical consideration even in the Gilded Age. By 1850, the element iron had been identified as a significant factor in the maintenance of proper blood function. However, iron, particularly in an inorganic state, is extremely hard to digest and its ingestion has unpleasant side effects such as erosion of tooth enamel and constipation. The earliest attempt at a more palatable iron therapy focused on making iron available in organic form, from albuminates derived from the hemoglobin in beef blood. These organic compounds, however, tended to be defective in terms of form, taste and stability. Later sterile, stable forms of organic iron still tended to decompose improperly in the digestive process. In Leipzig, Germany around 1890, Dr. August Gude, managed to create a compound of iron; another metal, manganese; and peptones, a class of water soluable, partially hydrated proteins; that finally met the criteria of acceptable taste, stability and digestibility of the iron content to warrant production as a commercially viable blood supplement. Dr Gude chose to market his new blood invigorating wonder tonic under the name Pepto-Mangan. M J Breitenbach made his fortune importing Gude’s Pepto-Mangan, from Germany.
DOUBLE LINE COMPANY INITIAL VARIETY CANCEL USED TO PAY TAX ON 10 CENT BOTTLE
Max J Breitenbach (virtually universally referred to as M J Breitenbach) was born in Albany, GA in 1856, but received his schooling in Newark, NJ. He attended, and graduated, from the New York College of Pharmacy in 1877 and went to work for the drugstore partnership of Taheppe & Schur in New York City. In 1878, he shifted to a clerk’s position at the downtown New York City drugstore of Albert Dung. He became manager in 1881 and bought the store from the founder’s son, Albert C Dung, in 1883, when the older man died and the younger decided to move back to Germany. Entrusted by the younger Dung with his business affairs in the United States, Breitenbach prospered and opened a second store on the extremely fashionable Madison Avenue as well, bringing him a degree of prominence in the industry.
1894 ADVERTISING POSTCARD
Emboldened by his success, Breitenbach decided to expand into the proprietary business, and in 1892, he formed the M J Breitenbach Company (“Company”) to sell Pepto-Mangan in the United States. The particulars of exactly how Gude and Breitenbach found each other and arranged a commercial alliance seem lost to posterity, since Breitenbach’s branching into the importing business seems both precocious and fortuitous. The entire licensing arrangement and corporate structure, at first, involved another specialty New York City drug firm, Eisner & Mendelson (soon to appear as the next “E” company in this study), along with Edward G Wells, from the C N Crittenton Co. The Crittenton Co (RS62-64, plus its own bevy of battleship handstamped cancels, which will be the next “C” company in this study, was among the wholesale drug trade industry heavyweights in New York City and across the nation. Because Breitenbach was going to require a distribution network for Pepto-Mangan, he needed to work out arrangements with a wholesaler so that Pepto-Mangan would be on store shelves as soon as he began importing it from Germany. In his discussions with the Crittenton Co, he became acquainted with its corporate vice-president and member of its Board of Directors, Edward G Wells.
1894 AD
Wells and Breitenbach made such a good team that Wells bought into Breitenbach’s deal, acted as one of the incorporators of the Company and soon after was serving as its secretary and treasurer, in addition to holding a special place at Crittenton Co, the first desk inside its door from which he greeted everyone entering the Crittenton Co and directed them to the right department. Wells and Breitenbach bought out Eisner & Mendelson’s share at the beginning of 1896, as the business was skyrocketing. The growth of the Company was so sudden and unexpected for Breitenbach, that in 1897, with his own health temporarily imperiled from the strain, he persuaded Wells to resign from Crittenton after seventeen years of service with that company to devote his entire energy to assisting Breitenbach to sell Pepto-Mangan. As a contemporary trade journal reported: “Mr. Breitenbach is to devote himself more particularly to the pharmaceutical aspects of the business, and Mr. Wells will manage the commercial side.”
EDWARD G. WELLS
Wells, born in New York City in 1846, brought his own extensive experience to Breitenbach’s operation. His father, F C Wells, had emigrated to the United States from England and operated a drug store in New York City. F C also brought with him the method for mass producing plasters (wound dressings that were the forerunners of bandages) by machine. Up until that point, plasters had to be individually prepared by pharmacists. He opened his own firm, F C Wells & Co, to exploit his process and his son began working with him at age 14. To gain wider knowledge of the trade, E G Wells became a drummer, or traveling salesman for a drug wholesaler at age 19. In 1872, he formed his own wholesale drug jobbing partnership, called Wells & Elliott. In 1880, Charles N Crittenton recognized Wells’ talent, bought him out, and brought him into his own operation. By 1897, as well as his positions with the Breitenbach and Crittenton companies, E G Wells also was president and general manager of the M A Wells Co, presumably the successor to his father’s firm, and was also a director of the Moses Dame Co, which marketed a product called Wine in the Woods. Even after Wells formally resigned from the Crittenton Co, he retained a monetary interest in the firm for the rest of his life. The New York Times, profiling the rich, glamorous and outsized personalities gathered in New York City for the 1894 meeting of the Proprietary Association of America, described Wells as “one of the most popular men in the trade, on account of his social qualities. He knows everybody, and is one of the brightest advertisers in the world.”
1903 TRADE ADVERTISEMENT LETTER
Under the joint leadership of Breitenbach and Wells, the Breitenbach Company continued to soar from triumph to triumph. In the period between 1898 and 1900, a cornucopia of medical journals published reports by doctors of favorable results in treating anemia obtained by using Pepto-Mangan. As will be discussed later, it is entirely possible that the Company underwrote the endeavors of these doctors by providing them with a monetary incentive. Late in 1900, Breitenbach and Wells also acted together with a pharmacist originally from Maryland, one Martin H Smith, to incorporate in New York State the Martin H Smith Co, capitalized at $10,000, with the declared purpose of manufacturing pharmaceutical products. That company’s history also will be discussed below. Even a disastrous fire on October 30, 1900, which completely destroyed the building occupied by Tarrant & Co (RS 241 and cancels on first issue revenues, plus first and second proprietary issues as well as the battleship revenues), where the Breitenbach Company had its offices and stock as well, did nothing to dampen its success. The Company immediately set up new headquarters and Wells boasted that another shipment of Pepto-Mangan was already waiting in New York City’s Customs House, so deliveries would continue without interruption. The Company’s rebound was so successful that in 1902 Breitenbach himself purchased the assets of the devastated Tarrant & Co for $51,150 after spirited bidding, which had begun at $4500. He immediately announced that the assets would be transferred to a new company that would be headed by E G Wells.
PEPTO-MANGAN BOTTLE AND WRAPPER
From its very introduction of Pepto-Mangan into the American market, the Breitenbach Company strove to put its product on a higher level than the ordinary proprietary medicine. It issued a bulletin to the trade in 1897 pointing out that paragraph 9 of its agency agreement with Gude, provided that it would advertise only to the trade and never to the general public. This announcement drew high praise in the trade journals for setting forth this elevated approach to advertising, and it meant that Pepto-Mangan was considered to be an “ethical” drug, rather than merely a patent medicine. Presently, an “ethical” drug is defined as a synonym of prescription drug, that is, one issued only upon presentation of a doctor’s written instruction. In the Gilded Age, advertising only to the trade did not mean that a patient could only procure it by prescription. Medicine was displayed at retail outlets and the patient needed only to request it.
BREITENBACH TRADECARD
The following year, IN 1898, when accused of pandering to the public, it issued a circular to the trade again stressing paragraph 9 and denouncing what it termed “malicious accusations” that it had paid sign painters to smother its name on every available surface, such as barns, trees and rocks, as other patent medicine companies did, claiming that the sign painting company itself was named Gude, and was just putting its own name about. The circular was duly reported in the trade journals thus again calling attention to (advertising) the company’s refusal to advertise in that low, common manner.Curiously, this “ethical” approach to advertising drew the Company into perhaps the earliest reported controversy over mis-reported research results, a controversy that sounds extremely modern even more than one hundred years later. This dispute between a patent medicine manufacturer and the editorial board of a profession journal also marks one of the earliest occasions on which such a professional journal differentiated itself from the industry trade journals and the company catalogues, in advocating for proper medical treatment rather than indiscriminately pushing product. The controversy developed after the Company voluntarily supplied its Pepto-Mangan to an official US government “Commission for the Study and Treatment of Anemia in Porto Rico (“Commission”).” The patent medicine was employed, among other treatments, to combat the symptom of anemia which had recently been linked with the disease uncinariasis, commonly known in English as hookworm, which results from infection with one or more members of the genus of microscopic nematodes (worms) called uncinaria. In 1904, the Commission issued a report showing that the disease diminished significantly through the Commission’s efforts (“Report”). The Journal of the American Medical Association (“AMA Journal”) printed a favorable commentary on the report concluding that the disease, which had recently been thought untreatable, was largely preventable. The AMA Journal highlighted a number of useful anti-parasitic treatments, and mentioned, in passing, that old fashioned remedies, like blindly administering iron to correct the symptom of anemia – a result of the infection, not the cause of the disease – were now outmoded. A few weeks later, the Company circulated throughout the medical industry its own abstract, or summary of the report, stating that the report conclusively demonstrated that Pepto-Mangan was the “foremost hematinic,” or agent for increasing iron in the blood. The Company also addressed a pointed letter to the AMA Journal stating, in substance, that it ought to have known better than to bite the hand that fed it, since the Company was a sponsoring advertiser and the manufacturer found offensive the AMA Journal’s off-handed dismissal of iron supplements as an outmoded treatment, chiding that the` “editorial department … is at variance with the advertising pages,” and that the editors were making a “direct slap” at the company. However, the Company’s circular also prompted the Commission itself to write to the AMA Journal decrying the use that the Company was making of its Report, claiming the Company’s circular put the Commission “in a very unenviable and erroneous light before the medical profession generally,” and denouncing the Company’s implication that the Commission was endorsing Pepto-Mangan as treatment for the anemia that resulted from uncinariasis.
PEPTO-MANGAN IN TABLET FORM
With the Commission’s original Report and second letter in hand, together with the Company’s denunciation of it, the AMA Journal then printed a lengthy riposte, denouncing the Company’s tactic under the heading “Gude’s Pepto-Mangan: Scientific Work Misrepresented and Commercialized,” beginning with the following statement:
In pursuance of the deliberately assumed purpose to enlighten the physicians of the United States on all features of the traffic in proprietary remedies, there will be offered to our readers not only information regarding the composition of such remedies, but also facts concerning the methods of their advertising and sale, which come to light in such shape as to be of service to the profession. No firm or product will be subjected to attack, but publicity will be given to all facts obtainable. Having in mind this purpose the following recital of facts is offered to the profession as illustration of methods employed in the proprietary trade, and as a step in the era of pharmaceutical publicity.
Noting the number of favorable reports that appeared in various medical journals, the AMA Journal emphasized that the Company subsidized the “medical press … to an extent equaled by no other,” and, perhaps because of this enormous financial support, its circulars were generally reported as news items rather than treated as advertising. It began its serious analysis of the Report by pointing out once again that the Report’s real significance was demonstrating that removal of the parasite from the body was the appropriate treatment for the disease, not boosting iron in the system. Then it analyzed in detail the cases in the Report that were actually treated with iron supplements and showed that, after the removal of the parasite from the body, a common version of iron supplement, marketed under the generic name Blaud’s pill was just as effective, if not slightly more so than Pepto-Mangan, in bringing about restoration of the body’s proper iron level, hardly distinguishing Pepto-Mangan as the “foremost hematinic.” The California State Journal of Medicine, as well as reprinting the AMA Journal’s denunciation of the Company’s use of the Report bluntly editorialized: “The dirty money of the unscrupulous manufacturer will do almost anything: it will buy any amount of space in so-called medical journals, and it will enable the spender to present any-old-lies as plausible truth, to the medical profession.”
The AMA Journal itself proceeded with more discretion. A mere six months after it denounced the Company’s distortion of the Report, it investigated another company pamphlet bearing the name of a doctor at the Infant’s Hospital located on Randall’s Island in New York City, purporting to show Pepto-Mangan’s curative powers. The AMA Journal’s investigator quickly found that the doctor who had lent his name to the study had been associated with the hospital about five-year earlier, but had been located in South American since. Moreover, when the investigator reviewed the actual patient records at the Hospital, in a significant number of cases, he found no treatment files to correspond to the results recounted in the Company’s pamphlet, and, where the records could be compared, he noted significant discrepancies between the cases as reported in the pamphlet and the hospital records themselves. The article drew two morals from its investigation. First, it concluded that the integrity of a pamphlet purporting to be a “scientific report” was only as sound as the truthfulness of the study’s writer, and if the writer was tempted by the fees the proprietary houses offered for such favorable commentaries, then such reports would be tainted. Second, still treading slightly more gently than AMA Journal’s California counterpart, it deplored the ethics of the otherwise “personally honorable men” who would try to benefit from such “unjustifiable methods.” While the AMA Journal allowed that Breitenbach himself may not have checked the veracity of the pamphlet, it still held his firm responsible for issuing the misleading pamphlet.
1922 AD
Apparently the Company maintained its faith that its formulation should be considered a legitimate medical treatment, and continued to advertise Pepto-Mangan only in trade and medical journals. In 1914, the AMA’s Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry itself made another review of Pepto-Mangan, and published one further condemnation of the product. While the Council noted that the Company no longer circulated the pamphlets to which the AMA had earlier objected, it also was equally clear that the Company had never withdrawn them entirely, and that the Company’s latest pamphlet still made special claims for the easy absorption and special restorative powers of Pepto-Mangan that, in light of the present understanding of the biology of anemia, were simply false. On this occasion, the AMA Journal openly accused the Company of deliberately attempting to mislead doctors about the efficacy of Pepto-Mangan, and advised physicians that the Council would no longer include Pepto-Mangan on the “New and Unofficial Remedies List” (List) that the AMA maintained, thus implying that physicians should no longer even informally suggest its use.
It would be tempting to say that Pepto-Mangan stopped being sold shortly after the AMA’s condemnation in 1914, but such a statement is unsupportable. The Company continued to prosper even after its founders passed from the scene.
1937 COVER
*****
TRADEMARK REGISTERED IN 1944
Wells retired in February, 1904, sold his interest in the Company back to Breitenbach, and announced he was going to “take life easy.” He and his wife first traveled to the South and then headed for Europe. When he died in 1911, he was remembered as a man who “traveled extensively,” as well as one “addicted to collecting postage stamps of which he had an unusually large and expensive assortment.” He was celebrated as a “well known club man, and held the championship in pool and billiards of the Harlem district of New York.” Breitenbach, a decade younger, died in 1920. According to one of the principal trade journals, “[h]e was greatly respected in business circles as a man whose word was his bond.” He and his wife were benefactors of the New York Times Neediest Fund, and Mrs. Breitenbach is still listed as a contributor of funds in 1938 toward the purchase of a French silk shawl for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Despite the personal respect accorded the individuals, the Companys trade practices continued to be questionable at best. Well into the 1920s, various journals, bearing such names as the Journal of the National Medical Association, continued to print helpful little paragraphs, often under the rubric of “Notes of Interest,” praising the virtues of Pepto-Mangan and directing further inquires to the Company. In 1944, the Company formally registered the Gude’s Pepto-Mangan trademark, albeit it claimed its first use dated all the way back to 1890. Eventually, the Pepto-Mangan brand passed into the hands of Natcon Chemical Co., but public interest in the product waned. While it is not clear when Natcon Chemical Co. stopped production of Pepto-Mangan, the trademark expired in 1986 without renewal. Even after the concoction disappeared from most druggists’ shelves, it lived on in memory. As recently as 1980, a letter in the magazine Canadian Farm Physician from a 74-year-old man living in Alberta recommended his physician fathers treatment regimen of milk, an iron supplement like the old Pepto-Mangan, (along with x-rays), as a remedy for Hodgkins Disease. Natcon Chemical Co., itself, was acquired by Luitpold Pharmaceuticals, a German company, in 1978. Luitpold Pharmaceuticals continues to do business in the United States, and claims on its website to be expanding its production facilities now located in Columbus, OH and Shirley, NY in Suffolk County.
PEPTO-MANGAN PRODUCED BY NATCON CHEMICAL CO.
© Malcolm A. Goldstein 2014
MARTIN H. SMITH CO. CANCELS
The Martin H. Smith Co, the offshoot of Breitenbach’s operation, outlived Breitenbach as well. Since this company’s genesis lies within the orbit of Breitenbach’s domain, it is convenient to display that cancel as part of this study. Mustacich and Giacomelli give the company two listings and say the cancel has been seen on RB25 and RB28. That company’s principal products were Ergoapiol and Glyco-Heroin.
1904 ERGOAPIOL AD
As with Pepto-Mangan, they were promoted through the same kind of friendly advisories and medical abstracts demonstrating good outcomes that kept appearing in trade and medical journals. Ergoapiol was advertised as treating menstrual disorders, although the AMA suggested its circular promoted “indiscriminate and uncritical use.” Claiming that Ergoapiol was “an unscientific, shot-gun mixture of drugs having widely different therapeutic effects,” the AMA Council, after reciting and demonstrating the conflicting effects of the various listed (post-1906) ingredients, struck it from its recommended List in 1914.
1907 GLYCO-HEROIN AD
Glyco-Heroin was advertised as a treatment for breathing disorders, such as “coughs, bronchitis, pneumonia, laryngitis, pulmonary phthisis, asthma, [and] whooping cough.” Its most obvious ingredient was contained in its name, and it too was “de-Listed” by the AMA’s Council in 1916. Smith, himself, born in 1866, a decade after Breitenbach, similarly lived ten years longer, dying in 1930. The latest internet references to the M H Smith Co are to pamphlets, published in the 1930s and even as late as 1940, still explaining Ergoapiol’s appropriate use and extolling its virtues. Long after Ergoapiol and Glyco-Heroin had passed into history, in 1958, M. H. Smith Co changed its name and began its transformation into the present day Cooper Companies, Inc., headquartered in Pleasanton CA and traded on the New York Stock Exchange, which today produces a variety of healthcare aids as well as soft contact lens through its CooperVision subsidiary.
GLYCO-HEROIN BOX AND BOTTLE
(BOTTLE BEARS 1930S NARCOTIC REVENUE STAMP)
Having told this long and intricate tale concerning M. J. Breitenbach and M. H. Smith, it is time now for this writer to stop in order to take his iron supplement.
© Malcolm A. Goldstein 2014
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W. W. Gavitt Medical Co., Manufacturer
W. W. GAVITT MEDICAL CO. CANCELS
Hard as this writer tries to anchor this particular alphabetical perusal of battleship revenue cancels to those most commonly seen and available to potential collectors, he is forever beguiled and distracted by stories of companies that illuminate particular and distinct features of the patent medicine business. The W. W. Gavitt Medical Co. stands apart from other patent medicine manufacturers because it marketed its product, Gavitt’s System Regulator, directly to the public through regional retail sales representatives. One did not buy Gavitt’s System Regulator from a drugstore or even a modern department store; one bought it from one’s neighbor. Each Gavitt salesperson communicated directly with Gavitt headquarters in Topeka, Kansas on a periodic basis requesting shipments of the Regulator and remitting payment for orders sold. What philatelists commonly see now of Gavitt material are the envelopes transmitting all this correspondence. Apparently bundled and warehoused for decades by the company as its transaction records, these envelopes and their accompanying forms were dispersed publicly when the company was dissolved. Several Gavitt covers appear for sale on eBay weekly. While revenue cancel collectors cautiously eye such drab, uniform envelopes as collateral material to the cancels themselves, these covers used to quicken the pulse of that sector of cover collectors who meticulously collected post office cancels by states or regions, one obscure discontinued rural post office at a time. Since stamp collecting has fallen from grace as a past time for our youth, how many such collectors remain now is hard to gauge, but at one time this form of cover collecting was so popular that dealers often arrange their cover stock by location to appeal to such marauding collectors.
GAVITT REPORTS FROM RURAL POST OFFICES
BOLEY, I. T. ZEANDALE, KS
GAVITT COVERS RETAILED IN BUNCHES
*****
The Gavitt company was an American enterprise. Its founder, William Wellington Gavitt, was born in 1840 near Ashley, in Delaware County, Ohio, which lies north of Columbus in the center of the state. His father, Ezekiel, was a well-known Methodist minister in that region of Ohio for many years during the mid 1800s, and there appear to be other Gavitt names interspersed among the prominent ministers of Ohio. As listed later in the records of the Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution, his grandfather, William, born in Westerly, Rhode Island, was a privateer on the brig “Favorite” and a sailor on the sloop “Randolph” and the schooner “De Grass” during the Revolutionary War.
GAVITT COUPONS
In 1862, W. W. Gavitt graduated Wesleyan University. By 1867, he had imbibed the philosophy of Manifest Destiny and anticipated Horace Greeley’s 1871 advice to “go west.” He settled in Topeka, KS and began to build the town around himself. He dived into the local real estate and banking industries, married a woman from Indiana in 1873, and in the 1880 Census listed himself as a banker. Over time, he became a founding investor in the regional coal company, a creamery, the electric utility company and the local opera house. In 1882, he and a partner erected a prominent office building block in downtown Topeka.
GAVITT COVER SHOWING GAVITT OFFICE BLOCK
Gavitt apparently entered the patent medicine business as the mid-western agent and supplier for the Dr. Perkins Medical Co. of Washington, D.C. which manufactured a remedy called Our Native Herbs, an elixir of 21 different herbs. When Dr. Perkins sold his business to Alonzo O. Bliss, around 1892, Gavitt sent a letter to the sales representatives for the Perkins Co. offering them his own System Regulator instead. Whether these agents jumped to Gavitt in droves or stayed with Bliss (which remained in business and also used battleship revenues, as a future article will explore), Gavitt found himself with enough contacts to begin assembling his own sales network. For his sales agents, Gavitt particularly concentrated on soliciting Civil War veterans and ministers, and there was a huge stir in 1901 when it was revealed that one of his agent was Boston Corbett, the man who had shot Lincoln’s assassin, John Wilkes Booth.
JOHN WILKES BOOTH BOSTON CORBETT
Corbett is something of a historical curiosity. He was born Thomas Corbett in 1832. He grew up to become a hatter by trade, and his encounters with mercury while making felt hats may have accounted for his later eccentricities. In the 1850s, after his wife died in childbirth, he moved to Boston, became a reborn Evangelical Christian, wore his hair long to emulate Jesus and castrated himself to avoid the temptation of prostitutes. He also changed his name to Boston. During the Civil War, he enlisted several times, rose to the rank of sergeant in a New York Cavalry unit, and briefly was held as a prisoner of war at the Confederate hell-hole in Andersonville, GA. His role in Booth’s death immediately landed him in a controversy over whether his shooting of Booth was necessary or exceeded his orders. His official statement was that he fired on Booth when he saw Booth about to fire one of his weapons, although others present contradicted his account. Secretary of War Stanton squelched the dispute by endorsing Corbett’s account and exonerating him. After his moment of fame, Corbett returned to work as a hatter, caused a stir at a G.A.R. re-union in 1875 by threatening some men with a gun, moved to Kansas and lived in a hole in a hill, and finally was confined in an insane asylum in 1887 after again brandishing a gun, this time in the Kansas House of Representatives, where he was employed as assistant door keeper. In 1888, he escaped from the facility and briefly visited a fellow survivor of Andersonville whom he told he was going to Mexico. He was not seen again until a newspaper story spread during the summer of 1901 that he had been working as a Gavitt sales representative for several years. Gavitt reveled in the splash of publicity the story attracted and immediately vouched that Corbett was “an excellent salesman who always made money for himself and the firm.”
CORBETT LATER IN LIFE
Eventually this Corbett attempted to again collect his Civil War disability pension which had been accruing since his 1888 disappearance. In the course of investing this claim, it was revealed that the claimant was not Boston Corbett, but a younger, taller man named John Corbit. Convicted of attempted pension fraud, he wound up serving time in the federal penitentiary at Atlanta before dropping out of sight. Some people suspect that Gavitt fed the false Corbit information about the real man to make the story better, but the 120 page record of the correspondence between Corbit and Gavitt and the proceeding against Corbit, available on the Kansas Historical Society website, does not suggest active collusion between Gavitt and Corbit.
GAVITT PRODUCTS: SYSTEM REGULATOR
AND HERB TABLETS
Gavitt understood the value of publicity. To make sure he always had enough advertising material on hand and to control his costs, he ran his own printing business as well. Gavitt was hardly the only manufacturer who owned a printing business. It always made sense for patent medicine owners to own their own printing plants to produce their own advertising materials because of the sheer volume of material they needed. What set Gavitt apart, however, was that he apparently also took in other printing jobs and ran his printing company as profitable side business.
GAVITT AGENT SOLICITATION FORM AND ORDER BLANK
Gavitt became the wealthiest citizen of Topeka, and when he died at age 81 in 1922, he was president of W. W. Gavitt & Co., bankers and brokers, the Gavitt Loan and Investment Co., the W. W. Gavitt Medical Co., and the W. W. Gavitt Printing and Publishing Co.
W. W. Gavitt’s first son, Harry Ezekiel, was born on January 1, 1875, and attended Topeka Business College and Washburn University Law School in Topeka. He started working in the family business before he had finished his education, since Washburn Law School did not open until 1903, and he appears as the author of some of the medicine company’s pamphlets as early as the 1890s. He took charge of the operation of the medicine and printing business for his father and is credited with the great jump in the growth of sales for Gavitt’s System Regulator, perhaps spurred by his invention in 1902 of a machine that could stuff and seal 15,000 envelopes per hour. Getting out the advertising message was every bit as important as the remedy itself.
GAVITT AGENT’S COVER
What was Gavitt’s System Regulator? One agent, Edward Trow, printed this description on his own advertising envelopes: “Positively will cure all diseases of the Blood, Stomach, Kidneys and Liver. It is a Mild Laxative. A Good Tonic. A Great Blood Purifier. A Powerful Kidney and Liver Regulator. No Steaming. No Boiling. No Mineral. No Alcohol. No Poison. TWENTY-TWO MEDICAL HERBS, ROOTS AND BARKS in one combination. The most wonderful compound known to Medical Science. It is Natures own Remedy. Hurts Nobody. Cures Everybody. Builds up the Broken Down system after all other remedies fail. It has cured Thousands. IT WILL CURE YOU BY ERADICATING disease from the System.(Not sold in Drug Stores).” What more need one say?
H. E. GAVITT’S STOCK EXCHANGE GAME
H. E. Gavitt proved himself clever in a completely different field in 1903 when he invented a game called Stock Market Exchange, which offered a model of such exchanges through a card game. Players compete to corner the market in a commodity by exchanging cards representing various commodities until one player obtains a full suit of a commodity. Originally conceived as another form of advertising for the Regulator, Gavitt had his printing company prepare some games and then started them in circulation by having his medicine agents give samples away with the medicine. The demand was so great for the game that Gavitt stepped up production by his own printing company and began charging separately for them. Parker Brothers, a game making company, reviewed the idea and began selling a very similar game called “Pit” beginning in 1904. Eventually, Pit eclipsed Gavitt’s Stock Market Exchange game, and it disappeared until it was revived in 2003 by enthusiasts looking for new and challenging competitive games.
GAVITT LETTERHEAD
In its heyday under H. E. Gavitt, the Medicine Co. produced and marketed two hundred different medicines, toiletries, soaps and flavorings including Herbal Tablets, Pile Driver for Piles, Lighting Pain Extractor, Cough Balsam and Herbal Ointment. H. E.’s own interests were as diversified as the products his company made. He was a magician who always entertained his friends with new tricks. Among his other and earliest inventions was a Folding Exhibition Chicken Coop, one of the first such collapsible coop models. In the 1930s, he pursued the notion that wild fish could be tamed. He built an artificial lake on a farm west of Topeka that he had stocked with fish fed by hand until they were so tame that they would jump a foot out of the water to reach the proffered food. Some accounts claimed his method could be applied to other wild fish and, when demonstrated, much amazed traditional fishermen. Gavitt was prominent in the Sons of the American Revolution, active in the local country club, where he was chairman of the handicap committee, and headed the section of the local War Resources Board regulating chemicals, oils and paint during World War I. After a long and colorful career, he died in 1954, and apparently has been largely forgotten until quite recently.
GAVITT BROTHERS HEADSTONE
The Gavitt companies continued after H. E.’s death under his brother Corrington until 1967, when at age 83, Corrington closed them. While some other accounts suggest that he sold the product lines, unlike those made by Dunn or Fleer which survive today as confections, new Gavitt products do not appear to be on sale on the internet. Gavitt’s System Regulator now seems to belong to another age.
© Malcolm A. Goldstein 2014
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FRANK H. FLEER CO., MANUFACTURER
Because Frank H. Fleer’s company was the other remaining major independent chewing gum manufacturing firm drawn into the American Chicle Co. during the industry’s second consolidation in 1909, as set forth in the recent article about the T. B. Dunn Co., its story follows naturally after T.B. Dunn’s. From time to time, subsequent articles will relate the stories of the several other subsidiary firms melded into the industry trust that was the American Chicle Co. Moreover, although the Fleer cancels do not appear as frequently as those of the T. B. Dunn Co., its two forms of hand stamped cancels account for many of those observed on RB30s.
FLEER CIRCULAR HANDSTAMPED CANCELS
Frank H. Fleer is another of those unique American individuals remembered from his era – which seemed to regarded wealth as a mark of God’s favor – for developing a product which immediately became emblematic of American life. Fleer is credited with inventing Chiclets, and their success was immediate and long-lasting. Much more so than Dunn’s Sen-Sen, they still can be purchased at virtually all newspaper stands, drug stores, and retail food outlets. In fact, Fleer was a pioneer in the gum industry in two different ways in two different decades, being the first to market Chiclets in the late 1890s and later experimenting with bubble gum in the early 1900s, albeit his company did not perfect the product until 1928. Yet, ironically, his company is probably best remembered today for its later involvement with what began as an incidental give-away accompanying the gum, baseball cards.
FLEER STRAIGHT LINE HANDSTAMPED CANCEL
As with most hundred year old tales, various versions of Fleer’s story recount the details of his life slightly differently. In addition, none of the websites presently discussing Fleer and his gum actually displays a picture of him, although some sites misidentify portraits of others as his. Various sources place Fleer’s birth between 1853 and 1860. U.S. census records show his birth date as 1858, presumably derived from information he provided. One internet source, however, displays a picture of a gravestone of a Frank H. Fleer showing his birth date as July 9, 1857. Since all sources agree that he was born in Westphalia, then a part of Prussia in Germany, the mystery is resolved by a German record of births and baptisms indicating that Franz Heinrich Fleer, indeed born on July 9, 1857 to Jobst and Wilhelmine Fleer, was baptized at St. Peter’s Evangelical Church in Herford, Westphalia on August 2, 1857. Fleer immigrated to the U.S. in 1875, settling in Philadelphia, and his younger brother Henry joined him there in 1881. Eventually, the stories say that Frank entered his father-in-law’s flavoring extract business that had been founded in 1849, but, here also, the record is somewhat blurred. A Pennsylvania marriage record indicates that he married Pauline Alice Shoestein in 1885, but virtually all versions of Fleer’s story indicate that his father-in-law’s name was Otto Holstein. Since, beginning in the mid-1860s, Otto Holstein is listed in various Philadelphia city directories as a merchant, it appears the 1885 record is simply garbled. Whatever the case, Fleer soon renamed the business the Frank H. Fleer Co. and began manufacturing chewing gum by adding Holstein’s flavoring extracts to chicle, the dried sap of the South and Central American sapodilla tree, already established as the principal ingredient of chewing gum.
Actually, although seemingly not presently preserved as part of the record of chewing gum history, Fleer’s face was known in his era. His portrait was featured on his gum wrappers, a phenomenon that sparked discussion at the time. Ad industry professionals commented that his face was “self-satisfied,” “opulent” and too “handsome” to support a public campaign to promote sales of his new product, Pepsin Guru-Kola Gum,” launched on July 1, 1896. In response, Fleer’s advertising manager, Mayer M. Swaab, Jr., replied, in a letter to that same professional advertising journal, that he had fought a difficult battle with Fleer to convince Fleer to allow him to use Fleer’s face on the gum wrapper, and the bottom line as to whether that was a correct decision was best judged by the $225,000 sales generated by the product in its first year.
FRANK H. FLEER PORTRAIT
PUBLISHED WITH SWAAB’S REBUTTAL IN 1897
Fleer tried to stay at the forefront of the chewing gum business, not only by being among the first to add cola flavoring to his gum, but also by being among the earliest to utilize vending machines as a new way to sell his gum. A story is told that an intrepid vending machine salesman approached Fleer. The salesman claimed that people would find the gimmickry of the new machines so fascinating that they would feed money into them even if the machines returned nothing for the penny deposited. Fleer agreed to sponsor a test and set one up in the Flatiron Building in New York City labeled with the instruction for people to “drop a penny in the slot and listen to the wind blow.” So many people complied that the police seized the machine. Fleer placed his vending machine order immediately.
Fleer’s brother Henry provided the blockbuster development which took the Fleer Co. to the next level. Trying to design a gum to match candy-coated almonds then much in vogue, Henry hit upon the idea of wrapping a hard candy coating around a chicle center. He described the resulting hard gum-candy squares as “little chiclets.” Frank seized upon that name for this new product and touched off a new chewing gum craze. Fleer brought his prosperous and thriving Chiclet business into the American Chicle Co. consolidation in 1909, and, apparently, emerged from the arrangement with the title of Chairman of the Board of the re-organized company.
1907 FLEER COVER
It is interesting to note that the Dunn and Fleer companies approached the payment of the Spanish-American War tax differently. The special tax rate imposed on chewing gum was 4¢ per dollar of retail value, as opposed to 2½¢ per dollar of retail value for proprietary medicines. The Treasury Department intended to place the burden of the tax payment on the gum manufacturers and apparently accepted the presence of the 4¢ stamp on the retailer’s gum display box as proof of the manufacturers’ payment. Fleer complied with this regulatory scheme, hence, its use of 4¢ stamps. Dunn and some other gum manufacturers apparently voluntarily chose to stamp most of their individual gum packages with the 1/8¢ battleship revenue stamp, RB20, which was actually designed to indicate payment of tax on medicinal items retailing for 5¢ or less at the 2 ½% per dollar rate of the proprietary medicine tax. The government apparently accepted either kind of accounting, and the total remitted to the government by such companies must have accorded with the 4% gum tax rate, since there is no record of litigation brought by the government alleging short tax payment by any of the gum manufacturers.
1906, 1907 & 1909 FLEER ADS
The history of the Frank H. Fleer Co. that utilized battleship revenues ends at this point, and theoretically, so should this article. However, there are still too many good stories to tell about Fleer’s subsequent adventures and history.
The Second Frank H. Fleer Co.
Fleer apparently was too restless a soul to remain in a purely executive capacity in the American Chicle Co., and by 1913 had organized a second Frank H. Fleer Co. Since the contract under which he had merged the original Flank H. Fleer Co. company into the American Chicle Co. forbade him from competing against it in the chicle gum manufacturing business, this second Frank H. Fleer Co. began as a confectionary company manufacturing candy called Fleer’s Bobs and Fruit Hearts. Fleer himself died suddenly of apoplexy at his country estate in Thomasville, North Carolina in 1921, but not before he had passed effective control of the company to his son-in-law Gilbert Mustin.
FLEER’S HEADSTONE
Two aspects of the second Frank H. Fleer Co.’s business impressed themselves into American culture as firmly as had Chiclets. First, the company began experimenting with trade cards to accompany their candies, issuing a set of 120 cards, featuring notable entertainers and athletes, including Mary Pickford, Gloria Swanson and Babe Ruth. Eventually, the trade cards, particularly the sports cards, would come to play a more important part in its business than gum. A recently discovered uncut page of these Fleer cards created a mild stir because it contained the Babe Ruth card. However, the movie stars and presidents appearing on the other cards occasioned no similar flurry.
SAMPLE FLEER NOTABLES TRADE CARD SERIES 1923
THE BABE RUTH CARD
RECENTLY DISCOVERED ENTIRE SHEET
OF FLEER NOTABLE CARDS
The other innovation made by the second Frank H. Fleer Co. was that it successfully produced the first bubble gum. Chicle based products would not form bubbles, so Frank H. Fleer had experimented with other substances and, as early as 1906, developed a gum called “Blibber-Blubber.” One could blow bubbles with it, but its texture resembled brittle Sticky Putty, making it hard to chew. Moreover, once the blown bubble burst, it was almost impossible to re-collect to blow into another bubble. Faced with these drawbacks, Fleer shelved the product, and there it remained until Gilbert Mustin pressed the research forward.
EXPERIMENTAL BLIBBER-BLUBBER BOX LOGO CIRCA 1906
The correct formula for bubble gum emerged in a most unlikely way from a most unlikely source, according to the tale repeated often enough after the discovery to be accepted now as gospel. Experimental batches of gum were mixed on the third floor of the Fleer factory, but the company’s telephone was on the ground floor. When Mustin, who was overseeing the trials, went off to take phone calls, he left the simmering mixtures in the care of Walter Diemer, a twenty-three year old employed by the Fleer company as an accountant who possessed no background in chemistry. Because Mustin hurried away so often, it fell to Diemer, literally, to keep the pot boiling. After months of trial and error, Diemer hit upon the proper blend of natural ingredients, including a pinch of latex, that both could be blown into a bubble and then easily and quickly re-collected to blow into another bubble. Once he had found the correct formula, he quickly made another batch. While preparing the second mixture, he realized that he had forgotten to add coloring. Scrambling to find some dye, he found he had only pink at hand, so into the cauldron it went. Named “Dubble Bubble,” this pink trial bubble gum debuted as a thousand pieces wrapped like taffy and sold for a penny in a candy shop in Philadelphia on December 26, 1928. They disappeared within a day. Since that first batch of bubble gum was pink, pink became its traditional color forevermore. Dubble Bubble was an instant success, but Diemer never patented the formula, since he did not want to disclose the exact formulation of its ingredients. Others quickly entered the bubble gum market, although Dubble Bubble dominated bubble gum sales at least through the end of World War II. On the strength of his discovery, Diemer ultimately rose to become Senior Vice President of the Fleer company, although he always retained among his responsibilities the job of teaching all Fleer salesmen how to blow bubbles so they could demonstrate the product.
WALTER DIEMER CIRCA 1980
FLEER DUBBLE BUBBLE GUM
When Gilbert Mustin’s oldest son, Gilbert Jr., became president of the company, Fleer’s emphasis began to shift from gum to trading cards. That trading cards became more important than gum is demonstrated by the fact that the remaining illustrations for this article are all sports trading cards. No one collects the gum; only the cards remain significant and have websites carefully attributing value to minor variations in quality, just like stamps. Through its executive Harry Ellsworth (who because of his lifetime of work in candy advertising now is remembered as the “Candy Man”), Fleer was able to negotiate a contract in 1959 with Ted Williams that allowed it to issue a special set of 80 baseball cards devoted entirely to commemorating the life and career of Williams. Although this set demonstrated to Fleer the extent of the untapped potential of the baseball trading card market, another bubble gum company, Topps held individual contracts with virtually all major and minor league baseball players to use their likenesses on baseball cards sold with gum. Fleer made it a practice to approach players when they began their careers on their minor league teams and signed them to a standard form which covered a period of five consecutive years. The contract offered a token payment for signing with additional payments to follow when they reached the majors. The existence of these contracts made competition in the area of baseball trading cards extremely difficult for Fleer.
SAMPLE WILLIAMS COMMEMORATIVE SERIES CARD
Football, however, was another matter. The American Football Conference (AFC) was just organizing to compete with the National Football League (NFL). Although Topps had an exclusive arrangement with the NFL, just as it had with Major League Baseball, Fleer was able to negotiate a group arrangement with the fledgling AFC that permitted it to issue AFC player cards, giving it a toe-hold in the football card market.
SAMPLE 1960 FLEER AFC CARD
Fleer still wanted to enter the baseball card market. It began to sign minor league baseball players to its own trading card contracts in order to put pressure on Topps, but never could land contracts with more than 27 of the more than 400 major league players. For two more years, it issued baseball cards memorializing past baseball legends, but after issuing a first series of 66 cards of current major leaguers in 1963 (packaged with a cookie instead of gum to try to circumvent the terms of the Topps contract), it stopped, whether simply from the exhaustion of competing with Topps or under threat of lawsuit is not quite clear. Some websites allege that Fleer was enjoined, but there is no court report of that injunction proceedings.
SAMPLE FLEER BASEBALL LEGENDS SERIES CARDS
SAMPLE 1963 FLEER BASEBALL CARD
Fleer had already filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in 1962 alleging that Topps was committing an unfair trade practice in violation of the FTC’s statutory authority by unfairly monopolizing the baseball trading card market. After amassing a factual record, the FTC’s hearing examiner found that sales of baseball trading cards marketed with gum was sufficiently enough defined as a separate sales market to make a determination as to whether it was being monopolized in violation of the FTC’s governing statutes, and that Topps was indeed monopolizing it. However, upon review, the FTC itself reversed that decision and ruled in favor of Topps in 1965, holding that since trading cards could be marketed in combination with anything other than gum, the restrictions that Topps imposed through its individual contracts with players were limited enough in scope as to not constitute a monopoly on baseball card sales within the boundaries of the FTC’s statutory authority. Fleer then sold its player contracts to Topps and ceased trying to enter the baseball card market for several years.
At the end of the 1960s, the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA), the newly formed union representing baseball players in their contract negotiations with the team owners, acquired group player marketing rights. It also tried to pressure Topps to improve payments under the individual contracts. Topps demurred and, in retaliation, MLBPA asked players not to renew their individual contracts with Topps. In an attempt to pressure Topps further, MLBPA offered Fleer an opportunity to buy the rights through it to produce baseball cards with gum beginning in 1973 after all the current individual contracts with Topps ended, provided that MLBPA delivered 80% of the players for Fleer to sign. Fleer, finding MLBPA’s terms too speculative and thinking that it would continue to be sustained by bubble gum sales, declined the proffer.
However, as other products arose to compete with bubble gum, Fleer found it needed baseball cards sales to keep pace in the growing market. In 1973, it sued Topps and MLBPA in its home federal courts of Philadelphia again arguing that Topps’s individual player contracts were creating a monopoly. This time it asserted that Topps and MLBPA were violating the federal Sherman Act which prohibits improper monopolies. While not referring to the FTC proceedings, which had been conducted within the ambit of the FTC’s statutory framework which paralleled the Sherman Act, the federal courts reached exactly the same results. The trial court, which heard the witnesses and collected the exhibits, found a discrete sales market for baseball trading cards sold with gum, and held that Topps and MLBPA violated both Sections 1 and Section 2 of the Sherman Act prohibiting monopolies. Upon review, the Third Circuit Court, just like the FTC, found that the relevant sales market was not simply limited just baseball cards marketed with gum and, therefore, that contracts held by Topps were reasonable in scope and duration. It reversed the trial court and dismissed Fleer’s claims.
Using the protection of the original Philadelphia federal district court decision, in 1981, Fleer re-entered the baseball card business, marketing the cards in packages containing a sticker of a major league baseball team’s logo instead of gum. After the Third Circuit’s reversal of the district court, Topps sued Fleer in 1983 in its own home federal court in Brooklyn, alleging that the stickers were a mere sham and violated the restriction in its contracts. This time, before the matter came to trial, Topps and Fleer decided to negotiate their differences. The settlement permitted Fleer to continue marketing baseball card as long as it did not sell them with gum. With the settlement of litigation, there were no longer legal threats or restrictions upon Fleer’s freedom to package and sell baseball cards themselves, which it did successfully in abundance thereafter, with each year’s productions growing more elaborate as the market seemed to grow endlessly.
SAMPLE 1981 FLEER BASEBALL CARD
By 1988, the Mustins were growing old. They accepted a buyout offer from a group led by executives from other gum firms, who, in turn took the Fleer Co. public in 1990. In 1992 Fleer was acquired by Marvel Entertainment Group of comic book fame. By 1995, when Fleer finally abandoned its old factory in Philadelphia, it had acquired interests overseas and also the Skybox International trade card manufacturing company.
ABANDONED FLEER FACTORY IN PHILADELPHIA
In 1998, Fleer sold the Dubble Bubble brand to a Canadian company, Concord Confections, which, in turn, was purchased by Tootsie Roll Industries in 2004. In 1999, the Fleer-Marvel operations were purchased by a partnership which included the founders of Rite Aid Drug Co. In 2005, that partnership entered into an Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors, a state law liquidation process similar to bankruptcy. As a part of the Assignment the Fleer name and brands were auctioned and purchased by the Upper Deck Co., yet another sports memorabilia manufacturer. It is a mark of the Fleer’s falling fortunes that the price Upper Deck paid in the Assignment process was just over $6 million, when the year before Fleer had rejected its offer to buy the company for $25 million. Upper Deck remains in business, but is not presently utilizing the Fleer name and brands. The mad scramble to create baseball collectibles continues, although in that musical-chair-like market Fleer’s seat appears to be gone.
© Malcolm A. Goldstein 2014
EISNER & MENDELSON CO. CANCELS
Eisner & Mendelson Company (E & M) imported foreign manufactured mineral waters and malt extract tonics into the United States. It began in 1882 as a partnership between Moritz Eisner and Joseph Mendelson, and its cancels, featuring its entire name in a circle, appear on four or five different values of the battleship revenues according to Mustacich and Giacomelli. Because both the entire name and its location appear in the cancel, E & M’s battleship revenues are among the easiest of the hand stamped cancels to attribute definitively.
As recounted recently, E & M was part of M. J. Breitenbach’s original partnership to market Pepto-Mangan in the U. S., but its history is best traced by studying the lawsuits in which it appears as a party. The pattern which emerges is that E & M was a litigant again and again because it was acting as U. S. agent for the chief competitor of a popular foreign product or elixir whose sponsor fiercely defended its own right to its name and label. Notably, this column has already recounted its epic battle with Andreas Saxlehner over the U. S. rights to market Hunyadi spring water, a case ultimately adjudicated by the Supreme Court. Predicated on the opinion rendered against E & M, a lower court in 1896 awarded Saxlehner damages of $31,030.36 after conducting an accounting of E & M’s infringing sales.
1894 AD – EISNER, BREITENBACH & CRITTENTON
ALL ON SAME PAGE OF A DRUGGIST’S TRADE JOURNAL
Moritz Eisner was born in Vienna in 1853 and emigrated to the U. S. in 1872. He studied chemistry at the University of Philadelphia, worked for the wholesale druggist Aschenbach & Miller (another battleship revenue user), and then for the small importing chemists, Cramer & Small before buying them out in 1880 with financial help from Aschenbach & Miller. He married a native Pennsylvanian, Anna Zeitz, at the end of December, 1874. While building his importing business, he also acted a local correspondent for German pharmaceutical journals, and when traveling in Europe, as a correspondent for the Philadelphia German language newspaper, the Demokrat, as well as the New York Tribune. Locally, he seems to have forged a sound reputation, for, in 1882, a Pennsylvania medical society journal praised him for importing from Germany the finest solutions of mydriatic alkaloids then used in experiments to study eye muscle reactions.
JOSEPH MENDELSON
Joseph Mendelson was born in Hohenems, Austria in 1852 and emigrated with his family to Philadelphia in 1859. He worked in his father’s dry goods store, then briefly ran his own retail store before becoming salesman for a manufacturer of cabinet ware. He married a woman named Hattie August and again became a retailer in Philadelphia, this time briefly operating a shoe store. In 1882, Mendelson went into partnership with Eisner, with Mendelson handling finances and sales deliveries and Eisner dealing with what is now known as “product development” and advertising. As E & M’s business prospered, the firm relocated its headquarters to New York City in 1887 and incorporated as a West Virginia corporation in 1891. Beyond its entanglements with Andreas Saxlehner, E & M had bruising engagements with several other companies.
Hoff’s Malt Extract
E & M’s most notable dispute concerned its importation of Hoff’s Malt Extract. Malt extract is a liquid collected from grain (often barely) soaked under controlled conditions to allow it to partially sprout. It is often an ingredient in beer, which is grain that is further exposed to the fermentation process to produce alcohol. The terms malt extract and beer have always been loosely interchanged because of common confusion between malting and brewing, but Nineteenth Century producers of malt extract always insisted that the partial sprouting of the grain allowed malt extract to be classified as a food rather than a beverage. In many cultures, malt extract is believed to have medicinal properties to sooth digestion, and in the Nineteenth Century malt extract was marketed as medicine.
1868 HOFF’S MALT EXTRACT AD
BEFORE EXCLUSIVE AMERICAN
DISTRIBUTORSHIP CONTRACT NEGOTIATED
In 1880, Johann Hoff Co., a German manufacturer of malt extract, engaged Eisner as its American sales agent. Thereafter, Eisner became a long-term participant in the quest to establish who had the right to produce and import the genuine Hoff’s Malt Extract. The question spurred lawsuits on two continents for nearly thirty years. A U.S. court in 1896 concluded that the initial formulation of the Extract lay in “obscurity and doubt,” but that neither the product itself or its manufacturing process was covered by any patent, and that “anyone who knows the secret is free to make it.” The court then coolly observed: “[t]hat many members of the Hoff family did know the process … is fully sustained by the proof.” This shared knowledge caused much litigation.
The Hoff Malt Extract story originates in 1847 when Johann Hoff began making his Malt Extract in Berlin. His business quickly prospered and, over the next generation, both Hoff and his Extract became so well-known that they impressed themselves on European culture. In Dostoevsky’s Brothers Karamazov, Ivan Karamazov imagines himself having a conversation with the devil who, while trying to ingratiate himself with Ivan, tells Ivan a tale in which he attributes his recovery from earthly ill-health to a dose Hoff’s Malt Extract. A few years later, when commenting on Sarah Bernhardt’s visit to Moscow, Chekhov noted that Bernhardt craved publicity in the same manner as Johann Hoff had, and that such a craving had brought fame and fortune to both.
DOSTOEVSKY
CHECKOV
As Hoff’s empire expanded, he required new sales offices and bottling plants across Europe. Hoff located his sales and production operation in Berlin and staffed the other locations with members of his family, among them his brother Marcus and his nephew Leopold, Marcus’s son. Marcus ran the bottling plant located in Hamburg, Germany. Leopold managed the sales branch in Paris, but in deference to one of Johann’s new sons-in-law, transferred to Vienna. Dissatisfied with prospects in Vienna, Leopold proposed to Johann that he move to New York City and develop sales in the powerful market then arising in the U.S. Johann approved, and Leopold opened a store in New York City in 1866. In 1868, Leopold returned to Europe after transferring his business to one Joseph Pedersen with the stipulation that Pedersen purchase his Hoff’s Malt Extract exclusively from Marcus in Hamburg. Pedersen then levered his arrangement with Leopold into an association with Tarrant & Co. (Tarrant), a wholesale drug firm in New York City. (For the vigilant, yes, the circle closes tighter; Tarrant was purchased years later by M. J. Breitenbach Co. after a disastrous fire in 1900, as noted a few columns back).
E & M HOFF’S MALT EXTRACT TRADE CARD
To be sure it was on firm ground marketing Hoff’s Malt Extract, Tarrant dispatched Pederson to Berlin to arrange an exclusive distribution contract with Johann himself. Johann apparently deputized Leopold to make the arrangements, and in July, 1869, Leopold signed a twenty year exclusive U. S. distributorship compact with Tarrant The contract provided that orders and correspondence would go through Leopold in Hamburg, but payments would be made to Johann in Berlin. This system worked satisfactorily until 1873 when Johann encountered financial trouble which caused him to transfer his own operations in Berlin to a corporation subsequently run by his wife and also to re-locate himself for a year and one-half to St. Petersburg in Russia, presumably to avoid his creditors. Responding to Johann’s financial crisis, Leopold instructed Tarrant to make payments directly to him in Hamburg and to keep buying from the bottling plant in Hamburg, now listed solely in Marcus’s name.
E & M HOFF’S MALT EXTRACT TRADE CARD
After Johann regained his financial bearings again in 1878, he tried to reassert full authority again over his Malt Extract holdings. Leopold resisted and relations between Johann and Leopold cooled. Johann demanded that Leopold stop using the Hoff Malt Extract label and trademark and claimed the American distributorship contract with Tarrant both had expired and was void. Leopold and Tarrant insisted that the contract was still valid and continued business as usual.
1886 E & M HOFF’S MALT EXTRACT AD
1890 TARRANT HOFF’S MALT EXTRACT AD
In 1881, reviewing a display of pharmaceutical preparations in London, a British medical journal noted that there were two displays of Hoff’s Malt Extract, one by Leopold and the other by Johann. In addition to liquid malt extract, Leopold also displayed a more jellied form together with malted chocolate and candy fashioned from malt extract. Johann showed his tried and true liquid malt extract. The magazine found both malt extract presentations novel, commended them both to public experimentation and noted: “It is to be regretted that any unfriendly rivalry should exist between those who aim at relieving the sufferings of the afflicted.”
1887 (JOHANN) HOFF’S MALT EXTRACT ENGLISH AD
Johann then stepped up the war in the U.S. not only by engaging Moritz Eisner to act as his agent, but also by suing Tarrant in the federal court in New York City in 1881 for unfair competition as well as trademark infringement. The court noted that the sole witnesses who testified were Johann for the plaintiff and Leopold for the defendant. In its opinion, finally rendered in 1886, the court concluded “[n]either of them is truthful.” It found that both Johann and Leopold had sufficient knowledge to make the Malt Extract, and that, whatever they said, they had not really acted at cross-purposes until 1878 when Johann tried to reassert his control of the Hoff’s Malt Extract family fortune. Because the court found that Johann knew and understood what Leopold was doing at all times between 1869 and 1878, it dismissed Johann’s complaint against Leopold. Legal round one went to Tarrant.
E & M HOFF’S MALT EXTRACT BOTTLE
In the first extant litigation mentioning Eisner, in 1882, he brought a criminal slander action against Tarrant’s traveling salesman, one Hurlbert, in the Philadelphia courts alleging that Hurlbert visited Eisner’s customers and told them that Eisner’s Hoff’s Malt Extract was fake. The court dismissed the suit, remarking that Eisner had not pleaded slanderous statements made against himself, but rather only demonstrated disparagement of his product, and also had failed to allege specific damages flowing from those statements. Legal round two also went to Tarrant.
In the continuing German litigation, Leopold seems to have preserved his right to manufacture Hoff’s Malt Extract separately from Johann, but, after the Supreme Court of the German Empire remanded the matter for re-trial in 1887, E & M crowed in its U.S. advertising that it had vindicated its claim to be the source of the only “genuine” Hoff’s Malt Extract. The ad supposedly quoted language from a German Court decision forcing Leopold to make the label and trademark changes that Johann had asked for as part of the relief he sought in the U.S. lawsuit in 1881. However, sensing that E & M had quoted in its ads language not drawn from an actual German court decision but rather from its own brief outlining its argument submitted to the German court, Leopold, in turn, struck back in Germany.
1887 E & M AD CLAIMING VICTORY
In 1889, Tarrant triumphantly trumpeted that it could now denounce E & M’s ads as complete lies. Circulating its own flyer, widely reproduced in U.S. industry journals, Tarrant published “extracts” from an actual 1889 German court decision – forwarded and attested to by the American counsel in Hamburg – in which that court overruled Johann Hoff’s defense in that court that E & M’s merely had made a mistake when it quoted its own brief rather than a court decision in its 1887 ads. It ruled, instead, that defense to be a deliberate lie rather than a mistranslation. The German court further ruled that E & M’s claim that its extract was manufactured in Germany was also a deliberate lie, finding that E & M’s extract was being manufactured in Philadelphia. Having exposed E & M’s lies, echoing Hurlbert’s earlier sales pitch, Tarrant’s announcement then reminded its customers that any physician who troubled to taste the two Hoff’s Malt Extracts would instantly know the difference: “[E & M’s Extract is] light, sour and nauseous liquid, bearing evidence in odor, taste and appearance of a doctored beer having the effect of a stimulant, while the genuine Hoff’s Malt … Tarrant’s is a nutrient.” [all italics in original].
1889 TARRANT REBUTTAL
PRINTED AS NEWS STORY
IN AMERICAL MEDICAL JOURNALS
Yet even as E & M and Tarrant continued to exchange these very loud and very public trade broadsides, important machinations occurred behind the scene. In 1889, Leopold and Tarrant negotiated a new contract to replace the 1869 agreement which, by its terms, was expiring. That contract renewal removed Johann’s name completely from the label Tarrant used in the U.S. and substituted the word’s “Hoff’s Malt Extract – Tarrant’s” in its place. The place of manufacture was changed from either Berlin or Hamburg to Hamburg only, and the fine print of the label was modified in other small ways to show that this Hoff’s Malt Extract was Leopold’s and came from Hamburg. While Tarrant’s modifications were voluntary, and its 1889 circular denounced E & M’s advertising as lies, that circular slyly and subtly ended with the announcement of its future modifications of its U.S. label.
1886 E & M HOFF’S MALT EXTRACT AD
In 1891, Eisner clashed with another adversary over Hoff’s Malt Extract. Applying a new special provision of the Tariff Act of 1890, the Treasury Department classified Eisner’s latest import of Hoff’s Malt Extract as a “malt extract” taxable at a 40% rate rather than at the 25% rate for medicinal preparations not containing alcohol. Prior to 1875, the federal government simply treated malt extract as beer for purposes of import duty. In 1876, Johann Hoff convinced the Treasury Department to issue an administrative ruling classifying his Malt Extract as a medicinal preparation taxable at the 25% rate. Others, drawing on the distinction between malting and brewing, also got competing malt extracts classified as medicinal preparations, and one importer even received a classification of his extract as a food product because of the germination of the grain in the malting process. After the passage of the new tariff law, the Treasury Department read the Act literally and simply applied the new specific provision imposing the 40% tax on malt extract as opposed to the 25% tax on medicinal preparations that also had been renewed. After an administrative appeal within the department produced the same result, Johann Hoff Co. sued in New York federal district court to have the ruling of the Treasury Department set aside on the basis of the older Treasury rulings and the more general tax imposed on medicinal preparations. Amazingly, the District Court agreed and overruled the Treasury Department, but, in 1894, the Circuit Court, upon the government’s appeal, reversed and reinstated the 40% import duty. The Court reasoned that Hoff’s Malt Extract contained 12% malt extract by volume (some of which, the Court noted, was alcohol naturally created in the malting process, a minor differentiation itself carrying the product outside the medicinal preparation classification) and, more importantly, was advertised to stress the special properties of malt extract. Because Congress had specifically address malt extracts, the Court ruled the new specific provision governed, even if Hoff’s Malt Extract was normally considered a medicine.
1895 TARRANT HOFF’S MALT EXTRACT AD
Because E & M and Tarrant apparently still were accruing significant enough sales, they continued battling each other. After mirroring E & M by also incorporating a U.S. subsidiary as a West Virginia corporation, in 1891, Johann Hoff Co. openly began to produce its Hoff’s Malt Extract in the U.S. Now embracing its identity as a U.S. corporation, it again sued Tarrant in the U.S. District Court of New York both to assert its exclusive right to market its Hoff’s Malt Extract as the only genuine Hoff’s Malt Extract and claiming unfair competition. On the eve of trial of this new complaint, it was revealed that in 1882, Johann, Marcus and Leopold had signed a contract among themselves in Germany which divided the world between Johann’s original firm and Marcus’s Hamburg firm for purposes of production and sale of Hoff’s Malt Extract. Johann received the U.S. and the Americas, with the proviso that Leopold could continue his American business with Tarrant & Co, whether a part of Marcus’s operation or not, so long as he did not use Johann’s “malt essence.” Marcus died in 1885 and Johann died in 1887. Apparently, since the 1882 arrangement tolerated the status quo in the U.S., the Germans did not bother to disclose its terms to their U.S. distributors. Even in the face of that revelation, Johann’s heirs still claimed misconduct by Tarrant, apparently asserting that Leopold had not abided by the terms of the 1882 agreement and was still using Johann’s “malt essence.”
E & M HOFF’S MALT EXTRACT ADS
In its 1896 decision, rather than trying to sort out what constituted the true “malt essence” and who possessed it, the District Court took the 1882 agreement as indisputable evidence that both firms had the legal right to market Hoff’s Malt Extract in the U.S. Its decision simply required Tarrant to add “Leopold” to its label in front of the words “Hoff’s Malt Extract” and, likewise, barred sale without this modification. When the Court of Appeals affirmed the District Court, in a very short per curiam decision, it simply pointed out that Leopold’s earlier label changes had not been dramatic enough to avoid “deceitful confusion,” although it refused to require a “perfidious” motive to find such “deceitful confusion” and remarked that such confusion might even arise from carelessness! Each side immediately proclaimed victory. E & M insisted that having “Leopold” added to Tarrant’s label was victory enough, although it conceded that it had neither barred Tarrant from selling Hoff’s Malt Extract nor had it gained an accounting of damages for Tarrant’s past sales. For its part, Tarrant claimed the further label modification was a minor inconvenience, crowed again that it had shown that Johann’s Malt Extract was a pale American shadow of its German product, and vainly promised to appeal this decision again to the U.S. Supreme Court.
E & M HOFF’S MALT EXTRACT TRADE CARD CIRCA 1898
Meanwhile, in 1894, the U.S. had re-codified its trademark law, and the fight thereafter shifted to the trademark forum. In 1905, Johann Hoff Co. tried to register Hoff as a trademark for malt extract, claiming that it had obtained exclusive use of the term “Hoff’s Malt Extract” for the ten-year period before its registration filing, relying principally on its 1896 court victory. The Patent Office declined to make the registration, and Johann Hoff Co. appealed the Office’s decision to the federal court of appeals in Washington. In 1909, that court held that the Patent Office correctly concluded that Johann Hoff Co. had not demonstrated its exclusive use of Hoff’s Malt Extract, and reasoned that Hoff’s Malt Extract and Leopold Hoff’s Malt Extract were so close as to deny either exclusive use of “Hoff” as a trademark. So ended the “Thirty Years’ War” over the proprietary nature of Hoff’s Malt Extract. Eisner may have acted on behalf of Johann Hoff, who was the original Hoff of Hoff’s Malt Extract, but he was close enough to Johann to have known that Johann had granted Leopold a free hand to distribute the product in the United States.
E & M TRADEMARK REGISTRATION POST HOFF RULING
Although as late as 1906, Eisner managed to place a medical study commending the use of Hoff’s Malt Extract as a treatment for anemia in a medical journal, in the same manner as Breitenbach had used such medical journals, by 1912, the market for Hoff’s Malt Extract must have been failing, for Johann Hoff Co. found it could not meet the payment deadlines for its bonds then falling due. It dissolved itself as a West Virginia corporation and re-chartered itself as a Maine corporation that purchased the assets of the old corporation through issuing bonds not payable until 1921. The only part of the operation that remained the same was that the new corporation assigned its entire production output to E & M, which, as a contemporary New York Times article noted, “will guarantee net profit to the new company sufficient to meet all the fixed charges.” By then Hoff’s Malt Extract had wormed its way into American culture as well. In 1904, the American author Willa Cather wrote in a letter that she did not find it a cure for her general ennui and malaise.
WILLA CATHER
E & M’s Other Involvements
Carlsbad Sprudel Salts
By 1887, Eisner had landed other major contracts, becoming the U.S. representative for various mineral waters bottled by the famous hot spring cities of Vichy in France and Carlsbad, then in Austria., as well the Hungarian water that brought on the litigation with Andreas Saxlehner.
E & M VICHY WATER AD
Eisner’s involvement with the City of Carlsbad, distributing and marketing its mineral water, “Carlsbad Sprudel Salts,” led to his participation in another slew of litigation over whether the City could hold exclusive rights to profit from its name and its springs. In these cases, the problem presented was that the mineral content of Carlsbad’s water had been analyzed and the formula for its production published in Germany. Any American manufacturer could produce a mineral water that had the same mineral content as Carlsbad Sprudel Salts, but could that manufacturer invoke Carlsbad’s name in connection with its sale?
E & M CARLSBAD SPRUDEL SALT ADS
At first, Eisner seemed to prevail, winning an injunction against the sale of Saratoga “Carlsbad” Water by Philadelphia druggist G. W. Nock in 1888. In connection with another American lawsuit he brought in 1889, Eisner accompanied the lawyers to Carlsbad for the deposition of its Mayor, who attested that the City had controlled and exploited its mineral springs since 1370 and displayed the patents granted by the Habsburg emperors to prove its exclusive control. Upon his return from Carlsbad, Eisner confidently reported to the press that the Mayor’s evidence would conclusively determine the litigation.
ADDITIONAL E & M CARLSBAD SPRUDEL SALT ADS
However, when the case was adjudicated, the court found that one Schultz, the American distributor whom Eisner was trying to shut down, had actually used the term “Carlsbad Water” long before Eisner began importing the genuine article into the U.S. and had always identified his water as artificially created in accordance with the publicly known analysis of the mineral content of Carlsbad’s water. While the court was perfectly willing to enjoin Schultz from using any labeling that could be confused with Eisner’s, it proved an empty victory since the court held that Schultz had clearly denoted his water as artificial “Carlsbad Water,” found Schultz’s application of the term artificial sufficient to differentiate Schultz’s mineral water from the real mineral water, and therefore granted no accounting of damages for infringing sales. Applying the reasoning of this decision, the makers of Saratoga “Carlsbad” Water soon began marketing their water again, stressing in their advertising that its place of origin was Saratoga Springs, N.Y., not Carlsbad, Austria. Eisner’s and Carlsbad’s attempt to register “Sprudel” as a trademark similarly failed. In 1912, the trademark examiner held that another manufacturer had already registered his mineral water as “Gerolsteiner Sprudel” before Eisner filed his trademark application. The examiner further held not only that Carlsbad’s claim to priority of use of the term “Sprudel” in the United States was belied by the other party’s earlier registration, but also, that Eisner and Carlsbad could claim no exclusivity to the use of the term “Sprudel.” Even while conceding the term “Sprudel” might have first been coined to describe the springs at Carlsbad, the examiner found that by 1780 “Sprudel” had acquired in German the general descriptive meaning of “bubbling or boiling” or, when used as a verb “to break forth like a spring.” Since the term had become too general to pinpoint the origin of the water, the examiner denied Eisner and Carlsbad the right to register their trademark. As with Hoff’s Malt Extract, Eisner became the agent for the City of Carlsbad, the original source of Carlsbad Sprudel Salts, but took on the role too late to secure the exclusive U.S. rights to the product.
1892 SARATOGA CARLSBAD WATER AD
Mendelson died at Far Rockaway, Long Island, in 1904 at age 51. Announced in a single drug trade journal, the factual statement of his death constitutes one half of his obituary. The remaining line reads: “Mr. Mendelson has been a member of Eisner & Mendelson Co. for twenty years, and by his kindness and courtesy of manner, had won not only the highest respect, but the warmest affection of all his associates.” However, most contemporary assessments of both Eisner and Mendelson were less charitable, and Hattie Mendelson’s name continued to appear in connection with E & M, but only because as her husband’s executor she was Eisner’s co-defendant in the Saxlehner litigation and many others.
Soden Mineral Pastilles
In 1891, E & M found itself enjoined with respect to selling another of its products. It was acting as the American sales agent for the Soden Mineral Springs Co., a German company that evaporated water from the Soden Spring in Germany to produce mineral wafers, called Soden Mineral Pastilles, which it asserted cured colds and bronchial ailments. The ads E & M ran in the U.S. for the Pastilles claimed that they were endorsed and recommended by the eminent English throat specialist, Sir Morrell Mackenzie, and even went so far as state that no package was genuine without Mackenzie’s signature on it. When informed that he was touting Soden Mineral Pastilles in the New York Times, Mackenzie took umbrage and sued in New York, affirming that he had no knowledge of the product, further that the signature reproduced on the package was not his, and that he had never sent E & M any endorsement of the product. In court statements, dodging the question of their dubious advertising claims, Eisner and Mendelson both responded that the packaging was done by the German company in Germany and shipped to them ready for sale, and, moreover, that their contract did not permit them to make any changes to that packaging. The Court had no difficulty enjoining E & M from engaging in false advertising using Mackenzie’s likeness, signature or words.
Cosmopolitan Advertising Bureau
In reporting the circumstances of another judgment entered against E & M in 1899, a journal interviewed the plaintiff who had obtained the judgment. One J. Preston Carson recounted how he had bought for $6000 a minority share in an advertising agency that E & M had organized to handle the advertising for its products as well as agreeing to become its president. E & M then decided to use the agency to handle outside advertising beyond E & M’s own and urged Carson to hire one Haulenbeck, “J. Walter Thompson’s right hand man,” to help him grow the business. Carson negotiated with Haulenbeck, but while these talks dragged on for several months, a deal was never consummated. Carson then claimed that Eisner had told him that because he had not come to terms with Haulenbeck, Eisner was going to close the agency completely. Eisner and Mendelson then offered to ease his loss by buying him out of his stake in the agency for $3150. Thereafter, Carson learned that Eisner and Mendelson had not closed the agency, but had made their own deal with Haulenbeck, bringing Haulenbeck into their operation on the same terms that Carson had negotiated with Haulenbeck minus Carson’s involvement. He then sued Eisner and Mendelson each for deceit, asserting that they had planned all along with Haulenbeck to force Carson out of the advertising bureau. After weighing the testimony, the jury found for Carson and the court entered judgment against E & M in the amount of $3638.14 to make Carson whole for his lost investment.
Carson described Eisner to the trade journal as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. He was the soul of benevolence when he offered to buy Carson out, but laughed at Carson when Carson asked for the return of his stock after Eisner’s deal with Haulenbeck became known: “Eisner had run out of charity, Christian or otherwise.” When the lawsuit was tried, Carson claimed Eisner admitted he had not even read the affidavit his lawyer had him sign. Describing Mendelson, Carson said: “The man does not seem to be troubled by any more scruple of conscience than his esteemed partner, but he has none of his partner’s skill of fence. He was a mere plaything in the hands of the lawyers.”
Although Carson’s indictment of Eisner and Mendelson remains a part of the permanent story of E & M, Carson’s triumph was short-lived. When E & M appealed, the reviewing court reversed Carson’s judgment. Reading the same testimony as the jury, it found that Haulenbeck had legitimately declined to deal with Carson, and that E & M had negotiated with Haulenbeck at arm’s length through a different intermediary after Carson sold his stock back to Eisner. Therefore, it held the charge of deceit unfounded.
Dr. Friedrich Franz Friedmann
N. Y. TIMES TURTLE SERUM TRANSFER REPORT
4/29/1913
Eisner’s final appearance on the public stage was as the U.S. distributor of Dr. Friedrich Franz Friedmann’s turtle vaccine heralded in 1913 as the cure for tuberculosis. E & M organized the Standard Distributing Co. especially to deal with this new miracle drug. Once again, there was a flurry of heart-stopping litigation breathlessly reported by the New York Times as to whether Eisner or a doctor named Sturm had properly secured the U.S. distribution rights. Eisner prevailed when Friedmann claimed that his association with Sturm was limited to Sturm’s observing him, and denied that he had conveyed the rights to the serum itself to Sturm. Shortly thereafter, the Times reported that Friedmann had transferred the formula to Eisner’s company. The Times also reported Friedmann’s and Eisner’s lofty plan to have the Standard Distributing Co. establish clinics all over the country to make the vaccine available to the public and free to the poor. After being announced with such a flourish in 1913, the turtle vaccine retreated into its shell, and in 1916, Eisner quietly testified in bankruptcy court that the New York Friedmann Institute was defunct. There are several Standard Distributing Co. presently in operation, but none seem to have any connection with Eisner’s company.
Moritz Eisner lived until 1938 when he died at age 84 after an illness lasting six weeks. His obituary in the New York Times noted that he had finally retired in the early 1930s from his final position as President of the Carlsbad Salts Co. Having never really prevailed on behalf of the European suppliers he represented to corner the markets they coveted within the U.S., nevertheless, Eisner managed to ride the popularity of their extracts and waters to a prosperous and comfortable old age.
EXAMPLES OF SECOND COMMON FORM OF PRINTED CANCELS – 1899 to 1901
*****
DUNN REVENUE STAMPS USED ON SEN-SEN PACKAGES AND BOXES
This particular alphabetical meander through the great slew of companies using proprietary battleship revenues is principally devoted to documenting those whose names appear most often on these revenues, and, for that reason, next investigates the T. B. Dunn Co. of Rochester, NY. Virtually any lot of battleship cancels offered on eBay – whether a mixed offering or one strictly limited to proprietaries – includes at least one RB20 with the familiar “TBD Co” initials emblazoned upon it. The Dunn company attached the RB20s to small envelopes containing Sen-Sen, a breath freshening gum, and the empty packets with their RB20s still affixed are also sometimes offered for sale on eBay. The cancel commonly appears in one of two formats: either the earlier more elaborate form of “Aug 12, 98/T.B.D. Co.;” or the later more streamlined form “8-1-1899/ T.B.D.Co .” The cancels also appears on the RB27 and RB30 values which were used to denote proper payment of the tax on display or presentation boxes of Sen-Sen containing multiple envelopes. Sen-Sen’s enormous popularity is demonstrated not only by the sheer volume of the stamps still extant, but also by the fact that, save for the first day cancels, all of them were printed rather than hand stamped. The policy of printing cancels meant the company was immensely confident that its volume of business warranted large-scale formal preparation of cancelled stamps. Of course, the most convincing proof of Sen-Sen’s enduring charms is that it can be purchased even today on the Internet, advertised now more as a novelty candy rather than a breath mint.
SEN-SEN AVAILABLE TODAY ON THE INTERNET
The discourse on T. B. Dunn and Sen-Sen divides naturally into several different topics. First, the product itself merits discussion for the singular place it holds in our culture, and then both T. B. Dunn’s business and professional achievements separately warrant review for the values they represent. Concerning the product itself, Sen-Sen came (and apparently still comes) packaged as little squares of gum with a hard black surface that give off a heavy anise or licorice scent when chewed. Its enormous popularity and genuine appeal lay in its ability to mask other scents on the breath that might otherwise be detected. In an age when use of tobacco and alcohol were considered morally degenerate in many fashionable circles, Sen-Sen had enormous appeal to smokers and drinkers who wished to disguise their “character failings” from their more conventional family and friends. During Prohibition, when drinking was illegal in addition to being immoral, Sen-Sen provided cover for those who wished to hide their penchant for illegal elixirs by disguising the scent of alcohol. Sen-Sen was readily available at any drug or candy store, and, in this period, particularly, was a hallmark of sophistication among those of the younger set who wished to be identified as part of the knowledgeable demimonde.
OLDER SEN-SEN PACKAGING
Thomas Byrne Dunn was born in Providence, RI in 1857, but moved with his parents to Rochester, N.Y. in 1858. Eventually, he became engaged in the manufacture of perfumes, and seems to have become a conventional member of the Perfume Manufacturers Association. How Sen-Sen emerged is shrouded in mystery. The cant explanation repeated by present Internet retailers on every website, without any quoted source beyond a reference to the “company’s history,” is that Sen-Sen was invented by a Dunn company “plant supervisor” named Kershner, who chanced upon the method for infusing chewing gum with perfume in a stable manner. No explanation is ever offered as to exactly why a perfume maker would have been trying to infuse chewing gum with perfume, but perhaps the need to disguise use of tobacco and alcohol was always so glaringly obvious that a market niche was there just waiting to be filled by some enterprising inventor. The Dunn company first marketed Sen-Sen around 1894 or 1895 and trademarked its distinctive packaging in 1897. By the outbreak of the Spanish-American War in 1898, Sen-Sen had found its place as a pocket necessity for every smoker or drinker.
DUNN PERFUME TRADE CARD
T. B. Dunn was a good employer. A 1903 New York State Board of Mediation and Arbitration report commended Dunn’s company for its treatment of its employees, noting both that many of these employees were women, and quoting the plant forewoman as saying: “We employ the nicest girls in town, many of them coming from the high school. Very few are dismissed. That they are satisfied with their employment and surroundings is indicated by the fact that they remain with us until they get married.” The report further set forth that when the company learned that these woman had begun a “sick benefit association,” it voluntarily determined to match employee contributions. At a time when the average factory workforce accepted, and even approved, the normal length of the work day as being nine hours long, an employer’s contributing to an employee sick fund was an almost unknown perk. The historical Robert Campbell Kershner (1857-1944) was more than just a “plant supervisor;” he was Dunn’s brother-in-law and ultimately rose to the position of treasurer of the entire Dunn enterprise. He not only merited his own biographical entry among the notable businessmen and sportsmen of New York State, but his daughter’s engagement also made the society page of the New York Times in 1910. By then, the Dunn company had sales agencies in “London … Paris, Berlin, Moscow, Madrid, Mexico, Buenos Ayres and other world centers.”
DUNN CO. COVER
COVERS USED BY DISTRIBUTERS OF SEN-SEN
Dunn was an ambitious industrialist. As early as 1899, just after the chewing gum industry itself consolidated with the formation of the American Chicle Co in 1898 (a subject for a separate inquiry in due course), Dunn was approached to join in a similar consolidation of the perfume industry proposed by a fellow Rochesterian, Andrew S. Onderdonk, who also conducted a perfume business.1
[1 Take note: the only “ASO” cancels listed in Mustacich & Giacomelli are three attributed to Allen S. Olmstead of LeRoy, NY, although one is marked “questionable,” so there may be room for another seismic re-attribution, ala Frank Sente’s authoritative reattribution of the printed “S.C. & Co.” cancel from Strong, Cobb & Co. to Snyder, Chaffee & Co.]
While various significant perfume manufacturing companies, among them Colgate & Co., Lazell, Dalley & Co., Theodore Ricksecker, Alfred Wright (each and every one a battleship revenue user which ultimately will be profiled in this study) as well as Ladd & Coffin (already profiled), participated in this discussion, no perfume trust ever formed. Perhaps because of the particularly private and proprietary nature of perfume and cosmetics formulas, like medical formulas, the perfume manufacturers never consolidated into a trust as the chewing gum manufacturers did. Dunn prided himself on the independence of his spirit and the company remained on its own throughout the Spanish-American War and almost until the end of the next decade.
T. B. DUNN CO. ADVERTISING
SEN SEN CHICKLET CO ADVERTISING
BIRD TRADE CARDS WITH COMMON BACK
1911 Ad
However, in 1909, for reasons set forth below, Dunn merged his company into, and became president of, the newly formed Sen-Sen Chicklet Company that was capitalized at $6,700,000. Not surprisingly, this time the principle owner of the new company was none other than the American Chicle Co. Aside from Dunn’s company, the American Chicle Co.’s other prominent acquisition was the Frank H. Fleer Co., which in 1906 had designed, marketed and named chicklets (The Fleer Co.’s own history will appear by and by in another column). The new Sen-Sen Chicklet Co. was headquartered in the Metropolitan Tower in New York City, but continued the manufacture of Sen-Sen at Dunn’s former factory in Rochester. In 1914, the American Chicle Company finally completed its purchase and consolidation of Dunn’s operations into its own by replacing the stock of the Sen-Sen Chicklet Co. with its own, now capitalized at $8,000,000, and by the 1920s, when the assets of the company were valued at over $20,000,000, had closed the plant in Rochester, N.Y. The machinery for the production of Sen-Sen was sent to another American Chicle plant location. At some point, both the formula for the manufacture of Sen-Sen and its production machinery passed into the hands of the Warner-Lambert pharmaceutical company, which, in turn, sold both, in 1977, to F. & F. Laboratories, Inc. F. & F. still operates the original machinery today at its plant in Chicago, IL. By contrast with the American Chicle Co. trust of 1920, F. & F., a privately held company, when it last publicly discussed its finances, only claimed sales in the range of $20,000,000 in 1995 dollars, a mere pittance when compared with American Chicle’s 1920s $20,000,000.
1907 PICTURE 1908 CARTOON
The reason Dunn turned away from manufacturing was that his attention was gradually drawn to politics. After a two-year stint as President of the Rochester Chamber of Commerce, he successfully ran as a Republican for the position of State Senator for Rochester’s district in 1906. By that time, he was also a prominent citizen of the community as well as a member of the Board of Trustees for the Rochester Orphan Asylum, a director of the Genesee Valley Trust Co., a local bank, and a member of the Rochester Athletic Association, the Rochester Yacht Club, the Genesee Valley and the Rochester Country Clubs. In 1907, New York State Governor Charles Evans Hughes named him as the Chief Commissioner and President of the New York State Commission to the Jamestown Exposition (commemorated by U.S. postage stamps Scott 328-330), where he officiated at New York’s pavilion, entertaining such notables as then President Theodore Roosevelt, and future President Woodrow Wilson.
1907 U.S. COMMEMORATIVES ISSUED FOR JAMESTOWN EXPOSITION
NEW YORK STATE BUILDING AT JAMESTOWN EXPOSITION
In 1908, pictures of him and all his family members ran on the front page of the New York City Tribune, when he was introduced to the entire state as the Republican candidate for State Treasurer. The Republicans won, and he served the two-year term. After Governor Hughes was appointed by President Taft to be an Associate Supreme Court Justice in 1910, Dunn attempted unsuccessfully to secure the Republican gubernatorial nomination. While not a significant enough politician to become a lasting statewide figure, thereafter, he successfully ran in 1912 as the Republican candidate to the United States House of Representatives for the Rochester, N.Y. district, and served in Congress for five terms, always a solid supporter of Republican causes, including, as the drug trade publications were quick to note, retail price maintenance legislation. Yet, even as a politician, he still found time to contribute to the Rochester Automobile Club in support of the annual orphan’s outing that it arranged for the children housed in asylums around Rochester.
DUNN FAMILY ON THE COVER OF THE N. Y. TRIBUNE – 10/18/1908
In 1922, Dunn elected not to run and retired from office. He died on July 2, 1924, and was laid to rest in a mausoleum which he had ordered and had constructed for himself in 1898. If you, dear reader, find this article obsessive concerning such a local phenomenon as Thomas B. Dunn (who happens, by chance, to hail from the author’s hometown of Rochester, N.Y., although hardly a household identity or personality like another Rochesterian, George Eastman ), consider that the compete records concerning the specifications for the mausoleum, including the names of the stone cutters who actually participated in quarrying the stone Dunn had ordered from George W. Sanborn of the Smith Granite Co., are available on-line at the website of the Babcock-Smith House Museum maintained in the city of Westerly, Rhode Island.
DUNN MAUSOLEUM
There are notable oddities and curiosities about Sen-Sen. Originally its ingredients were imported to Rochester, N.Y. from such exotic places around the world as Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, France, Italy and parts of Asia. The name Sen-Sen is thought to derive from the Japanese word for glistening, shiny or bright, but may simply be fanciful. In 1900, as part of a promotion for Sen-Sen, T. B. Dunn persuaded John Philip Sousa to reprint one of his marches, the “Yorktown Centennial March” composed in 1881, under the title of the “Sen-Sen March,” and in 1918, the Treasurer’s Report for the American Philatelic Society noted that among A.P.S.’s financial assets was “Sen-Sen Chicklet Co. Sinking Fund Gold Bond No. A1081” bearing a face value of $1000.
JOHN PHILIP SOUSA’S SEN-SEN MARCH
No less an obsessive source than Wikipedia celebrates the numerous references to Sen-Sen in American folklore. It is mentioned in the musical “The Music Man” in the song “(Ya Got) Trouble” when Professor Harold Hill cites boys bragging about chewing Sen-Sen to “cover up tell-tale breath” as sign of impending hooliganism, and Billy Joel cites it in his song “Keeping The Faith.” It is also referenced in the plays “Street Car Named Desire” by Tennessee Williams and “Talley’s Folly” by Lanford Wilson. Robert Penn Warren called one of the characters in “All the King’s Men” Sen-Sen Puckett because of his habit of chewing Sen-Sen. Other writers from Somerset Maugham through John Steinbeck to Philip Roth, Thomas Harris, Stephen King, Ray Bradbury and Philip K. Dick have referred to Sen-Sen in their novels and stories. On television, it has been mentioned on shows such as M*A*S*H*, Northern Exposure and King of Queens. The mention of Sen-Sen seems to impart a lasting, slightly dated sense of raffish, risqué, naughty, and yet ploddingly plebian, daring to any enterprise with which its name is associated.
© Malcolm A. Goldstein 2014
Charles N. Crittenton Co.
Wholesaler, Manufacturer
From the tale of M J Breitenbach Co. – which recounted some facets of the life of Edward G. Wells, the outgoing and colorful Vice-President of Charles N. Crittenton Co., who ultimately brought his expertise to the Breitenbach Company’s adroit, if slightly unscrupulous, management – it is natural to progress to an examination of the Crittenton Co. itself, and to its founder, Charles N. Crittenton (1833-1909).
CHARLES N. CRITTENTON
The Crittenton Co.’s “C. N. C. & Co.” handstamp is reasonably frequently found in two different type configurations on almost all of the values of the battleship proprietary issue.
CRITTENTON SINGLE NAME STRIKE CANCELS
*****
CRITTENTON DOUBLE NAME STRIKE CANCELS
With this column, this series engages fully (perhaps for the first time) its central mission to clothe one of Henry Holcombe’s original bare bones, but ever fascinating, accounts of the locations and products of the proprietary medicine company (always combined with a meticulous recounting of the colors, paper variations, and printing runs of their 1863-1883 issue proprietary stamps) with the accoutrements of circumstance and anecdote that make the Patent Medicine Era milieu, its proprietors and their products real. It also attempts to add information to the spectacular full color pictures of the original RS issues and thumbnail sketches of the sponsoring companies posted on line by Robert Hohertz (rhinstal.com), who has also contributed to the 1898battleshiprevenue.com website. Crittenton’s life happily lends itself to this kind of elucidation, for he was yet another 19th Century captain of industry who ultimately found a passion beyond patent medicines and devoted his fortune to pursuing that goal.
Scott RS 62a Scott RS 63d
Scott RS 64c Scott RS 64d
CRITTENTON’S PRIVATE DIE PROPRIETARY STAMPS
(Capital Letters and Numbers are Scott Catalogue Listing; Small Letters denote paper sub-varieties)
Crittenton was born in the remote village of Henderson in Jefferson County, New York on February 20, 1833. At age 18, like many young men of his time, he journeyed to New York City to find his fortune. He began as an office assistant in a funeral parlor, and trained to become an accountant. By 1860, according to Holcombe, he was working with his brother William M. Crittenton, as a wholesaler and agent for several different proprietary medicines. He himself later said that when he had saved sixty dollars, he struck out on his own as a wholesaler of druggists’ supplies, an event which occurred approximately in 1862. After five years in business, he reckoned his accumulated wealth at $25,000. According to Holcombe, in or around 1876, Crittenton entered into an agreement with John F. Henry, a prominent and already established patent medicine producer (RS 112-116), to manufacture certain patent medicines which prompted him to order his own RS issues, RS 62-64. Among the colorfully named products of which Crittenton was the proprietor were Glenn’s Sulphur Soap, Hale’s Honey of Horehound and Tar, Japanese Corn File, Hill’s Hair Dye and Revivum, and Pike’s Toothache Drops.
CRITTENTON TRADE CARDS
COMMON BACK FOR ABOVE TRADE CARDS
Crittenton was also agent for a variety of other preparations such as Dr. Decker’s Shake No More, manufactured by Dr. W. F. Decker of Paterson, N.J.; the remedies of Dr. Josiah Briggs of Newark, N.J.; the malaria cure of Dr. James of New York City; Ficus Carica, a laxative manufactured by Brighton Pharmaceutical Co of New York City; Eradico manufactured by Eradico Mfg. Co. of New York City; and Vinolia manufactured by Vinolia Co. Ltd. of London. By 1880, Crittenton had located his business in an enormous warehouse building at 115-117 Fulton Street which was the largest depot for proprietary medicines and druggist supplies in New York City and possibly in the entire world.
His own trademarked symbol was the beehive and his motto was “Nothing Without Labor.” These devices appear prominently on the Crittenton Company’s mailing envelopes.
CRITTENTON COVERS
Always a staunch prohibitionist, Crittenton was the one of the earliest supporters and distributors of Lydia E. Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound, which was advertised as a non-alcoholic medicinal remedy particularly suited for women. Pinkham’s Compound was a great financial success for both Pinkham and Crittenton, and the battleship cancels associated with it, mostly printed, are commonly and most frequently seen on RB28. The complete story of its founder, her company and its history, already the subject of numerous discrete books, looms like Mt. Everest over that of the other companies to be chronicled in this series, and will be taken up at another time. However, Crittenton’s support of Pinkham can be used as a sound measure both of his business acumen and his teetotaling convictions.
CRITTENTON ADVERTISING
1879 ALMANAC COVERS
In 1892, the business was incorporated as a privately held corporation with capital of $800,000, an extremely large number for that time. The New York Times columnist who reported the event harrumphed that if Crittenton had intended it to be a publically held corporation, it would have been capitalized at a much larger sum, for its accounts were ample enough to warrant a much larger capitalization. However, by then Crittenton had removed himself entirely from the day-to-day operations of the company to follow a more compelling calling. In 1882, his four year old daughter Florence died of scarlet fever. Shaken by this tragedy, Crittenton embarked on a completely different path with the same vigor that he had pursued his patent medicine business. An Evangelical Christian, he plunged into missionary work, and began to concern himself with the plight of prostitutes, apparently taking to the streets of New York at night to try to persuade them to give up their trade. While this kind of behavior in our time of politically correct sensitivities seems almost pathological, the Victorian world seemed to take this kind of behavior in stride. At almost the same time in England, Prime Minister William Gladstone of England indulged the same passion and no one seems to have thought it more than a mildly strange eccentricity. Certainly it never interfered with Gladstone’s political career, and, likewise, no one at the time seems to have considered Crittenton’s motivation as anything other than heaven directed.
1887 AD 1914 AD
The first solid achievement of Crittenton’s new pursuit was his establishment of the Florence Crittenton Mission on Bleeker Street in New York City in 1883. Its charter was to provide a home for “lost and fallen women,” meaning prostitutes and unmarried, pregnant women. By 1886, it became clear that Crittenton could not sustain this crusade and keep track of his business, so he turned the business decisions over to his highly devoted and trusted staff, among them Edward G. Wells. Crittenton, meanwhile, had overworked himself to such a degree that his physicians ordered him to go abroad to regain his strength. He heeded their advice, but gave the trip his own orientation, using it as a reason to visit the Holy Lands, and then to continue all the way around the world to China, at each place documenting the conditions of the woman he observed. After two years, he landed back in the United States at San Francisco and promptly endowed a mission in that city as well as in Los Angeles, San Jose and Sacramento. He gradually molded his work into the National Florence Crittenton Mission and centered his philanthropic operations on the West Coast for three years to oversee these endeavors.
IMAGES OF KATE WALLER BARRETT
In 1892, Kate Waller Barrett, a thirty-five year old minister’s wife, who had recently received her M.D. from the Woman’s Medical College of Georgia, in between raising the six surviving of her seven children, contacted Crittenton for a donation to support her project to build a home for unwed mothers in Atlanta, GA. Crittenton immediately dedicated $5000 to the project, and it soon opened its doors as the latest Florence Crittenton Mission. After her husband’s death soon after the family relocated to Alexandria, VA, where Barrett became Vice-President and General Superintendent of Crittenton’s rapidly expanding Mission. By 1898, Crittenton had obtained a charter from Congress to build these homes where ever he sought fit. A biographical sketch of Barrett explains that while Crittenton was the President and source of the funds for the Mission, “he was [so] completely committed to evangelism, that it fell to Mrs. Barrett … to supervise and guide the movement, now numbering some fifty homes across the country.”
“Though these institutions were largely autonomous, Mrs. Barrett’s national office was the heart of the undertaking, offering the homes, not only financial aid, but moral support, advice and a sense of continuity in times of difficulty.” She also began to publish a national Crittenton magazine, held an annual conference, set up training sessions for workers in Washington, and in 1903 published a book on how to manage a rescue home. Her biographical sketch credits her with gradually softening the focus of the organization from saving prostitutes to offering care, guidance and vocational training for young, unwed mothers. Crittenton kept plunging ahead with his efforts to create new missions, and eventually set up his own train to travel across the country at will no less than twice a year, visiting and prodding his homes to do more and better work. At the time of his death in 1909, he had “established seventy-four rescue homes for girls in the United States” and several in “France, Japan and the City of Mexico, all of which are named in memory of his daughter Florence.” Crittenton’s autobiography titled “The Brother of Girls” was published posthumously in 1910 and can still be purchased on the internet. The formidable Mrs. Barrett succeeded Crittenton as President of the Mission and served until her own death in 1925. She became a social and political power in her own right, becoming President of the National Council of Women in 1911, acting as a Virginia regent for the Daughters of the American Revolution, a vice-president of the Virginia League for Equal Suffrage, President of the National Woman’s Auxiliary to the American Legion, a delegate to the 1924 Democratic Party convention, and a member of the board of visitors at William and Mary College, where a women’s dormitory was named in her memory in 1927. Her son, Robert South Barrett, succeeded her as President of the Crittenton Mission and served in that capacity until his own death in 1959.
At his death, Crittenton left an estate estimated at between $3 and $5 million dollars. Half went directly to the Crittenton Mission. The remainder of his estate was divided among his family, with the holdings ultimately rapidly devolving upon his five grandchildren, although a pool of his most loyal executives and workers were also rewarded with some small interest in the company to incentivize their continued imaginative interest in the company. The grandchildren and the Mission, through their control of the majority of the corporation’s stock, ultimately forced Crittenton’s drug business itself to close in 1916, apparently over the objection of the management which had hoped to reorganize and carry on by itself. Reporting the closure, one of the trade papers boldly claimed: “The liquidation of the company has been brought about purely for internal reasons and has no significance from a trade point of view. It is merely a coincidence that it has come about during the controversy with the board of health with the City of New York regarding the publication of the formulas of proprietary remedies. The principal business transacted by the company was in the sale of proprietary medicines, though it owned outright a number of popular remedies.” It was true, however, that in 1915, the year before the dissolution, the government had prosecuted and fined the Crittenton Co. for the fraudulent misbranding of one of the proprietary products, Green Mountain Oil or Magic Pain Destroyer, that it had shipped from New York to Maryland. Perhaps the Crittenton heirs and the Mission had the right idea when they decided to wind up and sever the direct connection with the patent medicine business itself. The patent medicine products themselves, however, lived on, for the brands were sold to the Century National Chemical Co. which was still producing some of them as late as the mid twentieth century.
CENTURY NATIONAL CHEMICAL CO. AD
(THE SMALL PRINT DIRECTLY UNDER THE NAME DENOMINATES IT CRITTENTON CO.’S SUCCESSOR)
A number of the Crittenton homes for unwed mothers survived to celebrate their hundred year anniversaries and may still exist today, although they no longer operate under the more stridently evangelical name of “missions” but rather the gentler more generic term, “social service agencies.” A New York Times article in December, 2012 noted that the The National Crittenton Foundation, now headquartered in Portland, OR, still exists, maintains a website, and acts as an advocacy and support group for young women “on the margins.” The Foundation itself numbers twenty-seven separate groups of social agencies working in a loose net across thirty-one states providing services to abused young women. The Times article pointed out that the number of homes themselves has dropped significantly because of “the introduction of the birth control pill, the legalization of abortion and the lessening of the stigma of unwed motherhood.” While that particular issue may have become less a point of contention, and the origins of the original funding are long-lost in time, when illuminated, the arc of Charles N. Crittenton’s life demonstrates the truly bizarre, ambiguous and uncomfortable contradiction between the sordid “snake oil” world foundation of his wealth and his later munificence and charity in trying to provide succor to a group of women about whom controversy still swirls today.
© Malcolm A. Goldstein 2014
CANCEL VARIETIES USED TO PAY TAX ON $1 SIZE BOTTLE
SINGLE LINE SANSERIF COMPANY INITIAL VARIETY
SINGLE LINE COMPANY INITIAL VARIETY WITH SERIFS
In virtually every grouping of proprietary battleship cancels, one finds a red two-and-one-half cent (RB28) cancelled with the initials “M J B Co.” None of the cancels are printed; all are hand stamped. While Mustacich and Giacomelli accord the company that produced it three separate listings and indicate that the cancel may appear on as many as three other values, the great variety of those cancels observed are RB28s with purple, sans-serif initials arranged in one line plus a year date line. Because all varieties feature the date expressed in year form only, it is interesting to note that these cancels do not even appear to have conformed to the very Treasury regulations that required their use, for as of January 1, 1899, the regulations pertaining to cancellation were broadened to require the month and day of use as well as the year. However, there is no indication that the Treasury Department ever took action against Breitenbach for its omission. Because of the neglect of both the government and collectors (since it lacks printed cancels), the lowly one line “M J B Co/yr date” cancel is the Rodney Dangerfield of battleship proprietaries: it gets no respect. Yet, its very survival in such great quantities indicates that the company behind the cancel, M J Breitenbach Company, had marketed an extremely successful product. Herein lies that tale, and within that story a much lesser known company’s cancel is also revealed.
EARLIER TWO LINE SANS-SERIF COMPANY INITIAL VARIETY USED IN 1898
Bearing in mind the generally low-level of nutrition in the late 19th Century for the great mass of people (think of Tevyah of Fiddler on the Roof dreaming of his wife Goldie’s having a “proper double chin” were he a wealthy man), and, at the other extreme, the imposing girth of the rich – now considered extremely unhealthy – and thought to have been brought about by the gluttony promoted by the sumptuous over-extravagance displayed at their banquets, it is no wonder that dietary supplements were an important medical consideration even in the Gilded Age. By 1850, the element iron had been identified as a significant factor in the maintenance of proper blood function. However, iron, particularly in an inorganic state, is extremely hard to digest and its ingestion has unpleasant side effects such as erosion of tooth enamel and constipation. The earliest attempt at a more palatable iron therapy focused on making iron available in organic form, from albuminates derived from the hemoglobin in beef blood. These organic compounds, however, tended to be defective in terms of form, taste and stability. Later sterile, stable forms of organic iron still tended to decompose improperly in the digestive process. In Leipzig, Germany around 1890, Dr. August Gude, managed to create a compound of iron; another metal, manganese; and peptones, a class of water soluable, partially hydrated proteins; that finally met the criteria of acceptable taste, stability and digestibility of the iron content to warrant production as a commercially viable blood supplement. Dr Gude chose to market his new blood invigorating wonder tonic under the name Pepto-Mangan. M J Breitenbach made his fortune importing Gude’s Pepto-Mangan, from Germany.
DOUBLE LINE COMPANY INITIAL VARIETY CANCEL USED TO PAY TAX ON 10 CENT BOTTLE
Max J Breitenbach (virtually universally referred to as M J Breitenbach) was born in Albany, GA in 1856, but received his schooling in Newark, NJ. He attended, and graduated, from the New York College of Pharmacy in 1877 and went to work for the drugstore partnership of Taheppe & Schur in New York City. In 1878, he shifted to a clerk’s position at the downtown New York City drugstore of Albert Dung. He became manager in 1881 and bought the store from the founder’s son, Albert C Dung, in 1883, when the older man died and the younger decided to move back to Germany. Entrusted by the younger Dung with his business affairs in the United States, Breitenbach prospered and opened a second store on the extremely fashionable Madison Avenue as well, bringing him a degree of prominence in the industry.
1894 ADVERTISING POSTCARD
Emboldened by his success, Breitenbach decided to expand into the proprietary business, and in 1892, he formed the M J Breitenbach Company (“Company”) to sell Pepto-Mangan in the United States. The particulars of exactly how Gude and Breitenbach found each other and arranged a commercial alliance seem lost to posterity, since Breitenbach’s branching into the importing business seems both precocious and fortuitous. The entire licensing arrangement and corporate structure, at first, involved another specialty New York City drug firm, Eisner & Mendelson (soon to appear as the next “E” company in this study), along with Edward G Wells, from the C N Crittenton Co. The Crittenton Co (RS62-64, plus its own bevy of battleship handstamped cancels, which will be the next “C” company in this study, was among the wholesale drug trade industry heavyweights in New York City and across the nation. Because Breitenbach was going to require a distribution network for Pepto-Mangan, he needed to work out arrangements with a wholesaler so that Pepto-Mangan would be on store shelves as soon as he began importing it from Germany. In his discussions with the Crittenton Co, he became acquainted with its corporate vice-president and member of its Board of Directors, Edward G Wells.
1894 AD
Wells and Breitenbach made such a good team that Wells bought into Breitenbach’s deal, acted as one of the incorporators of the Company and soon after was serving as its secretary and treasurer, in addition to holding a special place at Crittenton Co, the first desk inside its door from which he greeted everyone entering the Crittenton Co and directed them to the right department. Wells and Breitenbach bought out Eisner & Mendelson’s share at the beginning of 1896, as the business was skyrocketing. The growth of the Company was so sudden and unexpected for Breitenbach, that in 1897, with his own health temporarily imperiled from the strain, he persuaded Wells to resign from Crittenton after seventeen years of service with that company to devote his entire energy to assisting Breitenbach to sell Pepto-Mangan. As a contemporary trade journal reported: “Mr. Breitenbach is to devote himself more particularly to the pharmaceutical aspects of the business, and Mr. Wells will manage the commercial side.”
EDWARD G. WELLS
Wells, born in New York City in 1846, brought his own extensive experience to Breitenbach’s operation. His father, F C Wells, had emigrated to the United States from England and operated a drug store in New York City. F C also brought with him the method for mass producing plasters (wound dressings that were the forerunners of bandages) by machine. Up until that point, plasters had to be individually prepared by pharmacists. He opened his own firm, F C Wells & Co, to exploit his process and his son began working with him at age 14. To gain wider knowledge of the trade, E G Wells became a drummer, or traveling salesman for a drug wholesaler at age 19. In 1872, he formed his own wholesale drug jobbing partnership, called Wells & Elliott. In 1880, Charles N Crittenton recognized Wells’ talent, bought him out, and brought him into his own operation. By 1897, as well as his positions with the Breitenbach and Crittenton companies, E G Wells also was president and general manager of the M A Wells Co, presumably the successor to his father’s firm, and was also a director of the Moses Dame Co, which marketed a product called Wine in the Woods. Even after Wells formally resigned from the Crittenton Co, he retained a monetary interest in the firm for the rest of his life. The New York Times, profiling the rich, glamorous and outsized personalities gathered in New York City for the 1894 meeting of the Proprietary Association of America, described Wells as “one of the most popular men in the trade, on account of his social qualities. He knows everybody, and is one of the brightest advertisers in the world.”
1903 TRADE ADVERTISEMENT LETTER
Under the joint leadership of Breitenbach and Wells, the Breitenbach Company continued to soar from triumph to triumph. In the period between 1898 and 1900, a cornucopia of medical journals published reports by doctors of favorable results in treating anemia obtained by using Pepto-Mangan. As will be discussed later, it is entirely possible that the Company underwrote the endeavors of these doctors by providing them with a monetary incentive. Late in 1900, Breitenbach and Wells also acted together with a pharmacist originally from Maryland, one Martin H Smith, to incorporate in New York State the Martin H Smith Co, capitalized at $10,000, with the declared purpose of manufacturing pharmaceutical products. That company’s history also will be discussed below. Even a disastrous fire on October 30, 1900, which completely destroyed the building occupied by Tarrant & Co (RS 241 and cancels on first issue revenues, plus first and second proprietary issues as well as the battleship revenues), where the Breitenbach Company had its offices and stock as well, did nothing to dampen its success. The Company immediately set up new headquarters and Wells boasted that another shipment of Pepto-Mangan was already waiting in New York City’s Customs House, so deliveries would continue without interruption. The Company’s rebound was so successful that in 1902 Breitenbach himself purchased the assets of the devastated Tarrant & Co for $51,150 after spirited bidding, which had begun at $4500. He immediately announced that the assets would be transferred to a new company that would be headed by E G Wells.
PEPTO-MANGAN BOTTLE AND WRAPPER
From its very introduction of Pepto-Mangan into the American market, the Breitenbach Company strove to put its product on a higher level than the ordinary proprietary medicine. It issued a bulletin to the trade in 1897 pointing out that paragraph 9 of its agency agreement with Gude, provided that it would advertise only to the trade and never to the general public. This announcement drew high praise in the trade journals for setting forth this elevated approach to advertising, and it meant that Pepto-Mangan was considered to be an “ethical” drug, rather than merely a patent medicine. Presently, an “ethical” drug is defined as a synonym of prescription drug, that is, one issued only upon presentation of a doctor’s written instruction. In the Gilded Age, advertising only to the trade did not mean that a patient could only procure it by prescription. Medicine was displayed at retail outlets and the patient needed only to request it.
BREITENBACH TRADECARD
The following year, IN 1898, when accused of pandering to the public, it issued a circular to the trade again stressing paragraph 9 and denouncing what it termed “malicious accusations” that it had paid sign painters to smother its name on every available surface, such as barns, trees and rocks, as other patent medicine companies did, claiming that the sign painting company itself was named Gude, and was just putting its own name about. The circular was duly reported in the trade journals thus again calling attention to (advertising) the company’s refusal to advertise in that low, common manner.Curiously, this “ethical” approach to advertising drew the Company into perhaps the earliest reported controversy over mis-reported research results, a controversy that sounds extremely modern even more than one hundred years later. This dispute between a patent medicine manufacturer and the editorial board of a profession journal also marks one of the earliest occasions on which such a professional journal differentiated itself from the industry trade journals and the company catalogues, in advocating for proper medical treatment rather than indiscriminately pushing product. The controversy developed after the Company voluntarily supplied its Pepto-Mangan to an official US government “Commission for the Study and Treatment of Anemia in Porto Rico (“Commission”).” The patent medicine was employed, among other treatments, to combat the symptom of anemia which had recently been linked with the disease uncinariasis, commonly known in English as hookworm, which results from infection with one or more members of the genus of microscopic nematodes (worms) called uncinaria. In 1904, the Commission issued a report showing that the disease diminished significantly through the Commission’s efforts (“Report”). The Journal of the American Medical Association (“AMA Journal”) printed a favorable commentary on the report concluding that the disease, which had recently been thought untreatable, was largely preventable. The AMA Journal highlighted a number of useful anti-parasitic treatments, and mentioned, in passing, that old fashioned remedies, like blindly administering iron to correct the symptom of anemia – a result of the infection, not the cause of the disease – were now outmoded. A few weeks later, the Company circulated throughout the medical industry its own abstract, or summary of the report, stating that the report conclusively demonstrated that Pepto-Mangan was the “foremost hematinic,” or agent for increasing iron in the blood. The Company also addressed a pointed letter to the AMA Journal stating, in substance, that it ought to have known better than to bite the hand that fed it, since the Company was a sponsoring advertiser and the manufacturer found offensive the AMA Journal’s off-handed dismissal of iron supplements as an outmoded treatment, chiding that the` “editorial department … is at variance with the advertising pages,” and that the editors were making a “direct slap” at the company. However, the Company’s circular also prompted the Commission itself to write to the AMA Journal decrying the use that the Company was making of its Report, claiming the Company’s circular put the Commission “in a very unenviable and erroneous light before the medical profession generally,” and denouncing the Company’s implication that the Commission was endorsing Pepto-Mangan as treatment for the anemia that resulted from uncinariasis.
PEPTO-MANGAN IN TABLET FORM
With the Commission’s original Report and second letter in hand, together with the Company’s denunciation of it, the AMA Journal then printed a lengthy riposte, denouncing the Company’s tactic under the heading “Gude’s Pepto-Mangan: Scientific Work Misrepresented and Commercialized,” beginning with the following statement:
In pursuance of the deliberately assumed purpose to enlighten the physicians of the United States on all features of the traffic in proprietary remedies, there will be offered to our readers not only information regarding the composition of such remedies, but also facts concerning the methods of their advertising and sale, which come to light in such shape as to be of service to the profession. No firm or product will be subjected to attack, but publicity will be given to all facts obtainable. Having in mind this purpose the following recital of facts is offered to the profession as illustration of methods employed in the proprietary trade, and as a step in the era of pharmaceutical publicity.
Noting the number of favorable reports that appeared in various medical journals, the AMA Journal emphasized that the Company subsidized the “medical press … to an extent equaled by no other,” and, perhaps because of this enormous financial support, its circulars were generally reported as news items rather than treated as advertising. It began its serious analysis of the Report by pointing out once again that the Report’s real significance was demonstrating that removal of the parasite from the body was the appropriate treatment for the disease, not boosting iron in the system. Then it analyzed in detail the cases in the Report that were actually treated with iron supplements and showed that, after the removal of the parasite from the body, a common version of iron supplement, marketed under the generic name Blaud’s pill was just as effective, if not slightly more so than Pepto-Mangan, in bringing about restoration of the body’s proper iron level, hardly distinguishing Pepto-Mangan as the “foremost hematinic.” The California State Journal of Medicine, as well as reprinting the AMA Journal’s denunciation of the Company’s use of the Report bluntly editorialized: “The dirty money of the unscrupulous manufacturer will do almost anything: it will buy any amount of space in so-called medical journals, and it will enable the spender to present any-old-lies as plausible truth, to the medical profession.”
The AMA Journal itself proceeded with more discretion. A mere six months after it denounced the Company’s distortion of the Report, it investigated another company pamphlet bearing the name of a doctor at the Infant’s Hospital located on Randall’s Island in New York City, purporting to show Pepto-Mangan’s curative powers. The AMA Journal’s investigator quickly found that the doctor who had lent his name to the study had been associated with the hospital about five-year earlier, but had been located in South American since. Moreover, when the investigator reviewed the actual patient records at the Hospital, in a significant number of cases, he found no treatment files to correspond to the results recounted in the Company’s pamphlet, and, where the records could be compared, he noted significant discrepancies between the cases as reported in the pamphlet and the hospital records themselves. The article drew two morals from its investigation. First, it concluded that the integrity of a pamphlet purporting to be a “scientific report” was only as sound as the truthfulness of the study’s writer, and if the writer was tempted by the fees the proprietary houses offered for such favorable commentaries, then such reports would be tainted. Second, still treading slightly more gently than AMA Journal’s California counterpart, it deplored the ethics of the otherwise “personally honorable men” who would try to benefit from such “unjustifiable methods.” While the AMA Journal allowed that Breitenbach himself may not have checked the veracity of the pamphlet, it still held his firm responsible for issuing the misleading pamphlet.
1922 AD
Apparently the Company maintained its faith that its formulation should be considered a legitimate medical treatment, and continued to advertise Pepto-Mangan only in trade and medical journals. In 1914, the AMA’s Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry itself made another review of Pepto-Mangan, and published one further condemnation of the product. While the Council noted that the Company no longer circulated the pamphlets to which the AMA had earlier objected, it also was equally clear that the Company had never withdrawn them entirely, and that the Company’s latest pamphlet still made special claims for the easy absorption and special restorative powers of Pepto-Mangan that, in light of the present understanding of the biology of anemia, were simply false. On this occasion, the AMA Journal openly accused the Company of deliberately attempting to mislead doctors about the efficacy of Pepto-Mangan, and advised physicians that the Council would no longer include Pepto-Mangan on the “New and Unofficial Remedies List” (List) that the AMA maintained, thus implying that physicians should no longer even informally suggest its use.
It would be tempting to say that Pepto-Mangan stopped being sold shortly after the AMA’s condemnation in 1914, but such a statement is unsupportable. The Company continued to prosper even after its founders passed from the scene.
1937 COVER
*****
TRADEMARK REGISTERED IN 1944
Wells retired in February, 1904, sold his interest in the Company back to Breitenbach, and announced he was going to “take life easy.” He and his wife first traveled to the South and then headed for Europe. When he died in 1911, he was remembered as a man who “traveled extensively,” as well as one “addicted to collecting postage stamps of which he had an unusually large and expensive assortment.” He was celebrated as a “well known club man, and held the championship in pool and billiards of the Harlem district of New York.” Breitenbach, a decade younger, died in 1920. According to one of the principal trade journals, “[h]e was greatly respected in business circles as a man whose word was his bond.” He and his wife were benefactors of the New York Times Neediest Fund, and Mrs. Breitenbach is still listed as a contributor of funds in 1938 toward the purchase of a French silk shawl for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Despite the personal respect accorded the individuals, the Companys trade practices continued to be questionable at best. Well into the 1920s, various journals, bearing such names as the Journal of the National Medical Association, continued to print helpful little paragraphs, often under the rubric of “Notes of Interest,” praising the virtues of Pepto-Mangan and directing further inquires to the Company. In 1944, the Company formally registered the Gude’s Pepto-Mangan trademark, albeit it claimed its first use dated all the way back to 1890. Eventually, the Pepto-Mangan brand passed into the hands of Natcon Chemical Co., but public interest in the product waned. While it is not clear when Natcon Chemical Co. stopped production of Pepto-Mangan, the trademark expired in 1986 without renewal. Even after the concoction disappeared from most druggists’ shelves, it lived on in memory. As recently as 1980, a letter in the magazine Canadian Farm Physician from a 74-year-old man living in Alberta recommended his physician fathers treatment regimen of milk, an iron supplement like the old Pepto-Mangan, (along with x-rays), as a remedy for Hodgkins Disease. Natcon Chemical Co., itself, was acquired by Luitpold Pharmaceuticals, a German company, in 1978. Luitpold Pharmaceuticals continues to do business in the United States, and claims on its website to be expanding its production facilities now located in Columbus, OH and Shirley, NY in Suffolk County.
PEPTO-MANGAN PRODUCED BY NATCON CHEMICAL CO.
© Malcolm A. Goldstein 2014
MARTIN H. SMITH CO. CANCELS
The Martin H. Smith Co, the offshoot of Breitenbach’s operation, outlived Breitenbach as well. Since this company’s genesis lies within the orbit of Breitenbach’s domain, it is convenient to display that cancel as part of this study. Mustacich and Giacomelli give the company two listings and say the cancel has been seen on RB25 and RB28. That company’s principal products were Ergoapiol and Glyco-Heroin.
1904 ERGOAPIOL AD
As with Pepto-Mangan, they were promoted through the same kind of friendly advisories and medical abstracts demonstrating good outcomes that kept appearing in trade and medical journals. Ergoapiol was advertised as treating menstrual disorders, although the AMA suggested its circular promoted “indiscriminate and uncritical use.” Claiming that Ergoapiol was “an unscientific, shot-gun mixture of drugs having widely different therapeutic effects,” the AMA Council, after reciting and demonstrating the conflicting effects of the various listed (post-1906) ingredients, struck it from its recommended List in 1914.
1907 GLYCO-HEROIN AD
Glyco-Heroin was advertised as a treatment for breathing disorders, such as “coughs, bronchitis, pneumonia, laryngitis, pulmonary phthisis, asthma, [and] whooping cough.” Its most obvious ingredient was contained in its name, and it too was “de-Listed” by the AMA’s Council in 1916. Smith, himself, born in 1866, a decade after Breitenbach, similarly lived ten years longer, dying in 1930. The latest internet references to the M H Smith Co are to pamphlets, published in the 1930s and even as late as 1940, still explaining Ergoapiol’s appropriate use and extolling its virtues. Long after Ergoapiol and Glyco-Heroin had passed into history, in 1958, M. H. Smith Co changed its name and began its transformation into the present day Cooper Companies, Inc., headquartered in Pleasanton CA and traded on the New York Stock Exchange, which today produces a variety of healthcare aids as well as soft contact lens through its CooperVision subsidiary.
GLYCO-HEROIN BOX AND BOTTLE
(BOTTLE BEARS 1930S NARCOTIC REVENUE STAMP)
Having told this long and intricate tale concerning M. J. Breitenbach and M. H. Smith, it is time now for this writer to stop in order to take his iron supplement.
© Malcolm A. Goldstein 2014
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i don't know
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100000 and 200000 are the postal codes for the two major cities of which nation?
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China Area Code & Zip Code - TravelChinaGuide.com
Home / Tips / When Traveling / Area Code & Zip Code
China Area Code & Zip Code
Area Code
China's area code is several digital numbers used to group telephone numbers (mobile phone number excluded) by geographic areas. It usually indicates certain geographic areas. 10 stands for Beijing; 21 stands for Shanghai; and 29 stands for Xian. It is used when dialing a number outside the code area.
Zip Code
Zip code (postal code) is used when mailing a letter. The zip code of China is 6 digital numbers. Note that there is no zip code in Hong Kong and Macau.
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China
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How wide is a regulation basketball hoop?
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Top 101 Lists
Top 101 Lists
Top 101 Cities, Counties, and Zip Codes Lists
This a follow-up to our popular original top 100 city lists . We've created hundreds of new top lists in varied categories. Our forum members have also been ranking U.S. cities in many subjective categories, from the worst reputation and the most stuck-in-time to the cleanest and the most proud. Enjoy!
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Top 101 cities with the most people below the poverty level, excluding cities with 15% or more of residents in college and with the median age below 28 (population 5,000+)
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Top 101 cities with largest percentage of females in occupations: Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations (population 50,000+)
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Top 101 cities with largest percentage of males in occupations: Material moving workers except supervisors and laborers and material movers, hand (population 5,000+)
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Top 101 cities with largest percentage of males in occupations: Material recording, scheduling, dispatching, and distributing workers (population 50,000+)
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Top 101 cities with largest percentage of females in occupations: Metal workers and plastic workers (population 50,000+)
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Top 101 cities with largest percentage of males in occupations: Motor vehicle operators except bus and truck drivers (population 5,000+)
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Top 101 cities with largest percentage of males in occupations: Nursing, psychiatric, and home health aides (population 50,000+)
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Top 101 cities with largest percentage of females in occupations: Nursing, psychiatric, and home health aides (population 50,000+)
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Top 101 cities with largest percentage of males in occupations: Occupational and physical therapist assistants and aides (population 5,000+)
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Top 101 cities with largest percentage of males in occupations: Other management occupations except farmers and farm managers (population 5,000+)
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Top 101 cities with largest percentage of males in occupations: Other food preparation and serving workers including supervisors (population 5,000+)
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Top 101 cities with largest percentage of females in occupations: Other food preparation and serving workers including supervisors (population 5,000+)
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Top 101 cities with largest percentage of males in occupations: Other food preparation and serving workers including supervisors (population 50,000+)
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Top 101 cities with largest percentage of females in occupations: Other health diagnosing and treating practitioners and technical occupations (population 5,000+)
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Top 101 cities with largest percentage of females in occupations: Other protective service workers including supervisors (population 5,000+)
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Top 101 cities with largest percentage of males in occupations: Other protective service workers including supervisors (population 50,000+)
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Top 101 cities with largest percentage of males in occupations: Other sales and related workers including supervisors (population 5,000+)
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Top 101 cities with largest percentage of females in occupations: Other sales and related workers including supervisors (population 5,000+)
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Top 101 cities with largest percentage of males in occupations: Other teachers and instructors, education, training, and library occupations (population 5,000+)
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Top 101 cities with largest percentage of females in occupations: Other teachers and instructors, education, training, and library occupations (population 5,000+)
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Top 101 cities with largest percentage of females in occupations: Special education teachers (population 50,000+)
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Top 101 cities with largest percentage of males in occupations: Supervisors of construction and extraction workers (population 5,000+)
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Top 101 cities with largest percentage of males in occupations: Supervisors of construction and extraction workers (population 50,000+)
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Top 101 cities with largest percentage of males in occupations: Supervisors and other personal care and service workers except personal appearance, transportation, and child care workers (population 5,000+)
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Top 101 cities with largest percentage of males in occupations: Supervisors and other personal care and service workers except personal appearance, transportation, and child care workers (population 50,000+)
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Top 101 cities with largest percentage of males in industries: Department and other general merchandise stores (population 5,000+)
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Top 101 cities with largest percentage of females in industries: Furniture and home furnishings, and household appliance stores (population 5,000+)
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Top 101 cities with largest percentage of females in industries: Other services, except public administration (population 50,000+)
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Top 101 cities with the least people having professional degrees (population 50,000+)
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Top 101 cities with the largest racial income disparity between any two races with at least 200 householders
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Top 101 cities with the smallest racial income disparities between White and Black householders (with at least 200 householders)
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Top 101 cities where the highest percentage of males (15+ years) which never married (with at least 1,000 males in this group)
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Top 101 cities with the largest positive percentage difference between never married males and females (15+ years) (with at least 1,000 males never married)
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Top 101 zip codes with the lowest 2012 average net capital gain/loss (pop 5,000+)
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Top 101 zip codes with the largest percentage of taxpayers using charity contributions deductions in 2012 (pop 5,000+)
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Top 101 zip codes with the smallest percentage of taxpayers using charity contributions deductions in 2012 (pop 5,000+)
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Top 101 zip codes with the largest percentage of returns reporting salary or wage in 2012 (pop 1,000+)
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Top 101 zip codes with the largest percentage of returns reporting salary or wage in 2012 (pop 5,000+)
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Top 101 zip codes with the largest percentage of taxpayers using paid preparers for 2012 taxes (pop 1,000+)
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Top 101 zip codes with the smallest percentage of taxpayers using paid preparers for 2012 taxes (pop 1,000+)
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i don't know
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Sicilian, Spanish and Ruy Lopez are types of tactical moves in what game?
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Sicilian - Chess.com
Chess.com
#1
Feb 26, 2011
I'm currently revamping my opening repertoire using MCO 15 and a database to see opening lines. I'm not very highly rated (my chess.com live standard rating is quite stable at the moment if you want to have some comparison point) but really enjoy opening theory. Basically when I first decided on a repertoire a year ago, I chose the Caro-Kann, 1.d4, and slav as my openings of choice, because I enjoyed the idea of positional chess and solidity.
Now I realise I'm restricted to a certain way of playing, because I don't have enough experience of other ways of playing - in particular, sacrificial attacks, more sound attacks, and general tactical ability in more open positions. In the end when I get a better opening repertoire (I do not know if I will stick with this one) I want to be able to have more knowledge in situations where I currently feel uncomfortable.
I want to learn to play 1.e4 (why not know both major opening moves?) but specifically want to learn the following openings to black's major replies:
Closed Sicilian
I also want to reply to 1.e4 with the sicilian or 1...e5, and to 1.d4 with the Nimzoindian.
I'm doing this to force myself into different types of positions (KG especially), to force my tactical vision to improve, and to force discipline at the board so that I don't fall into traps because of my confidence in the positions I think I "know".
What I really want are some reccomendations -
1) Will the KG actually train my attacking skills, or will I be forced into passive positions since it is "refuted"? Should I try the Vienna instead?
2) Will the closed sicilian have plenty of positional play?
3) Will the sicilian or the Ruy be better (playing as black) to learn how to play varied positions?
4) What is the nature of the English / Bird's opening, and is it worth learning to play it to get experience of new positions?
Thanks for all your help,
#2
Feb 26, 2011
I can tell you that Bird's opening is interesting. Not necesarily good but interesting. White will give up his theoretical advantages to reach positions that very few players have studied theoretically and thus have to play real chess. It's a good choice to play against people that feed of of opening prep and traps to force them to think from move 1. About your opening dillema i would say you are taking a solid step in the right dirrection. A Grandmaster is a master of all facets of the game and knows how to play all kinds of positions.
#3
Feb 26, 2011
You want to train your attacking skills? Then play Open Sicilian as white, not Closed Sicilian.
Yes, in the Closed Sicilian white can get an attack but Black plays ...f5 at the right moment and bam no attack for you...
The Open Sicilian has a bunch of theory but you need to remember that your opponents who play it won't know all the lines either...
Use your database and see white's major plans of attack in the Open Sicilian-especially the Scheveningan variation since that structure is often considered the "cornerstone" of other Sicilians. Look for those piece sacs on e6 and d5. You want to improve your tactical ability and play Open Positions so why play Closed Sicilian?
Hypocrism wrote:
1) Will the KG actually train my attacking skills, or will I be forced into passive positions since it is "refuted"? Should I try the Vienna instead?
2) Will the closed sicilian have plenty of positional play?
3) Will the sicilian or the Ruy be better (playing as black) to learn how to play varied positions?
4) What is the nature of the English / Bird's opening, and is it worth learning to play it to get experience of new positions?
Thanks for all your help,
Hypocrism
I feel like I can safely say you're not going to be forced into passive positions playing the KG. And it's not "refuted." It may peter out to equality at the super-GM level, but by no means is black finding advantages against all the mainlines. If anything can be said, it's that it has become a highly positional opening at the highest levels of chess. But even that isn't even close to holding true sub...I don't know...2500? Unless you're playing Polgar sisters regularly or something, it's still about as tactical and nasty as openings come.
On the matter of the Closed Sicilian...well, we know that it can take you as far as the world title, as your main weapon against 1...c5. That's probably all you need to know about it.
On the matter of Sicilian vs. Ruy (as black), I actually think 1...e5 is probably the winner here if the only matter is playing varied positions. Presumably, you'd play primarily one type of Sicilian, and at the ~1800 level, you'd probably see plenty of mainlines. Against 1...e5, you'll see a number of Ruys, a number of Italians, a number of KG's, a number of Viennas, a number of Scotches, and probably some Centers, Danishes, and whathaveyous. People wail and moan about how many anti-Sicilians they see, but in practice, I think you see a lot more variety against 1...e5.
On the matter of the English and Bird...I have no idea what you're asking, nor why you're asking it.
Feb 26, 2011
You are asking for a lot of studying in the future it seems.
I personally stick to only 1. d4 because there are so many variations with 1. ... e5 AND 1. ... c5. Don't forget other replies like c6 or e6.
Playing the Sicilian requires a lot of knowledge. To play an open sicilian will require a lot of studying. I've spent countless nights studying Najdorf theory and I still have loads of studying to go. Studying will pay off. I'm rated almost 1700 in USCF and I was able to spot the slight error in a Najdorf game I played against a 1900 where just a move Kb1 to bring your King to safety can be very dangerous.
Closed Sicilians can, for the most part be played with positional ideas, but you must be able to mix both positional and tactical ideas, a very hard and acquired ability(I have so much difficulty with this).
1) King's gambit will test your attacking ability. If you do not grab the initiative, your opponent will, and you have no f-pawn to guard the opponent's queen from h4 with check.
2) Closed sicilian will offer positional play, but you must understand why you are doing what you are doing. It deals with pawn breaks and controlling the center.
3) Both Sicilian and Ruy Lopez contain loads of theory. MCO-15, which I'm also studying from, contains dozens of pages for each. The difference between Ruy Lopez and Sicilian, from a black perspective is that many different Sicilians can be played in similar manners(ie many Closed Sicilians can be played with the same opening moves and Opens with their own set of moves), but a Ruy Lopez must be the opening WHITE chooses. You also have to learn theory for the Scotch and the Italian games.
4) The ideas behind these openings is that they control the center without putting a pawn in the center. The Bird opening can lead to KG games or reverse Dutch defense games(I think, I'm not sure because I haven't studied this). The English can lead to the same openings as d4 if your opponent plays c6(leading to slave after 2. d4 d5), e6(QG after 2.d4 d5) or Indian games (after 2. d4). None of these black response need to be followed with d4, however.
Feb 27, 2011
Fezzik wrote:
It's not much study at all. To play the Open Sicilian reasonably well, just learn the English Attack, some basic ideas in a few other systems and something against the Dragon. That's almost as little work as the Closed Sicilian with far more benefits.
An improving player should learn the 1.e4 e5 games. What better way to learn them than by playing them?
If your goal is to have fun without improving, any opening system will be good enough.
If your goal is to maximise your imrovement, learn how to play the critical lines with 1.e4.
Since I'm probably switching back to my old repertoire, or at least being in a position to alternate between the two, after a year or so of playing this new one, do you think 1...e5 or 1...c5 will bring me the most overall benefit in terms of actual understanding, tactical training, and new positional ideas? I typically focus my opening training firstly on learning moves, and after that focusing on plans, tactical motifs - I learn the plans and tactics through trial and error as well as study after I've played my rote-learned book moves, I prefer that to directly studying plans before moves.
I've heard a lot of people saying that the sicialian is incredibly positional, even though I got the impression it had the reputation as being very tactical, double edged and attacking.
My aim is to improve - I have fun competing againt my own limits and other people. In a year I climbed from never playing competitively to being 3rd board at my school, below two highly rated players. That gave me the desire to get even better and taking up new openings I think is one of the first steps to understanding chess better.
Feb 27, 2011
Hi hypocrism,
There are many ways to learn. It really depends on your objective. Imo, it is better to master all aspects of chess. It is fine if you want to do what you are best at and avoid what you are worst at. But if you want to go high enough, there’s no option you have to master ALL aspects.
Let’s see your situation. You have chosen Caro-Kann and 1.d4/Slav. Whatever you have or will learn, make sure you know what do you want to achieve, in general and in detail. When using Caro-Kann for example, make sure you read chess endgame book (at least the associated topic i.e. pawn endgame), and before you leave the Caro-Kann, make sure you have achieved an acceptable level of playing pawn endgame.
With your 1.d4/Slav experience I can say that you are restricted to positional play. Bad news is, it is impossible to go very high with excellence positional play but lousy tactical skill. Even worse, tactical skill can only be mastered by playing frequently (and tactically). Theory doesn’t help much.
The good news is, the positional skill will help you a lot when you start to improve in tactical play. For example, you can make combination to achieve winning position (which is not clear if you are not good enough positionally). Currently I play KG but if I can see an option where I can have save position (exchanged pieces) and my opponent have one isolated pawn, then that is more than enough.
Knowing how to play various situations is usefull because you cannot control what situation that will come to you. Thus knowing more will improve the probability of winning. The opposite is true.
1) WILL KING’S GAMBIT TRAIN ATTACKING SKILL? IS IT PASSIVE AND REFUTED?
Imo, KG is a must-learn opening, in the topic of improving tactical skill, and sharpening your positional theory (advancement, tempo, initiative, imbalance, etc.). It is easy to learn, and how to play it requires certain positional knowledge. And the chance to be replied with 1…e5 is very high (same as the Sicilian 1…c5). And with KG, you are probably the one who get the most advantage because you are the one who most probably know it better.
Among all gambits, imo KG is the best. It takes a solid KG player to “refute” KG opening. If it is a fast game I think the chance is more than fair (you will find many are confused or even don’t have the knowledge to play such positions). In a long game, unfortunately, you have to know whether your opponent is a solid KG player himself before chosing the opening :( You should prepare another opening such as a Ruy Lopez, a variation of which the “feel” of the positions is familiar to you.
Yes, imo the KG is refuted. The biggest advantage Black can get is the mainline of the Fischer Defense (3…d6!), but to go this route Black must be ready with so many possibilities with playing under steady pressure from White. Imo, only KG player should choose this defense. Casual KG player should be better to refute the gambit. By refuting the gambit (Decline Defense, counter gambit 2…d5!) the situation changes up side down. It is White who is under pressure, but only positionally. Not really “passive” because it is an open position.
2) WILL THE CLOSED SICILIAN HAVE PLENTY OF POSITIONAL PLAY?
Imo, it is a waste of time studying this line. Are you trying to avoid open games?? There is nothing unique that you can learn from this opening. Open Sicilian is the best. Unfortunately it is the most difficult opening. But a must learn opening! You can avoid but nothing to gain for long time advantage imo.
By learning many openings, I can usually solve the “secret” of each opening, or the “refutation” and throw the opening into trash bin. For example, against the Sokolsky (1.b4) I just prepare 1…c6 and 2…a5 and the Sokolsky is “finished”. To “refute” the Closed Sicilian I just fiancheto the king’s bishop like in the Dragon variation. I have a lot less to memorize now.
3) THE SICILIAN OR RUY FOR VARIED POSITIONS (AS BLACK)?
What you’re looking for is not just varied positions, but typical UNIQUE positions that you can get from many openings, and type of positions that you CANNOT avoid.
Sicilian has many unique positions. If you are not afraid with the risk, I suggest playing the Dragon variation, but you must be equipped with theory.
Ruy Lopez is the mother of positional opening. It is just more dynamic than 1.d4 and can go very open. It is easier to understand than the Sicilian but has too many tactical variations to memorize. Imo, you can decide to forget playing Ruy Lopez as Black for the entire of your life. Enough for you to play it as White, and focus on the Sicilian as Black instead.
4) NATURE OF ENGLISH/BIRD. NEW POSITIONS?
I would say that KGA is one of the root of all opening positions, especially those result from 1.d4 and 1.c4. Once you understand the KGA, it is easy to stir any opening to that type of play. You will not be confused with 1.Nf3 or the like. It is a must-learn opening imo. Forget the Bird opening.
Playing English against positional player? No way. It is easily equalized.
Hi hypocrism,
There are many ways to learn. It really depends on your objective. Imo, it is better to master all aspects of chess. It is fine if you want to do what you are best at and avoid what you are worst at. But if you want to go high enough, there’s no option you have to master ALL aspects.
Let’s see your situation. You have chosen Caro-Kann and 1.d4/Slav. Whatever you have or will learn, make sure you know what do you want to achieve, in general and in detail. When using Caro-Kann for example, make sure you read chess endgame book (at least the associated topic i.e. pawn endgame), and before you leave the Caro-Kann, make sure you have achieved an acceptable level of playing pawn endgame.
With your 1.d4/Slav experience I can say that you are restricted to positional play. Bad news is, it is impossible to go very high with excellence positional play but lousy tactical skill. Even worse, tactical skill can only be mastered by playing frequently (and tactically). Theory doesn’t help much.
The good news is, the positional skill will help you a lot when you start to improve in tactical play. For example, you can make combination to achieve winning position (which is not clear if you are not good enough positionally). Currently I play KG but if I can see an option where I can have save position (exchanged pieces) and my opponent have one isolated pawn, then that is more than enough.
Knowing how to play various situations is usefull because you cannot control what situation that will come to you. Thus knowing more will improve the probability of winning. The opposite is true.
1) WILL KING’S GAMBIT TRAIN ATTACKING SKILL? IS IT PASSIVE AND REFUTED?
Imo, KG is a must-learn opening, in the topic of improving tactical skill, and sharpening your positional theory (advancement, tempo, initiative, imbalance, etc.). It is easy to learn, and how to play it requires certain positional knowledge. And the chance to be replied with 1…e5 is very high (same as the Sicilian 1…c5). And with KG, you are probably the one who get the most advantage because you are the one who most probably know it better.
Among all gambits, imo KG is the best. It takes a solid KG player to “refute” KG opening. If it is a fast game I think the chance is more than fair (you will find many are confused or even don’t have the knowledge to play such positions). In a long game, unfortunately, you have to know whether your opponent is a solid KG player himself before chosing the opening :( You should prepare another opening such as a Ruy Lopez, a variation of which the “feel” of the positions is familiar to you.
Yes, imo the KG is refuted. The biggest advantage Black can get is the mainline of the Fischer Defense (3…d6!), but to go this route Black must be ready with so many possibilities with playing under steady pressure from White. Imo, only KG player should choose this defense. Casual KG player should be better to refute the gambit. By refuting the gambit (Decline Defense, counter gambit 2…d5!) the situation changes up side down. It is White who is under pressure, but only positionally. Not really “passive” because it is an open position.
2) WILL THE CLOSED SICILIAN HAVE PLENTY OF POSITIONAL PLAY?
Imo, it is a waste of time studying this line. Are you trying to avoid open games?? There is nothing unique that you can learn from this opening. Open Sicilian is the best. Unfortunately it is the most difficult opening. But a must learn opening! You can avoid but nothing to gain for long time advantage imo.
By learning many openings, I can usually solve the “secret” of each opening, or the “refutation” and throw the opening into trash bin. For example, against the Sokolsky (1.b4) I just prepare 1…c6 and 2…a5 and the Sokolsky is “finished”. To “refute” the Closed Sicilian I just fiancheto the king’s bishop like in the Dragon variation. I have a lot less to memorize now.
3) THE SICILIAN OR RUY FOR VARIED POSITIONS (AS BLACK)?
What you’re looking for is not just varied positions, but typical UNIQUE positions that you can get from many openings, and type of positions that you CANNOT avoid.
Sicilian has many unique positions. If you are not afraid with the risk, I suggest playing the Dragon variation, but you must be equipped with theory.
Ruy Lopez is the mother of positional opening. It is just more dynamic than 1.d4 and can go very open. It is easier to understand than the Sicilian but has too many tactical variations to memorize. Imo, you can decide to forget playing Ruy Lopez as Black for the entire of your life. Enough for you to play it as White, and focus on the Sicilian as Black instead.
4) NATURE OF ENGLISH/BIRD. NEW POSITIONS?
I would say that KGA is one of the root of all opening positions, especially those result from 1.d4 and 1.c4. Once you understand the KGA, it is easy to stir any opening to that type of play. You will not be confused with 1.Nf3 or the like. It is a must-learn opening imo. Forget the Bird opening.
Playing English against positional player? No way. It is easily equalized.
This is a great post, but I would like some more information about the difference between the open and closed sicilian.
Feb 27, 2011
Hypocrism wrote:
This is a great post, but I would like some more information about the difference between the open and closed sicilian.
The open sicilian is very open with many possibilities. White is superior but the position is very complex so Black has equal chance of winning because of the complexity and the difficulty in playing it.
With the closed sicilian, you better look at line where Black fiancheto his king's bishop. As it name implies, it is closed. No way white can complicate it for his benefit. The closed position itself resembles closed positional positions, with Black has positional advantage.
Imo, Closed Sicilian is not the right way to choose positional game. But if Black doesn't know what to do (i.e. fiancheto the king's bishop) usually Black will have many problems.
yusuf_prasojo wrote:
4) NATURE OF ENGLISH/BIRD. NEW POSITIONS?
I would say that KGA is one of the root of all opening positions, especially those result from 1.d4 and 1.c4. Once you understand the KGA, it is easy to stir any opening to that type of play. You will not be confused with 1.Nf3 or the like. It is a must-learn opening imo. Forget the Bird opening.
Playing English against positional player? No way. It is easily equalized.
I think you're talking about QGA here, which is, as you say, a root of many opening positions. KGA, not so much.
Thanks. You're right, I was talking about QGA.
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Chess
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What possession of 'wild west' star Annie Oakley sold at a 2012 auction for $143,000?
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Best Chess Games of All Time
Best Chess Games of All Time
Thanks to A.J. Goldsby- http://www.lifemasteraj.com/ , Bill Wall,Tim Krabbe,Andrew Soltice,John Nunn,Graham Burgess,John Emms for their influnece and recommendations ,google them.
Kasparov's Immortal
(B06) Robatsch, 44 moves, 1-0
Fischer's Immortal-The Game Of The Century.
(D92) Grunfeld, 5.Bf4, 41 moves, 0-1
Nunn's Immortal
(E81) King's Indian, Samisch, 27 moves, 0-1
Yusupov's Immortal
(E67) King's Indian, Fianchetto, 39 moves, 0-1
Rubinstein's Immortal
(D32) Queen's Gambit Declined, Tarrasch, 25 moves, 0-1
Nezhmetdinov's Immortal
(A54) Old Indian, Ukrainian Variation, 4.Nf3, 33 moves, 0-1
Gufeld's Immortal
(E84) King's Indian, Samisch, Panno Main line, 32 moves, 0-1
Tal's Immortal
(B82) Sicilian, Scheveningen, 37 moves, 1-0
The Immortal Nakamura!
(A14) English, 28 moves, 0-1
The Immortal Game.
(C33) King's Gambit Accepted, 23 moves, 1-0
The Most Famous Game of All Time
(C41) Philidor Defense, 17 moves, 1-0
Morphy's Immortal
(C39) King's Gambit Accepted, 23 moves, 1-0
30.Ba3!! Mind boggling game.
(E40) Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3, 41 moves, 1-0
The Evergreen Game.
(C52) Evans Gambit, 24 moves, 1-0
Simply Amazing!
(B01) Scandinavian, 30 moves, 1-0
36.Rc5!! amazing depth.
(C97) Ruy Lopez, Closed, Chigorin, 43 moves, 1-0
Petrov's Immortal.
(C53) Giuoco Piano, 20 moves, 0-1
Zukertort's Immortal
(A13) English, 33 moves, 1-0
Smyslov's Immortal
(E67) King's Indian, Fianchetto, 33 moves, 0-1
Karpov's Immortal
(A32) English, Symmetrical Variation, 39 moves, 1-0
Anand's Immortal
(B90) Sicilian, Najdorf, 37 moves, 0-1
Capablanca's Immortal Zugzwang in the style of "My System"!
(B12) Caro-Kann Defense, 46 moves, 0-1
Double B sac,King hunt and an X-ray mate.
(D30) Queen's Gambit Declined, 32 moves, 0-1
R. Byrne's Knightmare
(E60) King's Indian Defense, 21 moves, 0-1
Attack on the King stuck in the center.
(C54) Giuoco Piano, 25 moves, 1-0
Najdorf's Immortal
(A85) Dutch, with c4 & Nc3, 22 moves, 0-1
A Brilliancy among Brilliancies.
(A40) Queen's Pawn Game, 31 moves, 1-0
The Immortal Sacrifice Exchange Game. 6 sacs 4 exchs
(E70) King's Indian, 48 moves, 1-0
Best game of the match 1972.
(D59) Queen's Gambit Declined, Tartakower, 41 moves, 1-0
Kasparov's Gem- his favorite.
(B44) Sicilian, 40 moves, 0-1
Jaw dropping game.Amazing sacrifices.
(B35) Sicilian, Accelerated Fianchetto, Modern Variation with Bc4, 33 moves, 1-0
The mighty Ruy Lopez-Kasparov style.
(D35) Queen's Gambit Declined, 30 moves, 1-0
Another Immortal Sacrifice Game. 6 sacs
(B19) Caro-Kann, Classical, 31 moves, 1-0
A bizarre and brilliant game with a Q sac and a windmill.
(A55) Old Indian, Main line, 49 moves, 0-1
Kingside attack World Champion style.
(C92) Ruy Lopez, Closed, 41 moves, 1-0
Strategic R sac and game winning Q sac.Superb game!
(C12) French, McCutcheon, 37 moves, 0-1
Morphy's famous queen sac.
(C48) Four Knights, 28 moves, 0-1
A game we will see in a future tactics book.Brilliant!
(B19) Caro-Kann, Classical, 29 moves, 1-0
R takes N on f6! Brilliant King-side attack.
(B40) Sicilian, 21 moves, 1-0
Amazing King-side attack and Q sac.Very instructive.
(E92) King's Indian, 43 moves, 0-1
The famous double bishop sac.
(A03) Bird's Opening, 38 moves, 1-0
All Lopez players must study is brilliant game.
(C65) Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defense, 20 moves, 1-0
It's always better to sacrifice your opponents pieces
(A04) Reti Opening, 24 moves, 0-1
29.Bg2!! The greatest quiet move of all time.
(A07) King's Indian Attack, 31 moves, 1-0
A real beauty.Square by square control.
(E47) Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3, 40 moves, 0-1
White N outpost at d5 in the sicilian creates huge attack.
(B33) Sicilian, 36 moves, 1-0
The Greatest Chess Move Ever Played !!!
(B23) Sicilian, Closed, 23 moves, 0-1
Rook endgame masterpiece.
(A80) Dutch, 52 moves, 1-0
A great attack on f7,and a brutal see-saw check.
(C27) Vienna Game, 34 moves, 1-0
Brilliant game with amazing Q sac
(A46) Queen's Pawn Game, 30 moves, 1-0
A Nimzo style positional brilliancy.
(C98) Ruy Lopez, Closed, Chigorin, 44 moves, 1-0
Amazing tactics and sacrifices.Fantastic finish.
(E63) King's Indian, Fianchetto, Panno Variation, 30 moves, 1-0
The Immortal Zugzwang
(E18) Queen's Indian, Old Main line, 7.Nc3, 25 moves, 0-1
Pawn Power
(E16) Queen's Indian, 29 moves, 0-1
Crushing control of space.
(A90) Dutch, 53 moves, 0-1
Pawn Power
(C64) Ruy Lopez, Classical, 32 moves, 0-1
Tal's brilliant attack.
(B63) Sicilian, Richter-Rauzer Attack, 37 moves, 1-0
Capablanca's favorite game.
(D63) Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox Defense, 29 moves, 0-1
31.Qf1!! A brilliant anti-sicilian.
(B90) Sicilian, Najdorf, 36 moves, 1-0
A strategic queenside attack brilliancy.
(C30) King's Gambit Declined, 29 moves, 1-0
Zwischenzug! and 2 perplexing N sacs.
(E69) King's Indian, Fianchetto, Classical Main line, 47 moves, 0-1
The Rook or (hog) on the 7th rank.
(A22) English, 26 moves, 1-0
A Strategic Brilliancy! very instructive.
(B33) Sicilian, 34 moves, 1-0
21.Rxd4!! Fantastic use of the Bishops for mate.
(C65) Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defense, 28 moves, 1-0
Sacs both Rooks .Opens H-file ,then mate.
(A84) Dutch, 35 moves, 0-1
Knight torture
(A00) Uncommon Opening, 40 moves, 0-1
Fischer goes hypermodern,sacs his N and B for mate.
(A07) King's Indian Attack, 36 moves, 1-0
Karopov's pieces go back home.Pawn Power Wins.
(E86) King's Indian, Samisch, Orthodox, 7.Nge2 c6, 27 moves, 0-1
The amazing King march.
(B04) Alekhine's Defense, Modern, 34 moves, 1-0
A Fischer-like N attack and King hunt.
(D45) Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav, 35 moves, 0-1
A truly artistic game,with an amazing Q sac.
(A21) English, 34 moves, 1-0
The Swindler gets Swindled! A Famous Game.
(C89) Ruy Lopez, Marshall, 36 moves, 1-0
Positional brilliancy by Kasparov.Amazing Q sac.
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i don't know
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At 2012 what was the last manned mission to the moon?
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China considers Manned Moon Landing following breakthrough Chang’e-3 mission success - Universe Today
China considers Manned Moon Landing following breakthrough Chang’e-3 mission success
Article Updated: 23 Dec , 2015
Comparison of China’s Chang’e-3 unmanned lunar lander of 2013 vs. NASA’s Apollo manned lunar landing spacecraft of the 1960’s and 1970’s
Story updated[/caption]
Is China’s Chang’e-3 unmanned lunar lander the opening salvo in an ambitious plan by China to land people on the Moon a decade or so hence?
Will China land humans on the Moon before America returns?
It would seem so based on a new report in the People’s Daily- the official paper of the Communist Party of China – as well as the express science goals following on the heels of the enormous breakthrough for Chinese technology demonstrated by the history making Chang’e-3 Mission .
The People’s Daily reports that “Chinese aerospace researchers are working on setting up a lunar base,” based on a recent speech by Zhang Yuhua, deputy general director and deputy general designer of the Chang’e-3 probe system.
No humans have set foot on the moon’s surface since the last US lunar landing mission when Apollo 17 astronauts Gene Cernan and Harrison ‘Jack’ Schmitt departed 41 years ago on Dec. 14, 1972.
For context, the landing gear span of Chang’e-3 is approximately 4.7 meters vs. 9.07 meters for NASA’s Apollo Lunar Module (LM).
Photo of Chang’e-3 moon lander emblazoned with Chinese national flag taken by the panoramic camera on the Yutu moon rover on Dec. 22, 2013. Credit: CNSA
When will the US flag return?
Right now China is actively at work on the critical technology required to conduct a manned landing on the Moon, perhaps by the mid-2020’s or later, and scoping out what it would accomplish.
“In addition to manned lunar landing technology, we are also working on the construction of a lunar base, which will be used for new energy development and living space expansion,” said Zhang at a speech at the Shanghai Science Communication Forum. Her speech dealt with what’s next in China’s lunar exploration program.
China’s Yutu lunar rover, deployed by the Chang’e-3 lander, is equipped with a suite of science instruments and a ground penetrating radar aimed at surveying the moon’s geological structure and composition to locate the moon’s natural resources for use by potential future Chinese astronauts.
Portrait photo of Yutu moon rover taken by camera on the Chang’e-3 moon lander on Dec. 15, 2013 shortly after rolling all 6 wheels onto lunar surface. Credit: Chinese Academy of Sciences
But the Chinese government hasn’t yet made a firm final decision on sending people to the Moon’s surface.
“The manned lunar landing has not yet secured approval from the national level authorities, but the research and development work is going on,” said Zhang.
Meanwhile the US has absolutely no active plans for a manned lunar landing any time soon.
President Obama cancelled NASA’s manned Constellation “Return to the Moon” program shortly after he assumed office.
And during the 2012 US Presidential campaign, the Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney famously declared “You’re fired” to anyone who would propose a US manned lunar base.
Orion crew capsule, Service Module and 6 ton Launch Abort System (LAS) mock up stack inside the transfer aisle of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com
All that remains of Constellation is the Orion crew module – which was expressly designed to send US astronauts to the Moon and other deep space destinations such as Asteroids and Mars.
NASA hopes to launch a manned Orion capsule atop the new SLS booster on a flight to circle the moon as part of its first crewed mission around 2021 – depending on the budget.
The first Orion capsule will launch on an unmanned Earth orbiting test flight dubbed EFT-1 in mid-September 2014.
However, given the near total lack of reaction from the US political establishment to China’s extremely impressive Chang’e-3 feat and the continuing slashes to NASA’s budget, the outlook for a change in official US Moon policy is certainly not promising.
China and its political leadership – in stark contrast – are clearly thinking long term and has some very practical goals for the proposed lunar base.
“After the future establishment of the lunar base, mankind will conduct energy reconnaissance on the moon, set up industrial and agricultural production bases, make use of the vacuum environment to produce medicines,” Zhang explained according to the People’s Daily.
“I believe that in 100 years, humans will actually be able to live on another planet,” said Zhang.
China also seems interested in international cooperation based on another recent story in the People Daily.
“We are willing to cooperate with all the countries in the world, including the United States and developing countries,” said Xu Dazhe, the new chief of China’s space industry and newly promoted to head the China National Space Administration.
Xu made his remarks at the International Space Exploration Forum held at the US State Department.
However, since 2011, NASA has been banned by official US law from cooperating with China on space projects.
China is wisely taking a step by step approach in its Lunar Exploration programs leading up to the potential manned lunar landing.
With China’s lunar landing architecture now proven by the outstanding success of Chang’e-3 , a production line can and has already been set up that will include upgrades potentially leading to the manned mission.
The already approved Chang’e-5 lunar sample return mission is due to liftoff in 2017 and retrieve up to 2 kilograms of pristine rocks and soil from the Moon.
After the completion of the Chang’e-5 mission, the lunar exploration program and the manned space program will be combined to realize a manned lunar landing, Zhang explained according to the People’s Daily.
Meanwhile China is forging ahead with their manned space program. And no one should doubt their resolve.
In 2013 they launched a three person crew to China’s Tiangong-1 space station, reaping valuable technological experience pertinent to manned spaceflight including lunar missions.
By contrast, the US has been forced to rely 100% on the Russian’s to launch American astronauts to the ISS since the forced shutdown of NASA’s space shuttle orbiters in 2011.
China is only the 3rd country in the world to successfully soft land a spacecraft on Earth’s nearest neighbor after the United States and the Soviet Union.
Stay tuned here for Ken’s continuing Chang’e-3, Orbital Sciences, SpaceX, commercial space, LADEE, Mars and more news.
By Ken Kremer -
Dr. Ken Kremer is a speaker, research scientist, freelance science journalist (Princeton, NJ) and photographer whose articles, space exploration images and Mars mosaics have appeared in magazines, books, websites and calendars including Astronomy Picture of the Day, NBC, FOX, BBC, SPACE.com, Spaceflight Now, Science and the covers of Aviation Week & Space Technology, Spaceflight and the Explorers Club magazines. Ken has presented at numerous educational institutions, civic & religious organizations, museums and astronomy clubs. Ken has reported first hand from the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, NASA Wallops, NASA Michoud/Stennis/Langley and on over 70 launches including 8 shuttle launches. He lectures on both Human and Robotic spaceflight - www.kenkremer.com. Follow Ken on Facebook and Twitter
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Apollo 17
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The Italian words for 'three roads' provided the name for which famous Rome monument?
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The last manned mission to the moon was Apollo _____.
Question and answer
The last manned mission to the moon was Apollo _____.
The last manned mission to the moon was Apollo 17 Apollo 17 was the eleventh and final manned mission in the American Apollo space program
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i don't know
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What is/was the BBC's teletext information service called?
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Teletext festival breathes life into old tech - BBC News
BBC News
Teletext festival breathes life into old tech
7 July 2014
Image copyright International Teletext Art Festival
Image caption Sugar by Juha van Ingen
Teletext is not quite dead yet thanks to Berlin's International Teletext Art Festival .
Image copyright International Teletext Art Festival
Image caption 1914 The Teletext Engine by Dan Farrimond
The annual event showcases the work of artists who have repurposed the medium to create striking images.
Image copyright International Teletext Art Festival
Image caption 9999 percent by Kari Yli Annala
Some of the images include lucky fortune cats, Mozart and The A-Team's Mr-T.
Image copyright International Teletext Art Festival
Image caption From the series Internet Acronyms by Anne Horel
Teletext, a British invention from the 1970s phased out in the UK in 2012, is a television information retrieval service.
Image copyright International Teletext Art Festival
Image caption Spectrum balls by Kim Asendorf
Despite teletext's limitations, artists from across the world have pushed the ageing tech to its limit to create an impressive collection of retro illustrations.
Image copyright International Teletext Art Festival
Image caption Thread of Fate by Raquel Meyers
The festival, in its third year, will be run by Finnish art collective FixC , from 14 August to 14 September 2014.
Image copyright International Teletext Art Festival
Image caption Untitled by LIA
After the BBC announced it would no longer broadcast Ceefax, the world's first teletext service, many users took to the web to wish the service a fond farewell.
Image copyright International Teletext Art Festival
Image caption Two is better than one by Nadine Arbeiter
Despite its decline in the UK, teletext remains popular in many European countries.
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Ceefax
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Born George Jamieson in Liverpool 1935, name the 1960s model noted for her transgender equality campaigning?
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A Brief History of TV Guides – F.A.T.E. – Medium
Previously worked at Apple as a Technology Evangelist. Available to help you make better products.
Aug 5, 2016
A Brief History of TV Guides
With the news that Apple are courting TV programmers with the idea of an all-encompassing TV Guide, I thought it would be fun to recap my personal history of TV Guide usage and think about where it might be going next.
Disclaimer: whilst I am a former Apple employee, I know of less than nothing about any current or future plans for iOS or tvOS.
I get my kicks on Channel 6
For a long time in the UK — during the pre-internet era, when computers loaded their software from tape cassettes and floppy disks — the Great British public turned to their Televisions for more than just TV shows. We had teletext information services which were kind of like having a limited but nonetheless powerful intranet built into your TV.
The BBC had what they called Ceefax (cf. “See facts”) whilst their main competitor ITV had Oracle , which was eventually replaced by a service called Teletext (with a capital T) run by Teletext Limited that went on to become a hugely popular service that dwarfed even the BBC’s offering.
All of these teletext services provided general information, such as news, weather, recipes and reviews, stored in a carousel of hundreds of sequential pages. You might want to imagine the bbc.co.uk website shrunk down to several hundred pages, each containing no more than about one hundred words. These pages would be transmitted with the broadcast picture and refreshed in a repeating cycle. Your TV’s inbuilt decoder would look at a few lines of the broadcast image and convert the data into screens of ANSI -like coloured characters that form pages of text and blocky graphics. You’d select your desired page by punching in a three digit page number on your remote control and waiting for it to come round in the carousel.
All the teletext services I used provided a TV Guide. This was an EPG before the acronym had even been coined. Roughly equivalent to popular printed TV guides of the time they presented succinct information about the day’s programmes over several pages. Here’s a screenshot of a TV listing from BBC’s Ceefax:
TV Guide: BBC Ceefax
Additionally, a Now & Next feature could be overlaid on top of the TV picture, occupying the bottom half of the screen, leaving the moving image visible in the top half. Close caption subtitles were done in the same way.
Digital Love
Even at the time of its introduction to the UK, the technology powering teletext was old, so it was inevitable that it would eventually be replaced. That happened with the switch off of analogue television and the switchover to digital terrestrial services that were eventually ratified into a standard known as Freeview (and, sometime later, Freeview HD ).
The chunky pixel pages of teletext were replaced by slightly less pixelated screens of MHEG content which, despite it actually being a declarative programming language, could render images and data in a more freeform and structured way than the columns of characters teletext was limited to. The flip side of this brave new world was that the onus now fell on hardware manufacturers to implement the MHEG engine themselves, which resulted in a wide variety of compatibility issues similar to how things were with web browsers before WebKit .
Trying to find a decent Freeview box was a real challenge and I went through a whole host: from software built in to my TV, cheap supermarket own-brand boxes, through to a box made by Korean satellite TV specialists Topfield that had its own API and App ecosystem resulting in extensive user customisation. Eventually I discovered a strange looking box made in Wales by a small company named TVonics .
TVonics: the box that’s not a box
The guys at TVonics were clever enough to notice that a recently built Sony fabrication plant in southern Wales could produce their HD-capable boxes on home soil, and had partnered with then-fledgling London design company ustwo to create the user interface for their Freeview software. This was a master stroke and resulted in the most usable Freeview software I’d ever had the pleasure of using.
TV Guide: TVonics
Even though this was only 5 years ago, it was still a time where the remote control was the long accepted method of input when watching TV. The user interface created by ustwo was simple but effective, form following function. The only real personalisation was the ability to change the colour scheme. The rest of the interface seemed very obvious, but therein lies great design: everything was where you expected it to be and every screen adhered to the same design principles. It had been thought about, and more importantly it had been executed well. Not just in terms of the design, but also in terms of the software that TVonics created. Every aspect of the Freeview HD spec was present, implemented to a higher standard than they had been described in the specifications. The interface was more performant than other boxes and the whole thing was a real joy to use. At this time TiVo may have had extra features, but TVonics version of Freeview was streets ahead in terms of user interface and experience.
Knowing Me, Knowing You
Today Freeview continues in one form or another. There are a small number of middleware providers that have made the MHEG headaches largely disappear. But Freeview now has a number of competitors, the most interesting of which — when it comes to TV Guides at least — is YouView . YouView is both the name of the platform and the partnership that own it.
The most interesting feature of YouView, as a platform, is the way it combines catch-up content with scheduled content in its EPG. This allows you to scroll backwards through the timeline to get to the tv shows you’ve missed . But it seems that making a longer timeline isn’t the solution to the problem of there being too much on TV.
Oranges and Apples
So what’s next? Apple seems to think that the days of scheduled content are over. They probably have a point. The rise of on-demand services from Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, HBO, BBC — and almost every other TV programmer — means that it’s no longer as simple as putting all available channels on a timeline. Sky TV has an interface that has been struggling under the weight of this problem for decades, and their latest Sky Q product doesn’t do much to ease the problem, let alone solve it.
TV Guide: Sky Q
Wishing on a Star
A better approach would be to make the TV guide more intelligent. Categorising all available content from all providers with the same taxonomy would help get things to a usable point. I don’t think the iTunes taxonomy would be enough here, but I’d imagine there are some clever people over in Cupertino working on a better one right now. If they haven’t already finished it.
My guess is that Apple’s intentions for a TV Guide can be summed up in one word: Siri.
Already present on the current Apple TV software, tvOS has added content providers to Siri’s knowledge at an increasing rate — as long as you live in the USA. The rest of us are stuck being able to search only iTunes and Netflix. Regardless, the Siri efforts in the USA could be seen as laying the groundwork for a unified TV Guide feature.
However, asking Siri to show you the latest episode of Stranger Things, a movie starring Peter Dinklage, or a movie featuring a VW Beetle, can only go so far. More often than not I find myself looking at my Apple TV home screen clutching the Siri remote — a thing of beautiful symmetry and dubious usability — with no idea what I should watch, and fearful that the brief window of time that I have will be over before it’s even begun. Why can’t Siri decide?
Suggestions similar to those provided by Netflix could be combined with the data gleaned from my Apple TV and iTunes usage, search history and past purchases. This isn’t an easy task, of course. Netflix have previously invested millions into refining their suggestions accuracy through their Netflix Prize , which ended in a law suit and some concerns from the FTC about privacy.
Interestingly Apple have already planted the seed of a solution to similar issues, with their introduction of differential privacy at WWDC 2016 . I thought the introduction of this feature was somewhat vague, though perhaps this was by design. To recap, differential privacy is the statistical science of trying to learn as much as possible about a group while learning as little as possible about any individual in it . It’s also a way of describing the collection of huge amounts of personal data whilst still being able to refer to it as privacy. Handy, that!
If the rumours are true regarding the next generation Siri’s vastly improved ability to both interpret speech and form responses, then no better time to put it to the test than a feature that could very well turn the tables on yet another market.
Up to eleven
The timing of these rumours doesn’t seem like a coincidence to me. I think it’s a typical Eddy Cue play, throwing a tidbit of knowledge to his preferred news/media outlets and have them whip up a bit of a storm, one that will hopefully bring the TV execs around to his way of thinking. It’s not subtle, but I suppose if it has worked for him in the past he’s going to keep doing it.
Importantly, if a TV Guide feature is agreed soon it would allow just enough time for it to make the cut for inclusion into version 11 of iOS and tvOS. And there’s nothing like a deadline to get things moving.
“These go to eleven.” —Nigel Tuffnell (This is Spinal Tap)
Previously worked at Apple as a Technology Evangelist. Available to help you make better products.
Follow
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i don't know
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Storing and processing data on a remote unspecified computer server is known as '(what weather feature) computing'?
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Patent US20130125027 - Massive simultaneous remote digital presence world - Google Patents
Massive simultaneous remote digital presence world
US 20130125027 A1
Abstract
Various methods and apparatus are described herein for enabling one or more users to interface with virtual or augmented reality environments. An example system includes a computing network having computer servers interconnected through high bandwidth interfaces to gateways for processing data and/or for enabling communication of data between the servers and one or more local user interface devices. The servers include memory, processing circuitry, and software for designing and/or controlling virtual worlds, as well as for storing and processing user data and data provided by other components of the system. One or more virtual worlds may be presented to a user through a user device for the user to experience and interact. A large number of users may each use a device to simultaneously interface with one or more digital worlds by using the device to observe and interact with each other and with objects produced within the digital worlds.
Images(13)
Claims(25)
What is claimed is:
1. A system for enabling one or more users to interact with a virtual world comprised of virtual world data, the system comprising:
a computer network comprising one or more computer servers, the one or more computer servers comprising memory, processing circuitry, and software stored in the memory and executable by the processing circuitry to process at least a portion of the virtual world data;
the computer network operable to transmit the virtual world data to a user device for presentation to a first user,
wherein at least a portion of the virtual world changes in response to a change in the virtual world data, and
wherein at least a portion of the virtual world data is changed in response to a physical object sensed by the user device.
2. The system according to
claim 1
, wherein the change in virtual world data represents a virtual object having a predetermined relationship with the physical object.
3. The system according to
claim 2
, wherein the change in virtual world data is presented to a second user device for presentation to a second user according to the predetermined relationship.
4. The system according to
claim 1
, wherein the virtual world is operable to be rendered by at least one of the computer servers or a user device.
5. The system according to
claim 1
, wherein the virtual world is presented in at least one of a two-dimensional format or three-dimensional format.
6. The system according to
claim 1
, wherein the user device is operable to provide an interface for enabling interaction between a user and the virtual world in at least one of an augmented reality mode, a virtual reality mode, or a combination of augmented and virtual reality mode.
7. The system according to
claim 1
, wherein the virtual world data is transmitted over a data network.
8. The system according to
claim 1
, wherein the computer network is operable to receive at least a portion of the virtual world data from a user device.
9. The system according to
claim 1
, wherein at least a portion of the virtual world data transmitted to the user device comprises instructions for generating at least a portion of the virtual world.
10. The system according to
claim 1
, wherein at least a portion of the virtual world data is transmitted to a gateway for at least one of processing or distribution.
11. The system according to
claim 10
, wherein at least one of the one or more computer servers are operable to process virtual world data distributed by the gateway.
12. A system for enabling one or more users to interact with a virtual world, the system comprising:
a user device for presenting the virtual world to a user and enabling the user to interact with the virtual world, the user device comprising:
memory,
processing circuitry,
software stored in the memory and executable by the processing circuitry to render at least a portion of the virtual world from virtual world data received, at least in part, from a computer network,
a display operable to present the virtual world to the user,
a communications interface operable to communicate at least a portion of the virtual world data over a data network, and
a sensing system operable to sense at least one of the user, a physical object, or a physical environment around the user,
wherein the processing circuitry is operable to execute the software to render a change in the virtual world in response to at least one of the sensed user, sensed physical object, or sensed physical environment.
13. The system according to
claim 12
, wherein the change in the virtual world comprises a virtual object having a predetermined relationship with the sensed user, physical object, or physical environment.
14. The system according to
claim 13
, wherein the communications interface is operable to communicate the virtual object to the computer network.
15. The system according to
claim 12
, wherein the virtual world is presented in at least one of a two-dimensional format or three-dimensional format.
16. The system according to
claim 12
, wherein the user device enables interaction in at least one of an augmented reality mode, a virtual reality mode, or a combination of augmented and virtual reality mode.
17. The system according to
claim 12
, wherein the user device further comprises a device for providing a haptic or tactile feedback.
18. The system according to
claim 12
, wherein at least a portion of the virtual world data is communicated between a gateway.
19. A computer implemented method, comprising:
presenting a virtual world to a user device;
receiving sensor data, generated by one or more sensors associated with the user device, for a gesture performed by a user using the user device;
recognizing the gesture;
generating a virtual object in response to the recognized gesture; and
presenting the virtual object to the user device.
20. The method according to
claim 19
, further comprising presenting the virtual object to a second user device.
21. The method according to
claim 19
, further comprising establishing a relationship between the virtual object and a physical object in the vicinity of the user.
22. A computer implemented method, comprising:
receiving sensory data, generated by sensors associated with a user device, for a physical object in the vicinity of a user using the user device;
recognizing the physical object;
in response to the recognition of the physical object, generating a virtual object having a predetermined relationship with the physical object; and
transmitting the virtual object to a display associated with the user device for presentation to the user according to the predetermined relationship.
23. The method according to
claim 22
, further comprising transmitting the virtual object to a second display associated with a second user device for presentation to a second user according to the predetermined relationship.
24. A computer implemented method, comprising:
storing data defining a digital world, the data defining one or more objects;
receiving sensor data generated by sensors associated with a plurality of user devices, the sensor data describing at least one physical characteristic of the environment of the user device;
generating, in response to the sensor data, an instance of a predefined object for each of the plurality of users; and
transmitting to the respective ones of the plurality of users the instance of the predefined object generated for the users.
25. The method according to
claim 24
, wherein the sensor data represents one or more of the following physical characteristics: position, orientation of a user, movement of a user, user device, environmental condition, a physical object in the vicinity of the user.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001]
Pursuant to 35 U.S.C. �119(e), this application claims priority from and the benefit of, and hereby incorporates by reference for all purposes, U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/483,505, filed May 6, 2011, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/483,511, filed May 6, 2011. This application also claims priority pursuant to 35 U.S.C. �119(a) to PCT Application Serial No. PCT/US2012/036681, filed May 4, 2012.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002]
This invention generally relates to methods and apparatus for enabling interactive virtual or augmented reality environments for multiple users.
BACKGROUND
[0003]
Virtual and augmented reality environments are generated by computers using, in part, data that describes the environment. This data may describe, for example, various objects with which a user may sense and interact with. Examples of these objects include objects that are rendered and displayed for a user to see, audio that is played for a user to hear, and tactile (or haptic) feedback for a user to feel. Users may sense and interact with the virtual and augmented reality environments through a variety of visual, auditory and tactical means.
SUMMARY
[0004]
The present disclosure describes various systems and methods for enabling one or more users to interface with or participate in virtual or augmented reality environments.
[0005]
In one exemplary embodiment, a system includes a computing network having computer servers interconnected through high bandwidth interfaces to gateways for processing data and/or for enabling communication of data between the servers and one or more local user interface devices. The servers include memory, processing circuitry, and software for designing and/or controlling virtual worlds, as well as for storing and processing user data and data provided by other components of the system. One or more virtual worlds may be presented to a user through a user device for the user to experience and interact. A large number of users may each use a device to simultaneously interface with one or more digital worlds by using the device to observe and interact with each other and with objects produced within the digital worlds.
[0006]
Examples of user devices include a smart phone, tablet device, heads-up display (HUD), gaming console, or generally any other device capable of communicating data and generating or communicating an interface to the user to see, hear and/or touch. Generally, the user device will include a processor for executing program code stored in memory on the device, coupled with a visual display, and a communications interface. The interface enables a visual, audible, and/or physical interaction between the user and a digital world, including other users and objects (real or virtual) presented to the user. In one embodiment, the user device comprises a head-mounted display system having an interface, user-sensing system, environment-sensing system, and a processor.
[0007]
The foregoing and other features and advantages of the present disclosure will become further apparent from the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments, read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The detailed description and drawings are merely illustrative of the disclosure, rather than limiting the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims and equivalents thereof.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0008]
Embodiments are illustrated by way of example in the accompanying figures not necessarily drawn to scale, in which like numbers indicate similar parts, and in which:
[0009]
FIG. 1
illustrates a representative embodiment of the disclosed system for enabling interactive virtual or augmented reality environments for multiple users;
[0010]
illustrates an example of a user device for interacting with the system illustrated in
FIG. 1
illustrates an example embodiment of a mobile, wearable user device;
[0012]
FIG. 4
illustrates an example of objects viewed by a user when the mobile, wearable user device of
FIG. 3
is operating in an augmented mode;
[0013]
FIG. 5
illustrates an example of objects viewed by a user when the mobile, wearable user device of
FIG. 3
is operating in a virtual mode;
[0014]
FIG. 6
illustrates an example of objects viewed by a user when the mobile, wearable user device of
FIG. 3
is operating in a blended virtual interface mode;
[0015]
FIG. 7
illustrates an embodiment wherein two users located in different geographical locations each interact with the other user and a common virtual world through their respective user devices;
[0016]
illustrates an embodiment wherein the embodiment of
FIG. 7
is expanded to include the use of a haptic device;
[0017]
FIG. 9A
illustrates an example of mixed mode interfacing, wherein a first user is interfacing a digital world in a blended virtual interface mode and a second user is interfacing the same digital world in a virtual reality mode;
[0018]
FIG. 9B
illustrates another example of mixed mode interfacing, wherein the first user is interfacing a digital world in a blended virtual interface mode and the second user is interfacing the same digital world in an augmented reality mode;
[0019]
FIG. 10
illustrates an example illustration of a user's view when interfacing the system in an augmented reality mode; and
[0020]
FIG. 11
illustrates an example illustration of a user's view showing a virtual object triggered by a physical object when the user is interfacing the system in an augmented reality mode.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS
[0021]
Referring to
FIG. 1
, system 100 is representative hardware for implementing processes described below. This representative system comprises a computing network 105 comprised of one or more computer servers 110 connected through one or more high bandwidth interfaces 115. The servers in the computing network need not be co-located. The one or more servers 110 each comprise one or more processors for executing program instructions. The servers also include memory for storing the program instructions and data that is used and/or generated by processes being carried out by the servers under direction of the program instructions.
[0022]
The computing network 105 communicates data between the servers 110 and between the servers and one or more user devices 120 over one or more data network connections 130. Examples of such data networks include, without limitation, any and all types of public and private data networks, both mobile and wired, including for example the interconnection of many of such networks commonly referred to as the Internet. No particular media, topology or protocol is intended to be implied by the figure.
[0023]
User devices are configured for communicating directly with computing network 105, or any of the servers 110. Alternatively, user devices 120 communicate with the remote servers 110, and, optionally, with other user devices locally, through a specially programmed, local gateway 140 for processing data and/or for communicating data between the network 105 and one or more local user devices 120.
[0024]
As illustrated, gateway 140 is implemented as a separate hardware component, which includes a processor for executing software instructions and memory for storing software instructions and data. The gateway has its own wired and/or wireless connection to data networks for communicating with the servers 110 comprising computing network 105. Alternatively, gateway 140 can be integrated with a user device 120, which is worn or carried by a user. For example, the gateway 140 may be implemented as a downloadable software application installed and running on a processor included in the user device 120. The gateway 140 provides, in one embodiment, one or more users access to the computing network 105 via the data network 130.
[0025]
Servers 110 each include, for example, working memory and storage for storing data and software programs, microprocessors for executing program instructions, graphics processors and other special processors for rendering and generating graphics, images, video, audio and multi-media files. Computing network 105 may also comprise devices for storing data that is accessed, used or created by the servers 110.
[0026]
Software programs running on the servers and optionally user devices 120 and gateways 140, are used to generate digital worlds (also referred to herein as virtual worlds) with which users interact with user devices 120. A digital world is represented by data and processes that describe and/or define virtual, non-existent entities, environments, and conditions that can be presented to a user through a user device 120 for users to experience and interact with. For example, some type of object, entity or item that will appear to be physically present when instantiated in a scene being viewed or experienced by a user may include a description of its appearance, its behavior, how a user is permitted to interact with it, and other characteristics. Data used to create an environment of a virtual world (including virtual objects) may include, for example, atmospheric data, terrain data, weather data, temperature data, location data, and other data used to define and/or describe a virtual environment. Additionally, data defining various conditions that govern the operation of a virtual world may include, for example, laws of physics, time, spatial relationships and other data that may be used to define and/or create various conditions that govern the operation of a virtual world (including virtual objects).
[0027]
The entity, object, condition, characteristic, behavior or other feature of a digital world will be generically referred to herein, unless the context indicates otherwise, as an object (e.g., digital object, virtual object, rendered physical object, etc.). Objects may be any type of animate or inanimate object, including but not limited to, buildings, plants, vehicles, people, animals, creatures, machines, data, video, text, pictures, and other users. Objects may also be defined in a digital world for storing information about items, behaviors, or conditions actually present in the physical world. The data that describes or defines the entity, object or item, or that stores its current state, is generally referred to herein as object data. This data is processed by the servers 110 or, depending on the implementation, by a gateway 140 or user device 120, to instantiate an instance of the object and render the object in an appropriate manner for the user to experience through a user device.
[0028]
Programmers who develop and/or curate a digital world create or define objects, and the conditions under which they are instantiated. However, a digital world can allow for others to create or modify objects. Once an object is instantiated, the state of the object may be permitted to be altered, controlled or manipulated by one or more users experiencing a digital world.
[0029]
For example, in one embodiment, development, production, and administration of a digital world is generally provided by one or more system administrative programmers. In some embodiments, this may include development, design, and/or execution of story lines, themes, and events in the digital worlds as well as distribution of narratives through various forms of events and media such as, for example, film, digital, network, mobile, augmented reality, and live entertainment. The system administrative programmers may also handle technical administration, moderation, and curation of the digital worlds and user communities associated therewith, as well as other tasks typically performed by network administrative personnel.
[0030]
Users interact with one or more digital worlds using some type of a local computing device, which is generally designated as a user device 120. Examples of such user devices include, but are not limited to, a smart phone, tablet device, heads-up display (HUD), gaming console, or any other device capable of communicating data and providing an interface or display to the user, as well as combinations of such devices. In some embodiments, the user device 120 may include, or communicate with, local peripheral or input/output components such as, for example, a keyboard, mouse, joystick, gaming controller, haptic interface device, motion capture controller, audio equipment, voice equipment, projector system, 3D display, and holographic 3D contact lens.
[0031]
An example of a user device 120 for interacting with the system 100 is illustrated in
FIG. 2
. In the example embodiment shown in
FIG. 2
, a user 210 may interface one or more digital worlds through a smart phone 220. The gateway is implemented by a software application 230 stored on and running on the smart phone 220. In this particular example, the data network 130 includes a wireless mobile network connecting the user device (i.e., smart phone 220) to the computer network 105.
[0032]
In one implementation of preferred embodiment, system 100 is capable of supporting a large number of simultaneous users (e.g., millions of users), each interfacing with the same digital world, or with multiple digital worlds, using some type of user device 120.
[0033]
The user device provides to the user an interface for enabling a visual, audible, and/or physical interaction between the user and a digital world generated by the servers 110, including other users and objects (real or virtual) presented to the user. The interface provides the user with a rendered scene that can be viewed, heard or otherwise sensed, and the ability to interact with the scene in real-time. The manner in which the user interacts with the rendered scene may be dictated by the capabilities of the user device. For example, if the user device is a smart phone, the user interaction may be implemented by a user contacting a touch screen. In another example, if the user device is a computer or gaming console, the user interaction may be implemented using a keyboard or gaming controller. User devices may include additional components that enable user interaction such as sensors, wherein the objects and information (including gestures) detected by the sensors may be provided as input representing user interaction with the virtual world using the user device.
[0034]
The rendered scene can be presented in various formats such as, for example, two-dimensional or three-dimensional visual displays (including projections), sound, and haptic or tactile feedback. The rendered scene may be interfaced by the user in one or more modes including, for example, augmented reality, virtual reality, and combinations thereof. The format of the rendered scene, as well as the interface modes, may be dictated by one or more of the following: user device, data processing capability, user device connectivity, network capacity and system workload. Having a large number of users simultaneously interacting with the digital worlds, and the real-time nature of the data exchange, is enabled by the computing network 105, servers 110, the gateway component 140 (optionally), and the user device 120.
[0035]
In one example, the computing network 105 is comprised of a large-scale computing system having single and/or multi-core servers (i.e., servers 110) connected through high-speed connections (e.g., high bandwidth interfaces 115). The computing network 105 may form a cloud or grid network. Each of the servers includes memory, or is coupled with computer-readable memory for storing software for implementing data to create, design, alter, or process objects of a digital world. These objects and their instantiations may be dynamic, come in and out of existence, change over time, and change in response to other conditions. Examples of dynamic capabilities of the objects are generally discussed herein with respect to various embodiments. In some embodiments, each user interfacing the system 100 may also be represented as an object, and/or a collection of objects, within one or more digital worlds.
[0036]
The servers 110 within the computing network 105 also store computational state data for each of the digital worlds. The computational state data (also referred to herein as state data) may be a component of the object data, and generally defines the state of an instance of an object at a given instance in time. Thus, the computational state data may change over time and may be impacted by the actions of one or more users and/or programmers maintaining the system 100. As a user impacts the computational state data (or other data comprising the digital worlds), the user directly alters or otherwise manipulates the digital world. If the digital world is shared with, or interfaced by, other users, the actions of the user may affect what is experienced by other users interacting with the digital world. Thus, in some embodiments, changes to the digital world made by a user will be experienced by other users interfacing with the system 100.
[0037]
The data stored in one or more servers 110 within the computing network 105 is, in one embodiment, transmitted or deployed at a high-speed, and with low latency, to one or more user devices 120 and/or gateway components 140. In one embodiment, object data shared by servers may be complete or may be compressed, and contain instructions for recreating the full object data on the user side, rendered and visualized by the user's local computing device (e.g., gateway 140 and/or user device 120). Software running on the servers 110 of the computing network 105 may, in some embodiments, adapt the data it generates and sends to a particular user's device 120 for objects within the digital world (or any other data exchanged by the computing network 105) as a function of the user's specific device and bandwidth. For example, when a user interacts with a digital world through a user device 120, a server 110 may recognize the specific type of device being used by the user, the device's connectivity and/or available bandwidth between the user device and server, and appropriately size and balance the data being delivered to the device to optimize the user interaction. An example of this may include reducing the size of the transmitted data to a low resolution quality, so that the data may be displayed on a particular user device having a low resolution display. In a preferred embodiment, the computing network 105 and/or gateway component 140 deliver data to the user device 120 at a rate sufficient to present an interface operating at 15 frames/second or higher, and at a resolution that is high definition quality or greater.
[0038]
The gateway 140 provides local connection to the computing network 105 for one or more users. In some embodiments, it may be implemented by a downloadable software application that runs on the user device 120 or another local device, such as that shown in
FIG. 2
. In other embodiments, it may be implemented by a hardware component (with appropriate software/firmware stored on the component, the component having a processor) that is either in communication with, but not incorporated with or attracted to, the user device 120, or incorporated with the user device 120. The gateway 140 communicates with the computing network 105 via the data network 130, and provides data exchange between the computing network 105 and one or more local user devices 120. As discussed in greater detail below, the gateway component 140 may include software, firmware, memory, and processing circuitry, and may be capable of processing data communicated between the network 105 and one or more local user devices 120.
[0039]
In some embodiments, the gateway component 140 monitors and regulates the rate of the data exchanged between the user device 120 and the computer network 105 to allow optimum data processing capabilities for the particular user device 120. For example, in some embodiments, the gateway 140 buffers and downloads both static and dynamic aspects of a digital world, even those that are beyond the field of view presented to the user through an interface connected with the user device. In such an embodiment, instances of static objects (structured data, software implemented methods, or both) may be stored in memory (local to the gateway component 140, the user device 120, or both) and are referenced against the local user's current position, as indicated by data provided by the computing network 105 and/or the user's device 120. Instances of dynamic objects, which may include, for example, intelligent software agents and objects controlled by other users and/or the local user, are stored in a high-speed memory buffer. Dynamic objects representing a two-dimensional or three-dimensional object within the scene presented to a user can be, for example, broken down into component shapes, such as a static shape that is moving but is not changing, and a dynamic shape that is changing. The part of the dynamic object that is changing can be updated by a real-time, threaded high priority data stream from a server 110, through computing network 105, managed by the gateway component 140. As one example of a prioritized threaded data stream, data that is within a 60 degree field-of-view of the user's eye may be given higher priority than data that is more peripheral. Another example includes prioritizing dynamic characters and/or objects within the user's field-of-view over static objects in the background.
[0040]
In addition to managing a data connection between the computing network 105 and a user device 120, the gateway component 140 may store and/or process data that may be presented to the user device 120. For example, the gateway component 140 may, in some embodiments, receive compressed data describing, for example, graphical objects to be rendered for viewing by a user, from the computing network 105 and perform advanced rendering techniques to alleviate the data load transmitted to the user device 120 from the computing network 105. In another example, in which gateway 140 is a separate device, the gateway 140 may store and/or process data for a local instance of an object rather than transmitting the data to the computing network 105 for processing.
[0041]
Referring now also to
FIG. 3
, the digital worlds may be experienced by one or more users in various formats that may depend upon the capabilities of the user's device. In some embodiments, the user device 120 may include, for example, a smart phone, tablet device, heads-up display (HUD), gaming console, or a wearable device. Generally, the user device will include a processor for executing program code stored in memory on the device, coupled with a display, and a communications interface. An example embodiment of a user device is illustrated in
FIG. 3
, wherein the user device comprises a mobile, wearable device, namely a head-mounted display system 300. In accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, the head-mounted display system 300 includes a user interface 302, user-sensing system 304, environment-sensing system 306, and a processor 308. Although the processor 308 is shown in
FIG. 3
as an isolated component separate from the head-mounted system 300, in an alternate embodiment, the processor 308 may be integrated with one or more components of the head-mounted system 300, or may be integrated into other system 100 components such as, for example, the gateway 140.
[0042]
The user device presents to the user an interface 302 for interacting with and experiencing a digital world. Such interaction may involve the user and the digital world, one or more other users interfacing the system 100, and objects within the digital world. The interface 302 generally provides image and/or audio sensory input (and in some embodiments, physical sensory input) to the user. Thus, the interface 302 may include speakers (not shown) and a display component 303 capable, in some embodiments, of enabling stereoscopic 3D viewing and/or 3D viewing which embodies more natural characteristics of the human vision system. In some embodiments, the display component 303 may comprise a transparent interface (such as a clear OLED) which, when in an “off” setting, enables an optically correct view of the physical environment around the user with little-to-no optical distortion or computing overlay. As discussed in greater detail below, the interface 302 may include additional settings that allow for a variety of visual/interface performance and functionality.
[0043]
The user-sensing system 304 may include, in some embodiments, one or more sensors 310 operable to detect certain features, characteristics, or information related to the individual user wearing the system 300. For example, in some embodiments, the sensors 310 may include a camera or optical detection/scanning circuitry capable of detecting real-time optical characteristics/measurements of the user such as, for example, one or more of the following: pupil constriction/dilation, angular measurement/positioning of each pupil, spherocity, eye shape (as eye shape changes over time) and other anatomic data. This data may provide, or be used to calculate, information (e.g., the user's visual focal point) that may be used by the head-mounted system 300 and/or interface system 100 to optimize the user's viewing experience. For example, in one embodiment, the sensors 310 may each measure a rate of pupil contraction for each of the user's eyes. This data may be transmitted to the processor 308 (or the gateway component 140 or to a server 110), wherein the data is used to determine, for example, the user's reaction to a brightness setting of the interface display 303. The interface 302 may be adjusted in accordance with the user's reaction by, for example, dimming the display 303 if the user's reaction indicates that the brightness level of the display 303 is too high. The user-sensing system 304 may include other components other than those discussed above or illustrated in
FIG. 3
. For example, in some embodiments, the user-sensing system 304 may include a microphone for receiving voice input from the user. The user sensing system may also include one or more infrared camera sensors, one or more visible spectrum camera sensors, structured light emitters and/or sensors, infrared light emitters, coherent light emitters and/or sensors, gyros, accelerometers, magnetometers, proximity sensors, GPS sensors, ultrasonic emitters and detectors and haptic interfaces.
[0044]
The environment-sensing system 306 includes one or more sensors 312 for obtaining data from the physical environment around a user. Objects or information detected by the sensors may be provided as input to the user device. In some embodiments, this input may represent user interaction with the virtual world. For example, a user viewing a virtual keyboard on a desk may gesture with his fingers as if he were typing on the virtual keyboard. The motion of the fingers moving may be captured by the sensors 312 and provided to the user device or system as input, wherein the input may be used to change the virtual world or create new virtual objects. For example, the motion of the fingers may be recognized (using a software program) as typing, and the recognized gesture of typing may be combined with the known location of the virtual keys on the virtual keyboard. The system may then render a virtual monitor displayed to the user (or other users interfacing the system) wherein the virtual monitor displays the text being typed by the user.
[0045]
The sensors 312 may include, for example, a generally outward-facing camera or a scanner for interpreting scene information, for example, through continuously and/or intermittently projected infrared structured light. The environment-sensing system 306 may be used for mapping one or more elements of the physical environment around the user by detecting and registering the local environment, including static objects, dynamic objects, people, gestures and various lighting, atmospheric and acoustic conditions. Thus, in some embodiments, the environment-sensing system 306 may include image-based 3D reconstruction software embedded in a local computing system (e.g., gateway component 140 or processor 308) and operable to digitally reconstruct one or more objects or information detected by the sensors 312. In one exemplary embodiment, the environment-sensing system 306 provides one or more of the following: motion capture data (including gesture recognition), depth sensing, facial recognition, object recognition, unique object feature recognition, voice/audio recognition and processing, acoustic source localization, noise reduction, infrared or similar laser projection, as well as monochrome and/or color CMOS sensors (or other similar sensors), field-of-view sensors, and a variety of other optical-enhancing sensors. It should be appreciated that the environment-sensing system 306 may include other components other than those discussed above or illustrated in
FIG. 3
. For example, in some embodiments, the environment-sensing system 306 may include a microphone for receiving audio from the local environment. The user sensing system may also include one or more infrared camera sensors, one or more visible spectrum camera sensors, structure light emitters and/or sensors, infrared light emitters, coherent light emitters and/or sensors gyros, accelerometers, magnetometers, proximity sensors, GPS sensors, ultrasonic emitters and detectors and haptic interfaces.
[0046]
As mentioned above, the processor 308 may, in some embodiments, be integrated with other components of the head-mounted system 300, integrated with other components of the interface system 100, or may be an isolated device (wearable or separate from the user) as shown in
FIG. 3
. The processor 308 may be connected to various components of the head-mounted system 300 and/or components of the interface system 100 through a physical, wired connection, or through a wireless connection such as, for example, mobile network connections (including cellular telephone and data networks), Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. The processor 308 may include a memory module, integrated and/or additional graphics processing unit, wireless and/or wired internet connectivity, and codec and/or firmware capable of transforming data from a source (e.g., the computing network 105, the user-sensing system 304, the environment-sensing system 306, or the gateway component 140) into image and audio data, wherein the images/video and audio may be presented to the user via the interface 302.
[0047]
The processor 308 handles data processing for the various components of the head-mounted system 300 as well as data exchange between the head-mounted system 300 and the gateway component 140 and, in some embodiments, the computing network 105. For example, the processor 308 may be used to buffer and process data streaming between the user and the computing network 105, thereby enabling a smooth, continuous and high fidelity user experience. In some embodiments, the processor 308 may process data at a rate sufficient to achieve anywhere between 8 frames/second at 320�240 resolution to 24 frames/second at high definition resolution (1280�720), or greater, such as 60-120 frames/second and 4 k resolution and higher (10 k+ resolution and 50,000 frames/second). Additionally, the processor 308 may store and/or process data that may be presented to the user, rather than streamed in real-time from the computing network 105. For example, the processor 308 may, in some embodiments, receive compressed data from the computing network 105 and perform advanced rendering techniques (such as lighting or shading) to alleviate the data load transmitted to the user device 120 from the computing network 105. In another example, the processor 308 may store and/or process local object data rather than transmitting the data to the gateway component 140 or to the computing network 105.
[0048]
The head-mounted system 300 may, in some embodiments, include various settings, or modes, that allow for a variety of visual/interface performance and functionality. The modes may be selected manually by the user, or automatically by components of the head-mounted system 300 or the gateway component 140. As previously mentioned, one example of head-mounted system 300 includes an “off” mode, wherein the interface 302 provides substantially no digital or virtual content. In the off mode, the display component 303 may be transparent, thereby enabling an optically correct view of the physical environment around the user with little-to-no optical distortion or computing overlay.
[0049]
In one example embodiment, the head-mounted system 300 includes an “augmented” mode, wherein the interface 302 provides an augmented reality interface. In the augmented mode, the interface display 303 may be substantially transparent, thereby allowing the user to view the local, physical environment. At the same time, virtual object data provided by the computing network 105, the processor 308, and/or the gateway component 140 is presented on the display 303 in combination with the physical, local environment.
[0050]
FIG. 4
illustrates an example embodiment of objects viewed by a user when the interface 302 is operating in an augmented mode. As shown in
FIG. 4
, the interface 302 presents a physical object 402 and a virtual object 404. In the embodiment illustrated in
FIG. 4
, the physical object 402 is a real, physical object existing in the local environment of the user, whereas the virtual object 404 is an object created by the system 100, and displayed via the user interface 302. In some embodiments, the virtual object 404 may be displayed at a fixed position or location within the physical environment (e.g., a virtual monkey standing next to a particular street sign located in the physical environment), or may be displayed to the user as an object located at a position relative to the user interface/display 303 (e.g., a virtual clock or thermometer visible in the upper, left corner of the display 303).
[0051]
In some embodiments, virtual objects may be made to be cued off of, or trigged by, an object physically present within or outside a user's field of view. Virtual object 404 is cued off, or triggered by, the physical object 402. For example, the physical object 402 may actually be a stool, and the virtual object 404 may be displayed to the user (and, in some embodiments, to other users interfacing the system 100) as a virtual animal standing on the stool. In such an embodiment, the environment-sensing system 306 may use software and/or firmware stored, for example, in the processor 308 to recognize various features and/or shape patterns (captured by the sensors 312) to identify the physical object 402 as a stool. These recognized shape patterns such as, for example, the stool top, may be used to trigger the placement of the virtual object 404. Other examples include walls, tables, furniture, cars, buildings, people, floors, plants, animals—any object which can be seen can be used to trigger an augmented reality experience in some relationship to the object or objects.
[0052]
In some embodiments, the particular virtual object 404 that is triggered may be selected by the user or automatically selected by other components of the head-mounted system 300 or interface system 100. Additionally, in embodiments in which the virtual object 404 is automatically triggered, the particular virtual object 404 may be selected based upon the particular physical object 402 (or feature thereof) off which the virtual object 404 is cued or triggered. For example, if the physical object is identified as a diving board extending over a pool, the triggered virtual object may be a creature wearing a snorkel, bathing suit, floatation device, or other related items.
[0053]
In another example embodiment, the head-mounted system 300 may include a “virtual” mode, wherein the interface 302 provides a virtual reality interface. In the virtual mode, the physical environment is omitted from the display 303, and virtual object data provided by the computing network 105, the processor 308, and/or the gateway component 140 is presented on the display 303. The omission of the physical environment may be accomplished by physically blocking the visual display 303 (e.g., via a cover) or through a feature of the interface 302 wherein the display 303 transitions to an opaque setting. In the virtual mode, live and/or stored visual and audio sensory may be presented to the user through the interface 302, and the user experiences and interacts with a digital world (digital objects, other users, etc.) through the virtual mode of the interface 302. Thus, the interface provided to the user in the virtual mode is comprised of virtual object data comprising a virtual, digital world.
[0054]
FIG. 5
illustrates an example embodiment of a user interface when the head-mounted interface 302 is operating in a virtual mode. As shown in
FIG. 5
, the user interface presents a virtual world 500 comprised of digital objects 510, wherein the digital objects 510 may include atmosphere, weather, terrain, buildings, and people. Although it is not illustrated in
FIG. 5
, digital objects may also include, for example, plants, vehicles, animals, creatures, machines, artificial intelligence, location information, and any other object or information defining the virtual world 500.
[0055]
In another example embodiment, the head-mounted system 300 may include a “blended” mode, wherein various features of the head-mounted system 300 (as well as features of the virtual and augmented modes) may be combined to create one or more custom interface modes. In one example custom interface mode, the physical environment is omitted from the display 303, and virtual object data is presented on the display 303 in a manner similar to the virtual mode. However, in this example custom interface mode, virtual objects may be fully virtual (i.e., they do not exist in the local, physical environment) or they may be real, local, physical objects rendered as a virtual object in the interface 302 in place of the physical object. Thus, in this particular custom mode (referred to herein as a blended virtual interface mode), live and/or stored visual and audio sensory may be presented to the user through the interface 302, and the user experiences and interacts with a digital world comprising fully virtual objects and rendered physical objects.
[0056]
FIG. 6
illustrates an example embodiment of a user interface operating in accordance with the blended virtual interface mode. As shown in
FIG. 6
, the user interface presents a virtual world 600 comprised of fully virtual objects 610, and rendered physical objects 620 (renderings of objects otherwise physically present in the scene). In accordance with the example illustrated in
FIG. 6
, the rendered physical objects 620 include a building 620A, ground 620B, and a platform 620C, and are shown with a bolded outline 630 to indicate to the user that the objects are rendered. Additionally, the fully virtual objects 610 include an additional user 610A, clouds 610B, sun 610C, and flames 610D on top of the platform 620C. It should be appreciated that fully virtual objects 610 may include, for example, atmosphere, weather, terrain, buildings, people, plants, vehicles, animals, creatures, machines, artificial intelligence, location information, and any other object or information defining the virtual world 600, and not rendered from objects existing in the local, physical environment. Conversely, the rendered physical objects 620 are real, local, physical objects rendered as a virtual object in the interface 302. The bolded outline 630 represents one example for indicating rendered physical objects to a user. As such, the rendered physical objects may be indicated as such using methods other than those disclosed herein.
[0057]
In some embodiments, the rendered physical objects 620 may be detected using the sensors 312 of the environment-sensing system 306 (or using other devices such as a motion or image capture system), and converted into digital object data by software and/or firmware stored, for example, in the processing circuitry 308. Thus, as the user interfaces with the system 100 in the blended virtual interface mode, various physical objects may be displayed to the user as rendered physical objects. This may be especially useful for allowing the user to interface with the system 100, while still being able to safely navigate the local, physical environment. In some embodiments, the user may be able to selectively remove or add the rendered physical objects to the interface display 303.
[0058]
In another example custom interface mode, the interface display 303 may be substantially transparent, thereby allowing the user to view the local, physical environment, while various local, physical objects are displayed to the user as rendered physical objects. This example custom interface mode is similar to the augmented mode, except that one or more of the virtual objects may be rendered physical objects as discussed above with respect to the previous example.
[0059]
The foregoing example custom interface modes represent a few example embodiments of various custom interface modes capable of being provided by the blended mode of the head-mounted system 300. Accordingly, various other custom interface modes may be created from the various combination of features and functionality provided by the components of the head-mounted system 300 and the various modes discussed above without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.
[0060]
The embodiments discussed herein merely describe a few examples for providing an interface operating in an off, augmented, virtual, or blended mode, and are not intended to limit the scope or content of the respective interface modes or the functionality of the components of the head-mounted system 300. For example, in some embodiments, the virtual objects may include data displayed to the user (time, temperature, elevation, etc.), objects created and/or selected by the system 100, objects created and/or selected by a user, or even objects representing other users interfacing the system 100. Additionally, the virtual objects may include an extension of physical objects (e.g., a virtual sculpture growing from a physical platform) and may be visually connected to, or disconnected from, a physical object.
[0061]
The virtual objects may also be dynamic and change with time, change in accordance with various relationships (e.g., location, distance, etc.) between the user or other users, physical objects, and other virtual objects, and/or change in accordance with other variables specified in the software and/or firmware of the head-mounted system 300, gateway component 140, or servers 110. For example, in certain embodiments, a virtual object may respond to a user device or component thereof (e.g., a virtual ball moves when a haptic device is placed next to it), physical or verbal user interaction (e.g., a virtual creature runs away when the user approaches it, or speaks when the user speaks to it), a chair is thrown at a virtual creature and the creature dodges the chair, other virtual objects (e.g., a first virtual creature reacts when it sees a second virtual creature), physical variables such as location, distance, temperature, time, etc. or other physical objects in the user's environment (e.g., a virtual creature shown standing in a physical street becomes flattened when a physical car passes).
[0062]
The various modes discussed herein may be applied to user devices other than the head-mounted system 300. For example, an augmented reality interface may be provided via a mobile phone or tablet device. In such an embodiment, the phone or tablet may use a camera to capture the physical environment around the user, and virtual objects may be overlaid on the phone/tablet display screen. Additionally, the virtual mode may be provided by displaying the digital world on the display screen of the phone/tablet. Accordingly, these modes may be blended as to create various custom interface modes as described above using the components of the phone/tablet discussed herein, as well as other components connected to, or used in combination with, the user device. For example, the blended virtual interface mode may be provided by a computer monitor, television screen, or other device lacking a camera operating in combination with a motion or image capture system. In this example embodiment, the virtual world may be viewed from the monitor/screen and the object detection and rendering may be performed by the motion or image capture system.
[0063]
FIG. 7
illustrates an example embodiment of the present disclosure, wherein two users located in different geographical locations each interact with the other user and a common virtual world through their respective user devices. In this embodiment, the two users 701 and 702 are throwing a virtual ball 703 (a type of virtual object) back and forth, wherein each user is capable of observing the impact of the other user on the virtual world (e.g., each user observes the virtual ball changing directions, being caught by the other user, etc.). Since the movement and location of the virtual objects (i.e., the virtual ball 703) are tracked by the servers 110 in the computing network 105, the system 100 may, in some embodiments, communicate to the users 701 and 702 the exact location and timing of the arrival of the ball 703 with respect to each user. For example, if the first user 701 is located in London, the user 701 may throw the ball 703 to the second user 702 located in Los Angeles at a velocity calculated by the system 100. Accordingly, the system 100 may communicate to the second user 702 (e.g., via email, text message, instant message, etc.) the exact time and location of the ball's arrival. As such, the second user 702 may use his device to see the ball 703 arrive at the specified time and located. One or more users may also use geo-location mapping software (or similar) to track one or more virtual objects as they travel virtually across the globe. An example of this may be a user wearing a 3D head-mounted display looking up in the sky and seeing a virtual plane flying overhead, superimposed on the real world. The virtual plane may be flown by the user, by intelligent software agents (software running on the user device or gateway), other users who may be local and/or remote, and/or any of these combinations.
[0064]
As previously mentioned, the user device may include a haptic interface device, wherein the haptic interface device provides a feedback (e.g., resistance, vibration, lights, sound, etc.) to the user when the haptic device is determined by the system 100 to be located at a physical, spatial location relative to a virtual object. For example, the embodiment described above with respect to
FIG. 7
may be expanded to include the use of a haptic device 802, as shown in
FIG. 8
. In this example embodiment, the haptic device 802 may be displayed in the virtual world as a baseball bat. When the ball 703 arrives, the user 702 may swing the haptic device 802 at the virtual ball 703. If the system 100 determines that the virtual bat provided by the haptic device 802 made “contact” with the ball 703, then the haptic device 802 may vibrate or provide other feedback to the user 702, and the virtual ball 703 may ricochet off the virtual bat in a direction calculated by the system 100 in accordance with the detected speed, direction, and timing of the ball-to-bat contact.
[0065]
The disclosed system 100 may, in some embodiments, facilitate mixed mode interfacing, wherein multiple users may interface a common virtual world (and virtual objects contained therein) using different interface modes (e.g., augmented, virtual, blended, etc.). For example, a first user interfacing a particular virtual world in a virtual interface mode may interact with a second user interfacing the same virtual world in an augmented reality mode.
[0066]
FIG. 9A
illustrates an example wherein a first user 901 (interfacing a digital world of the system 100 in a blended virtual interface mode) and first object 902 appear as virtual objects to a second user 922 interfacing the same digital world of the system 100 in a full virtual reality mode. As described above, when interfacing the digital world via the blended virtual interface mode, local, physical objects (e.g., first user 901 and first object 902) may be scanned and rendered as virtual objects in the virtual world. The first user 901 may be scanned, for example, by a motion capture system or similar device, and rendered in the virtual world (by software/firmware stored in the motion capture system, the gateway component 140, the user device 120, system servers 110, or other devices) as a first rendered physical object 931. Similarly, the first object 902 may be scanned, for example, by the environment-sensing system 306 of a head-mounted interface 300, and rendered in the virtual world (by software/firmware stored in the processor 308, the gateway component 140, system servers 110, or other devices) as a second rendered physical object 932. The first user 901 and first object 902 are shown in a first portion 910 of
FIG. 9A
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Cloud
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In a Japanese restaurant an oshibori is a?
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Open Source Software related to Geoscience and Remote Sensing - GRSS | IEEE | Geoscience & Remote Sensing Society
Open Source Software related to Geoscience and Remote Sensing
ASF MapReady
The MapReady Remote Sensing Tool Kit accepts level 1 detected SAR data, single look complex SAR data, and optical data from ASF and some other facilities. It can terrain correct, geocode, apply polarimetric decompositions to multi-pol SAR data, and save to several common imagery formats including GeoTIFF. Other software included in the package are an image viewer, metadata viewer, a projection coordinate converter, and a variety of command line tools.
CLASlite
Monitoring tropical deforestation and forest degradation with satellites can be an everyday activity for non-experts who support environmental conservation, forest management, and resource policy development. Through extensive observation of user needs, we developed CLASlite to assist governments, nongovernmental organizations, and academic institutions with high-resolution mapping and monitoring of forests with satellite imagery.
DORIS
The Delft Institute of Earth Observation and Space Systems of Delft University of Technology has developed an Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) processor named Doris (Delft object-oriented radar interferometric software).
Interferometric products and endproducts such as Digital Elevation Models and displacement maps can be generated with this software from Single Look Complex data. Data from the satellites ERS, ENVISAT, JERS, and RADARSAT can be processed with the Doris software.
Adore
Automated DORIS Environment (adore) is a set of bash scripts to ease use of TU-DELFT’s DORIS software. ADORE stands for Automated DORIS Environment. It is development started at the University of Miami Geodesy Group, to help researchers generate interferograms with ease. Just like DORIS it is an open source project and it comes with the same license. ADORE tries to provide a streamlined user interface for generating interferograms with DORIS and has some additional features for displaying and exporting the results, and time series analysis.
FWTools
FWTools is a set of Open Source GIS binaries for Windows (win32) and
Linux (x86 32bit) systems produced by Frank Warmerdam. The kits are intended to be easy for end users to install and get going with. No fudzing with building from source, or having to collect lots of interrelated packages. FWTools includes OpenEV, GDAL, MapServer, PROJ.4 and OGDI as well as some supporting components.
GCTP
The General Cartographic Transformation Package (GCTP) is a system of software routines designed to permit the transformation of coordinate pairs from one map projection to another. The GCTP is the standard computer software used by the National Mapping Division for map projection computations as of 1998.
GDAL/OGR
GDAL is a translator library for raster geospatial data formats. As a library, it presents a single abstract data model to the calling application for all supported formats. It also comes with a variety of useful commandline utilities for data translation and processing. The related OGR library (which lives within the GDAL source tree) provides a similar capability for simple features vector data.
GDL
GNU Data Language (GDL) is a free/libre/open source incremental compiler compatible with IDL and to some extent with PV-WAVE. Together with its library routines it serves as a tool for data analysis and visualization in such disciplines as astronomy, geosciences and medical imaging.
GEOMS2
GEOMS2 is a geostatistics and geosciences modeling software. Provides interface for grid (mesh), point, surface and data (non-spatial) objects. It has a 3D viewer and 2D plots using the well known Python engines Mayavi and Matplotlib. It has several functions to manipulate your data as well as provide univariate and multivariate analysis.
GsTL is a C++ library that provides a comprehensive set of tools and algorithms for geostatistics. The algorithms provided include:
Kriging : simple kriging (SK) , ordinary kriging (OK) and kriging with trend (KT);
Cokriging : simple or ordinary, using either the full cokriging system or one of the Markov models MM1 or MM2;
Sequential Simulation : Gaussian simulation, indicator simulation, or multiple-points statistics simulation,
P-Field Simulation.
gvSIG
gvSIG is a Geographic Information System (GIS), that is, a desktop application designed for capturing, storing, handling, analyzing and deploying any kind of referenced geographic information in order to solve complex management and planning problems. gvSIG is known for having a user-friendly interface, being able to access the most common formats, both vector and raster ones. It features a wide range of tools for working with geographic-like information (query tools, layout creation, geoprocessing, networks, etc.), which turns gvSIG into the ideal tool for users working in the land realm.
ILWIS
Integrated Land and Water Information System, ILWIS, the world’s most user-friendly integrated software with raster processing capabilities to work on remotely sensed satellite images and vector processing capabilities for making vector maps and countless spacial modeling abilities. Its fully integrated raster and vector approach and user-friendlyness make it particularly suitable for natural resources managers, field scientists, biologists, ecologists, etc., as well as for educators.
Image Analysis, Classification and Change Detection in Remote Sensing
This is a collection of codes in both ENVI/IDL and Python that accompanies the book of the same title. Written by Morton J. Candy in 2014, this collection introduces techniques used in the processing of remote sensing digital imagery. It emphasizes the development and implementation of statistically motivated, data-driven techniques. The author achieves this by tightly interweaving theory, algorithms, and computer codes. The material is self-contained and illustrated with many programming examples
The book covers both multispectral and polarimetric radar image analysis techniques in a way that makes both the differences and parallels clear and emphasizes the importance of choosing appropriate statistical methods. Each chapter concludes with exercises, some of which are small programming projects, intended to illustrate or justify the foregoing development, making this self-contained text ideal for self-study or classroom use.
ImageMagick
ImageMagick is a software suite to create, edit, compose, or convert bitmap images. It can read and write images in a variety of formats (over 100) including DPX, EXR, GIF, JPEG, JPEG-2000, PDF, PNG,
Postscript, SVG, and TIFF. Use ImageMagick to resize, flip, mirror, rotate, distort, shear and transform images, adjust image colors, apply various special effects, or draw text, lines, polygons, ellipses and Bézier curves.
iNVT
The iLab Neuromorphic Vision C++ Toolkit (iNVT, pronounced “invent”) is a comprehensive set of C++ classes for the development of neuromorphic models of vision. Neuromorphic models are computational neuroscience algorithms whose architecture and function is closely inspired from biological brains. The iLab Neuromorphic Vision C++ Toolkit comprises not only base classes for images, neurons, and brain areas, but also fully-developed models such as our model of bottom-up visual attention and of Bayesian surprise.
ITK
The National Library of Medicine Insight Segmentation and Registration Toolkit (ITK). ITK is an open-source, cross-platform system that provides developers with an extensive suite of software tools for image analysis. Developed through extreme programming methodologies, ITK employs leading-edge algorithms for registering and segmenting multidimensional data.
José Gómez-Dans Codes
This researcher at University College London has a variety of packages available, including: Python bindings for the PROSAIL canopy reflectance model; Helper modules for dealing with satellite remote sensing observations for eoldas_ng; A tool for downloading EO data from archives; Gaussian Process emulators in Python; A python version of the DALEC ecosystem model; A data assimilation experiment with the DALEC ecosystem model; A data assimilation tool for land EO; tool for downloading MODIS data from the USGS repository; Generate a simple timeseries plot of remote sensing sensors; A radiative transfer model project to ascertain the influence of vegetation structure on the TOC SIF signal; The 2stream RT model; MERIS data analysis; Gradient-based optimization algorithms in Python; simulation of carbon, nitrogen & water dynamics on a daily time step; The SPA (Soil-Plant-Atmosphere) model of MWilliams et al.; Python ray tracing library; An Earth Observation Land Data Assimilation System (EO-LDAS); Python bindings for the semidiscrete RT model of Gobron et al.; Simultaneous perturbation stochastic approximation Python code; Morrris, Campolongo and others’ approach to sensitivity analysis of models;A python driver to run the JULES model.
Matlab Hyperspectral Toolbox
The toolbox is meant to be a concise repository of current state-of-the-art exploitation algorithms for learning and research purposes. The toolbox (will) include(s) functions for: Target detection, Material abundance map (MAM) generation, Spectral unmixing, Automated processing, Change detection, Visualization, Reading / writing files (.rfl, .asd, etc).
MapServer
MapServer is an Open Source platform for publishing spatial data and interactive mapping applications to the web. Originally developed in the mid-1990’s at the University of Minnesota, MapServer is released under an MIT-style license, and runs on all major platforms (Windows, Linux, Mac OS X). MapServer is not a full-featured GIS system, nor does it aspire to be.
Micmac
Automatic calculation of correspondence between two similar images is a problem that occurs under many conditions, in the geometric processing of images. This is particularly the case in the field of mapping where the image has value from the moment where you can geo-reference the information it contains. The objective of the MicMac software is to provide a unified solution to meet the majority of these problems. The general strategy used by MicMac is a multi-resolution approach, and, at a given resolution, the approach is to minimize an energy function combining the data term and a-priori knowledge on the regularity.
MMM-Py
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) regularly produces national 3D radar reflectivity mosaics via its Multi-Radar/Multi-Sensor (MRMS) system. These mosaics are wonderful for storm and precipitation analysis and research, but they are distributed in odd formats that NOAA is ever changing. Sometimes you just want to read a file and make a plot! This is what MMM-Py is for. With it, you can read any version of the MRMS radar mosaics, past or present, and you can analyze, plot, subsection, and output custom mosaics of your own, which MMM-Py can ingest later. MMM-Py is free and open source. It is capable of producing publication-ready figures and analyses, but it also can do quicklook plots so you can check out the cool storm that just happened.
MOVES
MOVES (Motor Vehicle Emission Simulator) EPA’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality (OTAQ) has developed the MOtor Vehicle Emission Simulator (MOVES). This new emission modeling system estimates emissions for mobile sources covering a broad range of pollutants and allows multiple scale analysis. MOVES currently estimates emissions from cars, trucks & motorcycles. We plan to add the capability to model non-highway mobile sources in future releases.
MRS
MRS is a set of MATLAB codes that accompanies the book Microwave Radar and Radiometric Remote Sensing, edited by Ulaby and Long, published in 2013. The package includes codes for calculating many different things, including dielectric constants of water, ice, and vegetation, and also the radar and radiometric responses of vegetation and atmosphere models. The site also has on-line versions of the codes, providing plots based on user inputs.
NCAR Graphics is a Fortran and C based software package for scientific visualization:
Contour plots, XY plots, Vector plots, Streamline plots, Triangular meshes, Weather maps, Histograms, Surfaces/Isosurfaces, Maps.
NEST
The Next ESA SAR Toolbox (NEST) is an ESA open source toolbox under the GNU GPL licence for reading, processing, analysing and visualising ESA (ERS-1/2, ENVISAT, SENTINEL-1) and other spaceborne (TerraSAR-X, RADARSAT 1-2, COSMO-SkyMed, JERS-1, ALOS PALSAR) SAR data processed to Level-1 or higher.
netCDF
netCDF is a set of software libraries and self-describing, machine-independent data formats that support the creation, access, and sharing of array-oriented scientific data. The conventions for climate and forecast (CF) metadata are designed to promote the processing and sharing of netCDF files. The conventions define metadata that provide a definitive description of what the data represents, and the spatial and temporal properties of the data.
NLSAR
Non-Local framework for (Pol)(In)SAR denoising. NL-SAR is a general method that builds extended non-local neighborhoods for denoising amplitude, polarimetric and/or interferometric SAR images. These neighborhoods are defined on the basis of pixel similarity as evaluated by multi-channel comparison of patches. Several non-local estimations are performed and the best one is locally selected to form a single restored image with good preservation of radar structures and discontinuities.
OGDI
OGDI is the Open Geographic Datastore Interface. OGDI is an application programming interface (API) that uses a standardized access methods to work in conjunction with GIS software packages (the application) and various geospatial data products. OGDI uses a client/server architecture to facilitate the dissemination of geospatial data products over any TCP/IP network, and a driver-oriented approach to facilitate access to several geospatial data products/formats.
OpenCV
OpenCV (Open Source Computer Vision Library) was built to provide a common infrastructure for computer vision applications and to accelerate the use of machine perception in the commercial products. The library has more than 2500 optimized algorithms, which includes a comprehensive set of both classic and state-of-the-art computer vision and machine learning algorithms.
Opticks
Opticks is an expandable remote sensing and imagery analysis software platform that is free and open source. If you are interested you can learn about the history of Opticks. If you’ve used commercial tools like: ERDAS IMAGINE, RemoteView, ENVI, or SOCET GXP, then you need to give Opticks a try. Unlike other competing tools, you can add capability to Opticks by creating an extension. Opticks provides the most advanced extension capability of any other remote sensing tool on the market.
Orfeo Toolbox
The Orfeo Toolbox is a C++ library for high resolution remote sensing image processing. It is developped by CNES in the frame of the ORFEO program. It is based on the medical image processing library ITK and offers particular functionalities for remote sensing image processing in general and for high spatial resolution images in particular. Targeted algorithms for high resolution optical images (SPOT, Quickbird, Worldview, Landsat, Ikonos), hyperspectral sensors (Hyperion) or SAR (TerraSarX, ERS, Palsar) are available.
PostGIS
PostGIS adds support for geographic objects to the PostgreSQL object-relational database. In effect, PostGIS “spatially enables” the PostgreSQL server, allowing it to be used as a backend spatial database for geographic information systems (GIS), much like ESRI’s SDE or Oracle’s Spatial extension. PostGIS follows the OpenGIS “Simple Features Specification for SQL” and has been certified as compliant with the “Types and Functions” profile.
PPB
Probabilistic Patch-Based filter. This work has been achieved by Charles Deledalle supervised by Florence Tupin and Loïc Denis. The aim was to adapt the Non-Local means (NL means) filter to SAR images. Then, an efficient filter as been designed, able to cope with non Gaussian noise, multi-dimensionnal images and especially to the various existing SAR images.
PROSAIL
The combined PROSPECT leaf optical properties model and SAIL canopy bidirectional reflectance model, also referred to as PROSAIL, has been used for about sixteen years to study plant canopy spectral and directional reflectance in the solar domain. PROSAIL has also been used to develop new methods for retrieval of vegetation biophysical properties. It links the spectral variation of canopy reflectance, which is mainly related to leaf biochemical contents, with its directional variation, which is primarily related to canopy architecture and soil/vegetation contrast. This link is key to simultaneous estimation of canopy biophysical/structural variables for applications in agriculture, plant physiology, and ecology at different scales. PROSAIL has become one of the most popular radiative transfer tools due to its ease of use, general robustness, and consistent validation by lab/field/space experiments over the years.
PulseWaves
The latest PulseWaves version is 0.3 (revision 11) and a DLL for writing and reading is available (including sample programs). The PulseTools folder also contains the first six PulseTools pulseinfo.exe, pulseview.exe, pulse2pulse.exe, pulsezip.exe, pulsesort.exe, and pulseextract.exe can parse various full waveform LiDAR formats (e.g. LVIS, LAS 1.3 FWF, GeoLas Waveform, and PulseWaves).
QuantumGIS
QGIS is a user friendly Open Source Geographic Information System (GIS) licensed under the GNU General Public License. QGIS is an official project of the Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo). It runs on Linux, Unix, Mac OSX, Windows and Android and supports numerous vector, raster, and database formats and functionalities.
RAMADDA
Whether you work in a lab, in the field, or in an office, your team is probably drowning in a sea of documents, information and data. RAMADDA helps you organize your digital assets and provides deep support for managing, analyzing, and visualizing almost any type of data.
Random Forests
Random forests are an ensemble learning method for classification (and regression) that operate by constructing a multitude of decision trees at training time and outputting the class that is the mode of the classes output by individual trees. The algorithm for inducing a random forest was developed by Leo Breiman and Adele Cutler, and “Random Forests” is their trademark. The term came from random decision forests that was first proposed by Tin Kam Ho of Bell Labs in 1995. The method combines Breiman’s “bagging” idea and the random selection of features, introduced independently by Ho and Amit and Geman in order to construct a collection of decision trees with controlled variance.
S4PM
The Simple, Scalable, Script-based Science Processor for Measurements (S4PM) is a system for highly automated processing of science data. It is the main processing engine at the Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC).In addition to being scalable up to large processing systems such as the GES DISC, it is also scalable down to small, special-purpose processing strings.
SAGA
SAGA is the abbreviation for System for Automated Geoscientific Analyses. It is a Geographic Information System (GIS) software and has been designed for an easy and effective implementation of spatial algorithms. It offers a comprehensive, growing set of geoscientific methods as well as providing an easily approachable user interface with many visualisation options.
SDTS
The Spatial Data Transfer Standard, or SDTS, is a robust way of transferring earth-referenced spatial data between dissimilar computer systems with the potential for no information loss. It is a transfer standard that embraces the philosophy of self-contained transfers, i.e. spatial data, attribute, georeferencing, data quality report, data dictionary, and other supporting metadata all included in the transfer.
Sentinel-1 Toolbox
The SENTINEL-1 Toolbox (S1TBX) consists of a collection of processing tools, data product readers and writers and a display and analysis application to support the large archive of data from ESA SAR missions including SENTINEL-1, ERS-1 & 2 and ENVISAT, as well as third party SAR data from ALOS PALSAR, TerraSAR-X, COSMO-SkyMed and RADARSAT-2. The various processing tools could be run independently from the command-line and also integrated within the graphical user interface. The Toolbox includes tools for calibration, speckle conversion, polarimetry and interferometry.
SNAP
SNAP is ESA’s SentiNel Application Platform. This contains a number of toolboxes for processing data from various platforms such as the Sentinel mission, and SMOS. The source code is available here , and binary installers for various platforms are available here .
SOP
The SAR Ocean Processor is free software to extract ocean wind, wave and current from SAR data. The software was coded in ANSI-C language and is provided “as it is”, which means that the author of this program will not take any responsibility on its quality or accuracy. Currently, it only takes Radarsat-1 SLC (Single-Look Complex) data as an input. The output is designed to be easily accessible by ERMapper. SOP could be developed further to deal with various kind of SAR data or be made compatible with other remote-sensing data-handling software upon user’s sincere requests or by cooperative works such as algorithm developments, program coding, or obtaining in situ data.
StarSpan
StarSpan is designed to bridge the raster and vector worlds of spatial analysis using fast algorithms for pixel level extraction from geometry features (points, lines, polygons). StarSpan generates databases of extracted pixel values (from one or a set of raster images), fused with the database attributes from the vector files. This allows a user to do statistical analysis of the pixel vs. attribute data in many existing packages and can greatly speed up classification training and testing. See the documentation for more details about commands, operations, and options.
SWAP
SWAP (Soil, Water, Atmosphere and Plant) simulates transport of water, solutes and heat in unsaturated/saturated soils. The model is designed to simulate flow and transport processes at field scale level, during growing seasons and for long term time series. It offers a wide range of possibilities to address both research and practical questions in the field of agriculture, water management and environmental protection.
Swarm
Swarm is the name of an open-source agent-based modeling simulation package, useful for simulating the interaction of agents (social or biological) and their emergent collective behaviour. Swarm was initially developed at the Santa Fe Institute in the mid-1990s, and since 1999 has been maintained by the non-profit Swarm Development Group.
TRAIN
Toolbox for Reducing Atmospheric InSAR Noise. One of the main challenges in InSAR processing is related to atmospheric delays, especially tropospheric delays. Different correction methods are applied today based on auxiliary data, including GNSS, weather models (e.g. ECMWF ERA-I, WRF, NARR, etc), spectrometer data (MERIS and MODIS), or combinations of different sources. Alternative methods exist to estimate the tropospheric delays from the radar data themselves. The success rate of the different techniques is dependant on multiple factors like temporal and spatial resolution, cloud cover, signal contamination, local topography, etc. Below we provide a set of MATLAB tools that can be use to correct for tropospheric delays in InSAR data.
VLFeat
The VLFeat open source library implements popular computer vision algorithms specializing in image understanding and local features extraction and matching. Algorithms include Fisher Vector, VLAD, SIFT, MSER, k-means, hierarchical k-means, agglomerative information bottleneck, SLIC superpixels, quick shift superpixels, large scale SVM training, and many others.
VTP
The goal of VTP is to foster the creation of tools for easily constructing any part of the real world in interactive, 3D digital form. This goal will require a synergetic convergence of the fields of CAD, GIS, visual simulation, surveying and remote sensing. VTP gathers information and tracks progress in areas such as procedural scene construction, feature extraction, and realtime rendering algorithms. VTP writes and supports a set of software tools, including an interactive runtime environment (VTP Enviro). The tools and their source code are freely shared to help accelerate the adoption and development of the necessary technologies.
WAIR
Wavelet Analysis of Image Registration.
A tool for the quantitative analysis of various n-dimensional (n-D) image registration techniques. The series of ‘C’ subroutines which comprise the WAIR library can be easily incorporated into the user’s site specific programs and adapted to their particular needs.
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i don't know
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In geometry, where every point of a shape is moved a constant distance and direction, this is called?
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Understanding Translations, Reflections, and Rotations in Geometry | Universal Class
Understanding Translations, Reflections, and Rotations in Geometry
Understanding Translations, Reflections, and Rotations in Geometry
After a basic understanding of shapes has begun, it is imperative to consider the many different ways in which these shapes can then be moved throughout space while still retaining their original characteristics. Understanding that shapes which have been moved do not necessarily become new shapes, but remain constant in a new position on the plane they have been placed is important. It is through this skill process that one can identify which shapes are indeed different and new and which shapes have simply been moved to a new position in space. The process of transforming shapes is a part of symmetry.
When considering shapes in spaces, it is imperative to address the movements of shapes in various ways. Typically, there are considered to be three ways in which shapes can be moved. These ways are: flipped, slid, or turned. The shape before it is moved in anyway becomes known as the preimage. The preimage becomes the image once the move occurs. Both the preimage and the image are identical in all aspects except for the coordinates within space they exist.
Any movement of an object can be referred to as a transformation. As each point of the object is considered individually, the transformation maps each point individually and tracks how each is moved or changed. In the case of most transformations, the points of the object are tracked or mapped based on the plane itself and all of the lengths will remain constant. Isometries is a term used to refer to these types of transformations. There are four types of isometries which are: translations, rotations, reflections and glide reflections. There are other types of translations, called dilatations, which do not maintain the various lengths.
Want to learn more? Take an online course in Geometry .
When a shape is flipped over a line, it is known as a reflection. Reflections are best understood when considering a mirror and how objects appear flipped when viewed in the mirror. The line, over which the shape is flipped, becomes known as the line of reflection. In reflections, it is important to remember that the shapes always keep the same size and shape, but the images are opposite of the original image (reversed). In this way, a reflection is a mirror image of the shape provided. Your own reflection as you look into the mirror is an example of this process of reflection.
Tessellations can demonstrate reflective symmetry. A tessellation can be said to have reflective symmetry if there is a point in the tessellation where a reflection of the original tessellation can be seen. The line where this reflection occurs is known as the mirror line.
When a shape is slid to a new location in space, it is called a translation. Translations are what you would do if you slid a shape across a table to your partner. In considering the points of the object, all of them move in the same direction for the same distance. It does not affect the order of the points around the object. In order for a movement to be a true translation, the object must be moved with no reflecting or rotation of the object. Translations can occur in a horizontal nature (across a straight horizontal line), a vertical nature (across a straight vertical line), or in a diagonal nature (across a straight diagonal line). In a translation, all parts of the shape are sliding in the same direction and continue to move at the same rate (cover the same amount of space). When an object has been translated, it must be moved in a specific direction across a specific distance. Therefore, all translations have some direction and distance which can be described and measured.
All tessellations demonstrate the concept of translation. It could be said that all tessellations are repeated patterns and all translations will create some sort of repeated pattern. Therefore, it can be logically deduced that all tessellations have translational symmetry.
When a shape is turned, it is called a rotation. A rotation of a shape occurs around one point. The shape is moved the point by any number of degrees. Since it occurs around one point, every rotation has a center and an angle. The rotation can occur in either a clockwise or counterclockwise direction. Therefore, every rotation can be described in terms of the angle by which the rotation occurred. When an object is rotated one hundred eighty degrees or half way around it is referred to as a half turn. When an object is rotated ninety degrees or one fourth of a turn, it is referred to as a quarter turn. In considering rotations, the number of matches the object will make as it completes one rotation is known as the order. There cannot be an order of one, as if the object requires one full rotation to align; it really does not show rotational symmetry.
In order for a tessellation to be considered as having rotational symmetry it must represent the exactly same tessellation as the original after it has been rotated. If the tessellation does in fact show the same result as the original after it has been rotated, then it can be considered to be a tessellation with rotational symmetry.
Shapes can be moved in multiple ways at one time. Objects could be slid and reflected. A glide reflection happens when a reflection is combined with a translation. In the glide reflection, the translation must occur along the line of reflection or mirror line. The glide reflection is the only type of symmetry which involves more than one step.
In order for a tessellation to demonstrate glide reflective symmetry, the tessellation after the glide reflection occurs must show the same result as the original tessellation before the glide reflection. Any tessellation which shows both reflective symmetry and translational symmetry will automatically have glide reflectional symmetry. However, all tessellations which have glide reflective symmetry do not necessarily have reflective symmetry or translational symmetry.
When recording any form of transformation, one will utilize the coordinate system. In the coordinate system, ordered pairs are used to represent points on a graph. When looking at a graph, the horizontal axis is referred to as the x axis. In a set of ordered pairs, the first number in the ordered pair refers to the x point. This tells you how many spaces to move horizontally. The vertical axis is referred to as the y axis. In ordered pairs, the second number refers to the y point. This tells you how many spaces to move vertically. Therefore, the ordered pair (6, 5) would tell you to move horizontally (over) six places and then up (vertically) five places. The space you come to on the graph is the spot represented by the given ordered pair. It is through the use of ordered pairs that one can describe the placement of objects on a plane and later, how they have been transformed.
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Translation
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What chemical element is named from the French for charcoal?
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Circle Geometry
Circle Geometry
Measurement and Geometry : Module 26
Years : 9-10
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Assumed knowledge
Introductory plane geometry involving points and lines, parallel lines and transversals, angle sums of triangles and quadrilaterals, and general angle-chasing.
Experience with a logical argument in geometry written as a sequence of steps, each justified by a reason.
Ruler-and-compasses constructions.
The four standard congruence tests and their application to proving properties of and tests for special triangles and quadrilaterals.
The four standard similarity tests and their application.
Trigonometry with triangles.
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Motivation
Most geometry so far has involved triangles and quadrilaterals, which are formed by intervals on lines, and we turn now to the geometry of circles. Lines and circles are the most elementary figures of geometry − a line is the locus of a point moving in a constant direction, and a circle is the locus of a point moving at a constant distance from some fixed point − and all our constructions are done by drawing lines with a straight edge and circles with compasses. Tangents are introduced in this module, and later tangents become the basis of differentiation in calculus.
The theorems of circle geometry are not intuitively obvious to the student, in fact most people are quite surprised by the results when they first see them. They clearly need to be proven carefully, and the cleverness of the methods of proof developed in earlier modules is clearly displayed in this module. The logic becomes more involved − division into cases is often required, and results from different parts of previous geometry modules are often brought together within the one proof. Students traditionally learn a greater respect and appreciation of the methods of mathematics from their study of this imaginative geometric material.
The theoretical importance of circles is reflected in the amazing number and variety of situations in science where circles are used to model physical phenomena. Circles are the first approximation to the orbits of planets and of their moons, to the movement of electrons in an atom, to the motion of a vehicle around a curve in the road, and to the shapes of cyclones and galaxies. Spheres and cylinders are the first approximation of the shape of planets and stars, of the trunks of trees, of an exploding fireball, and of a drop of water, and of manufactured objects such as wires, pipes, ball-bearings, balloons, pies and wheels.
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Radii and chords
We begin by recapitulating the definition of a circle and the terminology used for circles. Throughout this module, all geometry is assumed to be within a fixed plane.
A circle is the set of all points in the plane that are a fixed distance (the radius) from a fixed point (the centre).
Any interval joining a point on the circle to the centre is called a radius. By the definition of a circle, any two radii have the same length. Notice that the word ‘radius’ is being used to refer both to these intervals and to the common length of these intervals.
An interval joining two points on the circle is called a chord.
A chord that passes through the centre is called a diameter. Since a diameter consists of two radii joined at their endpoints, every diameter has length equal to twice the radius. The word ‘diameter’ is use to refer both to these intervals and to their common length.
A line that cuts a circle at two distinct points is called a secant. Thus a chord is the interval that the circle cuts off a secant, and a diameter is the interval cut off by a secant passing through the centre of a circle centre.
Symmetries of a circle
Circles have an abundance of symmetries:
A circle has every possible rotation symmetry about its centre, in that every rotation of the circle about its
centre rotates the circle onto itself.
If AOB is a diameter of a circle with centre O, then the
reflection in the line AOB reflects the circle onto itself.
Thus every diameter of the circle is an axis of symmetry.
As a result of these symmetries, any point P on a circle
can be moved to any other point Q on the circle. This can
be done by a rotation through the angle θ =
POQ about
the centre. It can also be done by a reflection in the diameter
AOB bisecting
POQ. Thus every point on a circle is essentially
the same as every other point on the circle − no other figure in
the plane has this property except for lines.
EXERCISE 1
Which of the transformations in part a map a particular point P on
to another particular point Q on
.
Congruence and similarity of circles
Any two circles with the same radius are congruent− if one circle is moved so that its centre coincides with the centre of the other circle, then it follows from the definition that the two circles will coincide.
More generally, any two circles are similar − move one circle so that its centre coincides with the centre of the other circle, then apply an appropriate enlargement so that it coincides exactly with the second circle.
A circle forms a curve with a definite length, called the circumference, and it encloses a definite area. The similarity of any two circles is the basis of the definition of π, the ratio of the circumference and the diameter of any circle. We saw in the module, The Circles that if a circle has radius r, then
circumference of the circle = 2πr and area of the circle = πr2
Radii and chords
Let AB be a chord of a circle not passing through its
centre O. The chord and the two equal radii OA and
BO form an isosceles triangle whose base is the chord.
The angle
AOB is called the angle at the centre
subtended by the chord.
In the module, Rhombuses, Kites and Trapezia we discussed the axis of symmetry
of an isosceles triangle. Translating that result into the language of circles:
Theorem
Let AB be a chord of a circle with centre O. The following three lines coincide:
The bisector of the angle
AOB at the centre subtended by the chord.
The interval joining O and the midpoint of the chord AB.
The perpendicular bisector of the chord AB.
Trigonometry and chords
Constructions with radii and chords give plenty of opportunity for using trigonometry.
EXERCISE 2
OM = cos θ
This exercise shows that sine can be regarded as the length of the semichord AM in a circle of radius 1, and cosine as the perpendicular distance of the chord from the centre. Until modern times, tables of sines were compiled as tables of chords or semichords, and the name ‘sine’ is conjectured to have come in a complicated and confused way from the Indian word for semichord.
Arcs and sectors
Let A and B be two different points on a circle with centre O. These two points divide the circle into two opposite arcs. If the chord AB is a diameter, then the two arcs are called semicircles. Otherwise, one arc is longer than the other − the longer arc is called the major arc AB and the shorter arc is called the minor arc AB.
Now join the radii OA and OB. The reflex angle
AOB is called the angle subtended by the major arc AB. The non-reflex angle
AOB is called the angle subtended by the minor arc AB, and is also the angle subtended by the chord AB.
The two radii divide the circle into two sectors, called correspondingly the major sector OAB and the minor sector OAB.
It is no surprise that equal chords and equal arcs both subtend equal angles at the centre of a fixed circle. The result for chords can be proven using congruent triangles, but congruent triangles cannot be used for arcs because they are not straight lines, so we need to identify the transformation involved.
Theorem
and hence are equal.
Segments
A chord AB of a circle divides the circle into two segments. If AB is a diameter, the two congruent segments are called semicircles − the word ‘semicircle’ is thus used both for the semicircular arc, and for the segment enclosed by the arc and the diameter. Otherwise, the two segments are called a major segment and a minor segment.
The word ‘subtend’
The word ‘subtend’ literally means ‘holds under’, and is often used in geometry to describe an angle.
Suppose that we have an interval or arc AB and a point P not on AB. Join the intervals AP and BP to form the angle
APB. We say that the angle
APB is the angle subtended by the interval or arc AB at the point P.
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Angles in a semicircle
Let AOB be a diameter of a circle with centre O, and let P be any other point on the circle. The angle
APB subtended at P by the diameter AB is called an angle in a semicircle. This angle
is always a right angle − a fact that surprises most people when they see the result for the first time.
Theorem
An angle in a semicircle is a right angle.
Proof
Let AB be a diameter of a circle with centre O,
and let P be any other point on the circle.
Join the radius PO, and let α =
A and β =
The triangles AOP and BOP are isosceles because all radii are equal, so
APO = α and
BPO = β (base angles of isosceles triangles AOP and BOP).
Hence α + β + (α + β ) = 180° (angle sum of
APB)
This famous theorem is traditionally ascribed to the Greek mathematician Thales, the first known Greek mathematician.
EXERCISE 3
Thales’ theorem can also be proven using the following test for a rectangle developed in the module, Parallelograms and Rectangles .
A quadrilateral whose diagonals are equal and bisect each other is a rectangle.
Join the radius PO and produce it to a diameter POQ, then join up the quadrilateral APBQ. Explain why
APB is a right angle.
Constructing a right angle at the endpoint of an interval
Thales’ theorem gives a quick way to construct a right
angle at the endpoint of an interval AX.
1
PAQ = 90°.
The converse theorem
The angle in a semicircle theorem has a straightforward converse that is best expressed as a property of a right-angled triangle:
Theorem
The circle whose diameter is the hypotenuse of a right-angled
triangle passes through all three vertices of the triangle.
Proof
ABC be right-angled at C, and let M be the midpoint of
the hypotenuse AB.
We need to prove that MC = MA = MB. Complete the rectangle ACBR. Because ACBR is a rectangle, its diagonals bisect each other and are equal. Hence M is the midpoint of the other diagonal CR, and AM = BM = CM = RM .
This is an excellent example of the way ideas in geometry fit together − a significant theorem about circles has been proven using a property of rectangles.
Two practical situations to illustrate the converse theorem
A set of points in the plane is often called a locus. The term is used particularly when the set of points is the curve traced out by a moving point. For example, a circle can be defined as the locus of a point that moves so that its distance from some fixed point is constant. The two examples below use the converse of the angle in a semicircle theorem to describe a locus.
EXERCISE 4
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Angles at the centre and circumference
The angle-in-a-semicircle theorem can be generalised considerably. In each diagram below, AB is an arc of a circle with centre O, and P is a point on the opposite arc. The arc AB subtends the angle
AOB at the centre. The arc also subtends the angle
APB, called an angle at the circumference subtended by the arc AB.
In the middle diagram, where the arc is a semicircle, the angle at the centre is a straight angle, and by the previous theorem, the angle at the circumference is a right angle − exactly half. We shall show that this relationship holds also for the other two cases, when the arc is a minor arc (left-hand diagram) or a major arc (right-hand diagram). The proof uses isosceles triangles in a similar way to the proof of Thales’ theorem.
Theorem
An angle at the circumference of a circle is half the angle at the centre subtended by the same arc.
Proof
Let AB be an arc of a circle with centre O, and let P be any point on the opposite arc. We need to prove
AOB = 2
APB. The proof divides into three cases, depending on whether:
Case 1: O lies inside
ABP
Case 2: O lies on
APB
Case 3: O lies outside
APB.
Case 1: Join PO and produce PO to Q. Then OA = OB = OP (radii), so we have two isosceles triangles OAP and OAQ.
Let
As the horse moves from position A to position B, the horse moves an angle
AOB = 2θ about the centre O of the track.
The angle at the circumference is half the angle at the centre,
so
APB = θ which means that the punter’s binoculars rotate by an angle θ the horse moves from A to B. Hence the punter is rotating his binoculars at a constant rate that is half the rate at which the horse is rotating about the centre.
Angles subtended by the same arc
In the diagram to the right, the two angles
APB and
are subtended by the same (minor) arc AB. Each angle is half
the angle
AOB at the centre subtended by the same arc,
so
This corollary of the previous theorem is a particularly significant
result about angles in circles:
Theorem
Two angles at the circumference subtended by the same arc are equal.
Thales’ theorem is a special case of this theorem.
Some alternative terminology
The last two theorems are often expressed in slightly different language, and some explanation is needed to avoid confusion.
1
An angle subtended by an arc is often said to be standing on the arc. With this terminology, the two theorems become:
-
An angle at the circumference of a circle is half the angle at the centre standing on the same arc.
-
Two angles at the circumference standing on the same arc are equal.
In the context of these two theorems, it is best to avoid the phrases ‘standing on a chord AB’ and ‘subtended by a chord AB′, because we need to distinguish between angles subtended by the major arc AB and angles subtended by the minor arc AB.
2
In the upper diagram to the right, the angle
APB is called
an angle in the (major) segment. Notice that it actually stands on the minor arc AB, which can be confusing. We have already used this terminology before in speaking about an ‘angle in a semicircle’. With this terminology, the last theorem becomes:
Two angles in the same segment of a circle are equal.
The situation is illustrated in the lower diagram to the right.
Extension − The orthocentre of a triangle
An altitude of a triangle is a perpendicular from any of the three vertices to the opposite side, produced if necessary. The two cases are illustrated in the diagrams below.
There are three altitudes in a triangle. The following theorem proves that they concurrent at a point called the orthocentre H of the triangle. It is surprising that circles can be used to prove the concurrence of the altitudes.
Theorem
The altitudes of a triangle are concurrent.
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Cyclic quadrilaterals
In the module, Congruence , we showed how to draw the circumcircle through the vertices of any triangle. To do this, we showed that the perpendicular bisectors of its three sides are concurrent, and that their intersection, called the circumcentre of the triangle, is equidistant from each vertex.
No other circle passes through these three vertices. If we tried to take as centre a point P other than the circumcentre, then P would not lie on one of the perpendicular bisectors, so it could not be equidistant from the three vertices.
When there are four points, we can always draw a circle through any three of them (provided they are not collinear), but only in special cases will that circle pass through the fourth point. A cyclic quadrilateral is a quadrilateral whose vertices all lie on a circle. This is the last type of special quadrilateral that we shall consider.
Constructing the circumcircle of a cyclic quadrilateral
Suppose that we are given a quadrilateral that is known to be
cyclic, but whose circumcentre is not shown (perhaps it has been rubbed out). The circumcentre of the quadrilateral is the circumcentre of the triangle formed by any three of its vertices, so the construction to the right will find its circumcentre.
The opposite angles of a cyclic quadrilateral
The distinctive property of a cyclic quadrilateral is that its opposite angles are supplementary. The following proof uses the theorem that an angle at the circumference is half the angle at the centre standing on the same arc.
Theorem
The opposite angles of a cyclic quadrilateral are supplementary.
Proof
Let ABCD be a cyclic quadrilateral with O the centre of the circle.
Join the radii OB and OD. Let α and g be the angles at the centre, as shown on the diagram.
Then
Extension − A test for a cyclic quadrilateral
The property of a cyclic quadrilateral proven earlier, that its opposite angles are supplementary, is also a test for a quadrilateral to be cyclic. That is the converse is true. This theorem completes the structure that we have been following − for each special quadrilateral, we establish its distinctive properties, and then establish tests for it.
The proof uses ‘proof by contradiction’, and is thus a little more difficult than other
Year 10 material.
If the opposite angles of a quadrilateral are supplementary, then the quadrilateral is cyclic.
Proof
Let ABCD be a quadrilateral with
A +
C = 180°.
Construct the circle through A, B and D, and suppose, by way of contradiction, that the circle does not pass through C.
Let DC, produced if necessary, meet the circle again at X, and join XB.
Then
BXD are supplementary because ABXD is a cyclic quadrilateral,
so the angles
DCB are equal,
so XB || CB
Hence XB and CB are the same line, so C and X coincide, that is the circle does pass through C.
EXERCISE 11
Prove the following alternative form of the above theorem:
If an exterior angle of a quadrilateral equals the opposite interior angle, then the quadrilateral is cyclic.
EXERCISE 12
Prove that the trapezium is cyclic.
Extension − The sine rule and circle geometry
The sine rule states that for any triangle ABC, the ratio
of any side over the sine of its opposite angle is a constant,
Each term is the ratio of a length over a pure number, so their common value seems to be a length. Thus it reasonable to ask, what is this common length? The answer is a surprise − the common length is the diameter of the circumcircle through
the vertices of the triangle.
The proof of this result provides a proof of the sine rule
that is independent of the proof given in the module,
Complete the proof in Case 3.
Tangents to circles
A tangent to a circle is a line that meets the circle at just one point. The diagram below shows that given a line and a circle, can arise three possibilities:
The line may be a secant, cutting the circle at two points.
The line may be a tangent, touching the circle at just one point.
The line may miss the circle entirely.
The words ‘secant’ and ‘tangent’ are from Latin − ‘secant’ means ‘cutting’ (as in ‘cross-section’), and ‘tangent’ means ‘touching’ (as in ‘tango’).
The point where a tangent touches a circle is called a point of contact. It is not immediately obvious how to draw a tangent at a particular point on a circle, or even whether there may be more than one tangent at that point. The following theorem makes the situation clear, and uses Pythagoras’ theorem in its proof.
Theorem
Let T be a point on a circle with centre O.
a
Every point on the tangent, except for T itself, lies outside the circle.
Proof
First we prove parts a and c. Let
be the line through T perpendicular to the radius OT. Let P be any other point on
, and join the interval OP. Then using Pythagoras’ theorem in
OTP,
OP2 = OT2 + PT2; which is greater than OT2,
so OP is greater than the radius OT. Hence P lies outside the circle, and not on it. This proves that the line
is a tangent, because it meets the circle only at T. It also proves that every point on
, except for T, lies outside the circle.
It remains to prove part b, that there is no other tangent
to the circle at T.
Let t be a tangent at T, and suppose, by way of contradiction, that t were not perpendicular to OT. Let M be the foot of the perpendicular from O to t, and construct the point U on t,on the other side of M, so that UM = MT. Then using Pythagoras’ theorem in
OMT and
OMU,
OT2 = OM2 + MT2 = OM2 + MU2 = OU2,
So OU = OT. Hence U also lies on the circle, contradicting the fact that t is a tangent.
Construction − Tangents from an external point
Using this radius and tangent theorem, and the
angle in a semi circle theorem, we can now construct
tangents to a circle with centre O from a point P outside
the circle.
Join OP and construct the midpoint M of OP .
2
Draw the circle with centre M through O and P, and let it meet the circle at T and U.
The angles
PTO and
PUO are right angles, because they are angles in a semicircle. Hence the lines PT and PU are tangents, because they are perpendicular to the radii OT and OU, respectively.
Tangents from an external point have equal length
It is also a simple consequence of the radius-and-tangent theorem that the two tangents PT and PU have equal length.
Notice that here, and elsewhere, we are using the word ‘tangent’ in a second sense, to mean not the whole line, but just the interval from an external point to the point
of contact.
Tangents to a circle from an external point have equal length.
EXERCISE 14
Prove this result using either congruence or Pythagoras’ theorem.
Tangents and trigonometry
The right angle formed by a radius and tangent gives further opportunities for simple trigonometry. The following exercise shows how the names ‘tangent’ and ‘secant’, and their abbreviations tan θ and sec θ, came to be used in trigonometry. In a circle of radius 1, the length of a tangent subtending an angle θ at the centre is tan θ , and the length of the secant from the external point to the centre is sec θ .
EXERCISE 15
.
Quadrilaterals with incircles
The following exercise involves quadrilaterals within which an incircle can be drawn tangent to all four sides. These quadrilaterals form yet another class of special quadrilaterals.
EXERCISE 16
The sides of a quadrilateral are tangent to a circle
drawn inside it. Show that the sums of opposite sides of the quadrilateral are equal.
Common tangents and touching circles
A line that is tangent to two circles is called a common tangent to the circles. When the points of contact are distinct, there are two cases, as in the diagrams below. The two circles lie on the same side of a direct common tangent, and lie on opposite sides of an indirect common tangent.
Direct common tangent
Indirect common tangent
Two circles are said to touch at a common point T if there is a common tangent to both circles at the point T. As in the diagram below, the circles touch externally when they are on opposite sides of the common tangent, and touch internally when they are on the same side of the common tangent.
Provided that they are distinct, touching circles have only the one point in common.
EXERCISE 17
are next to each other without touching?
b
Prove that the intervals between the points of contact on two indirect common tangents have equal length.
c
Prove that the intervals between the points of contact on two direct common tangents have equal length.
Extension - The incentre of a triangle
We are now in a position to prove a wonderful theorem
on the angle bisectors of a triangle. These three bisectors are concurrent, and their point of intersection is called the incentre of the triangle. The incentre is the centre of the incircle tangent to all three sides of the triangle, as in the diagram to the right.
Theorem
The angle bisectors of a triangle are concurrent, and the resulting incentre is the centre of the incircle, that is tangent to all three sides.
Proof
We have to prove IC bisects
BCD
ABC , construct the angle bisectors of
A and
B, and let I be their point of intersection.
Join IC, and let α =
BAI =
MCI.
d
Hence complete the proof that the angle bisectors meet at I, and that I is the incentre.
Summary - The four centres of a triangle
This completes the development of the four best-known centres of a triangle. The results, and the associated terminology and notation, are summarised here for reference.
The perpendicular bisectors of the three sides of a triangle are concurrent at the circumcentre O, which is the centre of the circumcircle through all three vertices.
This was proven in the module, Congruence .
The angle bisectors of the three angles of a triangle are concurrent at the incentre I, which is the centre of the incircle that is tangent to all three sides. This was proven above.
A median of a triangle is an interval joining a vertex to the midpoint of an opposite side. The medians of a triangle are concurrent at the centroid G, which divides each median in the ratio 2 : 1. This was proven in the module, Scale Drawings and Similarity .
An altitude of a triangle is a perpendicular from a vertex to the opposite side, produced if necessary. The altitudes of a triangle, also produced if necessary, are concurrent at the orthocentre H. This was proven earlier in the present module as an extension in the section on angles at the centre and circumference .
The left-hand diagram below shows two angles
P and
Q lying in the same segment of a circle − we have proven that these two angles are equal. In the next two diagrams, the angle
BQU remains equal to
P as the point Q moves around the arc closer and closer to A. In the last diagram, Q coincides with A, and AU is a tangent.
It seems reasonable from these diagrams that in the limiting case, the angle
BAU will still equal
P − this is what the alternate segment theorem says.
Theorem
An angle between a chord and a tangent is equal to any angle in the alternate segment.
Here
BAU is ‘an angle between a chord and a tangent’.
The word ‘alternate’ means ‘other’ − the chord AB divides the circle into two segments, and the alternate segment is the segment on the left containing the angle
P. We have already proven that all the angles in this left-hand segment are equal.
There are two equally satisfactory proofs of this theorem.
One is written out below and the other is left as an exercise.
Proof
Let AB be a chord of a circle and let BU be a tangent at B.
Let P be a point on the arc that is not within the arms of
ABU , and let
There are three cases, depending on whether:
Case 1: The centre O lies on the chord AB.
Case 2: The centre O lies outside the arms of
ABU .
Case 3: The centre O lies within the arms of
ABU.
In each case, we need to prove that
ABU = α
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Similarity and circles
The final theorems in this module combine similarity with circle geometry to produce three theorems about intersecting chords, intersecting secants, and the square on a tangent.
Intersecting chords
The first theorem deals with chords that intersect within the circle.
In this situation, each chord cuts the other into two sub-intervals called intercepts. It is an amazing consequence of similar triangles that, in this situation, the products of the intercepts on each chord are equal. That is, in the diagram to the right, AM × MB = PM × MQ.
Theorem
When two chords intersect within a circle, the products of the intercepts are equal.
Proof
Let AB and PQ be chords intersecting at M. Join AP and BQ.
In the triangles APM and QBM:
PAM =
BQM (angles on the same arc PB)
APM =
QBM (angles on the same arc AQ)
so
(matching sides of similar triangles)
so AM × BM = PM × QM.
The very last step is particularly interesting. It converts the equality of two ratios of lengths to the equality of two products of lengths. This is a common procedure when working with similarity.
The sine rule and similarity
Many problems involving similarity can be handled using the sine rule. The exercise below gives an alternative proof of the intersecting chord theorem using the sine rule to deal directly with the ratio of two sides of the triangles.
The remaining two theorems of this section also have alternative proofs using the sine rule.
EXERCISE 21
Secants from an external point
Now suppose that the chords do not meet within
the circle. If they meet on the circle, the identity above holds trivially, and if they are parallel, there is nothing to say. Otherwise, we can produce the chords until they intersect outside the circle, and an analogous theorem applies.
We are now dealing with secants from an external point. When a secant through an external point M meets a circle at two points A and B, the lengths AM and BM are called the intercepts of the secant from the external point, and as before AM × MB = PM × MQ.
Be careful here, the chord AB is not one of the two intercepts. With this definition of intercept, the previous theorem can now be stated as follows. Its proof is word for word almost the same, apart from the reasons:
Theorem
The product of the intercepts on two secants from an external point are equal.
Proof
Let ABM and PQM be two secants from an external point M, as shown.
Join AP and BQ.
Tangent and secant from an external point
Now imagine the secant MPQ in the previous diagrams rotating until it becomes a tangent at a point T on the circle. As the secant rotates, the length of each intercept PM and QM gets closer to the length of the tangent TM to the circle from M, so the product PM × QM gets closer to the square TM2 of the tangent from M. This is a proof using limits.
When we draw a secant and a tangent from M, we have seen that the product AM × BM equals the square TM2 of the tangent. The geometric proof is similar to the previous two proofs, but it does require the alternate segment theorem to establish the similarity.
Theorem
The product of the intercepts on a secant from an external point equals the square of the tangent from that point.
Proof
Let ABM be a secant, and TM a tangent, from an external point M, as shown. We need to prove that AM × BM = TM2. Join AT and BT.
EXERCISE 24
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converse of the circle theorems
The circle theorems proven in this module all have dramatic and important converse theorems, which are tests for points to lie on a circle. The proofs of these converses, and their applications, are usually regarded as inappropriate for Years 9−10, apart from the converse of the angle in a semicircle theorem, which was developed within the module. They are so closely related to the material in this module, however, that they have been fully developed in an Appendix.
Coordinate geometry
Tangents to circles
We defined a tangent to a circle as a line with one point in common with the circle. This definition can be used in coordinate geometry using simultaneous equations. For example, the diagram to the right shows the line x + y = 2 and the circle x2 + y2 = 2.
Substituting the equation of the line into the equation of the circle gives
x2 + (2 − x)2
(x − 1)2
= 0
and the only solution is thus x = 1. Hence the line and the circle have only the single point of intersection T(1, 1), proving that the line is a tangent to the circle.
Similarly, the dotted line x + y = 1 is a secant, intersecting the circle in two points, and the dotted line x + y = 3 does not intersect the circle at all.
Tangents to parabolas
This simultaneous equations approach to tangents can be generalised to other curves defined by algebraic equations.
For example, the line y = 2x − 1 is a tangent to the graph of the parabola of y = x2 at the point P(1, 1), because solving the equations simultaneously gives
x2 = 2x − 1
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Calculus
For graphs defined by cubics and higher powers, however, the definition of ‘tangent’ has to be adapted. The first diagram to the right shows that we would think of as a ‘tangent’ at a point P can cross the curve again at some other point, Q.
The following diagram shows that even with
a quadratic graph, our current definition of ‘tangent’ would mean that every vertical line would be a tangent to the parabola!
Clearly we need to change the requirement of a single point of intersection, and instead develop some idea about a tangent being a straight line that ‘approximates a curve’ in the neighbourhood of the point of contact.
These considerations lead naturally to the well-known limiting process. To construct a tangent at a point P on a general curve, we construct the secant through P and another point Q on the curve, and then move the point Q closer and closer to P. This is the traditional beginning of calculus at school.
Applications in motion and rates of change
When a stone on a string is whirled around in a circle, then suddenly let go, it flies off at a tangent to the circle (ignoring the subsequent fall to the ground). We can interpret this situation by saying that the tangent describes the direction in which the stone was travelling at the instant when it was released. This leads to the concept of a vector which has both magnitude and direction representing the velocity particle.
The study of motion begins with motion in a straight line, that is, in one dimension. When motion in two dimensions is first considered, circular paths and parabolic paths are the first paths to be considered, because they are reasonably straightforward to describe mathematically, and they arise in so many practical situations.
A rate of change is also described by a tangent. This time the tangent does not have any physical significance, but it is the gradient of the tangent that gives the instantaneous rate of change. For example, when boiling water is removed from the stove and cools, the temperature−time graph looks something like the graph to the right. At any time t, the rate at which the water is cooling is given by the gradient of the tangent at the corresponding point on the curve.
Vectors and complex numbers
Problems in complex numbers often require locating a set of complex numbers on the complex plane. The following example requires some knowledge of vectors and circle geometry.
EXAMPLE
is not defined.
So suppose that z is neither 1 nor −1.
The condition on z is that z − 1 is ki times z + 1, where k is real. We know that multiplying by ki rotates the direction of a complex number by 90° or by −90°. That is, the vector z − 1 is perpendicular to the vector z + 1. We know that z − 1 is a vector with tail at 1 and head at z, and that z + 1 is a vector with tail at −1 and head at z. Let A, B and P represent the points −1, 1 and z. Then the condition becomes
APB is a right angle. Thus the locus of z is a circle with diameter AB, that is a circle of radius 1 and centre 0, excluding −1.
Many problems similar to this involve not just the theorems developed in the module, but their converses as well, as developed in the Appendix to this module.
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History and applications
Greek geometry was based on the constructions of straight lines and circles, using a straight edge and compasses, which naturally gave circles a central place in their geometry. All the theorems developed in the Content and Appendix of this module
were developed by the Greeks, and appear in Euclid’s Elements.
In coordinate geometry, developed later by Descartes in the 17th century, horizontal and vertical lengths are measured against the two axes, and diagonal lengths are related to them using Pythagoras’ theorem. The resulting connection between circles and Pythagoras’ theorem is seen in the equation of a circle.
The square of the distance of a point P(x, y) from the origin is x2 + y2 by Pythagoras’ theorem, which means that the equation of the circle with radius a and centre the origin is x2 + y2 = a2.
A circle is a simple closed curve with an inside and an outside, a property that it shares with triangles and quadrilaterals. In three dimensions, spheres, cubes and toruses (doughnuts) have an inside and an outside, but a torus is clearly connected in a different way from a sphere. The subject called topology, begun by Euler and developed extensively in the 20th century, begins with such observations.
Greek astronomy made great use of circles and spheres. They knew that the Earth was round, and were able to calculate its circumference with reasonable accuracy. Ptolemy described the heavenly bodies in terms of concentric spheres on which the Moon, the planets, the Sun and the stars were embedded. When astronomy was reconstructed in the 16th century by Copernicus, the heavenly spheres disappeared, but he still used circles for orbits, with the centre moved from the Earth to the Sun. Ellipses and other refinements of the orbits were soon introduced into this basic model of circles by Kepler, who empirically found three laws of motion for planets. At the end of the 17th century Newton used calculus, his laws of motion and the universal law of gravitation to derive Kepler’s laws.
John Dalton reconstructed chemistry at the start of the 19th century on the basis of atoms, which he regarded as tiny spheres, and in the 20th century, models of circular orbits and spherical shells were originally used to describe the motion of electrons around the spherical nucleus. Thus circles and their geometry have always remained at the heart of theories about the microscopic world of atoms and theories about the cosmos and the universe.
Geometry continues to play a central role in modern mathematics, but its concepts, including many generalisations of circles, have become increasingly abstract. For example, spheres in higher dimensional space came to notice in 1965, when John Leech and John Conway made a spectacular contribution to modern algebra by studying an extremely close packing of spheres in 24-dimensional space.
On the other hand, classical Euclidean geometry in the form presented in this module has nevertheless advanced in modern times − here are three results obtained in recent centuries.
In 1765, Euler discovered that:
The orthocentre, the circumcentre, and the centroid of any triangle are collinear.
The centroid divides the interval joining the circumcentre and the orthocentre in
the ratio 2:1.
The line joining these three centres is now called the Euler line. The proof is reasonably straightforward, and is presented in the following exercise.
EXERCISE 26
In the diagram to the right, G and O are respectively the centroid and the circumcentre of
ABC. The interval OG is produced to X so that OG : GX = 1 : 2. We shall prove that X is the orthocentre of
ABC by proving that it lies on each of the three altitudes of the triangle. Join AX. Let M be the midpoint of BC. Join the median AGM, and the perpendicular OM.
a
In the early 19th century, Poncelet, Feuerbach and others showed that in any triangle,
the following nine points are cyclic:
the midpoint of each side of the triangle,
the foot of each altitude,
the midpoint of the interval joining each vertex of the triangle to the orthocentre.
That is, these nine points lie on a circle.
He also showed that the centre of this nine-point circle lies on the Euler line, and is the midpoint of the interval joining the circumcentre to the orthocentre.
Again, the proof is straightforward enough to present here as a structured exercise, although proving that the centre of the nine-point circle is the midpoint of OH is rather fiddly.
EXERCISE 27
The diagram to the right shows
ABC with the altitudes AU, BV and CW meeting at the orthocenter H. The points E, F and G are the respective midpoints of AH, BH and CH. The points P, Q and R are the midpoints of the sides BC, CA and AB.
a
Explain why N lies on OH, and is thus its midpoint.
An enlargement transformation associated with Euler’s line and the nine-point circle
Here is a rather dramatic proof using a single enlargement that establishes the existence of the Euler line and the positions on it of the centroid G, the circumcentre O, the orthocentre H, and the nine-point centre N. The notation is the same as that used in exercises 25 and 26.
In this construction, all that is used about the nine-point circle point is that it is the circle through P, Q and R. The fact that the other six points lie on it would be proven afterwards.
The medians trisect each other, so
AG : GP = BG : GQ = CG : GR = 2 : 1.
Consider the enlargement with centre G and enlargement factor −
.
This enlargement fixes G, and maps A to P, B to Q and C to R, so the circumcircle of
ABC is mapped to the circumcircle of
PQR. Thus the circumcentre O is mapped to the nine-point centre N, and G thus divides NO in the ratio 1 : 2. The orthocentre H of
ABC is mapped to the orthocentre of
PQR, and the orthocentre of
PQR is the circumcentre O of
ABC, because the perpendicular bisectors of the sides of
ABC are the altitudes of
PQR, so G divides HO in the ratio 2 : 1. Thus the four points H, N, G and O are collinear, with
HN : NG : GO = 3 : 1 : 2.
It also follows that the nine-point circle has half the radius of the circumcircle.
return to top
Morley’s trisector theorem
In 1899, the American mathematician Frank Morley discovered an amazing equilateral triangle that is formed inside every triangle. When each angle of a triangle is trisected, the points of intersection of trisectors of adjacent vertices form an equilateral triangle.
The result has many proofs by similar triangles, and we refer the reader particularly to John Conway’s proof and Bollobas’ version .
The result can also be proven using the compound angle formulae of trigonometry, and is thus reasonably accessible to students in senior calculus courses. See
These proofs are best written as proofs by contradiction. The original theorem is used in the proof of each converse theorem. We have seen this approach when Pythagoras’ theorem was used to prove the converse of Pythagoras’ theorem.
The converse of the angle at the centre theorem
The key theorem of the present module is, ‘An angle at the circumference of a circle is half the angle at the centre subtended by the same arc.’ The most straightforward converse of this is:
Theorem
Let
OAB be isosceles with OA = OB, and let P be a point on the same side of the interval AB as O. Suppose that AB subtends an angle at P half the size of the angle
AOB. Then the circle with centre O through A and B passes through P .
Proof
Let
APB = a and
AOB = 2a. Construct the circle through A and B. Suppose, by way of contradiction, that the circle does not pass through P, and let the circle cross AP, produced if necessary, at X. Join BX.
Then
(corresponding angles are equal);
so the lines BX and PX coincide, and hence the points X and P coincide. Thus P lies on the circle, contradicting the assumption that the circle does not pass through P.
Testing whether four given points are concyclic
One of the basic axioms of geometry is that a line
can be drawn through any two distinct points A and B. When there are three distinct points A, B and C, we can ask whether the three points are collinear, or form a triangle.
Similarly, any three non-collinear points A, B and C are concyclic. When there are four points A, B, C and D, no three collinear, we can ask whether these four points are concyclic, that is, do they lie on a circle.
The remaining converse theorems all provide tests as to whether four given points are concyclic. In each case, we draw the unique circle through three of them and prove that the fourth point lies on this circle.
We shall assume that the fourth point does not lie on the circle and produce a contradiction.
The converse of the angles on the same arc theorem
Theorem
If an interval subtends equal angles at two points on the same side of the interval, then the two points and the endpoints of the interval are concyclic.
Proof
Let the interval AB subtend equal angles a at points P and Q on the same side of BC. Construct the circle through A, B and P, and suppose, by way of contradiction, that the circle does not pass through Q.
Let AQ, produced if necessary, meet the circle again at X.
(corresponding angles are equal)
Hence BQ and BX are the same line, so Q coincides with X, which is a contradiction.
A test for a cyclic quadrilateral
We proved earlier, as extension content, two tests for a cyclic quadrilateral:
If the opposite angles of a cyclic quadrilateral are supplementary, then the quadrilateral is cyclic.
If an exterior angle of a quadrilateral equals the opposite interior angle, then the quadrilateral is cyclic.
The proof by contradiction of the first test is almost identical to the proof of the previous converse theorem. The second test is a simple corollary of the first test.
The intersecting chord test
We proved that the product of the intercepts of intersecting chords are equal. The converse of this gives yet another test for four points to be concyclic. The proof proceeds along exactly the same lines.
Theorem
Let AB and PQ be intervals intersecting at M, with AM × BM = PM × QM. Then the four endpoints A, B, P and Q are concyclic.
EXERCISE 28
Complete the proof of this theorem.
We leave it the reader to formulate and prove the (true) converses to the remaining two theorems about secants from an external point, and a tangent and a secant from an external point. By similar methods, one can also prove the converse of the theorem
that if a quadrilateral has an incircle, then the sums of its opposite sides are equal.
AMO.
EXERCISE 3
All radii of a circle are equal, so OA = OB = OP = OQ, so the quadrilateral APBQ is a rectangle because its diagonals are equal and bisect each other. Hence
APB is a right angle.
EXERCISE 4
At all times, the front of the building is the hypotenuse of aright-angled triangle whose third vertex is the photographer. Hence the circle with diameter, the front of the building, always pass through the photographer, and his possible positions are the points on the semicircle in front of the building.
EXERCISE 5
At all times, the triangle formed by the plank, the wall and the floor is right-angled with hypotenuse of length
metres. By the converse theorem above, the midpoint of the plank is therefore always
metres from the corner. Hence the midpoint traces out a quadrant of the circle with centre at the corner and radius
metres.
Case 2: It will be sufficient to prove the result when O lies on AP.
Let
b
The first diagram below illustrates the situation with two indirect common tangents.
The indirect tangents AT and BU intersect at M. Then AM = BM and TM = UM because tangents from an external point are equal, and adding the lengths gives AT = BU.
c
With direct common tangents, there are two cases to consider. Suppose first that the direct tangents AT and BU intersect at M when produced, as in the second diagram above. Then again AM = BM and TM = UM, and subtracting gives AT = BU.
Now suppose that the direct common tangents AT and BU are parallel, as in the third diagram. The radii AO and BO are perpendicular to the parallel tangents, so they lie on the one line and form a diameter, and the radii TZ and UZ also form a diameter. Hence ABUT is a rectangle, so its opposite sides AT and BU are equal.
EXERCISE 18
This follows by a similar argument to parts a − c.
e
This follows because the diagonals of each rectangles are equal and bisect each other. Note that FQ is a diagonal of both rectangles.
f
Since N is the midpoint of the hypotenuse of the right-angled triangle FQV, it follows by the converse of the angle-in-a-semicircle theorem, proven earlier in this module, that N is equidistant from F, Q and V. Similarly, N is equidistant from E, P and U, and from G, R and W. Hence the circle passes through all nine points.
g
i
The perpendicular bisector of UP is the locus of all points equidistant from U and P, and this includes the nine-point centre N.
ii
Complete the rectangle UPOT. Then NS || HTU, so NS bisects OT using opposite sides of rectangles, and so also bisects OH using a similarity theorem on triangles. Hence NS meets OH at Y .
iii
By similar arguments to parts i and ii, the perpendicular bisectors of UP, VQ and WR all pass through N, and all bisect OH. Hence the three perpendicular bisectors are concurrent, and the midpoint of OH and the point N coincide at the intersection of these three lines.
EXERCISE 28
Construct the circle through A, B and P, and suppose
by way of contradiction that the circle does not pass through Q.
Let PQ, produced if necessary, meet the circle again at X .
Then
XM = QM, and Q and X both lie on the same side of M.
Hence X coincides with Q, which is a contradiction.
The Improving Mathematics Education in Schools (TIMES) Project 2009-2011 was funded by the Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations.
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations.
© The University of Melbourne on behalf of the International Centre of Excellence for Education in Mathematics (ICE-EM), the education division of the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute (AMSI), 2010 (except where otherwise indicated). This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
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i don't know
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Name the chemical process for toughening rubber/polymer typically by adding sulphur (US, sulfur) using heat and pressure?
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Reduced Zinc Oxide Levels in Sulphur Vulcanisation of Rubber Compounds
Reduced Zinc Oxide Levels in Sulphur Vulcanisation of Rubber Compounds
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Vulcanization
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What sport dominated (with 30 of the top 100) the 2012 Forbes list of highest earning athletes?
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Valve Glossary A to C | Actuator
Valve Glossary
A quick intro...This glossary focuses primarily on valves, but also covers some areas of actuators,materials, welding, forging, and casting, as well as other miscellaneous items.I never finished editing this valve glossary. Two color codes were used for my ownediting reference:Yellow highlight indicates a word with more than one source for the definition. I originallyintended to come up with my own re-worded, edited definitions, but never got around toit.Blue highlight indicates something which needs to be checked further. It can indicateseveral things:
•
I might have a disagreement with the definition or something may be incorrect inthe definition or there is a question about it.
•
Sometimes there is a word in the definition which I still need to define separately.
•
- Arithmetic Average Roughness Height
Abate
- in metalwork, to excise or beat down the surface in order to create a pattern or figure inlow relief.
ABEC
- Annular Bearing Engineering Committee. Used as prefix for tolerance grades ofbearings as set up by this committee.
Abradant
-Abradant - a material such as emery, used for grinding and generally in powder form.Abradant - a substance, usually in powdered form, used for grinding.
Abrade
- 1) to rub or to scrape with something rough; 2) to scratch or tear away two surfaces incontact by relative motion.
Abrasion
-Abrasion - 1) removal of surface material by sliding or rolling contact with hard particles of thesame substance or another substance; the particles may be loose or may be partof another surface in contact with the first; 2) a surface blemish caused byroughening or scratching.Abrasion - 1) the removal of surface material from any solid through the frictional action ofanother solid, a liquid, or a gas or combination thereof; 2) a surface discontinuitybrought about by roughening or scratching.Abrasion - damage done by rubbing or scrapingAbrasion - the wearing away of a surface in service by mechanical action such as rubbing,scraping, or erosion.Abrasion - the wearing or rubbing away of a surface.Abrasion Resistance - the ability of a rubber compound to resist mechanical wear.
Abrasive
-Abrasive - 1) particulate matter, usually having sharp edges or points, that can be used to shapeand finish workpieces in grinding, honing, lapping, polishing, blasting or tumblingprocesses; depending on the process, abrasives may be loose, formed into solidshapes, glued to paper or cloth, or suspended in a paste, slurry or air stream; 2)any substance capable of removing material from a surface by abrasion; 3) amaterial formed into a solid mass, usually fired or sintered, and used to grind orpolish workpieces; common forms are grinding wheels, abrasive discs, honingsticks, cones, and burrs.Abrasive - a hard substance, usually in powdered form, used for the removal of material byscratching and grinding, e.g. silicon carbide powder (carborandum); coarsematerial used for cleaning, grinding or smoothing, or making a smooth surfacerough before gluing.
Abrasive Blasting
-Abrasive Blasting -
see
SandblastingAbrasive Blasting - the cleaning or finishing of surfaces by the use of an abrasive entrainedin ablast or air.
Abrasive Cone
- an abrasive, sintered or shaped into a solid cone to be routed by an arbor forabrasive machining.
Abrasive Machining
- grinding, drilling, shaping, or polishing by abrasion.
Abrasive Wear
- a mechanism of wear due to the presence in one or both surfaces of hardparticles (e.g. carbide in steels), or due to hard particles trapped between them.
ABS
- Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene
Absolute Roughness
- the natural or actual roughness of new pipe, tube or other type of conduitused for the conveyance of fluid. It is expressed in linear units similar to thoseemployed for the internal diameter of the fluid conveying conduit, and theserepresent the parameters in ascertaining relative roughness; also known as ActualAverage Roughness.
Absolute Temperature
- the temperature measured using absolute zero as a reference.Absolute zero is -273.16° C or -459.69° F.
Absorption
substance (liquid, gas, or vapor) into its interior.
Abut
- the joining of two pieces or surfaces along a common boundary.
ABV
- 1) Actuated Ball Valve; 2) Automatic Body Bleed Valve
AC
- 1) Active Carbon; 2) Alternating Current; 3) Asbestos Cement
Accelerated Aging
- hastening the deterioration of a product by a laboratory procedure in orderto determine long-range storage and use characteristics.
Accelerated Fatigue Test
- a fatigue test in which the alternating stress level during the test getsincreased above that expected in service in order to reduce the testing time. Thistechnique is mainly used in assessing equipment performance in a vibrationenvironment.
Accelerated Life Test
-Accelerated Life Test - a method of estimating reliability or durability of a product by subjecting itto operating conditions above its maximum ratings.Accelerated Life Test - any set of test conditions designed to reproduce in a short time thedeteriorating effect obtained under normal service conditions.
Accelerated Service Test
- a service or bench test in which some service condition, such asspeed, temperature, or continuity of operation is exaggerated in order to obtain aresult in a shorter time.
Accelerated Test
- a weather exposure test where mechanical means are used to simulateequal test conditions in exaggerated form to shorten the test period.
Accelerated Weathering
- a laboratory test used to determine, in a short period of time, theresistance of a paint film or other exposed surface to weathering.
Accelerating Torque
- the difference between the starting torque and the load starting torqueavailable for accelerating the rotating parts (of load and motor).
Acceleration
-Acceleration - the rate of change of velocity with respect to time.Acceleration - time rate of change of velocity.
Accelerator
- a substance which hastens the vulcanization of an elastomer causing it to takeplace in a shorter time or at a lower temperature.
Acceptance Number
- the maximum allowable number of defective pieces in a sample ofspecified size.
Acceptance Sampling
- taking a sample from a batch of material to inspect for determiningwhether the entire lot will be accepted or rejected.
Acceptance Test
- a test used to determine conformance of a product to design specifications,as a basis for its acceptance.
Accessible Isolation Valve
- the isolation valve nearest the measured process on an instrumentsensing line which is available to personnel during normal plant operation. The rootvalve may or may not perform the function of the accessible isolation valve,dependent on its location.
Accessible Part
- a part that can be touched during normal use or operator servicing.
Accessible Surface
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i don't know
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What, from Latin 'to milk', is the technical name for a mixture of two or more liquids that are normally unblendable?
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the Effect of Emulsifiers in Ice Cream | Snowball Machinery
the Effect of Emulsifiers in Ice Cream
snowballmachinery 1 Comment
the Effect of Emulsifiers in Ice Cream
The word “emulsion” comes from the Latin word for “to milk”, as milk is an emulsion of fat and water, among other components. An emulsion is a mixture of two or more liquids that are normally immiscible (unmixable or unblendable). Emulsions are part of a more general class of two-phase systems of matter called colloids. Although the terms colloid and emulsion are sometimes used interchangeably, emulsion should be used when both the dispersed and the continuous phase are liquids. In an emulsion, one liquid (the dispersed phase) is dispersed in the other (the continuous phase). Examples of emulsions include vinaigrettes, milk, mayonnaise, and etc.
Emulsifiers are used in ice cream because they contribute greatly to smooth and creamy texture by promoting fat destabilisation. Fat destabilisation refers to the process of clustering and clumping (known as partial coalescence) of the fat in an ice cream mix when it is churned in a machine. Because it is the proteins that stabilise the fat emulsion in an ice cream mix, emulsifiers are actually added to ice cream to reduce the stability of this emulsion and encourage some of the fat globules to come together, or partially coalesce. When a mix is churned in the ice cream machine, air bubbles that are beaten into the mix are stabilised by this partially coalesced fat, giving a smooth texture to the ice cream. If emulsifiers were not added, the air bubbles would not be properly stabilised and the ice cream would not have the same smooth texture. The balance between protein and emulsifier is important to ice cream making because it controls the stability of the emulsion and of the air bubbles. If an ice cream mix contains too much emulsifier, the formation of objectionable butter particles can occur. However, if there is too much protein, the emulsion may be too stable so that not enough fat is destabilised. This produces an unstable foam, and the ice cream is coarse and wet.
More information about ice cream and ice cream machines , welcome browse: SNOWBALLMACHINERY
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Emulsion
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The term geocentric places what as central?
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Does soap emulsify oil?? | Page 2 | Power Wash Community
Does soap emulsify oil??
New Jersey
John Tornabene said: ↑
“What this Industry needs to know is that the REGULATORS and not the POWERWASHERS are the ones authorized to set the "Mandatory" regulations that are needed to implement laws(see below).
"Regulations
EPA is called a regulatory agency because Congress authorizes us to write regulations that explain the technical, operational, and legal details necessary to implement laws. Regulations are mandatory requirements that can apply to individuals, businesses, state or local governments, non-profit institutions, or others.*"
I think everyone is on board of "who" is authorized to set laws and regulations regarding our industry
We should ALWAYS have a voice in what these regulations are in an open transparent setting
Like everything else in most industries- The Regulators are not doing the day to day work - they sit in an office
Springfield MO
John Tornabene said: ↑
“So Pete if hot water is a "temporary emulsifier" doesn't that mean that if a Regulator says "hot water can be an emulsifier of oil" he would be correct?
Just trying to understand this better so I can never be caught "with my pants down" when discussing facts with others who are clearly brighter then I am on these matters such as regulators if the opportunity presents itself again down the road.
If we as an industry summit to that term and use it we will need to have the understanding that this "temporary emulsifier" can be broken and that the oil in your question can be safely and easily removed with simple filtering. Using existing devices that the government uses and approves of now as oil pigs, booms or chemical absorbent socks (for oil recovery), as well as any multi stage filtering devices. I also see if we agree to that term (which you know I don't believe to be true) both the "industry" and the regulators will have to nail it down in writing. Knowing that it can not be expanded, pushed or pulled to one side or the other, fitting their agenda.
As most know here I'm mostly a residential washer and do not face these problems as much as my commercial brothers but I will still stand up and call out what is see as a bad term or phrasing that could hurt us as an industry.
Fort Worth, TX
I agree Pete. If there is a basis of agreement as to what the term emulsion means then we have a starting point to move forward. "Temporary emulsion" works for me.
I want to clarify. My comments are as to the definitions and terms being used "emulsifier" and "colloid". I am not certain or have been convinced that hot water is an emulsifier of an oil. Prior to what you posted I would have said it was but reading your comments I have a tendency to reevaluate what I thought. I would now lean toward thinking that the heat from hot water is causing the oil to break apart and release from the surface easier, as it pertains to power washing. You make some good points about shear strength. Ones I had never considered before. I would even question if the oil is microscopically disbursed within hot water. If what I found is correct the hot water should turn cloudy which is does with a soap but I don't think it does with just hot water. This lead me to believe that it is disbursed in small clumps just not at the microscopic level hence it is not emulsion or emulsified.
Good content Pete. We are never to old turn learn. This exchange has me feeling a little like a nerdy professor... LOL! I am definitely far from being a professor.
Springfield MO
DunRite said: ↑
“I think everyone is on board of "who" is authorized to set laws and regulations regarding our industry
We should ALWAYS have a voice in what these regulations are in an open transparent setting
Like everything else in most industries- The Regulators are not doing the day to day work - they sit in an office
Very true Mike I don't think is us versa them. I know they don't say I think we will do this to hurt that guy today but you feel that way sometimes. I see most regulators as not the enemy but as a desk jockey with no real world experiences. Education and real world terms that each side can hold on to is a starting point. So far even here we can not agree on a correct term for the use of hot water these regulators are coming from even another point of view and just are seeing things differently than we do. I don't want a undefined term to hurt us in some way.
Springfield MO
MHinderliter said: ↑
“I agree Pete. If there is a basis of agreement as to what the term emulsion means then we have a starting point to move forward. "Temporary emulsion" works for me.
I want to clarify. My comments are as to the definitions and terms being used "emulsifier" and "colloid". I am not certain or have been convinced that hot water is an emulsifier of an oil. Prior to what you posted I would have said it was but reading your comments I have a tendency to reevaluate what I thought. I would now lean toward thinking that the heat from hot water is causing the oil to break apart and release from the surface easier, as it pertains to power washing. You make some good points about shear strength. Ones I had never considered before. I would even question if the oil is microscopically disbursed within hot water. If what I found is correct the hot water should turn cloudy which is does with a soap but I don't think it does with just hot water. This lead me to believe that it is disbursed in small clumps just not at the microscopic level hence it is not emulsion or emulsified.
Good content Pete. We are never to old turn learn. This exchange has me feeling a little like a nerdy professor... LOL! I am definitely far from being a professor.
A partial convert leaning a bit towards my side. I feel like that lone juror in 12 Angry Men. LOL
Springfield MO
Someone asked me why I kept talking about evaporation starting at 122* in the earlier post and then brought it to my attention I did not tie it up. Here is what I told them. As I stated evaporation starts at 122* the higher the temp the more the evaporation rate. I stated water and oil don't mix, air and oil don't mix but water and air will mix. The summing up is if water is being evaporated it is being taken in as water vapor and since air can't take in oil so the by the process of elimination the oil has to be left so not an emulsified mixture. We can see the water vapor from the hot water around us and with the use of simple oil socks, booms or chemical treated pigs we can remove the oil from the run off. Passing oil trough these socks can do two things for us remove the oil, and slow it down letting it cool even farther in temps.
Fort Worth, TX
JoshM said: ↑
“Emulsify means combining two liquids together which normally don't mix easily. Yes or no ? So are we asking does oil mix with hot water ? or does it separate ? Would this not be an easy test to solve by trying to blend oil with Hot water ? Some one please help me understand. Thanks
I think before you answer that question you have to first define what does "emulsify" mean:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emulsion
An emulsion is a mixture of two or more liquids that are normally immiscible (nonmixable or unblendable). Emulsions are part of a more general class of two-phase systems of matter called colloids. Although the terms colloid and emulsion are sometimes used interchangeably, emulsion should be used when both the dispersed and the continuous phase are liquids. In an emulsion, one liquid (the dispersed phase) is dispersed in the other (the continuous phase). Examples of emulsions include vinaigrettes, milk, mayonnaise, and some cutting fluids for metal working. The photo-sensitive side of photographic film is an example of a colloid.
The word "emulsion" comes from the Latin word for "to milk", as milk is an emulsion of milk fat and water, among other components.
Two liquids can form different types of emulsions. As an example, oil and water can form, first, an oil-in-water emulsion, wherein the oil is the dispersed phase, and water is the dispersion medium. Second, they can form a water-in-oil emulsion, wherein water is the dispersed phase and oil is the external phase. Multiple emulsions are also possible, including a "water-in-oil-in-water" emulsion and an "oil-in-water-in-oil" emulsion.
Emulsions, being liquids, do not exhibit a static internal structure. The droplets dispersed in the liquid matrix (called the “dispersion medium”) are usually assumed to be statistically distributed.
Springfield MO
JoshM said: ↑
“Emulsify means combining two liquids together which normally don't mix easily. Yes or no ? So are we asking does oil mix with hot water ? or does it separate ? Would this not be an easy test to solve by trying to blend oil with Hot water ? Some one please help me understand. Thanks
Well Josh that is what we are discussing. It is not a easy answer. Depending on what definition one uses for what emulsifying is or means. The term hot water and emulsify leave alot open to each person and what they think each is. How hot is hot what is emulsify several definitions have been discussed and are about the internet. I feel that is why as an industry we need a playing field and well defined terms locked down.
My answer to your question "no" I believe that emulsify is combining to substances together in a colloidal suspension which I understand is a permanent bonding.
Water be it hot or cold will suspend oil and it will separate or the oil can be removed form the suspension. Thus I belive that hot water containing oil is a suspension or solution but not a emulsion.
A solution is always transparent, light passes through with no scattering from solute particles which are molecule in size. The solution is homogeneous and does not settle out. A solution cannot be filtered but can be separated using the process of distillation.
A suspension is cloudy and heterogeneous. The particles are larger than 10,000 Angstroms which allows them to be filtered. If a suspension is allowed to stand the particles will separate out.
A colloid is intermediate between a solution and a suspension. While a suspension will separate out a colloid will not. Colloids can be distinguished from solutions using the Tyndall effect. Light passing through a colloidal dispersion, such as smoky or foggy air, will be reflected by the larger particles and the light beam will be visible.
Atlanta
So sorry I got to this post so far along but this thread has been a great one so far. I am commenting so I will get any new additions sent to me.
I get the question about emulsification as well all the time. As well as why do I even need a soap if hot water will clean the concrete alone or lift out the oil? Along with why do we list that you can use half the strength of a soap when using hot vs. cold water on our labels? Ex: 1:50 for hot and 1:100 for cold for the same cleaner.
It is very hard without having to teach a chemistry class every time to explain how all this works. I think Pete and others here have been doing a great job.
Australia
SoapWarehouse said: ↑
“I get the question about emulsification as well all the time. As well as why do I even need a soap if hot water will clean the concrete alone or lift out the oil? Along with why do we list that you can use half the strength of a soap when using hot vs. cold water on our labels? Ex: 1:50 for hot and 1:100 for cold for the same cleaner.
It is very hard without having to teach a chemistry class every time to explain how all this works. I think Pete and others here have been doing a great job.
There is a well-established principle that states that the rate of chemical reaction is doubled for each 10C increase in temperature, Arrhenius law.
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i don't know
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Andrew McDougall, whose injury decided a serious international sport championship final in 2012, was a?
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David Nalbandian investigated by police for kick | Daily Mail Online
comments
The pressure was piling up on David Nalbandian on Monday night after the linesman whose leg he cut on Sunday made a formal complaint of assault to the police.
Sportsmail understands that, rather than adopt a policy of forgive and forget, Andrew McDougall has decided to take things further after Sunday’s drama in the AEGON final at Queen’s Club.
Scroll down to watch the video
Boot: Nalbandian lashes out at the lines judge after his serve was broken at Queen's Club
Injured: David Nalbandian kicked an advertising board into a line judge, cutting his leg in the process
HOW I SAW IT...
Marin Cilic drills a return of serve wide to Nalbandian's right, the Argentinian lunges for the ball and strikes a forehand which flies long at the other end.
Nalbandian keeps on running towards the baseline judge and launches a furious kick at the box in which his chair is placed.
The plywood shatters and shards fly into Andrew MacDougall's left shin and he recoils in agony. Nalbandian starts to apologise, but it is too late as the Supervisor is summoned to award a default.
MIKE DICKSON
McDougall, believed to be in his early fifties, is a Level One line judge, which makes him qualified to officiate at events such as the AEGON Championships final and at Wimbledon.
He turned up for Wimbledon qualifying at Roehampton on Monday, where he is part of the officiating team, but was told to slip away due to the interest his presence was creating.
He declined to comment but is fit to officiate and is expected to resume his duties this week.
The police want to interview Nalbandian following his kick at the box which houses the lineman’s chair on Sunday. The kick shattered the plywood and left the official with a nasty cut.
While there appeared little enthusiasm from the ATP Tour in the immediate aftermath to do more than dock Nalbandian his ranking points and prize money, and fine him the maximum £6,400 for unsportsmanlike conduct, the involvement of the police could change things. But it is expected the Argentine will still be allowed to play at Wimbledon, where he could come across McDougall.
Nalbandian was said by friends to have woken up devastated by the incident, extremely contrite and keen to seek a resolution.
Embarassed: Nalbandian realises what he's done after lashing out at the board in front of the line judge
You're out! Nalbandian is disqualified after his shocking kick which left a line judge with a bad cut
He will therefore have been very unhappy to hear of the police statement, which said: ‘We are aware of an incident at the AEGON Championships on June 17. A complaint has been made and the Metropolitan Police Service is now investigating. The allegation is of assault.’
The LTA, who run British umpiring, declined to comment.
Ouch! The line judge is clearly in pain after taking a nasty kick to the shin from Nalbandian
Not how I thought I'd win it: Marin Cilic collects the winners trophy after Nalbandian was disqualified
Dejected: Nalbandian walks off court after his afternoon's work came to an abrupt end
Floored: The line judge is grounded after taking a nasty kick from Nalbandian
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Lineman
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Bees, Woozles, Jagulars, and the Backson are minor characters in which author's famous stories?
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David Nalbandian investigated by police for kick | Daily Mail Online
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The pressure was piling up on David Nalbandian on Monday night after the linesman whose leg he cut on Sunday made a formal complaint of assault to the police.
Sportsmail understands that, rather than adopt a policy of forgive and forget, Andrew McDougall has decided to take things further after Sunday’s drama in the AEGON final at Queen’s Club.
Scroll down to watch the video
Boot: Nalbandian lashes out at the lines judge after his serve was broken at Queen's Club
Injured: David Nalbandian kicked an advertising board into a line judge, cutting his leg in the process
HOW I SAW IT...
Marin Cilic drills a return of serve wide to Nalbandian's right, the Argentinian lunges for the ball and strikes a forehand which flies long at the other end.
Nalbandian keeps on running towards the baseline judge and launches a furious kick at the box in which his chair is placed.
The plywood shatters and shards fly into Andrew MacDougall's left shin and he recoils in agony. Nalbandian starts to apologise, but it is too late as the Supervisor is summoned to award a default.
MIKE DICKSON
McDougall, believed to be in his early fifties, is a Level One line judge, which makes him qualified to officiate at events such as the AEGON Championships final and at Wimbledon.
He turned up for Wimbledon qualifying at Roehampton on Monday, where he is part of the officiating team, but was told to slip away due to the interest his presence was creating.
He declined to comment but is fit to officiate and is expected to resume his duties this week.
The police want to interview Nalbandian following his kick at the box which houses the lineman’s chair on Sunday. The kick shattered the plywood and left the official with a nasty cut.
While there appeared little enthusiasm from the ATP Tour in the immediate aftermath to do more than dock Nalbandian his ranking points and prize money, and fine him the maximum £6,400 for unsportsmanlike conduct, the involvement of the police could change things. But it is expected the Argentine will still be allowed to play at Wimbledon, where he could come across McDougall.
Nalbandian was said by friends to have woken up devastated by the incident, extremely contrite and keen to seek a resolution.
Embarassed: Nalbandian realises what he's done after lashing out at the board in front of the line judge
You're out! Nalbandian is disqualified after his shocking kick which left a line judge with a bad cut
He will therefore have been very unhappy to hear of the police statement, which said: ‘We are aware of an incident at the AEGON Championships on June 17. A complaint has been made and the Metropolitan Police Service is now investigating. The allegation is of assault.’
The LTA, who run British umpiring, declined to comment.
Ouch! The line judge is clearly in pain after taking a nasty kick to the shin from Nalbandian
Not how I thought I'd win it: Marin Cilic collects the winners trophy after Nalbandian was disqualified
Dejected: Nalbandian walks off court after his afternoon's work came to an abrupt end
Floored: The line judge is grounded after taking a nasty kick from Nalbandian
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What human hormone causes certain body cells to take up glucose from the blood and store it as glycogen?
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Insulin Regulation of Blood Sugar and Diabetes - The Important Roles of Insulin and Glucagon: Diabetes and Hypoglycemia
Normal Regulation of Blood Glucose
The Important Roles of Insulin and Glucagon: Diabetes and Hypoglycemia
Written by James Norman MD, FACS, FACE
The human body wants blood glucose (blood sugar) maintained in a very narrow range. Insulin and glucagon are the hormones which make this happen. Both insulin and glucagon are secreted from the pancreas, and thus are referred to as pancreatic endocrine hormones. The picture on the left shows the intimate relationship both insulin and glucagon have to each other. Note that the pancreas serves as the central player in this scheme. It is the production of insulin and glucagon by the pancreas which ultimately determines if a patient has diabetes, hypoglycemia, or some other sugar problem.
In this Article
Insulin's Role in Blood Glucose Control
Insulin Basics: How Insulin Helps Control Blood Glucose Levels
Insulin and glucagon are hormones secreted by islet cells within the pancreas. They are both secreted in response to blood sugar levels, but in opposite fashion!
Insulin is normally secreted by the beta cells (a type of islet cell) of the pancreas. The stimulus for insulin secretion is a HIGH blood glucose...it's as simple as that! Although there is always a low level of insulin secreted by the pancreas, the amount secreted into the blood increases as the blood glucose rises. Similarly, as blood glucose falls, the amount of insulin secreted by the pancreatic islets goes down.
As can be seen in the picture, insulin has an effect on a number of cells, including muscle, red blood cells, and fat cells. In response to insulin, these cells absorb glucose out of the blood, having the net effect of lowering the high blood glucose levels into the normal range.
Glucagon is secreted by the alpha cells of the pancreatic islets in much the same manner as insulin...except in the opposite direction. If blood glucose is high, then no glucagon is secreted.
When blood glucose goes LOW, however, (such as between meals, and during exercise) more and more glucagon is secreted. Like insulin, glucagon has an effect on many cells of the body, but most notably the liver.
The Role of Glucagon in Blood Glucose Control
The effect of glucagon is to make the liver release the glucose it has stored in its cells into the bloodstream, with the net effect of increasing blood glucose. Glucagon also induces the liver (and some other cells such as muscle) to make glucose out of building blocks obtained from other nutrients found in the body (eg, protein).
Our bodies desire blood glucose to be maintained between 70 mg/dl and 110 mg/dl (mg/dl means milligrams of glucose in 100 milliliters of blood). Below 70 is termed "hypoglycemia." Above 110 can be normal if you have eaten within 2 to 3 hours. That is why your doctor wants to measure your blood glucose while you are fasting...it should be between 70 and 110. Even after you have eaten, however, your glucose should be below 180. Above 180 is termed "hyperglycemia" (which translates to mean "too much glucose in the blood"). If your 2 two blood sugar measurements above 200 after drinking a sugar-water drink (glucose tolerance test), then you are diagnosed with diabetes.
Updated on: 03/02/16
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Insulin
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What American word, from French meaning lift, refers to an embankment preventing overflow of a river or other body of water?
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Structural Biochemistry/Protein function/Insulin - Wikibooks, open books for an open world
Structural Biochemistry/Protein function/Insulin
Overview[ edit ]
Insulin is a hormone secreted by the pancreas that regulates glucose levels in the blood. Without insulin, cells cannot use the energy from glucose to carry out functions within the body. Insulin was first discovered in 1921 by Frederick Grant Banting and Charles Best from extracted substances from the pancreas of dogs in their laboratory. The material was then used to keep diabetic dogs alive, and then used in 1922 on a 14 year old diabetic boy. The FDA approved insulin in 1939. In 1966 insulin was synthesized by Michael Katsoyannis in his laboratory, which marked the first complete hormone to be successfully synthesized. Synthetic insulin is used as a drug to treat diabetes, and the current forms on the market include insulin from bovine and porcine pancreases, but the most widely used is a form made from recombinant human insulin.
Primary Structure of Human Insulin
Function[ edit ]
Insulin is made in the pancreas by beta cells. After the body takes in food, these beta cells release insulin, which enables cells in the liver, muscles and fat tissues to take up glucose and either store it as glycogen or allow blood to transfer it to organs in the body for use as an energy source. This process stops the use of fat as a source of energy. When glucose levels are elevated in the blood, insulin is produced at higher rates by the pancreas in order to maintain normal sugar concentrations in the blood. Without insulin, the body cannot process glucose effectively and glucose begins to build up in the blood stream instead of being transported to different cells . In contrast with elevated levels of glucose in the blood, when there is a deficit of glucose available to the body, alpha cells in the pancreas release glucagon , a hormone that causes the liver to convert stored glycogen into usable glucose which is then released into the bloodstream.
Some of the effects of the insulin on the metabolism include: 1. Controlling cell intake of substances like glucose in many organs like muscles and adipose tissues. 2. Controlling amino acid uptake, thus increasing DNA replication and protein synthesis 3. Altering the activity of enzymatic cells
Other Cellular effects of insulin include: 1. Increasing synthesis of glycogen. Glycogen is a type of storage for glucose and is stored in the liver. Levels of blood glucose determine whether glucose is stored as glycogen or is excreted. Low levels of glucose cause the liver to excrete glucose, while higher levels of glucose allows glucose to be stored as glycogen. 2. Increasing the synthesis and esterification of fatty acids. This is caused by the insulin causing fat cells to convert blood lipids to triglycerides. Esterification is caused when the insulin causes the adipose tissue to convert fats from fatty acid esters. 3. Increasing the esterification of fatty 4. Decreasing protein breakdown (proteolysis) 5. Reducing lipolysis 6. Increasing uptake of substances like amino acid and potassium 7. Relaxing wall of arteries of muscles, which vasodilation 8. Increasing secretion of HCl into the stomach
Structure[ edit ]
Insulin is a hormone consisting of 2 polypeptide chains. Each chain is composed of a specific sequence of amino acid residues connected by peptide bonds . In humans, chain A has 21 amino acids, and chain B has 30. Post translational modifications result in the connection of these two chains by disulfide bridges . Cysteine residues on A7 and B7, as well as A20 to B19 are covalently connected by disulfide bridges. Chain A also has an internal disulfide bridge connecting A6 to A11. The 3D structure of insulin is composed of 3 helices and the three disulfide bridges. Hydrophobic amino acid residues are clustered on the inside of the molecule while the polar amino acids residues are located on the outer surface. This arrangement of amino acid residues lends stability to the overall molecule. A single molecule of insulin can form a dimer with another insulin molecule, but the most active form is a single unit. The chemical formula for the insulin monomer is: C256H381N65O79S6.
Add caption here
Synthesis[ edit ]
Insulin Synthesis Using Recombinant DNA Technology.
Insulin production takes place in the pancreas, however diabetics lack the capability to produce insulin, so insulin derived by synthetic means is required to maintain normal blood glucose levels. Bovine and porcine insulin is similar to human insulin, however insulin synthesized from these sources can have adverse affects when used to treat diabetic patients due to possible long term effects from the continual injection of a foreign substance into the body. As a result of these possible adverse effects, in 1977, researches at the Genentech corporation developed means to reproduce insulin derived from humans through recombinant DNA technology. The steps involved in cloning human insulin begin with extracting proinsulin mRNA from the pancreas of a human with a functioning pancreas. Next, the enzyme reverse transcriptase is used to synthesize a strand of DNA that is complementary to the proinsulin mRNA . This DNA complement is called cDNA. The cDNA and RNA strands form a double helix hybrid. Next, the RNA is hydrolyzed off by raising the pH, and the DNA strand complementary to the original cDNA strand is formed with the help of an enzyme called terminal transferase . Restriction enzymes can be used to cut the gene and isolate just the sequence that encodes for the insulin protein. Next, circular units of DNA, called plasmids , are extracted from E. coli bacteria cells and cut with the same restriction enzyme that was used to cut the human chromosome. Using the same restriction enzymes creates complementary ends on the plasmid and the insulin gene. Next, the insulin gene is inserted into the plasmid at the proper location and the enzyme DNA ligase is used to form the phosphodiester bonds between the insulin gene and the plasmid. This step essentially “glues” the insulin gene into the E. coli plasmid vector. A certain type of plasmid called an “expression vector” is used in this process, which contains a bacterial promoter that facilitates the formation mRNA. Once the insulin genes are ligated into the vector, the vector is inserted into a bacterial cell. The bacterial cell acts as a host for the translation process of mRNA to protein. These host cells are harvested and allowed to reproduce, which creates a colony of insulin producing bacterial cells. The insulin can then be purified and packaged.
Alternative Synthesis[ edit ]
Another possible method to synthesize insulin was recently proposed by a pharmaceutical company SynBioSys in 2006 which used safflower to produce insulin rather than bacteria. Their goal ultimately was to reduce economic costs by exceeding its target and achieving accumulation levels of 1.2 percent of total seed protein. The company claims that this breakthrough in plant-produced insulin have the potential to "fundamentally transform the economics and scale of insulin production." The company announces safflower produced insulin can be up to 60% less expensive than insulin manufactured through bacterial cells.
The clinical testing trials were promising: SBS-1000 was bioequivalent to most common brand name insulin medications. SBS-1000 in humans showed no difference in metabolizing bacteria based insulin rather than through safflower. SBS-1000 was well tolerated at pharmacologically active dosages.
Release[ edit ]
Insulin is released in the body by the Beta cells in the islets of Langerhans. This is done in two phases, which includes a response in a change in blood glucose level and another type of release which is slower and is independent of sugar.
Insulin released by a change in blood glucose level starts when glucose enters glycolysis and the respiratory cycle. During this cycle, ATP is produced by oxidation, and thus the level of ATP produced is representative of the blood glucose level. When the amount of ATP produced gets to a certain point, potassium channels that are activated by ATP close, depolarizing the cell membrane, leading to a change in other voltage activated channels, such as the calcium channels. Due to the depolarization, voltage gated calcium channels open, allowing an influx of calcium ions into the cell. The increased level of calcium in the cell activates phospholipase C. Phospholipase C cleaves the membrane phospholipid phosphatidyl inositol 4,5-bisphosphate, which in turn becomes inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate and diacylglycerol. The newly formed inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate (also known as IP3) binds to receptors on IP3 gated channels embedded on the membrane of the endoplasmic reticulum. The IP3 gated channels allow an influx of calcium ions in the cell, repolarizing the cell. Insulin, which was synthesized prior to this reaction, is stored in secretory vesicles, and is waiting to be released. The increased levels of calcium due to the binding of IP3 causes the release of the insulin from these vesicles. The beta cells of the islets of Langerhan regulates the glucose level by this reaction. When the blood glucose level is physiologically normal, the beta cells cease to secrete any more insulin. This is done by the sympathetic nervous system, by the release of the hormon norepinephrine.
When blood glucose level drops, hyperglycemic hormones (glucagon) are released by the alpha cells of the Islets of Langerhans. This causes glucose to be released into the blood from storage within the body, and most mainly comes from the liver. The glucose is stored as glycogen within the liver.
Degradation[ edit ]
Insulin has two routes of degradation after it has attached to the receptor site on the cell membrane. (1) It may be released into the extracellular environment or (2) it may be degraded by the cell. If insulin is to be degraded by the cell, the insulin-receptor complex is brought into the intracellular area via endocytosis. Subsequently, insulin-degrading enzymes break down the molecule. Insulin is degraded primarily in the liver and the kidneys. The liver is responsible for degrading insulin that is in the bloodstream for the first time; the kidneys are responsible for degrading insulin that is in normal circulation. Natural, endogenously produced insulin is estimated to be degraded within one hour after its initial release into circulation by the pancreatic beta cells. The half life of insulin is approximated to be 4-6 minutes.
Diabetes[ edit ]
Diabetes is a condition which the body either cannot produce insulin or does not respond properly to insulin. There are two types of diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is when insulin is not produced by the body. This is due to an autoimmune condition, in which body attacks the Beta cells of the Islets of Langerhans. This can be treated by insulin injections. Type 2 diabetes is when there is a resistance to insulin, reduction in production of insulin, or both.
Insulin is used to maintain a balance of glucose levels in a body’s bloodstream. After a meal, digestion of the carbohydrates occurs and enters the blood as glucose to provide the body with energy. To maintain a body’s blood sugar level, excess sugar is stored in the liver and is released once the blood sugar level starts to become low. This is where diabetes occurs; when the glucose is unable to enter the cells from the pancreas when the sugar levels are too low. If this disease is left untreated, complications, such as blindness and damage to the kidneys can occur.
Non Diabetic Uses of Insulin[ edit ]
1) Intravenous feeding solutions: One of the active ingredients in IV solutions used for feeding the body in hospital patients is insulin. The presence of insulin in the boyd helps improve the adsorption of nutrients and when combined with growth hormones, can help reverse negative protien balance.
2) Intravenous GIK solution: Glucose, insulin and potassium solutions have been used to reduce the mortality rate of acute mycoradial infractions, or otherwise known as heart attacks, along with postoperative cardiac failure. By addition of GIK infusions, it is a quick way to infuse potassium into all the cells of the heart even when circulation has ceased completely to readily restore action potential in cardial muscle to induce contraction.
3) Dialysis shock recovery: A bit insulin can be added to an electrolyte solution that can help patients absorb electrolytes quickly to recover from a dialysis shock.
4) Sports Drinks and Oral Rehydration Solutions: The sugars found in these drinks, such as gatorade, allow for increased secretion of insulin in the body which speeds up absorption of water and electrolytes into all the cells of the body.
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